There are 7 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2012 GMC Terrainin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Once again, timing chain incident, this time while driving, wasn't expecting it, suddenly my Terrain steering when became stiff to turn, and happened to realize the car motor had shut off and rolling to the right, nearly hitting parked car. I tried to start vehicle, but made a whining sound, but did not start, yet check engine light was on. I had my OBD reader handy, and got p0011, p0017 codes, which tell me it was the timing chain again in this car. This very dangerous because we could of collided with a parked vehicle, if not for me struggling so hard to steer vehicle while steering wheel was stiff.
VEHICLE BEGAN TO USE EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF OIL AND IDEL UP AND DOWN AND SOMETIMES EVEN SHUTS DOWN. AFTER ABOUT 3 MONTHS WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE IT BEGAN TO SHUT DOWN WHILE IN MOTION. I CALLED FOR SOMEONE TO CHECK THE VEHICLE OUT AND HE ARRIVED CALLED SOMEONE TO CHECK THE VEHICLE AND HE ACTUALLY TOLD ME IT SEEMS TO BE THE MOTOR GONE BAD BUT HE ASKED WOULD I DRIVE IT BACK HOME IF HE FOLLOWED BEHIND. IT LITERALLY SCARED ME AND MY 4 CHILDREN TO DEATH WHEN IT SHUT DOWN WHILE IN MOTION WITH THAT KIND OF SPEED SO I DON'T TRUST PUTTING MY CHILDREN IN IT NOW. I DON'T THINK ITS SAFE AT ALL. THE VEHICLE I ONCE THOUGHT WAS PERFECT FOR MY FAMILY IS TURNING OUT TO BE A NIGHTMARE.
MY TERRAIN IS STALLING REALLY BAD SOME DAYS AND SOMETIMES NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. IT DOES IT MORE WHEN GOING INTO REVERSE, I HAVE TO KEEP GIVING GAS TO GET BACKED UP. IT HAS ALSO DIED ON ME WHEN I SLOW TO A STOP LIKE AT A LIGHT. THIS IS REALLY FRUSTRATING!!
SEVERAL TIMES IN 3 YEARS, THE DEALERSHIP CAN NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM LOSS OF POWER STARTS RUNNING SLOW, WONT GO OVER 20 MPH, CHECK STABILITY LIGHT COMES ON, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STARTS BLINKING, ACTS LIKE MISFIRE OR NO FUEL IN VEHICLE, STARTS ANYWHERE AT ANY TIME, VERY UNSAFE AND SCARY. AT LEAST TAKEN TO A CERTIFIED DEALERSHIP 7 OR 8 TIMES AND EVERY TIME THEY DO SOMETHING DIFFERANT , YET THE PROBLEM PERSISTS! THE VEHICLE CAN BE STATIONARY AT RED LIGHT AND BIG OR WHILE DRIVING GOING 45 OR 65 AND DROP TO 20 MPH AND NOT WANT TO GO, I PUSH THE GAS PADDLE TO FLOOR AND IT DOES NOTHING. THIS HAS BEEN INTERMEDIATE AND A PROBLEM SINCE MONTH 3 OF BUYING MY VEHICLE. THIS IS NOT SAFE AND THE DEALERSHIP HAS BASICALLY GIVIN UP ON ME AND MY VEHICLE.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 GMC TERRAIN. UPON STARTING AND DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THE SPEEDOMETER FAILED TO FUNCTION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 73,115. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
SUMMARY: I HAD TO DECIDE TO BRAKE OR SHOOT THROUGH A YELLOW LIGHT, GOING ABOUT 35 MPH, I BRAKED! ALL OF A SUDDEN I HEARD A CLUNK AND THEN ALARM DING FROM THE DASH AS WELL AS MESSAGE "SERVICE STABILTRAK" THEN "REDUCED ENGINE POWER". I WAS UNABLE TO GO ANY FASTER THAN 25MPH. I DROVE IN THIS MODE FOR ABOUT 2 MILES TAKING THE BACK STREETS TO MY DESTINATION. AT DESTINATION SHUT VEHICLE OFF TO SEE IF THIS WOULD RESET SOMETHING, IT DID! IT WAS SUPER SCARY. SO NOW TERRIFIED TO BRAKE HARD.
I STARTED OUT DRIVING ON HIGHWAY ROAD AT APPROXIMATELY 5:45PM TRAFFIC WAS MODERATE, MY SPEED WAS ABOUT 30-35 MPH. ALL OF A SUDDEN I HEARD A CLUNK AND THEN ALARM DING FROM THE DASH AS WELL AS MESSAGE "SERVICE STABILTRAK" THEN "REDUCED ENGINE POWER". I WAS UNABLE TO GO ANY FASTER THAN 25MPH. I DROVE IN THIS MODE FOR ABOUT 2 MILES IN TRAFFIC, WHEN REACHING OPEN HIGHWAY (NO TRAFFIC) THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT SHIFT BY ITSELF. I HAD TO ACCELERATE THEN LET OFF THE GAS, TAP PEDAL THEN THE VEHICLE WOULD SHIFT. I WAS ABLE TO DO THIS MULTIPLE TIMES UNTIL REACHING ABOUT 45MPH. I PULLED OFF INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD, SHUT VEHICLE OFF TO SEE IF THIS WOULD RESET SOMETHING, IT DID NOT. THE VEHICLE WAS IN THIS STATE WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT APPROXIMATELY 6:05PM. DEALERSHIP LOGGED FOLLOWING ON SERVICE REQUEST: 5043 FOUND CODE P228C RAN DIAG COULD NOT DUPLICATE PROBLEM FUEL PSI AT SPEC RAISES TO SPEC TEST DROVE ON HIGHWAY DID NOT DUPLICATE CONDITION FOUND NO BULL ON CONDITION TEST DRIVE NUMEROUS TIME, COULD NOT DUPLICATE CONCERN. MILES OUT 5067. *TR
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 26, 2026