1996 CHEVROLET CAVALIER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 498 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (90 complaints · 18.1%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 57
  • Fires 10
  • Injuries 60
  • Deaths 1
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 90 of 498 owner complaints (18.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 90 complaints, 18.1% of reports ENGINE 90 · 18.1% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 80 complaints, 16.1% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 80 · 16.1% · 2 crash reports 9 fire reports AIR BAGS: 66 complaints, 13.3% of reports AIR BAGS 66 · 13.3% · 30 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 45 complaints, 9.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 45 · 9.0% · 6 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 39 complaints, 7.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 39 · 7.8% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports STEERING: 39 complaints, 7.8% of reports STEERING 39 · 7.8% · 4 crash reports SUSPENSION: 17 complaints, 3.4% of reports SUSPENSION 17 · 3.4% · 2 crash reports VISIBILITY: 15 complaints, 3.0% of reports VISIBILITY 15 · 3.0% SEAT BELTS: 14 complaints, 2.8% of reports SEAT BELTS 14 · 2.8% · 4 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 403 complaints, 80.9% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 403 · 80.9% · 45 crash reports 10 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)
ENGINE 90 18.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 80 16.1% 2 crashes · 9 fires
AIR BAGS 66 13.3% 30 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 45 9.0% 6 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 39 7.8% 2 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 39 7.8% 4 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 17 3.4% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 15 3.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 14 2.8% 4 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 403 80.9% 45 crashes · 10 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 Jul 1995. 1995-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1996-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1996-Q4: 19 owner reports 19 1997-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 1997-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 1997-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 1997-Q4: 22 owner reports 22 1998-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 1998-Q2: 19 owner reports 19 1998-Q3: 23 owner reports 23 1998-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 1999-Q1: 20 owner reports 20 1999-Q2: 20 owner reports 20 1999-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 1999-Q4: 21 owner reports 21 2000-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2000-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2000-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2000-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 2001-Q1: 18 owner reports 18 2001-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2001-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2001-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q2: 25 owner reports 25 2002-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2002-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2003-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2003-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2003-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2004-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1995 Oct 2017 Investigation PE97041 ● Investigation PE97041 Investigation EA98001 ● Investigation EA98001 Investigation PE02001 ● Investigation PE02001 Investigation DP03007 ● Investigation DP03007
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q3 Owner reports 1
1995-Q4 Owner reports 4
1996-Q1 Owner reports 7
1996-Q2 Owner reports 5
1996-Q3 Owner reports 9
1996-Q4 Owner reports 19
1997-Q1 Owner reports 14
1997-Q2 Owner reports 12
1997-Q3 Owner reports 14
1997-Q4 Owner reports 22
1998-Q1 Owner reports 13
1998-Q2 Owner reports 19
1998-Q3 Owner reports 23
1998-Q4 Owner reports 12
1999-Q1 Owner reports 20
1999-Q2 Owner reports 20
1999-Q3 Owner reports 18
1999-Q4 Owner reports 21
2000-Q1 Owner reports 11
2000-Q2 Owner reports 16
2000-Q3 Owner reports 14
2000-Q4 Owner reports 15
2001-Q1 Owner reports 18
2001-Q2 Owner reports 12
2001-Q3 Owner reports 12
2001-Q4 Owner reports 4
2002-Q1 Owner reports 6
2002-Q2 Owner reports 25
2002-Q3 Owner reports 11
2002-Q4 Owner reports 11
2003-Q1 Owner reports 13
2003-Q2 Owner reports 14
2003-Q3 Owner reports 6
2003-Q4 Owner reports 6
2004-Q1 Owner reports 8
2004-Q2 Owner reports 5
2004-Q3 Owner reports 3
2004-Q4 Owner reports 3
2005-Q1 Owner reports 3
2005-Q2 Owner reports 4
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q4 Owner reports 2
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE97041
Defect investigation 1 EA98001
Defect investigation 1 PE02001
Defect investigation 1 DP03007
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 498 complaints · page 1 of 20

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