2015 GMC Yukon Exterior lighting Problems

Rear tail lights go out intermittently caused by a defect in the vehicle manufacturer’s process in which the circuit board is broken in certain areas.

NHTSA ID

11682392

Incident

Aug 15, 2025

The contact owns a 2015 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, added pressure was needed before the vehicle came to a stop. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated or jumped before coming to a stop. Additionally, the contact stated the transmission was slipping. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled before self-correcting. The contact also stated that while idling at a stop light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated, but gradually accelerated as needed. The contact stated that the rear taillight intermittently failed to illuminate. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The transmission fluid was flushed; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission was fractured, and the light bulbs needed to be replaced. The transmission was not repaired or replaced. The headlights were not replaced. The dealer confirmed that the brakes were included in NHTSA Campaign Number 19V645000 (Service Brake, Hydraulic) and the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was driven to the residence without further repairs. The contact stated that the vehicle had become inoperable. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 195,846.

NHTSA ID

11666325

Incident

Jun 11, 2024

Mileage

195,846 mi

My vehicle is currently in the shop getting the motor worked on for a bad lifter. From the information the mechanic provided me this is a common issue with the vehicles that have the Active Fuel Management system. They are seeing many of these vehicles have to come in and have very expensive repairs. My first quote I received was $16, 000, they told me I needed a whole new motor and this assessment cost me $365 and a rental car while they looked at the truck. Now it is in the shop again and the estimate is $6000 to machine the cams as there are metal shavings in my oil. I had to again rent a rental vehicle and have not had my truck for a week. This is the third mechanic that has seen multiple of these motors have to be replaced or repaired due to this issue. I kept up on my oil changes and other recommended car maintenance and so did the owner before me. I had my last oil change approx. a week before the loud ticking noise began, then my vehicle began to have a noticeable loss of power when driving and eventually began shuttering and my check engine light began to blink and I took it to the shop. A year ago I had to replace my tail lights. I was able to find where others were recalled by my VIN for some reason was not included in the recall. They started shorting out and working only part of the time which is very dangerous when stopping, especially at night. I had them replaced and paid almost $700 for the two back lights.

NHTSA ID

11613936

Incident

Sep 5, 2024

Both tail lights fail. I just bought this vehicle at Ewald Automotive in Oconmowoc Wi a month ago with 100k and I know they were aware of the problem and so is GMC. I am not paying 900 bucks for each tail light. They are absolute junk. The left side someone already messed with it because there is electrical tape on it. Ewald laughed in my face.

NHTSA ID

11559240

Incident

Dec 9, 2023

The taillights started to randomly go in and out. The driver side taillight stopped working but the passenger side taillight still worked. Then a day later the driver side taillight worked, but the passenger side taillight didn’t work. The next day we were going to look into this issue, and the driver and passenger side taillights were working, so we halted. We kept an eye on it and they seemed to continue to work for a few days with no issues, so drove it 20 miles to work. When I left work it was dark and I had a coworker check my brake lights before leaving and the running lights and brake lights were indeed working. By the time I arrived at home, I had no running or brake lights. This is and was a danger to others and myself as this could’ve caused an accident driving and the taillights going out. The truck did not give a warning message that I had no taillights.

NHTSA ID

11531067

Incident

Jul 2, 2023

Both tail lights have stopped working. I purchased in 2019 with 60k miles and by the time the first tail light failed, I was over the 72k limit. If these lights failing was an issue before, it still is an issue and the special warranty should be extended to ensure replacement of faulty items.

NHTSA ID

11522172

Incident

May 15, 2023

Numerous reports of taillights and headlights not working properly and no recall like it should be

NHTSA ID

11494821

Incident

Nov 20, 2022

There was recall for N182180270 Tail Lamps Inoperative, for some reason my vehicle being a 2015 was not included. This issue is ongoing with my 2015 Yukon Denali and is dangerous while operating, it recently started and is intermittent. Also my vehicle has issues with hard shifting and jerking intermittently when taking off.... also a known issue for this year and make/ model of vehicle

NHTSA ID

11492590

Incident

Nov 7, 2022

Rear passenger running lights just stopped working. I have seen several people with the same issue. I think there should be a recall for GM to fix the issue they are clearly aware of.

NHTSA ID

11492496

Incident

Oct 28, 2022

Tail lights keep going out and have been replaced

NHTSA ID

11470980

Incident

Jan 10, 2021

LED brake light wiring comes undone causing brake lights to go out.

NHTSA ID

11467605

Incident

Mar 16, 2022

Driver Rear brake led light not working

NHTSA ID

11449769

Incident

Feb 1, 2022

Both my tail lights have failed. Dealer wants insane amount of money for new ones, so I opened up the lights and there is an obvious design flaw in the lights, to me it seems intentional at worst, incompetent at best. I am an electrical engineer, and there is no reason they should put a friction connection in the LED power bar, it is a glaring design flaw. Also having steering assist issue at low speed which was an issue that was supposed to be fixed in a previous recall service, but it is still malfunctioning.

NHTSA ID

11445923

Incident

Jan 1, 2018

Break like when out and only solution iam being given is to replace the whole housing at 800$ and it seems this a faulty component.

NHTSA ID

11440420

Incident

Nov 14, 2021

Steering locks up at lower speeds or when turning into a parking lot all the ligths shut off at the same time the steering does it has happened more at night lights flicker both interior lights and exterior lights a/c shuts off radio shuts off i have went to different dealers and have not been able to fix this problem even doh i show them videos of what it does both my wife and i have almost had a few accidents because of this

NHTSA ID

11439035

Incident

Jun 30, 2020

Right brake light and tail light quit working for a few days, then returned to normal operation, both worked fine for a week then the left side went out and also returns for a few days. Now both are out except for one led per side per cluster. No brake lights except for the one over the gate. And turn signals work as they should.

NHTSA ID

11430827

Incident

Aug 28, 2021

Tail Lights don't work. Have seen several complaints about this problem. There is currently a lawsuit concerning this. GMC will only cover replacement if car has less than 72,000 miles. The replacement lights cost about $800 each. Having it looked at now. Fear that I will have to pay replacement costs.

NHTSA ID

11430738

Incident

Aug 27, 2021

Drivers side tail light intermittently works, doesn't work all the time. Passenger side brake light stays on continuously, never changes.

NHTSA ID

11421492

Incident

Jan 5, 2020

STOP AND TAIL FUNCTIONS INSIDE THE TAIL LAMPS HAVE BECOME INOPERATIVE. PURCHASED VEHICLE USED AND FALLS JUST OUTSIDE OF THE SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT; N182180270. THIS IS STILL VERY MUCH A SAFETY ISSUE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S 1 MONTH LONGER THAN THE 6 YEAR CUTOFF.

NHTSA ID

11413964

Incident

Apr 19, 2021

PURCHASED A 2015 YUKON DENALI BACK IN NOVEMBER 2019. SINCE PURCHASING THE VEHICLE WE HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE BATTERY, TRANSMISSION, AC COMPRESSOR AND EXPANSION VALVE (WHICH STILL ISN'T WORKING CORRECTLY, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T BLOW COLD AIR), AND THE BLACK PANELS THAT ARE IN BETWEEN THE WINDOWS. ALSO, BOTH TAIL LIGHTS HAVE DECIDED TO QUIT WORKING.... WHICH CONCERNS ME GREATLY BECAUSE CARS BEHIND ME DON'T KNOW WHEN I AM STOPPED OR APPLYING THE BREAKS. STOPPED OR HAVE MY FOOT ON THE BREAK.

NHTSA ID

11413868

Incident

Dec 10, 2020

PASSENGER SIDE TAIL LIGHT/BRAKE LIGHT GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY AT RANDOM. I PURCHASED CAR USED IN FEBRUARY 2020 AND WAS INFORMED SOON AFTER BY FRIEND THAT MY TAIL LIGHT WAS OUT WHEN LEAVING THEIR HOME. IT WAS WORKING THE NEXT DAY WHEN I CHECKED. I NOW WATCH IT AND SEE THAT IT WORKS ONLY SOMETIMES. COST TO REPLACE IS APPROXIMATELY $700 ASSUMING ONLY A REPLACEMENT LIGHT IS NEEDED AND NOTHING ELSE IS WRONG. BASED ON THE MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS I HAVE SEEN THIS SOUNDS LIKE A WIRING ISSUE THAT SHOULD BE A MANUFACTURER RECALL FOR SAFETY REASONS.

NHTSA ID

11408185

Incident

Mar 1, 2020

Mileage

89,000 mi

REAR BREAK LIGHT . INTERNAL WIRING OF THE TAIL LIGHTS CRACKS LEADING TO TAIL LIGHT FAILURE. THE FAILURE DOES NOT TRIGGER ANY WARNINGS AND THE DRIVER IS UNAWARE OF THIS FAILURE UNLESS THEY PREFORM A PRE TRIP INSPECTION.

NHTSA ID

11406995

Incident

Apr 1, 2021

Mileage

42,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 GMC YUKON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE REAR BRAKE LIGHTS WERE INOPERABLE. THE CONTACT DETERMINED THAT THE FAILURE WAS INTERMITTENT BY TAPPING ON THE LIGHT HOUSING. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE LOCAL DEALER BEN MYNATT BUICK LOCATED AT 289 CONCORD PKWY S, CONCORD, NC 28027 WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED BUT NO ASSISTANCE WAS OFFERED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 79,800.

NHTSA ID

11399909

Incident

Mar 6, 2021

Mileage

79,800 mi

BOTH REAR TAIL LIGHT ASSEMBLIES WENT BAD. THE LEFT ONE IN APRIL OF 2019 AND THE RIGHT ONE IN JANUARY OF 2021. SERVICE ADVISORS IN THE 2 DEALERSHIPS I DEAL WITH CLAIM THE DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. YET A NUMBER OF REPAIR SHOPS ON THE INTERNET KNOW OF THIS PROBLEM IN 2015 TO 2019 YUKON'S BECAUSE THEY REPAIR THEM. FUNNY THAT GM DOES NOT. I SENT THE 1ST ONE OUT AND IT WAS REPAIRED FOR WELL UNDER THE COST OF A NEW ONE. I COMPLAINED AGAIN TO THE SERVICE ADVISOR ABOUT THIS ONE TO NO AVAIL. GOING TO SEND IT OUT FOR REPAIR AS WELL. INCIDENTALLY THEY COVER THE REPAIR WITH A LIFETIME WARRANTY.

NHTSA ID

11398073

Incident

Jan 15, 2021

Mileage

44,125 mi

BOTH REAR TAIL LIGHTS ARE INOPERABLE AND THE DEALER WANTS OVER $800 TO REPLACE. I'M OVER THE MILEAGE LIMIT FOR THE RECALL SO I'M OUT OF LUCK.

NHTSA ID

11389850

Incident

Jan 22, 2021

Mileage

97,140 mi