1991 Chevrolet Cavalier problems
Owners have filed 77 complaints with NHTSA about the 1991 Chevrolet Cavalier. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 23% of complaints. Next are engine (14%) and seats (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 77 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 8 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 6
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: 8 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 5 injuries reported; 6 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 95% 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 1991 ranks 15th most-complained-about out of 16 model years of the Chevrolet Cavalier with enough data (38 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
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.
An '88 blue dodge van (VIN [VIN removed])crashed into my little girls car the 1991 cavalier. Expert reconstructionist (tx dept. Of public safety) blame my little girl for having ran the stop sign and hitting the van, causing an indirect death of three and the direct death was an abandon utility pole. I do not believe that if the car was to hit the van it would have caused so much damage. My daughter states that she came to a complete stop and proceeded entering the intersection at 6 MPH.
My son lost control of a 1991 chevrolet cavalier and was ejected after he was forced off the road. When entering the median, his car was skidding broadside and eventually rolled over three times. As the car rolled, the driver side door opened which defeated the ability of the seat belt to hold him inside because the seat belt design had the shoulder harness anchored to the top of the door/window frame and the lap belt anchored to the bottom of the door.
Son driving on slippery snow-covered road with little strreet lighting, driver lost control, vehicle veered off road and struck a tree, driver's seatback failed and driver was ejected backward through rear window and was killed.
No one was injured. I was driving to work and had almost got there when I heard a bang on the side of the car and saw the tread fly off back behind from my drivers side front tire. Tire stayed aired up as I got off the interstate I80, and pulled in the parking lot. I got out to examine the damage. The ground effects on my drivers side were hanging by like one screw. The tire was still aired up but there was no tread left on the tire.
The first problem I have encountered is the poor body of the car. The panels below the car have completely diminished. Anything remaining of them is either rotting and rusting away, or has paint removed from them. The paint is also coming out of the front plastic bumper and from the front hood of the car. Some rust is also appearing at the sides. When I step into the highway at the speed of a minimum 100 km/h, this trash is anything but quiet.