2021 GMC SIERRA 1500 Steering Problems

24 complaints about Steering

24
Complaints
1
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Deaths

High Severity Issue

This component has been associated with crashes, fires, or deaths.

This Problem Across All Years

All Steering Complaints (24)

Dec 19, 2025

The power steering on the truck would quit working at times. I made an appointment with a local dealership to have it checked out. I was told the steering rack was binding and would need to be replaced. I was also told there was a two to four week backorder on the parts. As I am trying to back out of my garage to take it to the dealer the steering totally locked up. I called a wrecker to take the truck to the dealer the next day. When the wrecker operator started to load the truck, at first the steering wheel wouldn't turn . Then it broke lose and worked fine. Imagine if I were driving when this on again off again power steering would quit working!! I should also say this truck only has fifty-seven thousand miles on it. Since there is a backorder on these parts it tells me that I'm not the only one that is having this problem. In my opinion this is a very dangerous safety problem and should be a national recall. Thank you

Sep 11, 2025

My power steering completely failed. This is a safety issue and could have caused bodily harm. I have looked on line and I am not the only one with this issue, and as I investigated it shows that this issue was recall situation on earlier models. My truck is currently in the shop and looks like it will cost $5,000 to do the full repair.

Jun 1, 2025

While traveling on the interstate the vehicle lost all propulsion and started to rapidly decelerate. Shortly after propulsion was lost the engine turned off completely affecting the steering and braking of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the GMC dealership that we purchased it from. repairs have not begun so I assume it would be available for inspection. We were traveling on a three lane interstate up a grade at 80 MPH. Had I not been able to safely get the vehicle stopped and out of traffic or had we lost control going down a grade we would not have been able to stop the vehicle and there would've potentially been a catastrophic accident most likely resulting in injury or death. No the dealership has not diagnosed the failure physically. The service writer did suggest that it sounds like the failure reported from the recall not being addressed. I did contact the dealer about the recall on Saturday May6th. At which time I was informed there was not a solution for the vehicle for my vehicle at that time. There were no warning prior to the incident. After the engine stopped operating there was a warning produced on the instrument panel that read "Engine Oil Hot" and the instrument panel no longer registered any oil pressure.

May 4, 2025 Crash

I was driving approximately 25-30 mph coming over an overpass moving into the right hand lane when my truck right front end failed. The steering and brakes locked up for approximately 50’ until I hit the curb for the sidewalk and stopped. I safely exited the vehicle checked the left side of my truck for damage and didn’t find anything. I walked around the back of my truck and came to the passenger side where I found my right front wheel and tire completely broken away from both upper and lower control arms, the ball joint broke and failed as well as the brake line. If I was driving on the highway at 65-75 this catastrophic failure could have resulted in a fatal collision. The night before my [XXX] daughter and I returned from her outdoor Ed trip in Sausalito and we drove an hour home to Napa on [XXX] and [XXX] . I thank god this didn’t happen with her in the car on the highway. I had my truck towed to Jimmy Vasser Chevy in Napa so I can see if the extended warranty will cover the repairs since it was an obvious catastrophic failure of the whole right front end. It’s still sitting there. The extended warranty inspector came Friday to take pictures of the damage INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

May 1, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving at slow speeds and accelerating out of the neighborhood, the vehicle experienced a loss of automotive power, with the check engine and EPS warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to drive the vehicle back to the residence. The vehicle was then towed to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 103,000.

Mileage: 103,000

Dec 2, 2024

Front upper control arm ball joint separated from socket.

Oct 5, 2024

Getting shift to park safety warning, car is in park, and cannot move at all, Cannot start because vehicle does not believe it is in park. Have been stranded multiple times on this error.

May 29, 2024

I just purchased a used 2021 GMC Sierra after having for a month the SERVICE POWER STEERING came on, I took it in for service and was told the part is on back order. Not to worried if the dealership and GM sold it to me that way. I am going to drive it and hope and pray that nothing bad happens. And if it does i will be getting a Lawyer.

Mar 8, 2024

Alignment Cam Guide Pins sheared off while driving on highway. Alignment went all over the place and car was drifting side to side. Also, steering wheel spun a quarter turn while car was not turning but still driving on highway. Almost caused me to crash. GMC does not want to acknowledge the issue or allow me to file a warranty claim. Car could not be driven to GM dealership safely and had to be repaired at closest shop

Oct 29, 2023

"Service parking brake" "steering assist is reduced drive with care" comments showed up on screen…check engine light on, truck shaking/ vibrating completely as if wanting to turn off this all happened while driving on the road and randomly happened…please help..very Concerned

May 9, 2023

Steering wheel stopped working

Apr 22, 2023

My 2021 gmc Sierra displays (service power steering with care) the truck only has 13184 miles and barely moves.

Apr 14, 2023

While driving home from work around 6 am, my car had multiple warning lights and warning messages come up all of a sudden. Immediately after that I lost my power brakes and steering and was not able to control my car at 40 mph. I was lucky the light I passed was green and there was no other traffic. I was able to bring my truck to a stop after more than a quarter mile by putting all my weight on the brake pedal. The truck was towed to the dealer and has been there ever since.

Apr 12, 2023

I parked my car for about an hour after driving for months with absolutely no issues or warnings. When I started my car and went to pull off the steering wheel locked up and I couldn’t turn it. A message appeared on the screen saying: Service power steering drive with care, and an esc message. A light also appeared. I turned the car off and let it sit for an hour. When I started it again everything worked fine. My dealership won't do anything because the warning codes went away, and the vehicle is not included in any current recalls. When looking up this problem it appears there are multiple recalls for the exact same issue on other 2021 Yukon and Tahoe models but not the Sierra. Though I see many forums and threads complaining about the same problem on the Sierra's. Since it is the same vehicle and systems as the Yukon, shouldn't the same recall apply?

Sep 19, 2022

I start my car and I went to pull off and the steering wheel locked up and I couldn’t turn it and it was just stuck going to sit power steering EC something. And then came home parked the car few days later try driving it and then the ABS brake light came on warning me not to go over 65 mph and my brakes pad feel really loose now.

Aug 18, 2022

I took my truck to the dealership because of my issues and they said they had many trucks going in with the same issue but there was no fix to it. The issues Popping Noise Heard On Hard Turns and/or Going Over Speed Bumps, Creaking Noise While Turning Wheel Left and/or Right, Clicking Noise Heard On Slow Sharp Turns.Also when you go over a bump the truck makes a spring loud noise to the point that the whole truck bounces. shifter is also very hard when you try to change gears.

Apr 19, 2022

As I was driving out of the parking lot my power steering suddenly was lost. A message appeared on the screen saying: Service Power Steering Drive with care and an esc message. A light also appeared. I was not able to steer at all and had to turn the truck off. I tried multiple times. After 5 minutes the message cleared as did the light. A day later (today- 4/19)the same thing happened in the parking lot. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. I have an appointment with the dealer. When looking up this problem it appears there are multiple recalls on other 2021 models but not the Sierra though I see many complaints about the same problem on the Sierra's. This is not safe and needs to be looked into further.

Mar 10, 2022

The contact owns a 2021 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while the vehicle was standstill, the steering wheel seized. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The contact was instructed by the dealer, to remove the ground cable from the battery and reinstall. The contact stated he was able to reboot and the steering wheel was able to move properly. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

Mileage: 15,000

Jan 7, 2022

Started vehicle up in public parking lot and it had service power steering and ESC messages. Vehicle could not turn and had to be towed to dealership. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer but they have had the vehicle for 2 days and cannot fix the problem. Dealer states code keeps coming up in BCM but they are not sure why or how to confidently fix it. There were not warnings or any symptoms of this problem as it drove to work fine that same morning.

Oct 9, 2021

POWER STEERING STOP WORKING

Oct 8, 2021

I started my truck this morning, drove it 3 miles, and all of a sudden got an ESC warning, Parking break warning, and a degraded power steering warning all at one time. My steering wheel started vibrating vigorously, a clanking sound started under the hood somewhere, and none of my safety features worked after.. Cruise Control, Vehicle Collision Control, Vehicle Gap sensors, etc.. The vehicle is currently at the dealer being looked at.

Aug 27, 2021

Driving the car it started backfiring and then the ESC light came on and the car engine seemed to become erratic as well as steering and braking error messages and the check engine started blinking. Very scary before I got it pulled over and very thankful I wasn’t on the highway etc. I’m seeing all the issues online sounds like the supposed fixes for the 2019 models having issues aren’t solving the problem. I bought mine in April and 4 months later it’s become unreliable.

Jan 18, 2021

BRAND NEW 2021 SIERRA AT4. KEEP LANE ASSIST HASN'T WORKED SINCE DAY ONE. LANE DEPARTURE WARNING EITHER. IT'S BEEN TO THE DEALER TWICE AND STILL NO SOLUTION. IT WON'T TURN ON

Dec 7, 2020

STARTED VEHICLE EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL SHIFTED VEHICLE INTO DRIVE PROCEEDED FORWARD. WHILE DRIVING VEHICLES STEERING SEIZED I WAS UNABLE TWO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL. IT WAS ALSO VERY DIFFICULT TO STOP THE VEHICLE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING PROPERLY. MESSAGES CAME UP ON TO DISPLAY READING SERVICE POWER STEERING AND BRIEFLY IMESSAGE ABOUT THE BRAKES FLASHED QUICKLY ON THE MESSAGE BOARD. AT THAT POINT TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AFTER I GOT IT STOPPED TURN IT BACK ON SAME MESSAGE STILL UNABLE TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL REPEATED THIS SEVERAL TIMES APPROXIMATELY FOR FOURTH TIME THE MESSAGE CLEARED AND THE VEHICLE WAS BACK TO NORMAL. THIS OCCURRED ON A CITY STREET.

Mileage: 847