Chevrolet Cavalier: recalls and complaints by model year

NHTSA lists 40 recall campaigns for the Chevrolet Cavalier, model years 1982 to 2005. NHTSA has 4,136 complaints on file for this model line. 23 of the 24 model years have a page on this register.

Select a model year NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Complaint file through 29 Mar 2018. Recall file through 30 Sep 2026.

Model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

Chevrolet Cavalier: recall campaigns and complaints for each model year, newest first
Model year	Recall campaigns	Complaints	Share of the line average	Units in the campaigns
2005 Chevrolet Cavalier	0	141	82%
2004 Chevrolet Cavalier	1	188	109%	37
2003 Chevrolet Cavalier	1	579	336%	256,025
2002 Chevrolet Cavalier	0	174	101%
2001 Chevrolet Cavalier	1	215	125%	1,415,231
2000 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	291	169%	1,415,259
1999 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	230	133%	1,421,815
1998 Chevrolet Cavalier	4	324	188%	2,574,802
1997 Chevrolet Cavalier	7	520	302%	3,452,199
1996 Chevrolet Cavalier	7	496	288%	3,971,283
1995 Chevrolet Cavalier	4	268	156%	1,881,318
1994 Chevrolet Cavalier	1	211	122%	65
1993 Chevrolet Cavalier	1	144	84%	2,848
1992 Chevrolet Cavalier	1	134	78%	3,212
1991 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	55	32%	389,584
1990 Chevrolet Cavalier	0	54	31%
1989 Chevrolet Cavalier	1	42	24%	13,095
1988 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	12	7%	14,873
1987 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	24	14%	67,064
1986 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	18	10%	199,428
1985 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	4	2%	121,505
1984 Chevrolet Cavalier	2	8	5%	1,212,993
1983 Chevrolet Cavalier	5	3	2%	1,627,795
1982 Chevrolet Cavalier NHTSA page	1	1	1%	519,329

The share is the complaints of the model year divided by the average of the line for one model year. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.

A model year with fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints has no page here. The link in its row opens its NHTSA page.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Components in the complaints

5,713 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

Chevrolet Cavalier: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component	Per 1,000	Mentions
Electrical System	165.2	944
Engine and Engine Cooling	138.1	789
Service Brakes, Hydraulic	111.5	637
Fuel System, Gasoline	86.5	494
Steering	64.9	371
Air Bags	55.1	315
Power Train	54.4	311
Visibility	53.6	306
Exterior Lighting	33.3	190
Suspension	32.2	184

Counts by year

Recall campaigns that name the Chevrolet Cavalier, by the year NHTSA received the report. The largest year is 1998, with 4 campaigns.

Complaints about the Chevrolet Cavalier, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2003, with 402 complaints.

Other model lines of the make

Blazer40 campaigns
Silverado46 campaigns
S1033 campaigns
Malibu66 campaigns
Suburban82 campaigns
Tahoe80 campaigns
Impala57 campaigns
Trailblazer29 campaigns
Silverado 150055 campaigns
Cobalt10 campaigns
Lumina29 campaigns
Astro17 campaigns
Venture18 campaigns
Corvette48 campaigns
Monte Carlo44 campaigns
Camaro56 campaigns
Silverado 250044 campaigns
Corsica15 campaigns
C15001 campaign
Caprice50 campaigns
Avalanche18 campaigns
Equinox32 campaigns
Trailblazer EXT9 campaigns
Suburban 15007 campaigns
Beretta15 campaigns
Colorado29 campaigns
Lumina APV11 campaigns
Chevrolet Truck10 campaigns
Pickup0 campaigns
HHR7 campaigns
Malibu Maxx4 campaigns
Aveo4 campaigns
Silverado 350045 campaigns
Express72 campaigns
K15001 campaign
C/K Pickups4 campaigns
Avalanche 15005 campaigns
Tracker0 campaigns
Uplander5 campaigns
G2022 campaigns
15003 campaigns
C152 campaigns
C25001 campaign
Van0 campaigns
Cobalt SS0 campaigns
Celebrity15 campaigns
C1041 campaigns
Chevrolet9 campaigns
C Series(light)0 campaigns
K152 campaigns
Prizm0 campaigns
C35004 campaigns
Trailblazer EXT 3700 campaigns
Z710 campaigns
K25001 campaign
G Series6 campaigns
C2042 campaigns
K1032 campaigns
Silverado 1500 HD0 campaigns
G3024 campaigns

Chevrolet: all 169 model lines

Follow by RSS:Chevrolet recallsVehicle recalls

Official channels

NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.

Cite this page

Recall Register. Chevrolet Cavalier: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/chevrolet/cavalier/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 30 Sep 2026.

Sources

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence: US government work, public domain
Recall file through: 30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through: 29 Mar 2018
Manufacturer in the recall file: GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

The model name is the name in the NHTSA files. NHTSA keeps a variant of a model as a different line. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

Which Chevrolet Cavalier model years have the most recall campaigns?: 1997 with 7, 1996 with 7, 1983 with 5. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
Which Chevrolet Cavalier model year has the most complaints?: The 2003 model year, with 579 of the 4,136 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
Which components do the complaints about the Chevrolet Cavalier name?: Electrical System: 165.2 per 1,000 component mentions. Engine and Engine Cooling: 138.1 per 1,000 component mentions. Service Brakes, Hydraulic: 111.5 per 1,000 component mentions.
How many NHTSA investigations name the Chevrolet Cavalier?: 30 investigations name one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.