Total Complaints
9 filings
GMC C2500 · model year
9 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1989GMCC2500 carries 9 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 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 1989 C2500 is engine and engine cooling:cooling system:radiator assembly with 3 filings, followed by seat belts:front:buckle assembly (1) and engine and engine cooling:engine:gasoline (1). 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 2 investigation files overlapping the 1989 C2500. 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.
Total Complaints
9 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM:RADIATOR ASSEMBLY | 3 |
| SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE | 1 |
| SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR | 1 |
| STEERING | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS | 1 |
RADIATOR FAILED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. *YH
SPEEDOMETER FAILED. *YH
BRAKES FAILED ON SEVERAL OCCASION AND THE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN RESOLVED. *YH
RADIATOR FAILED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. *YH
THE SEAL KING PINS ON THE STEERING CANNOT BE GREASED & THEY WEAR OUT FAST. *AK
DRIVER'S AND PASSENGER'S SHOULDER STRAPS GET LOOSE, WILL NOT LOCK IN POSITION, DO NOT RETRACT, CAUSING LOSS OF PROTECTION WHICH COULD RESULT IN INJURIES IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT. *AK
TOO SMALL RADIATOR FOR THIS SIZE OF TRUCK. RADIATOR OVERHEATS.
ENGINE STARTED BURNING OIL AFTER A OIL CHANGE. PLEASE GIVE DETAIL. *AK
THE DRIVER SIDE SEAT BELT BUCKLE BROKE . TT *JB
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.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.