IllustrationREAR WHEEL CYLINDER FAILURE CAN CAUSE NO REAR BRAKES LEADING TO EXTREMELY EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCES AT HWY SPEEDS.POSSIBLY ASSOCIATED WITH POWER BRAKE BOOSTER FAILURE.*AK
1997 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 1997 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 525.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Silverado 1500 years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
60–25K
1725–50K
2850–75K
3975–100K
35100–150K
22150K+
147 reports with mileage · 408 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Steering. Review the 140 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Service Brakes, Hydraulic. Review the 123 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Visibility. Review the 75 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
29 crash reports13 fire reports13 injury reports
What owners actually said
555 reportsSTEERING WHEEL POSITION SENSOR FAILURE CAN CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO OVERSTEER AND BECOME VERY UNPREDICTABLE DURING TURNING LEFT OR RIGHT
POWER BRAKE BOOSTER FAILED DURING STOP AN GO TRAFFIC AND COULD HAVE POSSIBLY CAUSED A MAJOR ACCIDENT .BRAKING BECOMES EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.
TRANSMISSION BEGAN SHIFTING VERY HARD(JERKING) FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEARS AND FROM SECOND TO THIRD GEAR. WHEN THIS OCCURED THE CHECK ENGING LIGHT CAME ON. DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THEYIWOULD HAVE TO REBUILD OR REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION. I HAD IT REPLACE AT A COST OF $2000.00 OUT OF MY POCKET. I SHOWED THE DEALERSHIP MY MAINTENANCE RECO…
Read full complaint
TRANSMISSION BEGAN SHIFTING VERY HARD(JERKING) FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEARS AND FROM SECOND TO THIRD GEAR. WHEN THIS OCCURED THE CHECK ENGING LIGHT CAME ON. DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THEYIWOULD HAVE TO REBUILD OR REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION. I HAD IT REPLACE AT A COST OF $2000.00 OUT OF MY POCKET. I SHOWED THE DEALERSHIP MY MAINTENANCE RECORDS TO VERIFY THE TRUCK HAD BEEN TAKEN CARE OF AND ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE AND THEY REFUSED. I CONTACTED GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND I WAS TOLD BY THEM "WE HELP ONLY THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THEIR VEHICLES REGULAR SERVICE DONE AT DEALERSHIPS". MEANING THAT SINCE I DID NOT HAVE MY OIL CHANGED AT THE DEALERSHIP AT A COST OF APPROX $30.00 A POP VERSES HALF THAT COST FOR MYSELF THEY REFUSE TO HELP ME. THE PURCHASE COST OF $28,000.00 OBVISOUSLY NOT ENOGH FOR GM. HOW "STUPID" IS THIS? LOOK AT THE COMPLAINTS ON "THE COMPLAINT STATION". GM NEEDS TO RECALL & REINBURSE US. HOW DO WE KNOW THE REPLACEMENT TRANNY(SAME AS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT) WON'T FAIL AGAIN. CAN'T AFFORD $2K EVERY 61K MILES. *AK
THE TRUCK ISN'T SAFE TO DRIVE IF YOU DON'T HAVE CONTROLL OF WHERE IT IS GOING. *AK
STEERING WHEEL JERKS THE WHEEL THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THAN YOU ARE TURNING. *AK
WHILE DRIVING COULD STEP ON THE BRAKES PEDAL THEN VEHICLE WILL START VIBRATING FROM FRONT OF VEHICLE.FRONT BRAKES HAD BEEN REPLACED TWICE ALREADY, AND CURRENTLY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED FOR THIRD TIME. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION. *AK
WINDSHIELD WIPERS JUST STOP WORKING AFTER THEY ARE TURNED ON, AND SOMETIMES THEY DON'T COME ON AT ALL. *AK *SLC
RUSTY PLUGGED COOLING SYSTEM. *AK
TRANSMISSION WENT OUT WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. HE WAS TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY WHEN VEHICLE STARTED JERKING, AND VEHICLE HAD TO TOWED. DEALERSHIP WAS AWARE OF PROBLEM.*AK
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.