1993 CHEVROLET CAVALIER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 146 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (40 complaints · 27.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 12
  • Fires 7
  • Injuries 14
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1992 →
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 40 of 146 owner complaints (27.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 40 complaints, 27.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 40 · 27.4% · 5 crash reports ENGINE: 32 complaints, 21.9% of reports ENGINE 32 · 21.9% · 2 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 19 complaints, 13.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 19 · 13.0% · 3 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 8 complaints, 5.5% of reports POWER TRAIN 8 · 5.5% SEAT BELTS: 6 complaints, 4.1% of reports SEAT BELTS 6 · 4.1% · 3 crash reports STRUCTURE: 6 complaints, 4.1% of reports STRUCTURE 6 · 4.1% · 1 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 2.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 2.7% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 3 complaints, 2.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 2.0% VISIBILITY: 3 complaints, 2.0% of reports VISIBILITY 3 · 2.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 120 complaints, 82.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 120 · 82.2% · 11 crash reports 7 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 40 27.4% 5 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 32 21.9% 0 crashes · 2 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 19 13.0% 0 crashes · 3 fires
POWER TRAIN 8 5.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 6 4.1% 3 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 6 4.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 2.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 3 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 120 82.2% 11 crashes · 7 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 Jul 1993. 1995-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1995-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 1995-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 1996-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1996-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 1997-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1993 Oct 2014 Recall campaign 93V121000 ◆ Recall campaign 93V121000 Recall campaign 96I001000 ◆ Recall campaign 96I001000 Investigation EA94033 ● Investigation EA94033
  • Campaign 96I001000 was reported 309 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 7
1995-Q2 Owner reports 10
1995-Q3 Owner reports 8
1995-Q4 Owner reports 8
1996-Q1 Owner reports 6
1996-Q2 Owner reports 9
1996-Q3 Owner reports 1
1996-Q4 Owner reports 7
1997-Q1 Owner reports 8
1997-Q2 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 7
1997-Q4 Owner reports 7
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 4
1998-Q3 Owner reports 5
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 4
1999-Q3 Owner reports 10
1999-Q4 Owner reports 5
2000-Q1 Owner reports 4
2000-Q2 Owner reports 6
2000-Q3 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q2 Owner reports 4
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 93V121000
Recall campaign 1 96I001000
Defect investigation 1 EA94033
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 93V121000

    Report date
    Component:
    SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
    Consequence:
    THE IMPROPERLY MANUFACTURED BRAKE HOSES CAN CAUSEREDUCED BRAKE EFFECTIVENESS AND/OR UNEVEN BRAKING, WHICH COULD RESULT IN ANACCIDENT.
    Remedy:
    REPLACE THE RIGHT FRONT BRAKE HOSE ASSEMBLY ON CIERA AND CENTURY MODELS, AND BOTH REAR BRAKE HOSES ON CAVALIER AND SUNBIRD MODELS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96I001000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    THE HORN PAD CAN SEPARATE FROM THE STEERING WHEEL FALLING BETWEEN THE STEERING WHEEL SPOKES. THE HORN PAD COULD BECOME JAMMED BETWEEN THE STEERING WHEEL SPOKES AND THE TURN SIGNAL LEVER, RESULTING IN DAMAGE TO THE TURN SIGNAL LEVER, HORN PAD, AND HORN WIRING.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL MODIFY THE HORN PAD RETENTION CLIPS, INSTALL HORN PAD RETENTION BRACKETS TO THE STEERING WHEEL, REINSTALL THE HORN PAD AND ASSURE THAT THE HORN PAD IS PROPERLY RETAINED.
    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 146 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 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