1996 CHEVROLET BERETTA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 71 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (14 complaints · 19.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 9
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 10
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
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 ENGINE appears in 14 of 71 owner complaints (19.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 14 complaints, 19.7% of reports ENGINE 14 · 19.7% SERVICE BRAKES: 13 complaints, 18.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 13 · 18.3% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 7 complaints, 9.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 · 9.9% AIR BAGS: 5 complaints, 7.0% of reports AIR BAGS 5 · 7.0% · 4 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 7.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 7.0% FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 5.6% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 5.6% STEERING: 3 complaints, 4.2% of reports STEERING 3 · 4.2% SUSPENSION: 3 complaints, 4.2% of reports SUSPENSION 3 · 4.2% · 1 crash reports VISIBILITY: 3 complaints, 4.2% of reports VISIBILITY 3 · 4.2% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 54 complaints, 76.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 54 · 76.1% · 7 crash 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)
ENGINE 14 19.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 13 18.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 9.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 5 7.0% 4 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 7.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 5.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 3 4.2% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 3 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 54 76.1% 7 crashes · 0 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 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Feb 1998. 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1996 Jul 2018 Recall campaign 98V027000 ◆ Recall campaign 98V027000 Recall campaign 07E021000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E021000
  • Campaign 07E021000 was reported 3,513 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 6
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 3
1997-Q3 Owner reports 7
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 3
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 4
1999-Q1 Owner reports 2
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 4
2000-Q1 Owner reports 4
2000-Q2 Owner reports 2
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2000-Q4 Owner reports 2
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 98V027000
Recall campaign 1 07E021000
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 07E021000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER
    Consequence:
    FUEL MAY LEAK, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DELPHI WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE UPR FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 23, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT DELPHI AT 877-411-8770.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 98V027000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THE INTERIOR LAMPS COMING ON UNEXPECTEDLY COULD STARTLE A DRIVER CAUSING A MOMENTARY LOSS OF CONTROL INCREASING THE RISK OF A VEHICLE ACCIDENT.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL RUN A DIAGNOSTIC TEST ON THE LAMP CONTROL MODULE AND, IF NECESSARY, REPLACE IT.
    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 71 complaints · page 1 of 3

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