2003 CHEVROLET CAVALIER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 670 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: FUEL SYSTEM (360 complaints · 53.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 30
  • Fires 6
  • Injuries 17
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 2002 →
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 FUEL SYSTEM appears in 360 of 670 owner complaints (53.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. FUEL SYSTEM: 360 complaints, 53.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 360 · 53.7% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 85 complaints, 12.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 85 · 12.7% · 3 crash reports 4 fire reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 47 complaints, 7.0% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 47 · 7.0% · 4 crash reports ENGINE: 34 complaints, 5.1% of reports ENGINE 34 · 5.1% · 1 fire reports VISIBILITY: 30 complaints, 4.5% of reports VISIBILITY 30 · 4.5% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 19 complaints, 2.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 19 · 2.8% · 1 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 13 complaints, 1.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 13 · 1.9% SUSPENSION: 13 complaints, 1.9% of reports SUSPENSION 13 · 1.9% · 2 crash reports AIR BAGS: 11 complaints, 1.6% of reports AIR BAGS 11 · 1.6% · 10 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 543 complaints, 81.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 543 · 81.0% · 21 crash reports 1 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)
FUEL SYSTEM 360 53.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 85 12.7% 3 crashes · 4 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 47 7.0% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 34 5.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VISIBILITY 30 4.5% 2 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 19 2.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 13 1.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 13 1.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 11 1.6% 10 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 543 81.0% 21 crashes · 1 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 Oct 2002. 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2003-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2004-Q1: 16 owner reports 16 2004-Q2: 17 owner reports 17 2004-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 2004-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 2005-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2005-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2005-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2005-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2006-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2006-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2007-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2007-Q2: 23 owner reports 23 2007-Q3: 38 owner reports 38 2007-Q4: 40 owner reports 40 2008-Q1: 40 owner reports 40 2008-Q2: 55 owner reports 55 2008-Q3: 31 owner reports 31 2008-Q4: 50 owner reports 50 2009-Q1: 32 owner reports 32 2009-Q2: 22 owner reports 22 2009-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2009-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 2010-Q1: 18 owner reports 18 2010-Q2: 13 owner reports 13 2010-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2010-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2011-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2011-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2011-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 2011-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2012-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2014-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2016-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2016-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 2002 Jul 2025 Investigation PE04043 ● Investigation PE04043 Investigation EA04028 ● Investigation EA04028 Investigation PE07033 ● Investigation PE07033 Investigation EA07015 ● Investigation EA07015
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 4
2003-Q2 Owner reports 6
2003-Q3 Owner reports 15
2003-Q4 Owner reports 17
2004-Q1 Owner reports 16
2004-Q2 Owner reports 17
2004-Q3 Owner reports 18
2004-Q4 Owner reports 15
2005-Q1 Owner reports 17
2005-Q2 Owner reports 10
2005-Q3 Owner reports 9
2005-Q4 Owner reports 5
2006-Q1 Owner reports 3
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 7
2006-Q4 Owner reports 4
2007-Q1 Owner reports 4
2007-Q2 Owner reports 23
2007-Q3 Owner reports 38
2007-Q4 Owner reports 40
2008-Q1 Owner reports 40
2008-Q2 Owner reports 55
2008-Q3 Owner reports 31
2008-Q4 Owner reports 50
2009-Q1 Owner reports 32
2009-Q2 Owner reports 22
2009-Q3 Owner reports 17
2009-Q4 Owner reports 15
2010-Q1 Owner reports 18
2010-Q2 Owner reports 13
2010-Q3 Owner reports 9
2010-Q4 Owner reports 8
2011-Q1 Owner reports 9
2011-Q2 Owner reports 7
2011-Q3 Owner reports 13
2011-Q4 Owner reports 5
2012-Q1 Owner reports 4
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 4
2012-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q1 Owner reports 4
2013-Q2 Owner reports 5
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 4
2014-Q2 Owner reports 7
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q1 Owner reports 3
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 5
2016-Q1 Owner reports 4
2016-Q2 Owner reports 2
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
2021-Q2 Owner reports 2
2025-Q3 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE04043
Defect investigation 1 EA04028
Defect investigation 1 PE07033
Defect investigation 1 EA07015
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 670 complaints · page 1 of 27

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