Owners filed 2,241 complaints about the 2015–2025 Chevrolet Colorado with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 47th-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2016 model year drew the most (707), and the single most-reported problem area is steering, named in 41% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2016, with 707 complaints, led by steering (457).
- Spike years: 2015 (3.7× the typical year), 2016 (5.3× the typical year), 2017 (1.6× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: automatic emergency braking / collision warning complaints came at a median of 6k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 19 complaints mention a fire and 62 mention a crash; owners reported 57 injuries and 3 deaths.
Chevrolet Colorado complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 490 | Steering (358), Electronic Stability Control (esc) (56), Electrical system (53) | 52k mi | 17 | 4 |
| 2016 | 707 | Steering (457), Electrical system (117), Transmission / powertrain (97) | 43k mi | 14 | 1 |
| 2017 | 216 | Transmission / powertrain (107), Electrical system (41), Engine (26) | 26k mi | 5 | 0 |
| 2018 | 183 | Transmission / powertrain (78), Electrical system (34), Engine (24) | 14k mi | 3 | 5 |
| 2019 | 150 | Transmission / powertrain (65), Electrical system (24), Steering (22) | 8k mi | 6 | 4 |
| 2020 | 84 | Transmission / powertrain (33), Engine (17), Steering (10) | 24k mi | 1 | 3 |
| 2021 | 75 | Engine (18), Brakes (17), Transmission / powertrain (11) | 44k mi | 6 | 1 |
| 2022 | 54 | Electrical system (20), Steering (12), Brakes (8) | 21k mi | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 134 | Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (45), Electrical system (41), Brakes (23) | 8k mi | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 121 | Electrical system (35), Brakes (27), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (22) | 5k mi | 6 | 1 |
| 2025 | 27 | Brakes (9), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (8), Electrical system (7) | 112k mi | 1 | 0 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported Chevrolet Colorado problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steering | 918 | 41% | 60k mi | Power steering repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 464 | 21% | 12k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Electrical system | 389 | 17% | 35k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Engine | 238 | 11% | 30k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Brakes | 168 | 8% | 25k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Electronic Stability Control (esc) | 98 | 4% | 54k mi | — |
| Automatic emergency braking / collision warning | 88 | 4% | 6k mi | — |
| Fuel system | 70 | 3% | 24k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Other Chevrolet models in the index
- Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (7,160)
- Chevrolet Malibu (3,192)
- Chevrolet Equinox (3,023)
- Chevrolet Traverse (2,644)
- Chevrolet Tahoe (2,306)
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.