Reliable Auto DB

2013 Chevrolet Tahoe reliability

Is it reliable?

The 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe has 232 complaints with NHTSA after 14 years, or 6 per year. That is fewer complaints per year than most Tahoe years here — under the median of the other years, which is 15. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Inflator, Electrical system, and Anti-theft device.

2012 Chevrolet Tahoe
Photo by Ethan Llamas, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Complaints

232

Per year

6

Recalls

4

Years on the road

14

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Structure (56 of 232), then Air bags (51) and Electrical system (16). Those filings include 4 that report a crash and 2 that report an injury.

Next to 2012 and 2014

The 2012 Tahoe has 180 complaints, 2 per year, and the 2014 has 93 complaints, 5 per year. The 2013 has more complaints per year than the 2012. The 2013 has more complaints per year than the 2014.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe. How we count. Data as of .

Recalls (4)

Recall air bags, frontal, passenger side, inflator 2021-02-05 · NHTSA campaign 21V053000
Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2010 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2009 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming or "Zone C."
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 24, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328790.
Recall air bags, frontal, passenger side, inflator 2021-02-05 · NHTSA campaign 21V054000
Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, SC, TX, PR, AS, GU, the MP, and VI or "Zone A." Additionally GM is recalling certain 2011-2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL and 2011-2013 Cadillac Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AZ, AR, DE, DC, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MO, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NC, OH, OK, PA, TN, VA, and WV or "Zone B." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2010-2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL and 2010-2013 Cadillac Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MT, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI, and WY or "Zone C." These vehicles are equipped with non-desiccated passenger frontal inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 25, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed to 40 VIN owners on May 11, 2021. A second owner notification letter was mailed to all other owners on January 24, 2022. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328800.
Recall Electrical system 2014-10-01 · NHTSA campaign 14V614000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Cadillac CTS, Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Yukon XL, and 2014 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Express, Impala, Silverado HD, Traverse, GMC Acadia, Savana, and Sierra HD vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the chassis electronic module may be internally contaminated, resulting in an electrical short.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the chassis electronic module, free of charge. The recall began on December 26, 2014. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-006 (Cadillac), 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), and 1-800-462-8782 (GMC). GM’s number for this recall is 14515.
Recall steering, column locking, anti-theft device 2013-01-02 · NHTSA campaign 13V001000
Summary General Motors (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT; Chevrolet Avalanche, Express, Silverado HD, Silverado LD, Suburban, and Tahoe; and GMC Savana, Sierra HD, Sierra LD, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles, manufactured between November 7, 2012, through December 18, 2012, for failing to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 102, "Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect", and FMVSS No. 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention." The vehicles may have been built with a fractured park lock cable or a malformed steering column lock actuator gear in the lock module assembly.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the affected vehicles and replace the steering column as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on January 21, 2013. Chevrolet owners may call 1-800-630-2438. Cadillac owners may call 1-866-982-2339. GMC owners may call 1-866-996-9463.

Complaints by component (232 total)

Structure
56
Air bags
51
Electrical system
16
Engine
13
Powertrain
9
Electronic stability control (ESC)
8
Speed control
7
Service brakes
6
Steering
5
Suspension
5
Fuel and propulsion system
3
Visibility and wipers
3
Lane departure
1
Tires
1
Wheels
1
Show 7 more Show less
Crash-flagged

4

Fire-flagged

0

Injury reports

2

Death reports

0

Complaints filed per year

8201410201536201650201737201826201922202016202111202252023620244202512026
Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings
  • "Odometer Fraud. The contact intended to purchase a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while inspecting the vehicle, the odometer reading displayed 88,000 miles; however, the Carfax history report provided by…"
    Electrical system · filed 2026-07-08
  • "Dealer has advised that replacement of airbag will result in damage to interior parts and trim and that replacement parts are not available and that the dealer will not be responsible for replacement and repair of…"
    Air bags · filed 2025-08-08
  • "One day I was driving normal and my engine light and two other lights came on. It dropped my speed under 30mph and I couldn't pass the gas. It said reduced engine power, service stabilitrak and service traction. I…"
    Speed control, Unknown or other, Engine · filed 2025-06-25
  • "I have a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe. It is one of the thousands of which the plastic dash has cracked into pieces.My concern is that the loose plastic will hurt someone if the airbag is deployed. GM Should have never used…"
    Air bags, Unknown or other · filed 2025-06-10
  • "My dashboard has cracked into pieces, material used for dashboard was no good."
    Unknown or other · filed 2025-04-07

NHTSA crash ratings

Version Overall Front Side Rollover
2013 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid SUV 4WD 4 stars 5 stars 5 stars 3 stars
2013 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid SUV RWD 4 stars 5 stars 5 stars 3 stars
2013 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV 4WD 4 stars 5 stars 5 stars 3 stars
2013 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV RWD 4 stars 5 stars 5 stars 3 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim Engine Transmission Drive City Hwy Combined Annual fuel cost
Tahoe 1500 two-wheel drive 5.3L, 8-cyl Automatic 6-speed Rear-wheel drive 15 21 17 MPG $3800
Tahoe 1500 four-wheel drive 5.3L, 8-cyl Automatic 6-speed Four-wheel drive 15 21 17 MPG $3800
Tahoe hybrid two-wheel drive 6L, 8-cyl Automatic (variable gear ratios) Rear-wheel drive 20 23 21 MPG $3100
Tahoe hybrid four-wheel drive 6L, 8-cyl Automatic (variable gear ratios) Four-wheel drive 20 23 21 MPG $3100

Specs and fitment

4th generation, 2012–2014
Body styles SUV
Oil 5W-30 (dexos1) , 6 qt capacity
Tire size 265/65R18 to 285/45R22 (trim-dependent)

Known issues for this generation

Recall 13V-001 covers certain 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles among other GM full-size trucks and SUVs that may not meet FMVSS park-lock requirements for the steering column ignition interlock, allowing the vehicle to shift from Park with the key removed or without brake application; dealers inspect and replace the steering column as needed. Recall 14V-614 covers certain 2013-2014 Tahoe vehicles among other GM models: the chassis electronic module may short internally and stall the vehicle; dealers replace the module. Related Takata passenger air bag inflator campaigns such as 21V-053 also list certain Tahoe model years in humidity zones; dealers replace the front passenger inflator.

Compare

Previous year 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe Next year 2014 Chevrolet Tahoe See every Chevrolet Tahoe model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe reliable?

The 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe has 232 complaints with NHTSA after 14 years, or 6 per year. That is fewer complaints per year than most Tahoe years here — under the median of the other years, which is 15. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Inflator, Electrical system, and Anti-theft device.

What are common problems with a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe?

The complaints owners file most often name Structure (56 of 232), then Air bags (51) and Electrical system (16). Those filings include 4 that report a crash and 2 that report an injury.

Is the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2012 Tahoe has 180 complaints, 2 per year, and the 2014 has 93 complaints, 5 per year. The 2013 has more complaints per year than the 2012. The 2013 has more complaints per year than the 2014.

Has the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe been recalled?

The 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe has 4 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe?

Owners have filed 232 complaints about the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe is 19 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What generation is the 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe?

6th generation (2021-present).

What engine oil does a Chevrolet Tahoe use?

5W-30 (dexos1)

What does NHTSA recall 13V-001 cover on the Chevrolet Tahoe?

Recall 13V-001 covers certain 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles among other GM full-size trucks and SUVs that may not meet FMVSS park-lock requirements for the steering column ignition interlock, allowing the vehicle to shift from Park with the key removed or without brake…