GMC Yukon reliability by year
58 recall campaigns and 4,634 owner complaints across 22 model years. Best year to buy: 2025. Year to avoid: 2021.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 4 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and others. Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 22 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 97, more than the 58 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the Yukon aggregated across 22 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a GMC Yukon?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2025 GMC Yukon scores 7.8/10 — the strongest in the 2005–2026 range. 52 complaints on file, 2 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which GMC Yukon year should I avoid?
The 2021 GMC Yukon scores 4.6/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 320 owner complaints with NHTSA, 13 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2021 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the GMC Yukon should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2007 (avoid — the body — 6 fire-related complaints and 2 crash-related complaints on the electrical system); 2021 (high-risk ownership — reliability score 4.6/10 — below the segment average); 2015 (high-risk ownership — brakes: 57 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 48,235–89,000 mi); 2008 (high-risk ownership — electrical system: 54 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 32,500–108,730 mi). The cleaner years on the data are 2025, 2019, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the GMC Yukon are tracked?
22 model years (2005 through 2026) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 58 distinct recall campaigns and 4,634 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 97 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the GMC Yukon?
airbags is the most-reported category — 999 complaints across 13 model years. Average shop repair runs about $1,100.