2006 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Typical pattern

10.1% of complaints about the 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2006 vehicle — around the middle of the 250 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 6.5 yr in service. The most-reported system is service brakes (118 complaints), typically at 9.3 yr or about 89,411 miles.

Complaints: 464
Median age at failure: 6.5 yr
Median mileage: 60,000 n=400
Crash / fire / tow: 9.3% of reports
Safety recalls: 0

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Service brakes

118 reports · 89,411 mi

9.3 yr

4.2%

Service brakes, hydraulic

54 reports · 48,000 mi

4.7 yr

5.6%

Electrical system

48 reports · 69,780 mi

6.7 yr

18.8%

Suspension

31 reports · 45,000 mi

2.7 yr

3.2%

Power train

29 reports · 47,000 mi

5.2 yr

6.9%

Air bags

24 reports · 100,000 mi

9.4 yr

54.2%

Steering

21 reports · 23,800 mi

2.6 yr

4.8%

Tires

16 reports · 2,700 mi

11 mo

Structure

16 reports · 80,000 mi

8.9 yr

6.2%

In owners’ own words

Tires mileage not reported 6 mo in service

WE WERE DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE AT 75 MPH AND HAD A REAR TIRE BLOWOUT FOR NO APPARENT REASON OTHER THAN A POSSIBLE TIRE DEFECT. WE DID NOT HIT ANYTHING. WE QUICKLY SLOWED AND GOT OFF THE ROAD. THE TIRE SIDE WALL BLEW OUT. THE TIRES ARE NEW AND HAD LESS THAN 3000 MILES ON THEM. *JB

Tires 12,171 mi 7 mo in service

DRIVING AT LOW SPEED IN DOWNTOWN MACON, RIGHT FRONT TIRE BLEW OUT. SIDEWALL HAD 0.5 INCH SLIT AND OBVIOUSLY WAS BEGINNING TO "SEPARATE" (I COULD SEE WHAT LOOKED LIKE A THREAD). TIRES WERE JUST BALANCED/ROTATED WEEK OF APRIL 10, 2006. TREAD LOOKS OK. COULD SEE "DETERIORATION" AROUND ENTIRE TIRE SIDEWALL ABOVE LETTERING AND BELOW TREAD. INSPECTED THE INNER SIDE OF THE TIRE WALL AND NOTICED SAME DETERIORATION IN SAME AREA (RUBBER WAS CRACKED IN DEFINED AREA COMPLETELY AROUND THE TIRE). *NM

Tires 2,700 mi 7 mo in service

I HAVE A BRAND NEW 2006 CHEVY SILVERADO PICKUP AND IT CAME WITH P265/70R/17 GOODYEAR WRANGLER ST TIRES. AT 2700 MILES THE RIGHT REAR TIRE WENT FLAT WHILE TRAVELING ON A PAVED ROAD AND AT 5500 MILES THE LEFT FRONT TIRE WENT FLAT WHILE TRAVELING ON A GRAVELED ROAD. BOTH TIRES HAD CUTS IN THE CENTER OF THE TIRES AND WERE VERY SIMILAR. I COMPLAINED TO GOODYEAR AND THEY WON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS UNSAFE TIRE. *NM

Air bags 3,000 mi 8 mo in service crash / fire / tow

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE ATTEMPTING A U-TURN AT 40MPH, THERE WAS A LOSS OF CONTROL, THE VEHICLE STRUCK A TREE AND THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE CONTACT WAS WEARING A SEATBELT HOWEVER, MINOR INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED. THE VEHICLE SUSTAINED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE FRONT END. ALTHOUGH THERE WAS A CRASH, THE POLICE WERE NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT BODY REPAIR SHOP, BUT THE AIRBAGS WERE NOT INSPECTED.

Other Silverado 1500 model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.