2011 Chevrolet Avalanche Air Bags Problems
Owners have filed 55 complaints with NHTSA about air bags problems on the 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche, 43% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 68,000 miles. The words owners use most often: “takata air bags” (18% of reports).
- 55air bags complaints
- 68,000median miles at failure
- 1mention a crash
- 1mention an injury
- 2related recalls
What owners describe
Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.
- Takata air bags: mentioned in 10 of 55 complaints (18%)
- Dashboard cracked: mentioned in 6 of 55 complaints (11%)
- Side airbag: mentioned in 5 of 55 complaints (9%)
At what mileage do air bags problems happen?
Based on 24 complaints that reported the odometer reading.
How serious are the reports?
Of 55 complaints, 1 mention a crash, 1 an injury.
Chevrolet Avalanche air bags complaints by model year
| Model year | Air Bags complaints | Share of that year | Median miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 Avalanche | 22 | 27% | 49,000 |
| 2012 Avalanche | 6 | 17% | 38,900 |
| 2011 Avalanche | 55 | 43% | 68,000 |
| 2010 Avalanche | 53 | 48% | 70,500 |
| 2009 Avalanche | 41 | 54% | 75,500 |
| 2008 Avalanche | 132 | 51% | 80,000 |
| 2007 Avalanche | 225 | 60% | 104,000 |
| 2006 Avalanche | 1 | 9% | 51,778 |
| 2005 Avalanche | 11 | 15% | 44,750 |
| 2004 Avalanche | 9 | 5% | 39,500 |
| 2003 Avalanche | 14 | 7% | 78,000 |
| 2002 Avalanche | 22 | 5% | 65,450 |
When owners reported it
Related recalls (2)
Air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator module
Problem: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, SC, TX, PR, AS, GU, the MP, and VI or "Zone A." Additionally GM is recalling certain 2011-2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL and 2011-2013 Cadillac Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AZ, AR, DE, DC, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MO, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NC, OH, OK, PA, TN, VA, and WV or "Zone B." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2010-2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL and 2010-2013 Cadillac Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MT, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI, and WY or "Zone C." These vehicles are equipped with non-desiccated passenger frontal inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 25, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed to 40 VIN owners on May 11, 2021. A second owner notification letter was mailed to all other owners on January 24, 2022. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328800.
Air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator module
Problem: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL, and 2009-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra 2500 and Sierra 3500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." These vehicles are equipped with non-desiccated passenger frontal inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 1, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328760.
What owners report
Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.
February of 2021 I was notified the driver side air bag in my truck I drive daily has an issue that if goes off can cause serious injury or death. that as 6 months ago and still no path forward to fix it, how safe it this for me to drive is death is an option? I feel this would be a concern for…
Was advised of the recall of my vehicle on Feb 26th 2021 and that the part to fix the problem was not available it is now six months later and have heard nothing and don,t know how log they expect people to wait with a faulty part to be repaired.
Dashboard has 5 large cracks 4 lateral an 1 vertical top front speaker has fallen off clips.vehicle dashboard started cracking while just sitting over time and while driving road vibration help cracking continue i'm afraid that with the cracking since it is in the passenger airbag area as well it…
Frequently asked questions
Do all 2011 Chevrolet Avalanches have air bags problems?
No. NHTSA has 55 owner complaints about air bags for the 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche (43% of the 127 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.
Was there a recall on the 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche air bags?
Yes: 2 safety recalls list air bags. Check your VIN on NHTSA.gov to see whether the fix was done on your car.
At what mileage do air bags problems start?
The median reported mileage is 68,000 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.
What do owners say about air bags problems on the 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche?
The most frequent phrase is “takata air bags”, in 10 of 55 complaints, followed by “dashboard cracked” (6).
See all 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche problems or air bags problems across all Avalanche years.