1996 GMC Z-71

Routine

Owners filed 4 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the power train › automatic transmission. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails

Component	Reports	Crashes	Injuries
Power Train › Automatic Transmission	2	0	0
Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip	1	0	0
Air Bags › Frontal	1	1	1

What owners reported

Newest filings

Power Train › Automatic Transmission

Filed Dec 30, 2003MI

I HAVE A 1996 GMC 1/2 TON PICK UP Z71. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF REPLACING THE TRANSMISSION FOR THE 2ND TIME. I MADE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ON THE FIRST TRANNY, WHILE STILL UNDER WARRANTY AT ELHART GMC IN HOLLAND, MI. THEY KEPT TELLING ME THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG. AT 60K TRANNY WAS TOAST. I PAID $2000 FOR A NEW TRANNY WITH A 3 YEAR/50K WARRANTY. JUST SHORT OF 3 YEARS, BUT ONLY 29K MILES LATER 2ND TRANNY FAILED. AT ELHART (FOR THE LAST TIME) THEY PUT FLUID IN IT, AND TOLD ME THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH TRANNY. NOW AT GOOD GMC IN GRAND RAPIDS, MI THEY ARE REPLACING TRANNY. MY MAIN ISSUE IS THEY TELL ME THAT THIS NEW TRANNY WILL ONLY HAVE A 12 MONTH/ 12K MILE WARRANTY. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!! PLEASE HELP!!

Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip

Filed Jan 12, 2000CA

ABS SYSTEM KEEPS GOING OUT. DEALER UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE CAUSE. *AK *ML

Air Bags › FrontalCrash1 injured

Filed Nov 19, 1999TX

AIR BAG DID NOT DEPLOY AND THE DRIVESHAFT FELL OFF DURING A VEHICLE COLLISION. NLM

Power Train › Automatic Transmission

Filed Aug 3, 1999NC

2 NEW TRANS AND 2 TRANS REPAIRS-PROBLEM IS STILL NOT FIXED!! WHATS UP?? OFF ROAD VEHICLE

4 of 4 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1999

Year	Complaints	Assessment
2000	4	Routine
1999	11	Routine
1998	3	Routine
1997	8	Routine
1996 — this page	4	Routine

Compare every Z-71 year →

Other GMC models

All GMC models →

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Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.