2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Typical pattern

4.7% of complaints about the 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2004 vehicle — around the middle of the 236 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 6.0 yr in service. The most-reported system is electrical system (640 complaints), typically at 6.0 yr or about 65,000 miles.

Complaints: 1,300
Median age at failure: 6.0 yr
Median mileage: 68,000 n=1069
Crash / fire / tow: 9.1% of reports
Safety recalls: 2

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Electrical system

640 reports · 65,000 mi

6.0 yr

3.3%

Exterior lighting

103 reports · 85,000 mi

6.8 yr

4.9%

Fuel system

96 reports · 70,000 mi

5.9 yr

2.1%

Power train

64 reports · 58,000 mi

5.2 yr

6.2%

Fuel / propulsion

43 reports · 118,000 mi

11.2 yr

Air bags

42 reports · 56,000 mi

5.7 yr

92.9%

Engine cooling

39 reports · 36,000 mi

3.3 yr

12.8%

Speed control

38 reports · 59,300 mi

5.5 yr

13.2%

Visibility

31 reports · 48,000 mi

4.7 yr

9.7%

Structure

23 reports · 104,000 mi

5.6 yr

13%

Service brakes, hydraulic

22 reports · 36,500 mi

3.4 yr

27.3%

Other

19 reports · 71,050 mi

6.5 yr

21.1%

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

05V198000 2005-05-05

Exterior lighting:turn signal

ON CERTAIN TRUCKS AND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, THE DRIVER WISHING TO SIGNAL A TURN BY MOVING THE DIRECTIONAL SIGNAL LEVER, (UP OR DOWN) MAY CAUSE THE FRONT MARKER/TURN LIGHTS AND REAR TURN LIGHTS TO FLASH IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO HAZARD WARNING, RATHER THAN FLASHING ON THE DESIRED SIDE ONLY.

THE DRIVER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CLEARLY SIGNAL THEIR INTENTIONS TO TURN, CHANGE TRAVEL LANES, OR POTENTIALLY WARN OTHERS OF AN IMPAIRED VEHICLE OPERATING CONDITION INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

04V527000 2004-11-01

Exterior lighting:brake lights

ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, VIBRATION AND HEAT MAY CAUSE THE TAIL LAMP/STOP LAMP BULB TO LOOSEN IN ITS SOCKET. IF THIS OCCURS, THE BULB MAY FLICKER AND EVENTUALLY BECOME INOPERATIVE.

AN INOPERATIVE BRAKE LAMP WILL NOT CONVEY THE DRIVER'S INTENTION OF STOPPING TO DRIVERS IN FOLLOWING VEHICLES, AND AN INOPERATIVE REAR TURN SIGNAL LAMP WILL NOT CONVEY THE DRIVER'S INTENTION TO TURN TO DRIVERS IN FOLLOWING VEHICLES. BOTH OF THESE FAILURES CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH.

In owners’ own words

Electrical system 107 mi 4 mo in service crash / fire / tow

WHILE DRIVING SMOKE WAS COMING INTO VEHICLE THROUGH THE VENTS. CONSUMER WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER TO THE SHOULDER. A FEW MINUTES LATER VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS CALLED. VEHICLE WAS TOTALED.*AK *MR

Electrical system mileage not reported 4 mo in service

CONSUMER COMPLAINED ABOUT AN ENGINE PROBLEM WHICH CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO START INTERMITTENTLY. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT THE STARTER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *AK

Electrical system 100 mi 2 mo in service

ON 4 SEPARATE OCCASIONS VEHICLE STALLED. WHEN THIS OCCURRED CONSUMER TRIED TO RESTART VEHICLE, BUT IT WOULDN'T RESTART. ALSO, KEYS WERE STUCK IN THE IGNITION. AS A RESULT, BATTERY WAS DRAINED. DEALERSHIP HAS REPLACED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFT LOCK CONTROL, BATTERY FUSES , PROGRAMMED THE CALIBRATION FOR THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE, THE STARTER, AND ITS RELAY SWITCH. *AK

Exterior lighting 100 mi 4 mo in service

2004 TRAILBLAZER HAS 40 SECOND TURN ON OF HEADLIGHTS AND BACK UP LIGHTS WHEN REMOTE KEY USED TO UNLOCK DOORS. THIS HAS ON 2 OCCASIONS HAS CAUSED VEHICLES IN TRAVEL LANES TO SUDDENLY BRAKE BECAUSE WITH THE BACK UP LIGHTS ON BLAZER APPEARS TO BE BACKING INTO TRAFFIC. SOLUTION: ONLY OCCURS AFTER DARK, SO MUST BE RELAYED THRU DAYLIGHT RUNNING DETECTOR. NEEDS TO DO AS BRAKE AND TURN SIGNALS DO, FLASH ON AND THEN OFF. HEADLIGHTS HAVE STAYED ON SHINING INTO A GROUP WHO THREATEN ME WITH BODILY HARM. DEALER SAID A GM PROBLEM, THEY CAN'T CHANGE. HAD 2002,2001,1998 BLAZERS, NEVER A PROBLEM. *AK

Other Trailblazer 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.