Diagsheet

2016 GMC Terrain · symptom sheet

Windshield cracks or distorts

  • 35owner reports
  • 58,000median miles
  • 0involved a crash

Newest report May 17, 2026 · checked Sep 9, 2026

52 of the 152 complaints on this car are about the windshield and wipers. 35 of those describe windshield, which makes it the most reported problem on the 2016 Terrain.

Tick what matches of 35 reports

5
1

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the windshield (35 reports).

Recalls and investigations

No recall on the windshield and wipers covers the 2016 model year as of Sep 9, 2026.

NHTSA investigations into the windshield and wipers on the Terrain

EA19-005opened Dec 13, 2019
Visibility · model years 2010 to 2016

Front wiper transmission inoperative. Closed nov 28, 2022, led to recall 22V-165.

NHTSA summary
On December 13, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) upgraded RQ18-002 to an Engineering Analysis (EA19-005) to further assess the MY2010-2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain windshield wiper failures. Due to a prior recall, 16V-582, addressing this issue in the MY2013 subject vehicles, MY2013 was not included in the analysis. To date, ODI had received 998 complaints with allegations of the front windshield wiper failing in adverse whether conditions, while the vehicle was in motion.General Motors (GM) initiated Safety Recall 16V-582 on August 3, 2016 to address windshield wiper failure in the Model Year (MY) 2013 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Failures were attributed to water and debris intruding into the windshield wiper assembly ball joints, leading to excessive wear and eventual detachment of the affected ball joint resulting in loss of windshield wiper function. ODI?s review focused on 2010-2012 and 2014-2016 Equinox and Terrain vehicles. Owners were reporting a high rate of failures of the windshield wiper system. These failures were the same as that addressed by recall 16V-582. ODI's review of data supplied by GM as well as its own confirmed a high failure rate in model years 2014 and 2015. On March 17, 2022, GM filed a defect information report recalling all MY2014-2015 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles to remedy the potential failure of the front windshield wiper transmission assembly.General Motors is also conducting a special coverage pro
RQ18-002opened Nov 2, 2018
Visibility · model years 2010 to 2016

Windshield wiper transmission failure. Closed dec 19, 2019.

NHTSA summary
On November 2, 2018, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Recall Query (RQ18-002) to assess the scope of Recall 16V-582.General Motors (GM) initiated Safety Recall 16V-582 on August 3, 2016 to address windshield wiper failure in the Model Year (MY) 2013 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Failures were attributed to water and debris intrusion into the windshield wiper assembly ball joints, leading to excessive wear and eventual detachment of the affected ball joint with an attendant loss of windshield wiper function. The recall remedy addressed these conditions with the installation of an improved windshield wiper motor/transmission assembly and the relocation of a drain hole on the Air Inlet Panel at the base of the windshield.RQ18-002 was opened to assess windshield wiper failure rates in the MY 2010-2012 and MY 2014 - 2016 Equinox and Terrain (subject vehicles).During the course of the investigation, ODI received additional consumer complaint traffic bringing its total to 602 concerning the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. In their December 20, 2018 response to ODI's Information Request (IR) Letter, GM reported 1,303 complaints related to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. Together, these bodies of data correspond to 1,905 unique Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN).GM stated the recalled vehicles exhibited double the warranty rate and five times the complaint rate of the subject vehicles and that continuing complaint traffic concerning the all

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 49,000 and 96,000 miles, from the 16 reports that gave a mileage.

619
420
321
922
423
124
625
226

What owners wrote

“During heavy rainfall in the mountains at dawn, my windshield wipers suddenly have stopped working. We can manually move the wipers with ease and can hear the motor engaging but both front wipers suddenly stopped. We were 1200 miles from home on what was supposed to be a vacation. Carvana reports 2 recalls for my reports but the dealerships have no recalls for my year of vehicle.”

Filed Apr 29, 2026 · 1,200 miles

“My wife was driving on the highway to work when it was raining. Both of the wipers stopped working all of a sudden causing her to not be able to see out of the windshield. When she got home that night I could see that the linkage arm had came off the ball joint.”

Filed Dec 29, 2023

“While driving in the rain, my windshield wipers stopped working. No lights on, nothing showing in my GMC app. I've noticed many others with this same issue, and am aware of the recall on the 2014-2015 models. GMC should extend the recall to cover the 2016 as well since this is a known issue.”

Filed Jul 5, 2023

“I was driving while it was raining. My windshield wipers were on and functioning without issue. I heard a noise and my windshield wipers had stopped moving and now they do not work. I called several places to schedule an appt for my car/wipers to be assessed and repaired. I was told by 3 different shops that a recall had been issued for the year adjacent to my car and my issue sounded like the recall issue.”

Filed Jul 2, 2023

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 0 of 35 reports involved a crash. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation.