2023 Sierra issues

I have encountered the tail gate open mystery on mine. Dumbest move ever to not have some annoying indicator (that still can be dismissed) on the dash. There ARE times when you might want to drive with it open. But that night driving home in the dark with the bed loaded, it would have been nice to get an alert when it opened. Heck, only alert me if it comes open WHILE I’m exceeding 20 mph. They could do that now in software. But then they’d charge $5/mo for that “feature”.

I also just last week encountered another bug in the vehicle operating system. Let’s face it, it’s mostly just a computer with a combustion engine attached these days.

I always turn off auto-stop after cranking the truck. So my pre-flight is always – parking brake off, auto-stop off, clear for launch. As such I’m always looking at the piano keys. ONCE last week when I started, the park assist light was not on. It’s always on and I never touch it. Pressing it did nothing. I pressed other keys – skipping the tailgate key because I was backed up to a fence – to see if I could get any reaction. There’s a key next to grade control – I forget what it does, but when I tapped it, I heard a noise in the rear and felt a slight thud. Like something in the rear wheels changed – followed by a dash indicator. Based on what that button does, it made sense so I didn’t even bother to look out the back window. So, I turned that off and just drove home. It wasn’t until I got home that I notice the tailgate open – damn rear camera mirror – I guess I can’t see the tailgate from it. Another item to add to pre-flight I guess.

I’m guessing it opened when I tapped that button to the left of the grade control button. It had a scratch where it “rode” down the fence as I pulled away.

SO, now my pre-flight is going to be piano key lights check, parking brake off, auto-stop off, tail gate closed, ready for launch. IF the piano lights don’t work as expected, I’ll just reboot the truck. I’m sure that would have fixed it.

FWIW, I’ve installed all the updates that have been offered. My radio UI is smooth and responsive. I switch between XM and Car Play frequently.

OH – I posted this in another forum, but while we’re making a list, here’s a good one. Be careful driving into the sun. It’s pure speculation but it’s the only reason I can think of that caused this. Around 9am, cruise-assist on at 75, flying down the interstate, closest car 1/4 mile away – the truck jumps on the brakes hard. Ok, at least I’ve got brown seats – so no problem there 🙂

So I get on the accelerator to help the car behind me avoid a crash and before I could think, it was done and back to normal. I’m guessing glare got into the front camera for for a split second it decided I was about to strike an object. That’s a pretty scary scenario. So I just don’t use cruise if I’m ever driving into a rising or setting sun. But I do use it all the time outside of that scenario because it works really well – for me.

Once while I was actually paying FULL attention ahead the truck started to brake as I approached a car. I’m like WTF – but a few seconds later it made sense because that car was going probably 50 (me 70) and the closure rate met the criteria for braking. So from a safety perspective I was sold on it at that point. I knew I needed to get into the left lane soon but still had plenty of room to do so – but the truck is programmed to be a little bit safer than what my driving habits are.

That aside, after 11 months, the truck has been great and allot of fun to drive.

Good Evening,

My 2023 Denali 1500 likes to go in to adaptive cruise magically when I first start it up and exit wherever. I think possibly my hand hits the resume or set button on the side of the steering wheel when it is turning and it then proceeds to 15 mph, which was not set, unless I kick off the cruise. I am surprised that the cruise would even come on without setting a speed unless it defaults to 15mph just by accidentally hitting the set . This can be a very exciting start of the day or trip. I am a cruise addict and use the adaptive most of the time but on back windy roads it freaks out when it sees shadows and now maybe it is the sun too. If a car in front of me slows to turn off the road the adaptive cruise slows the truck nicely but then after the vehicle is off the road it continues to brake confusing people behind me . I again flip the cruise off in cases like this.
I too wish there was some kind of warning light to advise the tail gate is open. Mine has opened magically also. I sometimes only find out when I start to back up and see the road instead of the view behind me. Now I check the camera occasionally to see the view which assures the tail gate is closed.

Other than those two things my 2023 Denali 6.2 is a fabulous vehicle.