Problems · NHTSA complaints

1999 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 problems

Owners filed 90 complaints about the 1999 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 with NHTSA between Jan 2000 and Oct 2024. The most-cited component is service brakes, hydraulic (43).

Complaints
90
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
2
Reported by owners
Fires
2
Reported by owners
Injuries
5
People reported injured
Deaths
1
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Service brakes, hydraulic43
  2. Service brakes9
  3. Tires8
  4. Fuel system, gasoline6
  5. Electrical system5
  6. Seat belts3
  7. Structure3
  8. Engine and engine cooling3
  9. Fuel/propulsion system2
  10. Engine2
  11. Vehicle speed control2
  12. Air bags2
  13. Steering2
  14. Latches/locks/linkages1

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Nov 8, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
200014
20014
20023
20034
20043
20057
20066
20073
20086
20094
201013
20115
20122
20134
20144
20153
20161
20171
20181
20191
20200
20210
20220
20230
20241

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Service brakes, hydraulic

43 reports1 crash
“I WAS TRAVELING DOWN A STEEP HILL ON DRY PAVEMENT AND MY VEHICLE WAS PICKING UP SPEED SO I APPLIED THE BRAKES AND THE PEDAL WENT STRAIGHT TO THE FLOOR. I STARTED FRANTICALLY PUMPING THE BRAKES AS I NOTICED THE CROSSING GUARD GOING DOWN ON THE TRAIN TRACKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL AND STILL NO BRAKES AT ALL...AFTER REALIZING I WAS COMPLETELY WITHOUT ANY BRAKE PEDAL I IMMEDIATELY DOWNSHIFTED TO 1ST GEAR WHICH SLOWED THE VEHICLE DOWN AND I REMEMBERED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE AND I THEN JAMMED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE PEDAL TO THE FLOOR WHICH STOPPED ME 20 FT FROM HITTING THE SIDE OF A CARGO TRAIN...AS A GUY WHO REPAIRS MECHANICAL SYSTEMS FOR A LIVING I WAS TOTALLY FLOORED THAT THE BRAKE SYSTEM COULD FAIL TOTALLY,.... I THEN TOOK MY TRUCK TO MY MECHANIC WHO SAID THE BRAKE LINES WERE TOTALLY RUSTED OUT AND THAT BOTH FRONT BRAKE LINES HAD BLOWN LARGE HOLES BETWEEN THE MASTER CYLINDER AND THE ABS MODULE AND HE TOLD ME I WAS LUCKY THAT MY TRUCK WAS NOT RUNNING VERY LONG BEFORE BLOWING THE LINE AS IT COULD HAVE STARTED A FIRE AS THE BRAKE FLUID WAS SPRAYING DIRECTLY ON THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD...HE RECOMMENDED CHANGING EVERY BRAKE LINE ON MY TRUCK AS ALL WERE SEVERELY RUSTED OUT AND…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 13, 2012Service brakes, hydraulicODI 10447850

Service brakes

9 reports
“THE PARKING BRAKE HAS NEVER WORKED PROPERLY SINCE NEW. YOUR PARTIAL RECALL FIX FOR STANDARD TRANSMISSIONS ONLY IS INADEQUATE. MAKE ME WONDER ABOUT UNDUE GM INFLUENCE. JUST BECAUSE THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TRUCKS HAVE PARK. THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR GM NOT TO FIX THE PARKING BRAKE.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 4, 2019Service brakesODI 11184032

Tires

8 reports1 fire
“SUBMISSION REGARDING AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT CAUSED BY BF GOODRICH TIRES (LAND TERRAIN LT 245/75R 16 LOAD RANGE E DOT N911) SEEKING REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPAIRS. *TS WHILE DRIVING THE CONSUMER NOTICED A SEVERE VIBRATION. AS THE CONSUMER PULLED OVER TO INSPECT THE VEHICLE THE PASSENGER SIDE REAR TIRE BLEWOUT. THE BLOWOUT DAMAGED THE RIGHT REAR QUARTER PANEL, MUFFLER, MUFFLER SUPPORT AND TAIL PIPE. IT APPEAR TO THE CONSUMER THAT THE TIRE TREAD SEPARATED AND CAUSED THE TIRE TO BLOWOUT. *NM”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 26, 2006TiresODI 10170139

Fuel system, gasoline

6 reports1 related recall
“THE FUEL GAUGE MALFUNCTIONS AFTER FILLING TANK - IT READS EMPTY IMMEDIATELY AND INTERMITTENTLY THEREAFTER AT ANY FUEL LEVEL. IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR TRAVELING ANY LONG DISTANCE AS YOU ARE NOT QUITE SURE HOW MUCH FUEL IS AVAILABLE OR IF IT WILL SHUT DOWN ON ME DURING A DIFFICULT SITUATION. WE HAVE CONTACTED GM AND THEY WANT TO CHARGE ME TO CHECK IT AND THIS HAS BEEN REPORTED AS A PROBLEM FOR MULTIPLE MODELS TO GM. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 31, 2014Fuel system, gasolineODI 10618019

Electrical system

5 reports1 fire
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE POWER STEERING AND BRAKES MALFUNCTIONED. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE HYDROBOOST MALFUNCTIONED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 193,348.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 14, 2015Electrical system, Service brakes, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 10748744

Seat belts

3 reports
“Got my registration form to update my tags and I saw the comments at the bottom say this vehicle has a recall.. so I decided to call the dealer to set up a appointment to get it fixed when I called the dealer, they said that they didn’t have the part so they will contact me as soon as possible so I waited almost a week no response at all so I decided to call them back to find out what was going on with the update. they claim that the part is not available anymore because it is a older vehicle so they need to talk to his manager or someone higher at the dealers to find out how they can do this to get my recall fixed so they told me they will call me again as soon as possible Other week pass so I need to call the dealer again because they never did.. once I call them, they say oh yeah, I see that you already call. Let me check and find out what going on with the recall of the seatbelts!! He said you know what let me call you like an hour to found out all the information of it.. I want to say a lesson an hour they said that they couldn’t help me because my vehicle is old and the manufacture. They don’t make those seatbelts no more so they cannot help me at all. So…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 9, 2024Seat beltsODI 11618977
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 8, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.