2009 Chevrolet Suburban 1500

Typical pattern

1.4% of complaints about the 2009 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2009 vehicle — around the middle of the 212 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 7.0 yr in service. The most-reported system is air bags (25 complaints), typically at 7.7 yr or about 80,000 miles.

Complaints: 70
Median age at failure: 7.0 yr
Median mileage: 75,000 n=55
Crash / fire / tow: 0% of reports
Safety recalls: 0

In owners’ own words

Air bags 63,005 mi 4.8 yr in service

DASHBOARD CRACKED BY AIRBAG AND OVER INSTRUMENT CLUSTER HSS TO BE SAFETY ISSUE DASH BOARD IS LOOSE AND VIBRATES.

Air bags 61,500 mi 5.2 yr in service

2009 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN LTZ CRACKED DASHBOARD WITHOUT BEING INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. CRACKS STARTED APPEARING OVER DRIVER'S SIDE AREA ABOVE AIRBAGS. VERY CONCERNING IF INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT AND AIRBAGS DEPLOYING AND SHARDS OF PLASTIC BECOMING FLYING PROJECTILES AND AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM GM IS FULLY AWARE OF. *TR

Air bags 55,000 mi 4.7 yr in service

DASHBOARD OF 2009 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN CRACKED IN 2 PLACES, INCLUDING AROUND PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG AND ABOVE DRIVERS SIDE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/STEERING WHEEL. CONCERNED FOR THE PROPER DEPLOYMENT OF THE AIRBAG DURING POTENTIAL CRASH DUE TO THE CRACKED DASH THAT SURROUNDS THE AIRBAG. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF OTHER SIMILAR VEHICLES POSSESS THE SAME MANUFACTURING DEFECT IN THE DASHBOARD AND ALL HAVE REPORTED LARGE CRACKS IN THE EXACT SAME AREA. *TR

Other Suburban 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.

2009 Chevrolet Suburban 1500

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

In owners’ own words

Other Suburban 1500 model years

How to read this