1990 CHEVROLET BERETTA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 39 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (9 complaints · 23.1%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 4
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 8
  • Deaths 2
Compare with 1989 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 9 of 39 owner complaints (23.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 23.1% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 · 23.1% · 1 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 6 complaints, 15.4% of reports SEAT BELTS 6 · 15.4% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 4 complaints, 10.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 · 10.3% · 2 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 3 complaints, 7.7% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 7.7% · 1 crash reports WHEELS: 3 complaints, 7.7% of reports WHEELS 3 · 7.7% ENGINE: 2 complaints, 5.1% of reports ENGINE 2 · 5.1% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 2 complaints, 5.1% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 · 5.1% STEERING: 2 complaints, 5.1% of reports STEERING 2 · 5.1% STRUCTURE: 2 complaints, 5.1% of reports STRUCTURE 2 · 5.1% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 32 complaints, 82.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 32 · 82.1% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 23.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SEAT BELTS 6 15.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 10.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 3 7.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
WHEELS 3 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 2 5.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 5.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 2 5.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 2 5.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 32 82.1% 2 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Apr 1990. 1995-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1995-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1990 Oct 2001 Recall campaign 90V065000 ◆ Recall campaign 90V065000 Recall campaign 91V206000 ◆ Recall campaign 91V206000 Investigation PE90115 ● Investigation PE90115 Investigation PE92021 ● Investigation PE92021 Investigation PE92043 ● Investigation PE92043 Investigation EA92024 ● Investigation EA92024 Investigation EA92025 ● Investigation EA92025
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 7
1995-Q2 Owner reports 3
1996-Q1 Owner reports 2
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q1 Owner reports 3
1997-Q2 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 3
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 90V065000
Recall campaign 1 91V206000
Defect investigation 1 PE90115
Defect investigation 1 PE92021
Defect investigation 1 PE92043
Defect investigation 1 EA92024
Defect investigation 1 EA92025
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 90V065000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEAT BELTS
    Consequence:
    THIS WOULD NOT COMPLY WITH FMVSS 209.
    Remedy:
    INSERT MISSING INFORMATION INTO OWNERS MANUAL.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 91V206000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    FAILURE OF THE SHOULDER BELT RETRACTOR WOULD RESULT INTHE SEAT OCCUPANT ONLY BEING RESTRAINED BY THE LAP BELT IN A CRASH OR SUDDENSTOP, AND AN INCREASED POSSIBILITY OF INJURY.
    Remedy:
    Not available in the source record
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 39 complaints · page 1 of 2

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources