1990 Chevrolet Cavalier problems
Owners have filed 70 complaints with NHTSA about the 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 31% of complaints. Next are wipers, windshield & visibility (13%) and engine (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 70 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 31% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 13
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What the data shows
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 13 complaints mention a fire; 3 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 88% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1990 ranks 16th most-complained-about out of 16 model years of the Chevrolet Cavalier with enough data (24 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
While parked, vehicle caught fire underhood, right in front of driver's; cause unkown; vehicle totaled; vehicle with state farm insurance co.
Owner took vehicle to a garage, was asked to start it, vehicle blew up in mechanic's face and caught on fire, was informed that it was engine and now its the fuel pressure regulator.
1990 cavalier gear shift moved to neutral when touched by consumers leg. The consumer was driving about 65 MPH when this occurred. The consumer's son's leg touched the gear shift and caused it to go into neutral. As a result the vehicle stalled and would not restart immediately. The consumer contacted the manufacturer but they offered no assistance.
Knocking at start up for a good amount of time. When putting on the brake pads the pins wouldn't move to replace the brakes. Had to compress the pins loose with a c-clamp. Also, I've got some kind of leak on the passenger side that's a combination of antifreeze & oil. Which I think is caused from the knocking sound. My brake light & an exclamation point light shows on my dashboard sometimes. My fuel monitor gauge doesn't show the exact amount in tank. Could the listed recall cause my car.