2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 827 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 5th highest complaint count among 19 Silverado 1500 model years with reports.
Of the 2021 reports, 20 involved a crash and 12 involved a fire. 17 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Power train, automatic transmission, control module, softwareFeb 12, 2026
General Motors, LLC is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, 3500, GMC Sierra 2500, 3500, and 2020-2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles that may have been repaired incorrectly under recall 24V797. The transmission control valve may fail and cause the rear wheels to lock up.
Rear wheel lock up increases the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect the vehicles and update the transmission control software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 6, 2026. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N252516560. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on February 12, 2026.
Campaign 26V083000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, engine, hard parts internal/mechanicalApr 24, 2025
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, and Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with a 6.2L V8 gas engine. The connecting rod and/or crankshaft engine components may have manufacturing defects that can lead to engine damage and engine failure.
Engine failure increases the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect the engine, and as necessary, repair or replace the engine. For vehicles that pass inspection, dealers will add higher viscosity oil, install 6 oil fill cap, replace the oil filter, and update the owner's manual. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 18, 2025. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-333-4223, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N252494000.
Campaign 25V274000 on NHTSA.gov
Power train, automatic transmission, control module, softwareOct 24, 2024
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500, 3500, GMC Sierra 1500, 2500, 3500, 2021 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with diesel engines. The transmission control valve may fail and cause the rear wheels to lock-up.
Rear wheel lock-up can increase the risk of a crash.
Dealers will install new transmission control module software, free of charge. GM will provide a special coverage program to cover the repair of transmissions that are identified by the remedy software as containing a defective control valve. Owner notification letters were mailed December 12, 2024. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, GMC customer service at GMC 1-800-462-8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N242454440.
Campaign 24V797000 on NHTSA.gov
Tires, temporary/emergency spare tireDec 16, 2021
General Motors (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2021 GMC Sierra 1500 and Silverado 1500 vehicles equipped with certain accessory road tires and a 17" spare tire. The 17" spare tire provided with the vehicle is not compatible for use with the accessory wheels, which can cause the anti-lock brake system (ABS) to not function properly under certain conditions.
An ABS system that does not function properly can increase the risk of a crash.
Dealers will provide a new 17" spare tire and wheel assembly that is compatible with the accessory wheels, free of charge. Dealers will also apply a new spare tire information label, and provide owners with an owner's manual insert clarifying which spare tire to use with the accessory road tires and with the 17" original tires. Owner notification letters were mailed February 7, 2022. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-462-8782 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212346510.
Campaign 21V985000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, frontalJul 1, 2021
General Motors, LLC. (GM) is recalling certain 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 vehicles. The front driver's side air bag module may be missing one or more metal tabs that secure the plastic air bag cover to the housing.
The missing tabs may prevent the air bag from deploying properly, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
Dealers will inspect the driver frontal air bag, and replace it if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 16, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N212336560.
Campaign 21V495000 on NHTSA.gov
Seat beltsDec 23, 2020
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2021 GMC Canyon and Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV and Chevrolet Blazer, Camaro, Colorado, Equinox, Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500, Suburban and Tahoe vehicles. Incorrect bolts may have been used at one or more fastening locations to secure the seat belts to the vehicle. If an incorrect bolt was used, the seat belt may not be properly attached to the vehicle.
If a seat belt assembly is not properly attached to the vehicle, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suspect bolts, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8785, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202322230.
Campaign 20V811000 on NHTSA.gov
Seat beltsDec 17, 2020
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, 2021 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon XL and 2020-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 vehicles. The seat belt brackets may not be secured to the seat frame in the front-row center seating position.
If a seat-belt bracket is not secured, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant in the front-row center seat position, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect left-side and right-side front-row center seat-belt bracket attachments and reassemble it correctly as necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 26, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202314670.
Campaign 20V792000 on NHTSA.gov
TiresNov 5, 2020
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT5, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse vehicles and 2020-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles. The vehicles may have been manufactured with Continental tires that were overcured.
Overcured tires may experience a carcass break in the sidewall resulting in a sudden air loss or could develop a belt edge separation which could lead to partial or full tread/belt loss. Either condition increases the risk of a crash.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect vehicles and replace tires that have DOT number and production mold number combinations identified by Continental, free of charge. The recall began December 17, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202319030.
Campaign 20V684000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints
827 reports, newest first.
Structure, Sep 25, 2024
The tailgate on my 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 opens randomly. Initially, it was not often, but progressively happening. I had to pull over in rush hour traffic this morning to shut the tailgate after it opened randomly. The only reason I knew, was checking the rear camera.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Sep 23, 2024
Lifter failure of the right bank in 2021 at 19,000 miles. At the time of failure engine was 2.5 quarts low on oil. Ever since, this truck has been using oil excessively. I am currently involved with an oil consumption test. Of which over the last 5k miles I have had to have more oil added by the dealership.
Service brakes, Engine, Sep 11, 2024
I took my car to the dealership four times because the engine light and the ESC light kept coming on. It kept saying there was a misfire so they changed the spark plugs and did a gas treatment after I left the dealership the light came back on so I returned the next day. They change one wire that’s what they told me. The problem was so I left engine light came back on. I returned the next day then they changed the wires I left the facility again. The next day I got them started the car, the same problem, engine light, and the ESC light and now they have the car in the shop and they need to break the engine down to see what’s causing the misfire and to find out if I need a new engine or not. Who is all that shit right now?
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 11, 2024
Multiple times at varying speeds my 2021 Silverado has produced engine misfire codes. I have never been able to get to it quick enough to see what cylinders are misfiring so it always gives me a general P0300 code. The following first two times it was confirmed by Widrick truck and diesel in Carthage, NY. The last time it happened, the code disappeared before I would take it to the Chevy dealership. Widrick said they can’t fix the problem because they don’t know what it is, and Chevrolet denies there is a problem at all. The truck still has less than 50k miles on it
Latches/locks/linkages, Sep 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the transmission was shifted into reverse(R) and the contact became aware that the tailgate had opened while driving. The contact stated that he closed the tailgate however, the tailgate independently opened again. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the tailgate electrical switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact had researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V060000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages). The contact contacted the manufacturer and was informed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
Engine, Sep 9, 2024, fire
driving on [XXX] in Idaho stopped at rest area went to restroom came out my truck was smoking lifted the hood fire started on top left of engine got safely from truck and called 911 truck burnt to ground. Since i was stopped i was not in truck but if i did not stop it could of been fatal. My insurance has the truck now waiting on them for their investigation. there was no warning of any kind no dings going off no engine lights on since it burnt to the ground dont know if it can be determined what caused it but it would be nice to know why a 2021 chevy silverado with 43000 miles on it would just start on fire just had it serviced a week before this happed at a chevy dealer their is no recalls on my vin number writing this so maybe if this happens again that they will find the problem before some fatalitiy. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Engine, Sep 7, 2024
Cylinder 5 misfire due to collapsed lifter and bent pushrod. 3rd time this has happened. Dealer replace half of engines lifters at 4K miles, the other half at 19K miles and now it’s occurred again even with all the lifters replaced in the engine.
Power train, Engine, Sep 2, 2024
My lifters gave out on a brand new engine with 4000 miles on it. Truck was currently at 60,000 miles on odometer. I was traveling 75mph when everything locked up and all my lights on my dash board lit up. Causing multiple cars to swerve around as I guided the limping truck off the highway.
Structure, Aug 24, 2024
While pulling a trailer down the highway the tailgate of my truck dropped all by itself causing considerable damage to the tailgate. If I had been carrying material in the bed of the truck it could have blown out and became a safety hazard for other motorists.
Engine, Aug 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the valve lifters, resulting in damage to the camshaft. The vehicle was repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin Number: 19-NA-219. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 160,000.
Power train, Vehicle speed control, Fuel/propulsion system, Aug 19, 2024
Fuel regulator- high/low pressure failed. Yes the vehicle is available for inspection (currently at Rotolo Chevrolet). My safety and others were compromised because was on freeway approximately 75 mph and my power and speed was unexpectedly reduced. Almost caused pile up, I had to take evasive measures to guide truck to slow lane, and off the road. Yes, the problem has been confirmed [XXX] by certified Chevrolet technicians at Rotolo Chevrolet-Fontana California. Yes the part/vehicle has been inspected by Certified Chevrolet technician. A few odd hard engine starts(June/July figured a "cold" start). 2 weeks prior([XXX]) to the on road incident, the check engine light came on while driving, stopped vehicle to refuel- when the truck was restarted the check light was no longer illuminated. Scheduled ASAP service appointment 8/16/24 with Chevrolet, they couldn't take it sooner than 8/19/24 being that my truck is still under power train warranty. Unfortunately they say a faulty Fuel regulator is not covered. Document is initial service request order, I was called by Technician stating the specific (fuel regulator) issue and that my repair cost would be over $1,030.00. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Power train, Aug 13, 2024
While driving and slowing at an intersection, my vehicle would not accelerate. Only rev the engine causing my to come to a stop in the middle of an intersection. After getting to the side of the road and trou Le shooting for 5 minutes. The vehicle started driving again like nothing was wrong. I took it in to get checked out and tje dealership said my transmission was completely broken. At no time did a warning light come on or it feel like it was shifting hard. I researched and found many similar problems with this transmission.
Electrical system, Aug 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed as a failure with the engine wiring harness. The contact was informed that the engine wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 52,696.
Power train, Aug 9, 2024
8 speed trans mission jumps, lurges, hard shifts with and without towing. Transmission overheats. Does not engage when cold
Electrical system, Aug 7, 2024
In January 2024, the electric tail gate started to spontaneously open and close. This occurred while driving and in park. I took it to Outten Chevrolet in Allentown, Pa, where they stated it was a problem with a switch. They replaced it. Within a month I was told there was a problem with this model, and a recall was being planned. Over several months , I kept inquiring about the status of the recall, hoping to be reimbursed. I finally contacted Chevrolet directly. I was told that there was a recall, but my vehicles VIN number was not included. I feel that I should be reimbursed.
Engine, Aug 6, 2024
While traveling on Interstate, the Check Engine light, Electric Parking Break service light, and Traction Control Light displayed for about 10 to 15 seconds. They all turned off at the same time and have not turned back on since. No limp mode was Vehicle has Service code for Engine Misfire with no cylinder indication. Spark Plugs, spark plug wires, and Coil Packs have been replaced. Vehicle has random flashing Check Engine Light for about 20 to 30 seconds while traveling above 30mph. Vehicle hesitation (jerking back and forth) is observed at continuous speed at 45mph and 51 mph. Vehicle has been brought to dealership for evaluation with no repair being completed. Dealership is not able to replicate issue.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Aug 3, 2024
When you drive the truck for at least an hour then you turn it off the entire front like vibrates or shakes . It almost feels like something is still turning in the transmission but everything is turned off. This particular truck has already had the engine replaced at 14,000 miles bc it was faulty. It also has issues with tires. The radio and lights also all go off for brief time and then it comes back on. At times the drives side seat belt will lock and it pins you to the seat where you cannot move and you have to remove the seat belt. It is becoming more of an issue. I believe the transmission to be going out. Today, I wasn’t sure if the vibration in the truck was going to stop. So I stopped driving the truck and went and got another vehicle to drive
Electrical system, Aug 3, 2024
Electric tailgate opener button switch on tailgate failed and allowed tailgate to open while traveling. Lost a tote containing tools onto the roadway when accelerating from an intersection. Luckily it was a rural road with no traffic and no one hit tool tote in the roadway. This seems to be a serious safety hazard especially if a motorcycle would of hit lost cargo in the roadway.
Power train, Other or unspecified, Jul 29, 2024
Heard and felt a loud clunk from underneath truck while driving 70 mph on interstate. Pulled off and next available exit with a hotel and parked truck. Cranked truck to move and it would not move forward or backward except for about a foot. Loud grinding noise. Had to call tow truck to tow us to nearest Chevrolet dealer. Dealer service department says transfer case has seized up and must be replaced. Transfer case is currently on backorder and not available from GM. Was given rental car to drive home, which is 10 hours away. Truck has been in shop for 7 days as for this writing and I still do not have an answer about when a transfer case will be available and they can repair my truck. I located transfer case at my local dealer but repair dealer says they have to wait on GM.
Power train, Jul 26, 2024
While accelerating moderately, the transmission downshifted and momentarily locked up the read axle. This caused the rear of the truck to start sliding out. There was a loud bang, and when I checked my outside mirrors, I saw smoke from the tires. I almost lost control in heavy highway traffic. The entire event lasted about a second or two. I am glad I was not pulling a trailer at this time. I reported this incident to my Chevy dealer and informed them of the existing service bulletin on this exact issue. 21-NA-275. The dealer has not followed up with me on their conclusion or what they will do about this dangerous defect. No warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms before this incident.
Structure, Jul 25, 2024
Tailgate will come open by its self
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Jul 19, 2024
My check engine light came on. When taking it to the dealership, they say it's the Catalytic converter. The converter is not an electronic part, so we replaced the o2 sensors and the check engine light came back on. I've taken this truck to several people who repairs cars, and The vehicle is only 3 years old , should not need to be replaced. A converter should last 10-15 years. In doing some Research, I found the the 2019 recalled for the ECM module. Causing the same issue as the faulty reading on a catalytic converter. I am now out of warranty due to being 2,000 miles over the limit.
Steering, Jul 16, 2024
- Warning came up that said to service power steering system. Steering wheel became extremely hard to turn. -I could barely complete my turn to get the vehicle clear of the road -Vehicle is scheduled to be seen by a dealer -No other parties have inspected the vehicle
Structure, Other or unspecified, Jul 9, 2024
When my truck is outside and gets rained on. The Tailgate automatically drops and keeps dropping over and over again. It’s been doing this for months. I have many safety concerns. I’ve had my tailgate open while driving. I had a young child standing behind my truck and it automatically opened. Recently over the period of the night it kept sending signals to drop annd lights would alol turn on until my truck battery was drained. I’ve looked up and saw other Silverados in my time frame with same problem with tailgate switch and have been recalled. This is 100 percent same thing going on with my truck. I have video but couldn’t upload below
Power train, Jun 23, 2024
Bulletin No.: 21-NA-275 Please refer to the posted bulletin. This known issue is absolutely dangerous and needs to be recalled. My truck will lock up going 50 to 60 mph to a complete stop and there's no warning. Gm needs to get all these vehicles fixed it's going to hurt someone or even worse. There's no warming lamps. I'm getting my vehicle into the shop as soon as possible. This issue again is very very dangerous.