This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
At highway speeds, the speedometer needle on our 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier fluctuates wildly and is unreadable. Reducing speed greatly or changing rate of acceleration/deceleration will correct the problem temporarily, but it recurs every time the car passes 55 miles per hour.
I drive a 2005 Chevy Cavalier and on very hot or cold days, or when I drive longer than usual distances (over 30 miles), the speedometer often malfunctions, either by getting stuck reading over 110 mph, even when stopped, or by reading under zero, even when I'm moving. And lately the temp gauge has started doing this as well, alerting to me overheating on cold days even though the engine is not overheating and the check engine light never comes on. It's frustrating and frightening and unsafe.
When cold outside the temperature gauge will read inaccurate temperatures and gauge is stuck to far left and does not budge. A week later the gas gauge also gave out. Do not know how much gas in tank! was driving across the state on a vacation trip and was using cruise control. Once taken off cruise control the speedometer is stuck at 65mph and will not change. Very dangerous. Going on long distance trips and not knowing how much gas, my speed or the temperature of the internal system is scary indeed.
Last night I was driving home in the dark and the speedometer was not correctly working. (this has happened many times since I bought the car several months ago) the speedometer will work sometimes, then will read erratic, fluctuates from 10 mph to 120 mph whether the car is parked or driving. This has been happening a lot over the past few months. I just bought the car a few months ago. The dealership recommends a new gauge cluster @ $500+. this is a common problem with the 2005 Chevy Cavalier and other year models as well. I got on the internet and saw many entries about the same problem, same brand, same model. GM should recall this and fix it. I and others are forced to drive in an unsafe condition. I am retired and cannot afford the part nor afford to trade the car in. Please help me and others who have no place to turn, thanks.
The speedometer in the 2003-2005 Chevrolet Cavalier is likely defective among many cars. Recently, when my speedometer in my 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier stopped working at 93000 miles, it prompted me to do a search on google to see if anyone else had a similar problem. I bought the car with 72000 miles on it out of warranty and I soon realized (maybe in 2000-3000 miles) that the speedometer was around 5mph fast. I was able to test this using speed check signs posted by police and by using my gps unit. At the moment, my particular speedometer works when the weather is warm (not too cold, not too hot), but many other's don't work at all, or this happened before theirs stopped working completely. It appears that many others with many different years of the car have experienced the same problem. (by many others, I found at least 30-40 complaints among the years the Cavalier new style of Cavalier has been built (2002-2005) the average cost to fix this problem is $800, according to carcomplaints.com, which is more than 20% of the assessed value of my car. As I am sure you are aware, the speedometer is an integral part of a car's suite of safety features. Not only does it contribute to the safety of the drive and his or her passengers, it also contributes to the safety of the highway system as a whole. Please consider investigating this issue as many others have experienced it.
- Reston, VA, USA
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I have a 2005, Cavalier and I have the same complaint as every one else my gauges are going hay wire.1st started at 62,000 miles the RPM started messing up 2nd the speed gauge was next acting as if it didn't wont to move. 3rd now at 89,000 miles the temp gauge is saying its hot when its not look under hood I see no heat coming from engine, check the coolant not steam.I am pissed and tired of this car.all three gauges that I mention are taking turns going up and down. From the start when I brought this car it had electrical problems when I brought this car it had 8 miles and mine you this is my 2nd Chevrolet Cavalier of the last model and it had electrical problems. So GM swallow ur pride and fix these cars I don't have 500~800 to fix some thing that should be recalled on your behalf. This is an issue.
While driving home one evening in approximately 30 degree weather my 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier temp gauge began to soar far past the 260 degree mark on the dial and came to rest pointing at the 15 mph mark on the speedometer. This prohibited the speedometer from coming to rest at 0 when the car was not moving. This is causing me to have to use my gps to accurately determine the rate of speed I am traveling at. I have pulled overmany times to check whether or not my car is truly overheating and at no time has it been the case.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that after driving the vehicle off of the lot she noticed that the speedometer displayed the incorrect speed. The gasoline gauge had also failed and the odometer had also malfunctioned. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who informed the contact that they could not assist her. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 188,000. The VIN was unavailable.
My Cavalier has over 97,000 miles on it. Last winter the speedometer started sticking at 0 randomly. During the warmer months, it seemed to work fine. Now that it is cold that speedometer is sticking again and doing it more often than last winter. I was sitting still at a traffic light the other day and it jumped to 110 mph and stayed there. I had no idea how fast I was going and what if something had happened. I can not afford the $300 to $800 that I have been told it would take to fix this. Also, I highly suspect that this might be connected, the car would refuse to start last winter also. All of the lights would come on along with the heater and fan. The starter wouldn't even act like it was trying... no clicking or any other noises typically associated with that. Please investigate these problems and issue a recall. I really like Chevrolet but, these problems are scary.
Temperature gauge stopped working and is stuck over 260 degrees, initially moved back but now remains totally turned to the right. Speedometer also stopped working, would turn on ignition and the speedometer would read 30 mph in idle and I would begin driving. To calculate speed I would have to take the speedometer speed-30mph and it would equal the actual speed. Then stopped at a red light, speedometer only decreased to 50 mph, by the time I reached home the speedometer read 95 mph in idle. Additionally cd player also stopped working. It occurs all the time and the consequences are not knowing true temperature or speed of the vehicle posing a danger to all on the road and myself vehicle not yet repaired.
I have a 2005 Chevy Cavalier that I have been having trouble with the temperature gauge reading hot when the motor is not. I've been told that the instrument panel most likely needs replaced and it's very expensive. The car has only 75,000 miles. I have been reading a lot of complaints about the panels going out of this model. Not being able to know whether the car is performing properly could pose a safety hazard driving. If the temperature gauge is reading incorrectly, I have no way of knowing whether to turn the car off or keep driving it.
I have a 2005 Chevy Cavalier with 66K miles on it. The speedometer, fuel gauge, temp gauge will at times have a mind of their own. I know I'm not really going 30 mph when stopped at a light. And how can everyone be passing me on the freeway when I'm doing 110?
The speedometer on my 2005 Chevy Cavalier stopped working. The mileage is just over 125,000 miles. The speedometer would indicate a speed of 25 mph when I was stopped. On the interstate it would show I was over 110 mph when I was with the flow of traffic. It finally went so high off the scale that it stayed stuck. I took the car to a Goodyear service center and they charged me $220 to "fix" the problem. The speedometer was reading 5 miles per hour when I parked the car in my driveway after driving 3 miles home from the repair shop. It will be next week before I can get back to the shop and try to get some of my money refunded. Now I have to find a reputable repair shop that can actually handle the job and replace the defective parts in the instrument panel cluster.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that he noticed the temperature gauge seemed to move sporadically. The gauge indicated that the vehicle was hot but it was not. The gauge also became "hang up with the speedometer", according to the contact. The contact disconnected the temperature gauge. The contact planned to perform repairs himself; he purchased a motor that would be installed behind the instrument panel. The contact called the dealership who advised him to take the vehicle in for a diagnostics test. The current and failure mileages were approximately 122,000.
The instrument panel of my 2005 Chevy Cavalier has gone crazy. It started with my gas gauge staying all the way to the right which prevents my temp gauge from reading. Now in the past week the RPM gauge is doing the same thing. I have noticed the speedometer will stick as I accelerate. I am just waiting for it to go out. I have to judge my miles to make sure I don't run out of gas. Why hasn't Chevy recalled this problem? I also have had to replace both driver and passenger side window motors....now I believe it's an electrical problem that should be recalled!
Horn contact behind airbag was recently crazy glued, to restore horn, and speedo & cluster requires replacement of entire cluster by Chevy, or removal & rebuild of gauge stepper motors through ebay motors. Use froogle.com and enter"repair Cavalier speedometer" to search. My speedo only on my cluster erratic for 20K miles. I use my tachometer to guestimate highway speeds,2,500 RPM is 55. I have 120K now on the car, otherwise bulletproof. Just tossing out brake rotors now, that's it. I used synthetic oil from the start, very smooth car, @ normal speeds.needs intake and wheels for speeding, over 65. Engine has plenty of go over that, but base brakes, wheels and intake aren't speedworthy, but it is a base model so ok. Keep the tie rods greased, air filters changed after winter as they are easily serviceable unlike most that aren't.
Instrument cluster failure on 2005 Chevrolet Cavaliers. I own two of this year models and both have failed. I have read reports that it is a known failure and GM refuses to recall. This is very hazardous as the failure includes failure of speedometer and temp gauges.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- West Orange, NJ, USA