VinCanary

Reliability report · 2023 Chevrolet Suburban · Updated July 2026

Only three recalls, but the complaint file is almost entirely engines — and owners report passing the recall inspection and failing anyway.

On paper the 2023 is the calmest twelfth-generation Suburban: three recalls, and the seat-belt and fuel-system launch campaigns long gone. In the complaint file it is the opposite. Engine entries swamp everything else, and they are catastrophic rather than annoying — seizures at highway speed with no warning lights, engines replaced and then failing again within 1,300 miles, one truck bought with 52,980 miles that made a loud engine noise the next day. Nearly all of it is the 6.2L L87 under recall 25V274, which covers connecting-rod and crankshaft defects across 2021–2024 and carries a ten-year, 150,000-mile special coverage.

The part that matters for a used buyer is what the remedy actually is. For a truck that passes inspection, GM's fix is higher-viscosity oil, a new oil fill cap, a new filter and an owner's-manual update. Owners in the file describe exactly that being done and the engine failing afterwards anyway. So a completed recall on a 6.2L 2023 is reassurance, not a guarantee — and the ten-year coverage matters more than the campaign status. A 5.3L 2023 is a far calmer proposition, though it has its own DFM lifter story: one owner reports collapsed lifters twice inside 20,000 miles. Same truck under the skin, just longer — see the 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe report.

Evidence: 111 NHTSA complaints · 4 recall campaigns · 6 mechanic & forum sources

Canary status

Squawking

What that means: 111 federal complaints and just three recalls, which looks like a clean late year until you read the file. It is overwhelmingly engine complaints, dominated by 6.2L failures under recall 25V274, and the recurring theme is that the recall inspection did not protect the truck: several owners had the campaign performed, received the higher-viscosity oil remedy, and then suffered a total engine failure anyway. Squawking, and squarely about which engine is under the hood.

CalmChirpingSquawkingFainted

111

Federal complaints

3

Recalls

$0

Inspection, repair or engine replacement under recall 25V274

Known issues

Ranked by the cost of ignoring them. Every claim carries its source.

6.2L engine failure — and a recall inspection that owners say did not hold

major
  • 6.2L V8

Recall 25V274 covers 2021–2024 trucks with the 6.2L V8 (GM's engine code L87) whose connecting rods or crankshaft may have manufacturing defects leading to engine damage and failure — 597,571 vehicles across eight nameplates. Dealers inspect and repair or replace the engine free; a truck that passes gets higher-viscosity oil, a new fill cap, a new filter and a manual update. GM's companion Special Coverage runs ten years or 150,000 miles from first service regardless of ownership. The 2023 file is full of failures after that remedy: one owner had it completed at 55,000 miles and failed later, another had the engine blow at 70 mph, replaced, then blow again about 1,300 miles afterwards. Treat the coverage, not the completed campaign, as the protection.

What to check

Pink and cleanServiced. Proceed.

Dark brownDamage underway.

This is a 6.2L V8 problem. The 5.3L V8 and 3.0L Duramax diesel don’t share it.

Which engine is in the one you found? →

Inspection, repair or engine replacement under recall 25V274

$0

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2023 Chevrolet Suburban · NHTSA recall database and manufacturer communications (6.2L engine Special Coverage; lifter-bore engine-replacement Customer Satisfaction Program; semiconductor feature retrofit and over-the-air battery-drain programmes)

DFM lifter failure on the 5.3Lmajor

  • 5.3L V8

The 5.3L is outside the connecting-rod recall, which makes it the calmer engine — but not a quiet one. DFM, Dynamic Fuel Management, shuts down any combination of the eight cylinders using collapsible lifters that stick or collapse and scar the camshaft. One owner in this year's file reports lifter failure twice in under 20,000 miles, each time with a misfire and a belt-like noise, diagnosed by a Chevrolet dealer as collapsed AFM/DFM lifters. GM's own 2023 Customer Satisfaction Program for oversized engine lifter bores has a remedy of exactly one line — replace the engine — which is the clearest admission of the problem in any document on this model year. Cold-start and listen.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2023 Chevrolet Suburban · NHTSA recall database and manufacturer communications (6.2L engine Special Coverage; lifter-bore engine-replacement Customer Satisfaction Program; semiconductor feature retrofit and over-the-air battery-drain programmes) · Independent mechanic channel transcripts (GM AFM/DFM lifter teardown; fifth-generation Suburban and Tahoe owner reports)

$0

Engine replacement under the lifter-bore Customer Satisfaction Program

several thousand

Lifter and camshaft repair outside the programme

Rear suspension control-arm bolts can breakmajor

Recall 23V642 is the 2023's own campaign and it is an independent-rear-suspension item: the rear suspension outer control-arm bolts may not have been properly heat-treated and can break, which misaligns the rear wheel. Dealers replace both bolts free. This is a straightforward fix but a serious failure mode, and because it is specific to this model year it is easy to overlook when scanning a list dominated by the engine recall. Verify it by VIN.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2023 Chevrolet Suburban · NHTSA recall database and manufacturer communications (6.2L engine Special Coverage; lifter-bore engine-replacement Customer Satisfaction Program; semiconductor feature retrofit and over-the-air battery-drain programmes)

$0

Rear control-arm bolt replacement under recall 23V642

Ten-speed transmission control valvemoderate

The ten-speed's control valve wears and loses hydraulic pressure, giving harsh shifting, a service-engine-soon message, reduced performance and code P0747. Owners in this year's file describe limping to an exit ramp in the slow lane with P0747 confirmed, and one frames it as control-valve failure causing wheel lock-up or deceleration. GM's Special Coverage for the control valve pays for a new valve body, but its stated model years stop at 2022, so a 2023 is not automatically inside it — this year has no equivalent transmission recall either, unlike the 2022's 26V085. Drive it long and feel every shift.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2023 Chevrolet Suburban · NHTSA recall database and manufacturer communications (6.2L engine Special Coverage; lifter-bore engine-replacement Customer Satisfaction Program; semiconductor feature retrofit and over-the-air battery-drain programmes)

Coolant control valvemoderate

A cluster that is new to this model year: owners report the check-engine light with a "Coolant Control Valve" message and, in at least one case, "Acceleration Reduced – Stop Vehicle" alongside it. Dealers diagnose a failed coolant control valve. It is not covered by any recall or programme on this year. On the test-drive, watch for coolant-related messages and check that the temperature behaves normally in traffic as well as at speed.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2023 Chevrolet Suburban

Features that were never fitted, and a battery that drains after updatesminor

The semiconductor-shortage retrofits reach into 2023: heated and ventilated seats, seat-cushion ventilation blowers and park assist all have Customer Satisfaction Programs promising a free retrofit on affected builds. Separately, a programme covers batteries at risk of draining after an over-the-air update, remedied by reprogramming the serial data gateway module and the radio. There is also a Super Cruise map-update programme and, for a small number of trucks, a $495 reimbursement for a lighted cargo sill plate that was invoiced but never fitted. None is a safety issue; all are free, and all are worth a VIN check.

Sources: NHTSA recall database and manufacturer communications (6.2L engine Special Coverage; lifter-bore engine-replacement Customer Satisfaction Program; semiconductor feature retrofit and over-the-air battery-drain programmes)

My 2023 Chevy Suburban High Country had the L87 Engine Loss of Propulsion recall performed on it and completed on August 15, 2025. Higher viscosity oil was put in. This was at approximately 55,000 miles.
6 mechanic & owner sources

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Open recalls

Free fixes at any Chevrolet dealer. Run the VIN — “completed” isn’t always completed.

  1. 25V2746.2L V8 connecting rod and/or crankshaft manufacturing defects can lead to engine damage and failure (2021–2024, 597,571 vehicles); engine inspected and repaired or replaced free (GM N252494000).open
  2. 23V642Rear suspension outer control-arm bolts may not have been properly heat-treated and can break, misaligning the rear wheel (2023); both bolts replaced free (GM N232415910).open
  3. 24V674EBCM software may fail to show a low-brake-fluid warning, an FMVSS 135 noncompliance (2023–2024); software updated free, over-the-air (GM N242447990).open
  4. 22V903Daytime running lights may not deactivate when the headlights are on, causing glare (FMVSS 108; 2022–2023, expands recall 22V-827); body control module software updated by dealer or over the air, free (GM N222386380).open

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