2017 GMC Terrain problems: recalls, complaints and whether this is a year to avoid

Is 2017 a good year for the GMC Terrain?

The spread across this nameplate is wide: the 2014 draws 6 times the complaints of the 2024. On a run like that the model year you buy matters more than the badge, and 2017 sits near the bottom of it.

Older years have been on the road longer and collect more complaints for that reason alone, and a year that sold in higher volume collects more while being no worse.

This retrieval holds 7 of the nameplate’s model years. 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023 are absent, which means no records came back for them — not that they were clean. The ranking above is among the years shown.

The 2017 accounts for 10% of every complaint filed against the GMC Terrain in this retrieval, which works out to 14.9 complaints per year on the road across the 9 years since it was sold new — the figure to compare against other years, because it removes the advantage a newer car gets simply from having had less time to accumulate reports.

Complaints fell against the preceding year: the 2017 carries 45% of the 2014’s reports. Some of that is age, but a drop this large between consecutive years often marks a fix.

Which recalls cover the 2017?

Take the campaign number to any franchised GMC dealer. Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit, and they follow the car rather than the owner, so a used 2017 with an unrepaired campaign is a free repair you can claim. How recalls work.

Recall text is abridged from the NHTSA record. Search the campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls for the full notice and affected VIN ranges.

What do owners report on the GMC Terrain?

Across every GMC Terrain year, not the 2017 alone — NHTSA does not split component totals by model year.

• Engine — 256 reports
• Power Train — 240 reports
• Service Brakes — 184 reports
• Electrical System — 154 reports

If your 2017 is doing something now, these are the guides for that system — each opens with whether it is safe to keep driving:

• Engine knocking
• Engine overheating
• Check engine light steady
• Rough idle or stalling

Which other GMC Terrain years should you compare?

← 2014 GMC Terrain · 2018 GMC Terrain → · All GMC Terrain years

If you are deciding between years, the table above is the short answer and the GMC Terrain page carries the full run with the component breakdown. Before money changes hands, run the VIN for open recalls and read the inspection checklist — ten minutes in the seller’s driveway finds most of what matters.