1987 CHEVROLET CAVALIER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 22 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: SEAT BELTS (6 complaints · 27.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 2
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 3
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1986 →
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 SEAT BELTS appears in 6 of 22 owner complaints (27.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. SEAT BELTS: 6 complaints, 27.3% of reports SEAT BELTS 6 · 27.3% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 6 complaints, 27.3% of reports STEERING 6 · 27.3% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 3 complaints, 13.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 13.6% SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 9.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 9.1% POWER TRAIN: 1 complaints, 4.6% of reports POWER TRAIN 1 · 4.6% STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 4.6% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 4.6% VISIBILITY: 1 complaints, 4.6% of reports VISIBILITY 1 · 4.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 17 complaints, 77.3% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17 · 77.3% · 2 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)
SEAT BELTS 6 27.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 6 27.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 13.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 9.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 1 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 1 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 1 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 17 77.3% 2 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 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Sep 1986. 1995-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Sep 1986 May 2006 Recall campaign 86V128000 ◆ Recall campaign 86V128000 Recall campaign 87V011000 ◆ Recall campaign 87V011000 Recall campaign 06E043000 ◆ Recall campaign 06E043000 Investigation PE88085 ● Investigation PE88085 Investigation EA89010 ● Investigation EA89010 Investigation EA90041 ● Investigation EA90041 Investigation EA92024 ● Investigation EA92024
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 2
1995-Q2 Owner reports 4
1996-Q1 Owner reports 2
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 4
1997-Q1 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 86V128000
Recall campaign 1 87V011000
Recall campaign 1 06E043000
Defect investigation 1 PE88085
Defect investigation 1 EA89010
Defect investigation 1 EA90041
Defect investigation 1 EA92024
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 06E043000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION MAY CAUSE AN INADEQUATE SEAL AT THE CONNECTION, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO A FUEL LEAK. IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, A FIRE COULD OCCUR.
    Remedy:
    HONEYWELL WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE FUEL FILTERS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 18, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FRAM CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-800-890-2075 (OPTION 1).
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 86V128000

    Report date
    Component:
    PARKING BRAKE
    Consequence:
    Not available in the source record
    Remedy:
    REPLACE PARKING BRAKE LEVER ASSEMBLY.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 87V011000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    ENGINE SPEED MAY NOT DECREASE WHICH COULD RESULT IN LOSSOF ACCELERATOR CONTROL AND A CRASH WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING.
    Remedy:
    REPLACE ACCELERATOR CONTROL CABLE.
    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 22 complaints · page 1 of 1

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