1990 CHEVROLET CAVALIER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 53 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (19 complaints · 35.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 2
  • Fires 12
  • Injuries 3
  • Deaths 0
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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 19 of 53 owner complaints (35.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 19 complaints, 35.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 19 · 35.9% · 8 fire reports VISIBILITY: 6 complaints, 11.3% of reports VISIBILITY 6 · 11.3% · 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 9.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 9.4% ENGINE: 4 complaints, 7.6% of reports ENGINE 4 · 7.6% · 2 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 4 complaints, 7.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 4 · 7.6% · 1 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 5.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 3 · 5.7% · 1 fire reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 2 complaints, 3.8% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 · 3.8% SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 3.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 3.8% STEERING: 2 complaints, 3.8% of reports STEERING 2 · 3.8% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 40 complaints, 75.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 40 · 75.5% · 12 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 19 35.9% 0 crashes · 8 fires
VISIBILITY 6 11.3% 0 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 9.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 4 7.6% 0 crashes · 2 fires
SEAT BELTS 4 7.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 3 5.7% 0 crashes · 1 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 2 3.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 40 75.5% 0 crashes · 12 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 May 2006. 1995-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1995-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jun 1992 Oct 2014 Recall campaign 06E043000 ◆ Recall campaign 06E043000 Investigation EA92024 ● Investigation EA92024 Investigation PE93090 ● Investigation PE93090
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 9
1995-Q2 Owner reports 2
1995-Q3 Owner reports 2
1995-Q4 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 5
1996-Q2 Owner reports 3
1996-Q3 Owner reports 6
1996-Q4 Owner reports 5
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 2
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 06E043000
Defect investigation 1 EA92024
Defect investigation 1 PE93090
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

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 →
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 53 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.

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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