There are 13 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2004 Chevrolet Suburbanin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
REAR TAILGATE GLASS HAS SEPARATED FROM THE GLUED ON HINGES AND DROPPED DOWN ON THE DRIVERS SIDE. THIS APPEARS TO BE AN ONGOING DESIGN, QUALITY ISSUE AND HAS HAPPENED ON A LARGE NUMBER OF SUV STYLE CHEVROLET VEHICLES AS CAN BE SEEN USING A SIMPLE INTERNET SEARCH CONCERNING THIS ISSUE.
HEARD RATTLE AND A WIND NOISE AS IF A DOOR OR WINDOW WAS PARTIALLY OPEN. REAR LIFTGATE GLASS PASSENGER SIDE HINGE PARTIALLY SEPARATED FROM WINDOW GLASS, ALLOWING THE STRUT WHICH LIFTS THE WINDOW UP NORMALLY TO PUSH THE TOP EDGE OF THE WINDOW UP ABOUT AN INCH. WHAT MAKES THIS DANGEROUS IS THAT IF AT HIGHWAY SPEED, THE WIND COULD HAVE EASILY CAUGHT THE LIFTED GLASS EDGE AND STRESS IT ENOUGH TO SHATTER AND INJURE SOMEONE OR DAMAGE A FOLLOWING VEHICLE. *TR
WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH ON AN INTERSTATE, THE SUN ROOF ON MY 2004 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN RIPPED OFF NARROWLY MISSING THE CAR FOLLOWING US. THE SUN ROOF WAS CLOSED AT TIME OF THE INCIDENT. OTHER THAN WHAT SOUNDED LIKE AN AIR LEAK, THERE WAS NO WARNING OR OTHER INDICATION OF PROBLEMS. THE SUN ROOF HAS RARELY BEEN OPENED SINCE THE CAR WAS PURCHASED AND DEFINITELY HAD NOT BEEN OPENED IN THE PAST 2 YEARS AT LEAST. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED WHEN HE BEGAN TO MANUALLY OPEN THE REAR LIFT GATE. WHILE OPENING THE LIFT GATE, THE GLASS DETACHED FROM THE HINGE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER, BUT IT WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 79,000.
WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, THE REAR WINDOW FELL OFF OF THE VEHICLE. UPON INSPECTION, I NOTICED THE HINGES HOLDING THE WINDOW TO THE VEHICLE HAD BROKEN. THE REAR WINDOW IS HARDLY EVER OPENED, SO IT CANNOT BE DUE TO OVERUSE. IF I HAD BEEN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY IT MAY HAVE KILLED SOMEONE. INSTEAD I ONLY HAVE TO REPLACE MY ENTIRE REAR WINDOW. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS ONLINE, I FOUND THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, BUT THAT THE MAKER OF THE VEHICLE DENIES THAT IT IS HAPPENING. *TR
BACK GLASS OF THE 2004 CHEVY SUBURBAN DISENGAGE FROM THE VEHICLE. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS IT COULD COME OFF WHILE DRIVING AND STRIKE ANOTHER VEHICLE OR WORSE IT COULD FALL ON SOMEBODY CAUSING SERIOUS INJURIES. *TR
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE REAR LIFT-GATE GLASS IS SEPARATING FROM THE WINDOWS' HINGES. AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE GLASS MAY UNEXPECTEDLY FALL AND CAUSE A SERIOUS INJURY. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 57,000.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN 1500. THE CONTACT HEARD A NOISE COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION, SHE NOTICED THAT THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW WAS CRACKING IN A SPIDER WEB PATTERN. SHE STATED THAT THE TINT ON THE GLASS WAS WEBBING IN A PATTERN. SHE THEN NOTICED THAT THE GLASS WAS EXPANDING AS IF SOMETHING WAS IN THE VEHICLE AND PUSHING THE GLASS OUTWARD. THE FAILURE CAUSED THE GLASS TO SHATTER. THE CONTACT CALLED THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THEY WERE UNAWARE OF ANY FAILURE OCCURRING ON THIS YEAR, MAKE, AND MODEL VEHICLE. THE CONTACT IS IN THE PROCESS OF TAKING THE VEHICLE TO THE GLASS SHOP FOR REPAIR AT THE COST OF $190. SHE IS IN THE PROCESS OF NOTIFYING THE MANUFACTURER. THE CONTACT WAS UNSURE IF THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY THE HEAT OUTSIDE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 89,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 89,015.
OUR FAMILY WAS NOT HOME, THE CAR HAS BEEN PARKED IN THE DRIVEWAY AS NORMAL. MY NEIGHBORS WERE IN THE YARD AND SUDDENLY HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE AN EXPLOSION. THEY LOOKED OVER AND THE REAR WINDOW HAD SHATTERED AND BLEW THE GATE OPEN. IT ALSO MELTED THE PLASTIC THAT HOLDS THE GLASS. IT SEEMS AS IF POSSIBLY THE REAR DEFROSTER MAY HAVE BEEN FAULTY ALTHOUGH THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN MOVED IN 3 DAYS. GLAD SOMEONE WAS NOT STANDING BEHIND IT. IT BLEW GLASS ABOUT 10 FT. WAITING ON INS TO CALL BACK. *TR
I HAVE A 2004 SUBURBAN WITH 60K MILES. ABOUT 1 MONTHS AGO, THE REAR WINDOW BEGAN MAKING A WHISTLING NOISE WHILE DRIVING. WHEN I INSPECTED IT I FOUND THAT THE HINGE WAS SEPARATING FROM THE WINDOW. I HAVE TRIED TO GO THROUGH GM WITH NO AVAIL. THEIR ANSWER IS "IT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED", BUT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. *TR
MY SPEEDOMETER DOESN'T CONSISTENTLY WORK. SOME TIME IT DOES.. SOME TIMES IT SAYS I'M DOING 110 MPH AND PEOPLE ARE PASSING ME AND MY RPMS ARE AT 1800. ALSO WHEN MY SPEED OMETER DOESN'T WORK MY REAR DFOG AND WIPER DO WORK. WHEN MY REAR DEFOG AND WIPER DON'T WORK MY SPEEDOMETER DOES WORK. I CHECKED ALL THE FUSES IN ALL THREE FUSE BOXES AND NONE ARE BLOWN. *TR
THE OUTSIDE TEMP READER LOCATED IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR HAS READ 140 DEGREES FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS. REPAIRS WERE ATTEMPTED, BUT UNSUCCESSFUL. I FEEL IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE DURING THE WINTER... I TRAVEL WITH MY 2 CHILDREN OVER MANY DANGEROUS MOUNTAIN PASSES AND THE "ICE" READING WOULD BE NICE. *TR
I HAVE JUST PURCHASED A 2004 K2500 CHEV. SUBURBAN WITH THE ELECTRIC CAMPER MIRROR OPTION. I HAVE DRIVEN IT TWO WEEKS AND DISCOVERED THAT THE PASSENGER (CONVEX) MIRROR HAS A HUGE BLIND SPOT THAT HIDES ALL CARS AND UP TO MEDIUM SIZE TRUCKS. IT IS DANGEROUS. THE DEALER HAS INSPECTED THE TRUCK AND CONFIRMED THE PROBLEM. THE SERVICE MANAGER HAS CONTACTED CHEVROLET AND THEY SAY THERE IS NO FIX. I CONTACTED CHEVROLET AND THEY CONFIRMED THERE IS NOT FIX AND ALSO CONFIRMED THAT THE SERVICE MANANGER HAS RECOMMENDED THAT THIS BE CORRECTED. CHEVROLET'S POSITION IS THAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO NOTHING ELSE. *AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026