Model Years

2016 GMC Terrain Recalls and Problems

NHTSA lists 2 safety recalls and 152 owner complaints for the 2016 GMC Terrain.

2Safety recalls
152Owner complaints
9Complaints citing a crash
0Complaints citing a fire

Opens NHTSA's lookup in a new tab; your VIN goes to NHTSA, not to us. The VIN is on the driver's side dashboard, the door jamb and your registration. Safety recall repairs are free at GMC dealers.

Data: NHTSA recall and complaint filesUpdated Sep 28, 2026

Recalled components: exterior lighting and equipment. Most-described problem: wiper failures (44 complaints, 29%). Most-reported area: engine (46 complaints, 30%; median mileage when it happened: 70,000).

2 safety recalls for the 2016 GMC Terrain

Newest first. Summaries are NHTSA's own wording. Open a recall for the fix and the full notice.

Exterior lighting

Mar 8, 2022

headlights

  • Fails federal standard 108 (lighting)
  • NHTSA 22V-137
  • 740,581 vehicles

A reflection caused by the headlight housings may illuminate areas above the vehicle and outside of the driver's view with excessively bright light. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

Risk: The bright reflection may cause a glare for other drivers, reducing their visibility and increasing the risk of a crash.

The fix and full notice

Fix: Dealers will install headlamp appliques, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 8, 2022. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N222363740.

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2010-2017 GMC Terrain vehicles.

NHTSA listing: TERRAIN. GMC campaign N222363740.

Equipment

Jun 21, 2016

labels

  • Fails federal standard 110 (tire and rim labeling)
  • NHTSA 16V-449
  • 17 vehicles

The certification labels may have incorrect tire/rim size and cold tire pressure information. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

Risk: If the information on the certification labels is incorrect, the operator may install incorrectly sized tires or rims or may improperly inflate the tires, increasing the risk of a crash.

The fix and full notice

Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the certification label, free of charge. The recall began on July 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1050, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 46600.

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles manufactured October 16, 2015.

NHTSA listing: TERRAIN. Components: Equipment: labels; Tires. GMC campaign 46600.

Questions about any of these recalls: call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 (TTY 888-275-9171) or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

What owners report

Owners have filed 152 complaints with NHTSA about the 2016 Terrain. Below, they are sorted by the problems owners describe and by the areas NHTSA files them under. NHTSA does not verify complaints.

Problems owners describe

Counted from the complaint text: a complaint counts once for each problem it describes (how we match them). Some complaints describe none of these.

Areas named in complaints

A complaint can name more than one area, so shares add up to more than 100%. Mileage is shown where at least 15 owners reported it.

GMC Terrain recalls and complaints by model year

The highlighted bars are the 2016 model year. Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower. Counting complaints filed in each model year's first three years, the 2018 Terrain drew the most (65) and the 2016 drew 15.

Owner complaints

2016: 152 complaints

Show as a table
Owner complaints by model year, GMC Terrain
Model yearComplaints
2016152
2017133
2018220
2019185
2020196
202135
202288
202339
202449
202513
202633

Safety recalls

2016: 2 recalls

Show as a table
Safety recalls by model year, GMC Terrain
Model yearRecalls
20162
20171
20185
20193
20202
20212
20224
20232
20241
20250
20261

Crash test ratings

NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings for each version it tested. Rollover risk is NHTSA's estimate of the chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash.

Tested versionOverallFrontalSideRollover
GMC Terrain SUV AWD
Rollover risk 17.4%
GMC Terrain SUV FWD
Rollover risk 19.1%

Questions

What are the most common 2016 Terrain problems?

In the 152 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2016 GMC Terrain, the problems described most are wiper failures (44), engine failure or replacement (16), and the check engine light coming on (13). NHTSA does not verify complaints, and one complaint can describe several problems.

Is the 2016 GMC Terrain safe?

In NHTSA crash tests every tested version of the 2016 GMC Terrain earns 4 stars overall. The table above lists each tested version.

How do I check if my Terrain has an open recall?

Enter the 17-character VIN from your dashboard, door jamb or registration at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The lookup lists unrepaired recalls for that exact vehicle. Safety recall repairs are free at GMC dealers.

Sources and method

  • NHTSA recalls file (NHTSA datasets), dated Sep 29, 2026; every campaign checked against NHTSA's recalls API.
  • NHTSA owner complaints file, dated Sep 28, 2026. Counted by complaint number, so a complaint naming three components counts once in the total.
  • NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings (NCAP).
  • NHTSA model names covered: TERRAIN.

Complaint counts are unverified owner reports. They rise with sales volume and time on the road, so compare model years with care. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.