Vibration Issue During Test Drive

jp1170 · June 3, 2015

So i'm in the market for a new truck and i've really had my eye on a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 All Terrain....so i stopped in at a local dealer this afternoon who had one and took it for a test drive. All i can say is WOW did that think vibrate like crazy at pretty much any speed above 40 MPH. The fastest i got up to was 65 MPH and the vibration was bad enough that it gave me a headache and i didn't drive it but about 7-8 miles. The steering wheel was shaking really bad and i was really concerned to go much faster. I immediately turned around and went back to the dealer and informed them of what i experienced of course they denied knowing anything about the new trucks having any kind of vibration problem even after i told them of all the cases that i have read about on forums like this one. I guess long story short that test drive really put a bad taste in my mouth for GMC especially since there doesn't seem to be a know fix for the issue and some have just gotten lucky that their dealership would just replace anything and everything until it got better.

Is it worth trying to test drive another? I'm really leary that even if it doesn't vibrate during the test drive that if i bought one the problem might show up soon after I drive it home. It seems that the problem is pretty common among forum members but then again the amount of members and problems I read about on here only represent a small % of current sierra owners. This really sucks cause i've been looking at a bunch of different trucks and i thought i had decided what i wanted and now i'm not so sure!

Specs of the truck i test drove

2015 Sierra 1500 SLE Crew Cab Short Box

All Terrain Package

20" All Terrain Wheels

5.3 with 3.42 rear end

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · June 3, 2015

So far from what I've read on here there's really no common denominator as to what might be causing it. Some got lucky and had new tires put on or rebalanced and I believe one person had the driveshaft either rebalanced or had a new one put on.

I know being on forums it seems like a large % of these trucks have vibrations, when in reality you can't go buy less than 100 people on here with vibrations when 3/4 of a million were sold. I have almost 13,000 on my Silverado (bought in April of last year) and it's as smooth as it was the day I bought it. 0 vibration at any speed (and testing out the governer I did get it up to 98 once). If the truck you buy has a vibration you can get GM to buy it back and you just get another one. I wouldn't assume all of these trucks have that problem. Be lucky that was vibrating during the test drive.

20L8TSierra24 · June 3, 2015

Drive another. Like stated above, 750000 of these have been sold in 2 years and we have maybe 2-300 complaints (rough guess). Trust me, if people were having that many issues w vibration that vib thread would be 10x as long. People don't join a forum to say how much they love there truck usually. They join to try and find help for what they might be experiencing

51 ashton · June 3, 2015

I used to have 14gmc that had most of the issues in the list on this forums. Some i had mentioned here and some i did not because there is enough people beating a dead horse one way or the other. as for the number of complaints vs number of trucks built is skewed. Im certain that it is more than that. Some buyers dont have access to these forums so you dont see thier issues or the outcomes at the dealership either. I had a vibration that shook the coffee from my cup and sent it flying onto the passenger seat. I didnt post it here but quietly hid in the shadows. When i went to install wheel well liners and i removed the hubcap to remove the wheels as instructed. On the left wheel written in black sharpie i find the word "BENT" WTF! I dont know if it was bent or not but i put the cap back on and bought another brand truck. That was the straw that broke the camels back. So to say there is only a small percentage that have vibrations on this site may be true but universally ill bet my dog there are more vibrations undocumented than documented.

14silverado4.3 · June 3, 2015

51 ashton, that is great!

BluByU14 · June 3, 2015

I had 2 Sierra's over the last year. One with a 2014 DC and one was a 2015 DC. The 2014 was bought back by GM due to the vibration issue. The 2015 didnt vibrate as bad, but was still very noticeable and not acceptable for a $50,000 truck. Thought I could live with the 2015 vibs, but there were other issues with the truck the sent me over the edge. Ended up dumping the 2015 for a different brand of truck, which doesnt vibrate at all. So I will leave you with this..... Either I have really bad luck in getting 2 GM trucks that had unfixable vibrations or GM has a major quality/engineering issue on their hands.

Stevens03 · June 3, 2015

My 2014 don't vibrate. I've got nearly 11k mileage and zero issues. Just drive the truck thoroughly and judge from there. I went on a 1/2 hour drive with my current truck and a second before choosing the one I wanted. I put the truck though rough and smooth roads, highway and back roads, up and down hills to see how the truck reacted.

I've owned an 2003 5.3L Silverado , 2007 Sierra 6.0L vmax, 2011 GMC 6.2L and now the 2014 with the 5.3L, I believe the 2014 is superior in many ways. Don't judge the entire truck line on one test drive. Clearly there's an issue with vibration in some trucks but I don't believe its as wide spread as people here on the forums lead you to believe. I swear, I hardly see a pre-2013 truck on the road in my area. 95% of them are 2014-up and I just can't believe they're all screwed up.

strike1st · June 4, 2015

My 2014 GMC All Terrain with 11k miles on it doesn't vibrate but does have a roof leak GM can't find so they cant fix it and are telling me I'm stuck with it. I've owned a new 1997 chevy, new 2002 chevy, new 2009 chevy, 2012 Chevy and now the new 2014 gmc. I've been loyal to GM. I'm now shopping for another brand of truck.

jp1170 · June 4, 2015

My 2014 GMC All Terrain with 11k miles on it doesn't vibrate but does have a roof leak GM can't find so they cant fix it and are telling me I'm stuck with it. I've owned a new 1997 chevy, new 2002 chevy, new 2009 chevy, 2012 Chevy and now the new 2014 gmc. I've been loyal to GM. I'm now shopping for another brand of truck.

That's why i'm hesitant to purchase a GM product because it seems that they are aware of problems but don't seem to be real active about solving some of them or concerned with doing what they can to make things right with their customers. I haven't posted on here in a while as i've owned two Ford F150's with the 3.5 ecoboost engine in the mean time since i owned the Sierra in my profile picture. I have loved my F150's and haven't had any issues with them but Ford is getting greedy and trying to gouge people with their new prices for trucks! So i've been shopping around looking for an alternative. After test driving one yesterday i'm leaning more towards a new Tundra. I know i'll probably get criticized for a post like this since it is a GM forum but for me i'm not loyal to one brand it's just what ever i like at the time and what makes the most since financially that's why i'm on here along with F150 forums and tundra forums, i like to get feedback from actual owners of the vehicles i'm considering purchasing. So with that said thank you to anyone who take to time to give some feedback and opinions.

tnchevy · June 5, 2015

Get what you like, you have to remember this is a forum where people with gripes will always post their problems, the same on any forum. GM has sold nearly a million of these K2 trucks by now compared to Toyota selling 100,000 a year of the tundra. I bet they both have the same percentage of trucks with problems. I also looked hard at a Tundra but in my area they were too expensive, the big 5.7 engine was not very impressive in the power department, and gas mileage sucked. If I could have got a Tundra for 25% off the sticker price I would have probably bought one but wasn't paying near sticker for one.

BluByU14 · June 5, 2015

That's why i'm hesitant to purchase a GM product because it seems that they are aware of problems but don't seem to be real active about solving some of them or concerned with doing what they can to make things right with their customers. I haven't posted on here in a while as i've owned two Ford F150's with the 3.5 ecoboost engine in the mean time since i owned the Sierra in my profile picture. I have loved my F150's and haven't had any issues with them but Ford is getting greedy and trying to gouge people with their new prices for trucks! So i've been shopping around looking for an alternative. After test driving one yesterday i'm leaning more towards a new Tundra. I know i'll probably get criticized for a post like this since it is a GM forum but for me i'm not loyal to one brand it's just what ever i like at the time and what makes the most since financially that's why i'm on here along with F150 forums and tundra forums, i like to get feedback from actual owners of the vehicles i'm considering purchasing. So with that said thank you to anyone who take to time to give some feedback and opinions.

I was a loyal GM customer my entire life. Wouldn't even consider driving or owning any other brand. I had always had great luck with all of my previous GM vehicles (6 GM cars/trucks in last 10 years). As I posted above, I had some really really bad luck with 2 of these new GM trucks. Problems ranged from unsolvable vibration and transmission issues to water leaks and electrical issues. After I had enough......I went and test drove the 2015 F150, Tundra, and Ram 1500. Ended up going with the Ram. I'm not here to sell you on a Ram, but I it's finally nice having a truck the runs the way it should and doesnt need to go to the dealer every other week like my GMC's did. The Hemi runs strong and the ZF 8-Speed transmission is super smooth/responsive. There are many other things I like about the Ram over the Sierra, but there are definitely things I miss about my Sierra. I am probably the minority here as most owners have reported no issues what so ever with their K2's. As tnchevy said, get what you like and what makes sense for you. I would suggest finding another Sierra or Silverado to thoroughly test drive before you look to another brand. If you feel vibrations after another test drive or two.....might be time to consider something else.

2007silveradonbs · June 5, 2015

I've had an 07, 12 and now a 15 GM truck. Not a single one of them has had a vibration issue. My 15 is hands down the best one I have owned out of the bunch. The only vibration I have had was from the dealer incorrectly installing my GM/Borla Exhaust. I wouldn't buy any other brand. The GM line of trucks is by far the best looking right now.

tnchevy · June 5, 2015

My last 3 trucks have been silverado's (92,02,14) and been in them for 17 years now but I am by no means a GM fanboy. Actually the Ram was my pick of all the trucks when I was shopping around but finding one in an ext cab and moderately equipped is near impossible in my area. It felt like it had the most balls off the line and the transmission was the smoothest. I wasn't too happy when my 02 silverado started rotting apart on me (body, brake, gas, and tranny lines) but GM got me back in one by being the cheapest ext. cab with the decent options and the best interior IMO of all the options out there in my area.

Stevens03 · June 5, 2015

My 2014 GMC All Terrain with 11k miles on it doesn't vibrate but does have a roof leak GM can't find so they cant fix it and are telling me I'm stuck with it. I've owned a new 1997 chevy, new 2002 chevy, new 2009 chevy, 2012 Chevy and now the new 2014 gmc. I've been loyal to GM. I'm now shopping for another brand of truck.

Thats on your dealership. Has nothing to do with the entire GM truck line. I've dealt with crappy dealerships from dodge, to ford and Toyota. You Need to call GM direct and tell them to find a dealership that CAN Fix the leak. Your not stuck with it.

strike1st · June 5, 2015

Avtaully it's Going to another dealer on the 15th...but my GM senior. Customer care rep said the same thing can fix what they can't find...so...wait until it does it again...that's when I blew a gasket