IllustrationThe rear break lights malfunctioned and will quite working periodically there has been no inspection from a dealership at this moment and driving at night time puts me and my family at risk due to the fact that I could be rear ended and cause a major accident and my vehicle has no warning light or service light for this problem.
2017 GMC Yukon Xl
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Yukon Xl years
Owner complaints for the 2017 GMC Yukon Xl are substantially higher than the model-year median of 68.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Yukon Xl 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
130–25K
1225–50K
1850–75K
875–100K
7100–150K
2150K+
60 reports with mileage · 87 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.
- Exterior Lighting. Review the 39 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Power Train. Review the 36 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 31 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
7 crash reports0 fire reports2 injury reports
What owners actually said
147 reportsJust driving along yesterday in my Yukon, and when I stopped another driver pulled up to me and informed me my right rear brake light is not working. Upon further investigation, it comes in and out (sometimes it works sometimes it does not). I had this same issue with my 2015 Yukon, I would have thought GM would have this fixed …
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Just driving along yesterday in my Yukon, and when I stopped another driver pulled up to me and informed me my right rear brake light is not working. Upon further investigation, it comes in and out (sometimes it works sometimes it does not). I had this same issue with my 2015 Yukon, I would have thought GM would have this fixed by now, very expensive fix on my 2015, assuming it’s the same cost or close. Very dangerous to have a brake light out and reduce another drivers reaction time to stop and prevent a rear end collision. Furthermore the vehicle has no indication that a light or bulb is out, a lot of vehicles have that programming, surprisingly this does not.
Adaptive cruise control system is not properly designed to recognize vehicles that are adjacent to the traveling lane and not directly in front of the vehicle. When traveling on the interstate with adaptive cruise engaged, we came around a bend in the road approaching an entrance ramp. There was a slow moving vehicle on the entr…
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Adaptive cruise control system is not properly designed to recognize vehicles that are adjacent to the traveling lane and not directly in front of the vehicle. When traveling on the interstate with adaptive cruise engaged, we came around a bend in the road approaching an entrance ramp. There was a slow moving vehicle on the entrance ramp which was apparently identified by the adaptive cruise system as being in front of our vehicle in the same lane. The adaptive cruise caused our vehicle to brake violently while still in the bend in the road, which in turn caused us to swerve into the next lane where there was a car traveling adjacent, but just behind us. This was a very unexpected series of events, and could have resulted in catastrophic consequences had the adjacent car been any closer at the time. This is a major flaw in the adaptive cruise system. And it is compounded by the fact that the adaptive cruise system cannot be switched over to a manually controlled more traditional cruise system. This is a severe design flaw with the GMC Yukon. Some of this could be remedied by issuing a firmware update that allows the driver to disengage the adaptive cruise and switch to a more traditional cruise control method. But GMC has no interest in providing this update, even with multiple message board threads talking about the dangers of the adaptive cruise control.
This complaint is not in response to an event. It is a safety issue resulting from a common problem with this vehicle model, i.e.: brake light failure. The tail/brake light LED circuit board has a design weakness resulting in cracking of the board in 2 common locations, resulting in stop light illumination failures, which cou…
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This complaint is not in response to an event. It is a safety issue resulting from a common problem with this vehicle model, i.e.: brake light failure. The tail/brake light LED circuit board has a design weakness resulting in cracking of the board in 2 common locations, resulting in stop light illumination failures, which could lead to rear end collisions. GM has not issued a recall and their extended warranty allowance is inadequate, thereby leaving a significant repair expense falling to owners when the problem is encountered. The proper safety response is for GM to recall all of the vehicles with this style tail light in order to repair the circuit board weakness.
Taillights and brake lights inoperative. GMC knows of problem and refuses to repair vehicle outside of manufacturer warranty (lights failed after warranty period). I have seen SEVERAL other Yukons on the road with NO brake lights or tail lights. Extremely dangerous situation.
Rear LED brake light stopped working. Supposed to have a vehicle lifetime lifespan. i.e. never require replacing. This light assembly was found to be defective in the previous year model and not fixed.
Car is shaking when accelerating. Feels like it will cause more damage.
Passenger rear tail lamp/brake lamp failure. This is a known issue with GMC Yukon vehicles MY 2015-2019 with LED tail lamps. Metal within the lamp vibrates loose and cause the brake lamp to fail - thus resulting in no BRAKE Lamps illuminating at braking. This would be the second time this issue has occurred in 4 months, with the…
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Passenger rear tail lamp/brake lamp failure. This is a known issue with GMC Yukon vehicles MY 2015-2019 with LED tail lamps. Metal within the lamp vibrates loose and cause the brake lamp to fail - thus resulting in no BRAKE Lamps illuminating at braking. This would be the second time this issue has occurred in 4 months, with the previous repair occurring rear drivers side and logged with NHTSA for this issue under 11436519. Opening this case as now the other side (passenger failed) with the EXACT same issue.
LED Taillight failure REAR DRIVERS SIDE. This seems to be a common occurance amongst GMC Yukon Denali XL, where the circuit housing for the LED board begins failure with fissure within the electrical contact points. The fissure soon erupts causing a shunt within the LED semiconductor and causing the brake lights to cease functio…
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LED Taillight failure REAR DRIVERS SIDE. This seems to be a common occurance amongst GMC Yukon Denali XL, where the circuit housing for the LED board begins failure with fissure within the electrical contact points. The fissure soon erupts causing a shunt within the LED semiconductor and causing the brake lights to cease functioning.
We were on the freeway with my 4 small children. The freeway speed is 75 mph. The car had been jerking and hard shifting for over a week and I had it scheduled with a mechanic. As we were driving on the freeway, it lost total power as cars were going to the left and right around us. I was barely able to get it to the side of the…
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We were on the freeway with my 4 small children. The freeway speed is 75 mph. The car had been jerking and hard shifting for over a week and I had it scheduled with a mechanic. As we were driving on the freeway, it lost total power as cars were going to the left and right around us. I was barely able to get it to the side of the road without being hit. This could have been tragic! I took it to the mechanic and the transmission is shaving a lot of metal (that was in the bottom of the pan). I have had to pay to have a whole new transmission redone. This is absurd with a car that is only 4 years old.
Official recalls
116V651000 · Air Bags:frontal; Air Bags:frontal:sensor/control MODULE-INACTIVE ; Seat Belts:pretensioner
Sep 8, 2016
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
Additional source detail variants (3)
Seat Belts:pretensioner
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Consequence: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
Air Bags:frontal:sensor/control MODULE-INACTIVE
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Consequence: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
Air Bags:frontal
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Consequence: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
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.