CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic is fairly new & is already showing an early trend of transmission problems.
Owners report hesitation when shifting & grinding/hard shifting into gears. Some dealers are calling the condition "normal". Another owner reported his dealership replaced the transmission under warranty, but the new transmission had the same exact grinding problem. Design defect?
Potential DEATH MACHINE DO NOT BUY!!!! Driving home from a 2 week long vacation when the charging system light lit up on the dash. Within a minute of the light coming on my electrical system went haywire. The windows went up and down the lights turned on and off the doors locked and unlocked rapidly and then the accelerator stopped responding and the whole car shut down. I coasted to the side of the road and opened the hood to see what the problem was. As soon as I opened the hood the engine burst into flame. Within 2 minutes the car was fully engulfed in flames. The car burned down to the frame by the time the fire fighters were on scene to put it out. The car had less than 40000 miles on it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Potential DEATH MACHINE DO NOT BUY!!!! Driving home from a 2 week long vacation when the charging system light lit up on the dash. Within a minute of the light coming on my electrical system went haywire. The windows went up and down the lights turned on and off the doors locked and unlocked rapidly and then the accelerator stopped responding and the whole car shut down. I coasted to the side of the road and opened the hood to see what the problem was. As soon as I opened the hood the engine burst into flame. Within 2 minutes the car was fully engulfed in flames. The car burned down to the frame by the time the fire fighters were on scene to put it out. The car had less than 40000 miles on it.
- Christian R., Brook Park, OH, US