The Lemon Index$10,900 middle bill · most between $8,600 and $13,000
Higher than the $8,000 middle bill owners of all 168 models reported.
2003–2022 GMC Sierra
GMC Sierra owners reported paying a median of $10,900 for a engine replacement, with the middle half of bills between $8,600 and $13,000. That's from 33 owner reports (33 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5000%
- $500–$1,0000%
- $1,000–$2,5009%
- $2,500–$5,0000%
- $5,000 and up91%
Share of the 33 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2003 GMC Sierra1too few for a middle
- 2005 GMC Sierra1too few for a middle
- 2008 GMC Sierra1too few for a middle
- 2010 GMC Sierra1too few for a middle
- 2017 GMC Sierra1too few for a middle
- 2018 GMC Sierra1too few for a middle
- 2019 GMC Sierra11$10,900 middle bill
- 2020 GMC Sierra9$10,800 middle bill
- 2021 GMC Sierra3$12,400 middle bill
- 2022 GMC Sierra4$12,400 middle bill
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2019 GMC Sierra119 complaints name it16% of that year's complaints
- 2022 GMC Sierra107 complaints name it16% of that year's complaints
- 2023 GMC Sierra96 complaints name it17% of that year's complaints
- 2021 GMC Sierra91 complaints name it13% of that year's complaints
- 2024 GMC Sierra91 complaints name it17% of that year's complaints
- 2020 GMC Sierra74 complaints name it12% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a engine failure. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
2.7 Turbo (L3B) · 4.8 Vortec V8 · 5.3 V8 (L83 / L84) · 5.3 V8 (Vortec, 2007–13) · 6.2 V8 (L86 / L87)
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
- GMC Sierra reliability by year
- Engine replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs GMC Sierra owners reported
Brake repair (94) · Transmission replacement (22) · Lifter replacement (21) · Wheel bearing replacement (13) · Fuel injector replacement (11) · AC condenser replacement (7) · Fuel pump replacement (7) · Brake booster replacement (6)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11770868, 11768360, 11763704, 11762788, 11760257, 11760249, 11759795, 11759239, 11758649, 11754328, 11732205, 11731599 and more.
Quick answers
How much does engine replacement cost on a GMC Sierra?
GMC Sierra owners reported a median of $10,900, and the middle half paid $8,600 to $13,000, from 33 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a GMC Sierra engine replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The GMC Sierra middle bill of $10,900 is higher than the $8,000 owners of all 168 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these GMC Sierra repair costs come from?
From 33 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which GMC Sierra years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2019 (119), 2022 (107), 2023 (96) GMC Sierra named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.