What are the common problems with the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban?
Owners of the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban have filed 62 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the seats (27) and the tires (7). In NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, 2 of its 62 complaints list a mileage (90,000 to 165,000 miles), too few to say when problems were reported; a complaint is an owner's report, not a proven defect.
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See what the paid report includes →NHTSA's file holds 62 owner complaints on the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban. Owners named the seats most often: 27 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 62 complaints, 4 report a crash, 5 report a fire and 8 report an injury (8 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
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Common problems with the 1989 Suburban
NHTSA's file holds 62 owner complaints on the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban. Owners named the seats most often: 27 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | 27 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
| Tires | 7 | 0 | Under 5 mileages |
| Seat Belts | 6 | 0 | Under 5 mileages |
| Power Train | 5 | 0 | Under 5 mileages |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 4 | 0 | Under 5 mileages |
Of the 62 complaints, 4 report a crash, 5 report a fire and 8 report an injury (8 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Mileage when owners reported a problem with the 1989 Suburban
Too few complaints on the 1989 Suburban list a mileage to say when owners reported problems: 2 of its 62 complaints list a mileage (90,000 to 165,000 miles), and a median is given here only with 10 or more.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 1989 Suburban wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Every model year together: Half of the 4,190 NHTSA owner complaints on the Chevrolet Suburban that list mileage came after 76,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Chevrolet Suburban last? →
Is the 1989 Suburban a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1989 is a good or a bad Suburban: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1989 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 62 complaints, the 1989 ranks 30th of the 40 Chevrolet Suburban model years from 1987 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 1994 (872). The fewest: the 1987 (18).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 Suburban | 18 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1988 Suburban | 30 | 6 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1989 (this page) | 62 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1990 Suburban | 54 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1991 Suburban | 52 | 5 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1992 Suburban | 189 | 1 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1993 Suburban | 498 | 17 | 120,000 |
| 1994 Suburban | 872 | 43 | 124,125 |
| 1995 Suburban | 469 | 28 | 120,000 |
| 1996 Suburban | 370 | 34 | 102,000 |
| 1997 Suburban | 431 | 92 | 102,856 |
| 1998 Suburban | 216 | 68 | 83,000 |
| 1999 Suburban | 720 | 296 | 90,000 |
| 2000 Suburban | 356 | 202 | 85,000 |
| 2001 Suburban | 566 | 403 | 70,000 |
| 2002 Suburban | 439 | 330 | 77,000 |
| 2003 Suburban | 497 | 406 | 84,432 |
| 2004 Suburban | 406 | 354 | 78,000 |
| 2005 Suburban | 229 | 185 | 71,000 |
| 2006 Suburban | 56 | 46 | 75,000 |
| 2007 Suburban | 482 | 272 | 80,000 |
| 2008 Suburban | 321 | 184 | 78,000 |
| 2009 Suburban | 162 | 109 | 80,000 |
| 2010 Suburban | 175 | 113 | 80,160 |
| 2011 Suburban | 235 | 143 | 75,000 |
| 2012 Suburban | 101 | 84 | 66,000 |
| 2013 Suburban | 118 | 80 | 60,000 |
| 2014 Suburban | 59 | 35 | 55,000 |
| 2015 Suburban | 432 | 294 | 62,000 |
| 2016 Suburban | 220 | 131 | 59,963 |
| 2017 Suburban | 142 | 71 | 53,333 |
| 2018 Suburban | 84 | 27 | 42,000 |
| 2019 Suburban | 79 | 26 | 64,000 |
| 2020 Suburban | 44 | 13 | 30,000 |
| 2021 Suburban | 209 | 38 | 68,448 |
| 2022 Suburban | 127 | 21 | 58,166 |
| 2023 Suburban | 150 | 19 | 50,000 |
| 2024 Suburban | 46 | 7 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2025 Suburban | 32 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2026 Suburban | 19 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
Every Suburban year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Chevrolet Suburban years to avoid →
1989 Chevrolet Suburban recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 4 recall campaigns that name the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban (3 vehicle campaigns and 1 equipment or tire campaign that names this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 06E043000 | May 19, 2006 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE |
| 93V187000 | Nov 16, 1993 | SEATS |
| 93V119000 | Aug 2, 1993 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR |
| 93V016000 | Feb 1, 1993 | POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 1989 Suburban lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 1989 Suburban.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 60 of the 62 complaints on the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA names counted: SUBURBAN, SUBURBAN 1500 and SUBURBAN 2500. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only these.
- Recall-file names matched: SUBURBAN, SUBURBAN 1500 and SUBURBAN 2500.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
1989 Chevrolet Suburban questions
What are the most common 1989 Chevrolet Suburban problems?
NHTSA's file holds 62 owner complaints on the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban. Owners named the seats most often: 27 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 62 complaints, 4 report a crash, 5 report a fire and 8 report an injury (8 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
At what mileage do owners report problems with the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban?
NHTSA's file gives no mileage figure for the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban: 2 of its 62 complaints list a mileage (90,000 to 165,000 miles), and this page gives a median only with 10 or more. These are mileages at a reported problem; they do not say how many miles a 1989 Suburban can cover.
Is the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1989 is a good or a bad Suburban: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1989 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 62 complaints, the 1989 ranks 30th of the 40 Chevrolet Suburban model years from 1987 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 1994 (872). The fewest: the 1987 (18).
How many recalls does the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 4 recall campaigns that name the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban (3 vehicle campaigns and 1 equipment or tire campaign that names this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 1989 Chevrolet Suburban before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 1989 Chevrolet Suburban.