GMC Yukon: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
GMC Yukon: 5 model years scored from 926 NHTSA owner complaints and 26 recall campaigns. Worst year 2021, best year 2025.
GMC Yukon: which years to avoid
Across 5 scored model years the GMC Yukon ranges from 60/100 in 2021 to 83/100 in 2025 — a 23-point spread, so which year you buy matters. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Engine (169 of them).
Safest years: 2022, 2023, 2025 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
No Yukon year is AVOID, but the 2021 and 2024 are CAUTION at 60 and 68, on 312 and 166 owner complaints, and the 2024's rate of 83.0 complaints per year on the road is the highest of the five years. Buy a 2022 or 2025, which score 81 and 83 on 173 and 52 complaints; the 2023 is BUY at 72 on 223, though its rate of 74.3 per year is above the 2021's 62.4. Engine is the leading category in every year, at 169, 104, 144, 118 and 34, and the campaign that speaks to it is 25V274000, for a connecting rod or crankshaft that may fail on 2021 to 2024 trucks with the 6.2-litre eight-cylinder engine. The 2021 shares the Tahoe's launch-year campaigns, twelve in all with eight safety-critical, among them 21V064000 for a fuel tank missing adhesive and 21V455000 for a loss of power steering assist. After 2021 the recall count falls to five, four, three and two.
Read the guide
Used full-size SUVs: Expedition, Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2025 (score 83). Worst: 2021 (score 60, CAUTION).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 83 | BUY | $5,968 | 52 | 2 |
| 2024 | 68 | CAUTION | $5,847 | 166 | 3 |
| 2023 | 72 | BUY | $5,672 | 223 | 4 |
| 2022 | 81 | BUY | $5,222 | 173 | 5 |
| 2021 | 60 | CAUTION | $6,725 | 312 | 12 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Yukon, through the years →
Yukon sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Yukon on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the GMC Yukon
Across every Yukon model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Engine569 complaints across all Yukon years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Power Train146 complaints across all Yukon years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Electrical System123 complaints across all Yukon years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Fuel/Propulsion System82 complaints across all Yukon years · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement$680–$1,620
- Engine And Engine Cooling75 complaints across all Yukon years · typical job: Water pump, thermostat and coolant service$600–$1,040
- Unknown Or Other63 complaints across all Yukon years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
What are the best GMC Yukon years to buy?
2022, 2023, 2025 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2025 at 83/100, on 52 complaints and 2 recall campaigns.
Which GMC Yukon years should I avoid?
The 2021 is the weakest year we score, at 60/100 (CAUTION), on 312 complaints and 12 recalls. Check the year-by-year table above before committing to any particular car.
What is the most common GMC Yukon problem?
569 of the complaints filed against the Yukon across all its model years sit in the Engine group — more than any other component.
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04