I recently bought my car this past February as I was in need of a car. I found my "04 Cavalier on a used car lot, when I test drove the car the Speedometer worked ok, It did have a movement like the second hand on a clock but I didn't think anything of it, It has not gone completely out yet however when it is overly hot outside it won't work and if I am driving longer than 20-30 min it quits working, I have had to buy a G.P.S to tell me how fast I am going because I'm not sure about the speed by just reading my RPM Gage. I shouldn't have to use a G.P.S to tell me how fast I am going my car speedometer should work all of the time, I have replaced the speed sensor and no luck, I have replaced fuses and NO luck!! I am a single mom who doesn't make much money and it seems I'm not the only one with this problem, I do not have the money to pay for this repair!! WE NEED A RECALL ON THE SPEEDOMETERS for Cavaliers!!!!!!!!!!!!

i wonder if anyone has tried to get to GM with this issue? I never knew that anyone else could be having the same issue, i thought it was something that i did and not a world wide defect. the other day when it was nearly 85 degrees i started my car and the gauge shot up to 85 while i was sitting in park and the RPM gauge was at 0 rpms. that is the first time that has ever happened. i can usually turn off the car and start it back up and it will reset but this time it didn't. on the hot days the speedo acts crazy, like 110 mph when I'm sitting at a red light but i could always count on the RPM gauge to tell me how fast i was going. When it's cold or cool outside i usually don't have problems until the motor heats up and then the gauge will start having problems. i can shut off the engine and click my key several times and the gauge will roll backwards but sometimes that doesn't work when it's really hot out. who knows but this is a ball of crap if you ask me. i'm going to gm website to complain, come on everyone, let's go!

I just got done elaborating on how great my 2004 Chevy Cavalier is because I have never had any problems with it. It is totally unreliable now. Going 0 when I am going 35. Going 35 when the speedometer states 65! Ugh, I doubt with the financial mess of GM, that there will be a recall, but there needs to be immediately! This is incredibly dangerous!

Update from Nov 22, 2010: I had enough and had this problem fixed at my local Chevy Dealer. Total cost $787.00!!!! First, a week ago, they had to pull the instrumentation cluster to get a code(?) Now if I could leave my car with them until the part came in, they wouldn't have to charge me twice for labor ($240.00 + tax) for pulling the cluster out again. One removal of instrument cluster for code number retrieval: $275.00. I was not in the position to leave my car with them, so I sucked it up and said I would have to pay again for labor and waited for them to call when the part came in which was 5 working days later!! had my car in this morning for the final repair. Total cost today: $512.00. I love my car since up to this point it was operating flawlessly. I do not see why GM did not issue a recall or offer some assistance with this problem. The dealership that I contacted were total a##*s about it. They asked why they haven't seen me in years. I think GM expects once you buy one of their cars that you take it back to that same dealership where purchased, for all repairs and maintenance. I took my car faithfully to a local Walmart or other oil change place for my oil changes, tire rotations... minor but extremely important stuff. I don't have time to sit around waiting for hours on maintenance items that takes 10 minutes elsewhere. Besides, what does a bad instrumentation cluster have to do with maintenance??? It is a bad part nothing else! So as the cold winter weather will soon be here in NE Ohio, I once again have a working speedometer. If you can live with a non-working speedometer, then let it go.

How safe is it that one is driving down the road and one don't know at what speed we are going? or you don't know how much gas is in your car? how safe is it that one is driving down the road and one don't know at what speed we are going? or you don't know how much gas is in your car? or better yet, you don't see nothing at all on your front panel? Like all of these people my speedometer stopped working on my 2004 chevrolet cavalier. I had to pay $45.00 dollars to get a "half an hour" diagnostic from the dealer, to find out that my speedometer isn't working. You could ignore our complaints as much as you can, but at the end when it comes to get another car, we'll make sure to choose a better and reliable car maker. FIX THE PROBLEM!!!!! or better yet, you don't see nothing at all on your front panel? Like all of these people my speedometer stopped working on my 2004 chevrolet cavalier. I had to pay $45.00 dollars to get a "half an hour" diagnostic from the dealer, to find out that my speedometer isn't working. You could ignore our complaints as much as you can, but at the end when it comes to get another car, we'll make sure to choose a better and reliable car maker. FIX THE PROBLEM!!!!!

My speedomter stopped working in the car and what a pain it is to be driving down the interstate and have no idea how fast you are going. I had to take the car back to the dealership since it was still under warranty, and what a headache!

The mechanic said he had to order one and would put it in once it arrived.

Well, explain to me why it took months for the thing to come in and me having to constantly call the dealership!! Ridiculous! Even after they put the "so-called" new one on I still don't think the stupid spedometer works right, and I was told those were

re-called due to them not working.

Same as all the many other Cavalier owners with this problem Right not it sits still on 110 MPH, and my dealer states that it will cost $400 + Labor to fix. He state that the only solution is a new cluster, but all other gauges are working fine in the cluster. I am able to reset if to zero if i turn off the car and restart it many, many times. Each restart will take it back about 5 MPH but then it happens all over again the next day. This will wear out my ignition so I am letting it stay at 110 MPH until I can get it fixed or a recall will fix it for all of us. (May be a long wait either way). The mess GM is in, one would think that they would want to deal with these complaints in a better way to ensure customer satisfaction...HaHa!!!

Update from Apr 15, 2013: Now all of my gauges have stopped working in the cluster. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM!!! There needs to be a recall NOW!!! The 2005 Cavaliers are having the same problems!! SHAME ON YOU GM!!!

About a year and a half ago the speedometer on my 2004 cavalier stopped working correctly, it will stick at random places on the dial, even when not driving. Sometimes the needle will point straight down at the odometer and stick there also. The problem seems to get better with warm weather, but is still not right. Now if that wasn't enough,

the tachometer has started to stick and not register at all when it is very cold outside, like the speedometer though, the tachometer works better in warmer weather. Coolant temp. gauge sticks also when it gets cold out. These problems are very repairable, I just can't believe by the number of complaints that a recall has not been issued for this problem yet! This could very well be the last American made car I buy!