1992 CHEVROLET CAVALIER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 131 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (47 complaints · 35.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 15
  • Fires 8
  • Injuries 16
  • Deaths 2
Compare with 1991 →
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 SERVICE BRAKES appears in 47 of 131 owner complaints (35.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 47 complaints, 35.9% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 47 · 35.9% · 7 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 15 complaints, 11.4% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 · 11.4% · 2 crash reports 7 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 10 complaints, 7.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 10 · 7.6% · 2 crash reports ENGINE: 8 complaints, 6.1% of reports ENGINE 8 · 6.1% STEERING: 7 complaints, 5.3% of reports STEERING 7 · 5.3% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 7 complaints, 5.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 7 · 5.3% · 2 crash reports STRUCTURE: 6 complaints, 4.6% of reports STRUCTURE 6 · 4.6% POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 3.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 3.8% · 1 fire reports VISIBILITY: 5 complaints, 3.8% of reports VISIBILITY 5 · 3.8% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 114 complaints, 87.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 114 · 87.0% · 13 crash reports 8 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)
SERVICE BRAKES 47 35.9% 7 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 11.4% 2 crashes · 7 fires
SEAT BELTS 10 7.6% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 8 6.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 7 5.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 7 5.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 6 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 3.8% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VISIBILITY 5 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 114 87.0% 13 crashes · 8 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. 1995-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1995-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 1995-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 1995-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1996-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 1999-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1995 Jan 2008
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 9
1995-Q2 Owner reports 12
1995-Q3 Owner reports 14
1995-Q4 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 6
1996-Q2 Owner reports 4
1996-Q3 Owner reports 9
1996-Q4 Owner reports 5
1997-Q1 Owner reports 4
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 4
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q1 Owner reports 6
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 11
1999-Q4 Owner reports 5
2000-Q2 Owner reports 2
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 2
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q4 Owner reports 3
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 2
2004-Q2 Owner reports 2
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 131 complaints · page 1 of 6

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 Aug 21, 2026
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