2008 Chevrolet Suburban Problems, Complaints & Recalls
- Compared with other Suburban years
- More complaints than other years 12th of 30 for complaints
- Safety recalls
- 4 recalls: check your VIN
- NHTSA crash rating
- Not rated
Owners have filed 213 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Chevrolet Suburban. That ranks 12th out of 30 Suburban model years for complaints. The most reported problem area is air bags (96 complaints, 45%), typically at around 100,000 miles. Complaints mention 3 crashes, 11 injuries. There are 4 safety recalls covering this model year. NHTSA has opened 1 defect investigation involving it.
- 213owner complaints
- 4safety recalls
- 1NHTSA investigations
- 3complaints mentioning a crash
Complaints are unverified owner reports and are not adjusted for sales volume.
Most common 2008 Chevrolet Suburban problems
Complaints grouped by the part of the car owners reported, with the median mileage when the problem happened.
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median miles | Owners mention most | Typical repair cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Bags problems | 96 | 45% | 100,000 | “takata air bags” (32%) | — |
| Unknown or Other | 38 | 18% | 90,000 | — | — |
| Structure | 30 | 14% | 80,000 | — | — |
| Engine | 25 | 12% | 125,000 | — | — |
| Electrical System | 22 | 10% | 60,000 | — | — |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 20 | 9% | 53,000 | — | — |
| Power Train | 7 | 3% | 142,500 | — | — |
| Electronic Stability Control (esc) | 5 | 2% | 98,300 | — | — |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 5 | 2% | 117,300 | — | — |
| Visibility | 4 | 2% | 106,000 | — | — |
| Service Brakes | 3 | 1% | 94,682 | — | — |
| Suspension | 3 | 1% | 164,500 | — | — |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 3 | 1% | 140,000 | — | — |
| Child Seat | 2 | 1% | — | — | — |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 2 | 1% | 51,000 | — | — |
| Equipment | 2 | 1% | 85,062 | — | — |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 1 | 0% | 42,000 | — | — |
| Seat Belts | 1 | 0% | — | — | — |
| Steering | 1 | 0% | — | — | — |
| Tires | 1 | 0% | — | — | — |
| Traction Control System | 1 | 0% | — | — | — |
| Visibility/wiper | 1 | 0% | 135,000 | — | — |
| Wheels | 1 | 0% | 75,000 | — | — |
One complaint can list several problem areas, so shares can add up to more than 100%.
Complaints by year received
2008 Chevrolet Suburban recalls (4)
Tap a recall to see the problem, the risk and the fix.
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.
Air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator module
Problem: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2009 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and 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." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming 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 23, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 20, 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 N212328780.
Electrical system
Problem: Gm is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 buick, lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; model year 2008-2009 buick enclave; cadillac cts; model year 2007-2009 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl; saturn outlook; and model year 2009 chevrolet traverse vehicles equipped with a heated washer fluid system (hwfs). A recall was implemented in 2008 to add a fuse to the control circuit harness to address the potential consequences of a printed circuit board (pcb) electrical short. However, there have been new reports of thermal incidents on hwfs modules after this improvement was installed. These incidents resulted from a new failure mode attributed to the device's thermal protection feature. The significance varies from minor distortion to considerable melting of the plastic around the hwfs fluid chamber.
Risk: It is possible for the heated washer module to ignite and a fire may occur.
Fix: Dealers will permanently disable and remove the heated washer fluid module. An updated page for the owner manual will be provided and inserted in the owner manual to document that the feature has been permanently disabled and removed from the vehicle. The safety recall began on june 11, 2010. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080, cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, saturn at 1-800-972-8876, gmc at 1-866-996-9463 and hummer at 1-800-732-5493 or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com.
Electrical system
Problem: Gm is recalling 857,735 my 2006-2008 buick lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; my 2007-2008 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl, saturn outlook; and my 2008 buick enclave vehicles equipped with a heated wiper washer fluid system. A short circuit on the printed circuit board for the washer fluid heater may overheat the control-circuit ground wire.
Risk: This may cause other electrical features to malfunction, create an odor, or cause smoke increasing the risk of a fire.
Fix: Dealers will install a wire harness with an in-line fuse free of charge. The recall began on september 12, 2008. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080; cadillac at 1-800-982-2339 or http://www.cadillac.com; chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438; saturn at 1-800-972-8876 or http://www.saturn.com, gmc at 1-866-996-9436; or hummer at 1-800-732-5493; or through their website at <a href=http://www.gmownercenter.com>http://www.gmownercenter.com</a> .
To see whether a specific car still has an open recall, enter its VIN on NHTSA's official recall lookup. You can also decode a VIN here.
NHTSA defect investigations
- Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture (EA21002) — opened Sep 17, 2021, still open.
Recent owner reports
Short excerpts of the latest complaints filed with NHTSA, with personal details removed. Full reports can be searched on NHTSA.gov.
The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at 30 MPH, she started to choke and was unable to breathe, which resulted in the driver fully colliding into a cement wall. The driver sustained injuries, and medical attention was provided, and the…
The contact owned a 2008 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact received recall notifications of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V050000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list because she no longer owns the vehicle. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not contacted.
Took my SUV for an airbag recall and when it was completed my truck AirBag light was left on. My truck did not have that light on when I arrived at the location. Dealer mentioned not knowing what to do about it. I made a complaint and nothing was done by the dealer.
The dash board in the vehicle is cracked and none is able to fix problems. The engine misfire and to figure out the problem cost lost of money. The lifters goes bad on vehicle. Suspension works always need.
I have a 2008 Suburban. Beginning in August, there was an accident on the highway and traffic was backed up. I was idling, waiting for the traffic to move, like every other car on the hightway and the suburban just shut off and said "Stablitrak off." It happened numerous times after this, just when…
Other Chevrolet Suburban years
← 2007 Suburban · 2009 Suburban →
| Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Suburban | 44 | 1 |
| 2023 Suburban | 130 | 3 |
| 2022 Suburban | 124 | 4 |
| 2021 Suburban | 200 | 12 |
| 2020 Suburban | 44 | 4 |
| 2019 Suburban | 78 | 3 |
| 2018 Suburban | 84 | 4 |
| 2017 Suburban | 141 | 5 |
| 2016 Suburban | 220 | 6 |
| 2015 Suburban | 430 | 11 |
| 2014 Suburban | 59 | 3 |
| 2013 Suburban | 118 | 4 |
| 2012 Suburban | 101 | 4 |
| 2011 Suburban | 148 | 3 |
| 2010 Suburban | 117 | 3 |
| 2009 Suburban | 106 | 5 |
| 2008 | 213 | 4 |
| 2007 Suburban | 292 | 4 |
| 2006 Suburban | 23 | 1 |
| 2005 Suburban | 129 | 6 |
| 2004 Suburban | 204 | 4 |
| 2003 Suburban | 301 | 5 |
| 2002 Suburban | 286 | 2 |
| 2001 Suburban | 440 | 6 |
| 2000 Suburban | 282 | 8 |
| 1999 Suburban | 634 | 1 |
| 1998 Suburban | 201 | 2 |
| 1997 Suburban | 414 | 2 |
| 1996 Suburban | 360 | 3 |
| 1995 Suburban | 457 | 6 |
See all Chevrolet Suburban problems by year, every Chevrolet model, or the Chevrolet VIN decoder.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the most common problems with the 2008 Chevrolet Suburban?
Owners most often report air bags, unknown or other, structure problems. The top one, air bags, accounts for 96 complaints.
Was there a recall on the 2008 Chevrolet Suburban?
Yes, 4 safety recalls. Enter your VIN at NHTSA.gov to check whether the repairs were done on your car.
Was the 2008 Chevrolet Suburban a good year?
Complaint data can't fully answer that, because counts aren't adjusted for sales. Compared with other Suburban model years, the 2008 has more complaints than most years. Always get a pre-purchase inspection and check the VIN for open recalls.