I bought my Sonic used a couple years ago. I just hit 65000 miles this January and it has been doing some really weird stuff. It started with my fob not unlocking the doors. The car just wouldn't respond. I would unlock the door manually and the alarm would start going off. I would hit the unlock button on the fob and everything would function like normal. The issue evolved into no alarm once the driver side door was manually unlocked and me having to put the key in the ignition for the car to power on.
A week later, manual entry, key in ignition, no power, UNLESS, i closed the driver side door, then I would get power. When it got to this point my 11 year old son and I would joke that the car did not want to get up in the morning. The following day the car wouldn't power on until my son opened the passenger door.
Then the issues got kind of dangerous. I work downtown and park in a garage everyday. I was second in line to get into the gate, but the car in front of me had to back out. So, I put my car in reverse, and the engine shut off, power steering went out, but then when I put it back in drive, my car came back to life. Every time I put my car in reverse, no power, back in drive power, but once the power steering was gone, it was gone. After looking like a complete idiot trying to move out of the way, I eventually got it turned enough to drive on the sidewalk and park on the street. This was on February 4 around 8:45 AM. Coming home that evening I noticed that on the freeway when I was accelerating, the dash lights would dim and sometimes the radio would cut off. I could see from the car in front of me that when this happened, my headlights would dim as well.
February 6 - So, every morning I have to do the car door trick to get power to my car. It's not a battery issue. The battery was replaced right after we bought the car. I've never had symptoms of a bad battery or alternator, just lack of power. 2/6, went to my parking garage to go home for the day, and none of my tricks would work. I assumed that the battery was dead. There were no lights, no responses, it was like a Hot Wheels toy, it just sat. Left the keys in the ignition after trying all my door tricks and decided it was dead. So, called the hubby and he said he would pick up a battery and head to my garage. He asked me to take a photo of the battery so he made sure to get the right one. Opened the hood, snapped the photo, slammed the hood down in pissed off frustration and my car came to life. I could hear the sounds of the dinging from my keys being in the ignition. MAGIC.
At this point I was nervous about driving home. I had no idea what could happen. Told my husband if I died in a car accident from power failure to sue Chevy, and started the drive down I-10 to get to the house. Cruising at 65-70 miles an hour, my car, feeling cynical, lost power. I was coasting with no lights, no power, no power steering in Hotwheel mode. Luckily I owned a 76 Ford Bronco that would do this to me at times due to a faulty fuel issue, so I put my Sonic in neutral, while coasting through 5:00 traffic, took the key out, put it back in and it started. After quite a few f-bombs, and getting off the freeway to drive on the feeder the rest of the way home, I walked through my front door alive.
Today I am taking my sonic to a chevy dealership. Some poor guy is going to get an ear full. I've read other posts about the floor board being wet due to a leak in the sunroof and causing corroded wiring. I do have a sunroof, but checked the floor boards this morning and nothing is wet. We had some light sprinkles the day before, but my car is parked in a garage during the day, and I've never seen water at any time inside my car.
I think this will be my last Chevrolet. The suburban I owner 6 years ago burst into flames because of the alarm. (At least that's what the fireman told me, my insurance just totaled it out. My suburban was in park, locked the doors with the fob, 15 minutes later someone runs into the store saying a car is on fire and I walked out to see the engine, windshield and driver side seat engulfed in flames. I had just paid the damn thing off too.)
Back to the Sonic - the only other weird issue we've had was a year ago we went to pick up my daughter from a school function and when leaving, the car would not go faster than 20 miles an hour. It was like it was stuck in second gear. We were able to get it home, but ended up having to replace the ignition coil pack. This resolved the issue.
Update from Oct 26, 2022: This post is in response to the individual who emailed me about her son and his sonic issues. My husband found out it was a very dirty and loose terminal on the battery. He had to take all the connections off, clean the terminals with a metal brush and tighten the connectors after applying petroleum jelly. We also changed out the battery in the FAB.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I bought my Sonic used a couple years ago. I just hit 65000 miles this January and it has been doing some really weird stuff. It started with my fob not unlocking the doors. The car just wouldn't respond. I would unlock the door manually and the alarm would start going off. I would hit the unlock button on the fob and everything would function like normal. The issue evolved into no alarm once the driver side door was manually unlocked and me having to put the key in the ignition for the car to power on.
A week later, manual entry, key in ignition, no power, UNLESS, i closed the driver side door, then I would get power. When it got to this point my 11 year old son and I would joke that the car did not want to get up in the morning. The following day the car wouldn't power on until my son opened the passenger door.
Then the issues got kind of dangerous. I work downtown and park in a garage everyday. I was second in line to get into the gate, but the car in front of me had to back out. So, I put my car in reverse, and the engine shut off, power steering went out, but then when I put it back in drive, my car came back to life. Every time I put my car in reverse, no power, back in drive power, but once the power steering was gone, it was gone. After looking like a complete idiot trying to move out of the way, I eventually got it turned enough to drive on the sidewalk and park on the street. This was on February 4 around 8:45 AM. Coming home that evening I noticed that on the freeway when I was accelerating, the dash lights would dim and sometimes the radio would cut off. I could see from the car in front of me that when this happened, my headlights would dim as well.
February 6 - So, every morning I have to do the car door trick to get power to my car. It's not a battery issue. The battery was replaced right after we bought the car. I've never had symptoms of a bad battery or alternator, just lack of power. 2/6, went to my parking garage to go home for the day, and none of my tricks would work. I assumed that the battery was dead. There were no lights, no responses, it was like a Hot Wheels toy, it just sat. Left the keys in the ignition after trying all my door tricks and decided it was dead. So, called the hubby and he said he would pick up a battery and head to my garage. He asked me to take a photo of the battery so he made sure to get the right one. Opened the hood, snapped the photo, slammed the hood down in pissed off frustration and my car came to life. I could hear the sounds of the dinging from my keys being in the ignition. MAGIC.
At this point I was nervous about driving home. I had no idea what could happen. Told my husband if I died in a car accident from power failure to sue Chevy, and started the drive down I-10 to get to the house. Cruising at 65-70 miles an hour, my car, feeling cynical, lost power. I was coasting with no lights, no power, no power steering in Hotwheel mode. Luckily I owned a 76 Ford Bronco that would do this to me at times due to a faulty fuel issue, so I put my Sonic in neutral, while coasting through 5:00 traffic, took the key out, put it back in and it started. After quite a few f-bombs, and getting off the freeway to drive on the feeder the rest of the way home, I walked through my front door alive. Today I am taking my sonic to a chevy dealership. Some poor guy is going to get an ear full. I've read other posts about the floor board being wet due to a leak in the sunroof and causing corroded wiring. I do have a sunroof, but checked the floor boards this morning and nothing is wet. We had some light sprinkles the day before, but my car is parked in a garage during the day, and I've never seen water at any time inside my car.
I think this will be my last Chevrolet. The suburban I owner 6 years ago burst into flames because of the alarm. (At least that's what the fireman told me, my insurance just totaled it out. My suburban was in park, locked the doors with the fob, 15 minutes later someone runs into the store saying a car is on fire and I walked out to see the engine, windshield and driver side seat engulfed in flames. I had just paid the damn thing off too.)
Back to the Sonic - the only other weird issue we've had was a year ago we went to pick up my daughter from a school function and when leaving, the car would not go faster than 20 miles an hour. It was like it was stuck in second gear. We were able to get it home, but ended up having to replace the ignition coil pack. This resolved the issue.
Update from Oct 26, 2022: This post is in response to the individual who emailed me about her son and his sonic issues. My husband found out it was a very dirty and loose terminal on the battery. He had to take all the connections off, clean the terminals with a metal brush and tighten the connectors after applying petroleum jelly. We also changed out the battery in the FAB.
- Laura F., Houston, US