CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500 · model year

2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500

49 NHTSA complaints, 1 crash report for this specific cohort.

NHTSA overall rating

Not crash-tested

New Car Assessment Program

The 2008CHEVROLETAVALANCHE 1500 carries 49 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 1 crash, 0 fires, 3 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.

Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2008 AVALANCHE 1500 is air bags with 16 filings, followed by electrical system (7) and unknown or other (7). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.

NHTSA currently has 57 investigation files overlapping the 2008 AVALANCHE 1500, and 2 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.

49
Complaints
1
Crashes
0
Fires
3
Injuries
0
Deaths

Total Complaints

49 filings

Crashes Reported

1 reports

Source

NHTSA ODI

Federal complaints database

Complaints vs. fleet median (215)

At or below the fleet median complaint volume.

Complaints by Component

ComponentCount
AIR BAGS16
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM7
UNKNOWN OR OTHER7
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES4
STRUCTURE:BODY2
ENGINE2
SERVICE BRAKES2
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:SWITCH/WIRING1
TIRES1
TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS1
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER1
VISIBILITY1
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL1
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)1
POWER TRAIN1

Recent Complaints

20201003AIR BAGS

AIRBAG RECALL THAT HAS NOT BEEN REPLACED

20190514SERVICE BRAKES

DRIVING 60MPH AND LOST ALL LIGHTS POWER MOTOR EVERYTHING THE VEHICLE CAME BACK ON AND REPEATED THIS OVER AND OVER TILL IT WAS PARKED GM'S SAID MY TRUCK WASN'T COVERED SO I ASKED FOR THE RECALLED PART NUMBER AND WAS RUSHED OFF THE PHONE

Mileage: 120,000

20190514ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

DRIVING 60MPH AND LOST ALL LIGHTS POWER MOTOR EVERYTHING THE VEHICLE CAME BACK ON AND REPEATED THIS OVER AND OVER TILL IT WAS PARKED GM'S SAID MY TRUCK WASN'T COVERED SO I ASKED FOR THE RECALLED PART NUMBER AND WAS RUSHED OFF THE PHONE

Mileage: 120,000

20190514EXTERIOR LIGHTING

DRIVING 60MPH AND LOST ALL LIGHTS POWER MOTOR EVERYTHING THE VEHICLE CAME BACK ON AND REPEATED THIS OVER AND OVER TILL IT WAS PARKED GM'S SAID MY TRUCK WASN'T COVERED SO I ASKED FOR THE RECALLED PART NUMBER AND WAS RUSHED OFF THE PHONE

Mileage: 120,000

20180809AIR BAGS

THE DASH IS CRACKED IN THREE SPOTS, OVER THE INSTRUMENT PANEL, VENT AREA AND AT THE CORNER OF THE AIR BAG.

20180809UNKNOWN OR OTHER

THE DASH IS CRACKED IN THREE SPOTS, OVER THE INSTRUMENT PANEL, VENT AREA AND AT THE CORNER OF THE AIR BAG.

20180805AIR BAGS

TAKATA RECALL IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN 2 YRS SINCE I WAS NOTIFIED OF THE AIRBAG RECALL. MY AVALANCHE SENSORS ARE STATING THE AIRBAG SYSTEM HAS FAILED. I HAVE BEEN TO THE INTERNET WEB SITES AND THE DEALERSHIP DOZENS OF TIMES ONLY TO GET THE SAME FEEDBACK...NO SOLUTION HAS BEEN DETERMINED, NOTHING THEY CAN DO. IT IS PRETTY CLEAR TO ME THAT THEY KNOW HOW TO FIX THE ISSUE, BUT THEY ARE USING STALL TACTICS TO AVOID INCURING THE COST THEY ARE LEGALLY BOUND TO SPEND. MY PARTICULAR MAKE/MODEL/YEAR WAS SUPPOSED TO PRIORITIZED AND COMPLETED BY MARCH 2018. SINCE IT IS CLEAR TO ME THE STALL TACTICS HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH NO ACCOUNTABILITY, I THOUGHT MAYBE I WOULD TRADE THE CAR IN FOR A SAFER ONE WITHOUT AIR BAG PROBLEMS....NO DEALER WILL TAKE THE CAR IN ON TRADE BECAUSE OF THE AIR BAG PROBLEM. SO I AM STUCK DRIVING AN KNOWN-UNSAFE-VEHICLE AND PUTTING MY FAMILY AT RISK THE AIRBAG SYSTEM WON'T ARM, IT'S A KNOWN RECALL ISSUE, AND I CANNOT GET IT FIXED MAKES NO SENSE AND IS COMPLETELY UN

Mileage: 50,000

20180718CrashAIR BAGS

TAKARA RECALL. ON 7/11/18 I WAS IN A HEAD ON CAR ACCIDENT AND FRONT AIR BAGS S DID NOT DEPLOY, TRUCK WAS DRIVING 35MPH WHEN ANOTHER TRUCK PULLED OUT INTO MY LANE AND I HIT HIM VERY HARD , POLICE NOTICED AND ASKED SEVERAL TIMES IF AIRS BAGS DEPLOYED AND THEY DID NOT

Mileage: 250,000

20180413AIR BAGS

1-TAKATA RECALL 2- REAR DIFFERENTIAL- I HAD TO COMPLETELY REPLACE THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL AT 153,000 MILES. I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF THE SAME PROBLEM REPORTED ON DIFFERENT ONLINE FORUMS. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THIS. IT COST ME OVER $3,000. IT HAD MANY BROKEN PARTS INSIDE OF IT. IT COULD HAVE LOCKED UP THE REAR WHEELS AND CAUSED A VERY UNSAFE CONDITION. THANK YOU

Mileage: 153,000

20180413POWER TRAIN

1-TAKATA RECALL 2- REAR DIFFERENTIAL- I HAD TO COMPLETELY REPLACE THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL AT 153,000 MILES. I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF THE SAME PROBLEM REPORTED ON DIFFERENT ONLINE FORUMS. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THIS. IT COST ME OVER $3,000. IT HAD MANY BROKEN PARTS INSIDE OF IT. IT COULD HAVE LOCKED UP THE REAR WHEELS AND CAUSED A VERY UNSAFE CONDITION. THANK YOU

Mileage: 153,000

20180329AIR BAGS

TAKATA RECALL I AM STILL WAIT TO GET MY AIR SERVICE. I RECEIVED A RECALL IN 2016 AND STILL WAITING FOR SERVICE

20180307AIR BAGS

TAKATA RECALL CRITICAL SAFETY CONCERN. AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON AND IT NEEDED SERVICE CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTION, BREAK SENSOR

Mileage: 97,890

20180307SERVICE BRAKES

TAKATA RECALL CRITICAL SAFETY CONCERN. AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON AND IT NEEDED SERVICE CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTION, BREAK SENSOR

Mileage: 97,890

20180307ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

TAKATA RECALL CRITICAL SAFETY CONCERN. AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON AND IT NEEDED SERVICE CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTION, BREAK SENSOR

Mileage: 97,890

20180209AIR BAGS

RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF RECALL OCTOBER 2017. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER AND WAS ADVISED NO PARTS AVAILABLE I WILL BE NOTIFIED WHEN PARTS ARE AVAILABLE. HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WAIT TO FIX THIS ISSUE?

20180108AIR BAGS

TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNED A 2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, ALL SIX AIR BAGS DEPLOYED WITH FORCE. THERE WAS NO WARNING OR IMPACT PRIOR TO THE DEPLOYMENT. THE CONTACT COASTED THE VEHICLE TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND IT WAS TOWED TO A DEALER (5 STAR CHEVROLET IN 300 S BOONE ST, ABERDEEN, WA 98520: (360) 637-6869). THE INSURANCE COMPANY INVESTIGATED THE FAILURE. THE DEALER SENT INFORMATION TO THE MANUFACTURER. THE CONTACT WAITED MORE THAN A WEEK FOR A RESPONSE. THE MANUFACTURER INDICATED THAT DUE TO THE VEHICLE BEING TURNED OVER TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY, THEY WOULD NOT PROVIDE AN INVESTIGATION. THE DRIVER WAS NOT INJURED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000. *TT *TR

Mileage: 100,000

20171129AIR BAGS

I RECEIVED A RECALL ON MARCH 2016 AND NOTHING WAS DONE

20171122AIR BAGS

I CONTACTED ADVANTAGE CHEVROLET WHEN I RECEIVED THE RECALL NOTICE TELLING ME TO CALL TO SCHEDULE REPAIR AND WAS TOLD THERE IS NO ACTION TO TAKE AT THIS TIME, WHY DOES THE RECALL NOTICE TELL ME TO DO THIS IF THE DEALER ISN'T GOING TO CO-OPERATE, ALSO DEALER SAYS I WILL BE NOTIFIED BUT RECALL NOTICE SAYS I WILL NOT BE NOTIFIED IN THE FUTURE. I DO NOT HAVE A CLAIM OTHER THAN BEING PART OF THIS RECALL.

20171115AIR BAGS

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTIFICATION FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V387000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE DEALER (PARADISE CHEVROLET IN TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA) WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND WAS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM WHEN THE PARTS WERE TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE.

20171114AIR BAGS

"TAKATA RECALL" RECALL NOTICE ON FAULTY TAKATA DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG IN OUR '08 AVALANCHE RECEIVED JULY 2016 FROM GENERAL MOTORS. HAVE YET TO HEAR ANYTHING IN RETURN. FOLLOWED UP WITH H & H CHEVROLET IN OMAHA NE (DEALERSHIP OF PURCHASE) 11/2/17 REGARDING THE RECALL (STEVE FRENCH AND NICK PABLA). STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED A RETURN RESPONSE.

Compare 2008CHEVROLETAVALANCHE 1500 to Similar Vehicles

NHTSA Investigations 2 Open

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does the 2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500 have?
The 2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500 has 49 NHTSA complaints, 1 crashes, 0 fires, 3 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
What are the most common problems with the 2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500?
The most-complained component for the 2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500 is AIR BAGS with 16 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include ELECTRICAL SYSTEM and UNKNOWN OR OTHER.
Is the 2008 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 1500 safe to buy?
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. No NHTSA crash test rating is available for this model year. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

Vehicle Safety Guides

Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.