2001 Chevrolet Cavalier problems
Owners have filed 356 complaints with NHTSA about the 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. Next are brakes (13%) and fuel system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 356 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 37 and 11
- Injuries and deaths
- 43 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 51,000 miles 148 complaints with mileage
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%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 27 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 28 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 27 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 15 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 26 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 9 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Of the 148 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 50,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 62,000 miles (32 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 37 complaints mention a crash; 11 complaints mention a fire; 43 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 81% 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 2001 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 16 model years of the Chevrolet Cavalier with enough data (248 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
Dt: the consumer states that a 2001 chevrolet caviler has faulty seat belts. The consumer was in involved in a crash with a garbage truck. The consumer was hit by another vehicle that ran a red light. The consumer was knocked under the garbage truck. The consumer had one passenger and two family pets with him. The driver and passenger were buckled up. The passengers knees went through the dashboard. The seatbelt did not hold the passenger securely in the seat. The seatbelt looped the passengers bowels.
Tl* the contact owned a 2001 chevrolet cavalier. While driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. As a result, another vehicle crashed into the driver side of the contact's vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained a back injury, the rear driver side passenger sustained body and head injuries, the rear middle passenger sustained a head injury and the rear middle passenger sustained body injuries. The injuries required medical attention. A police report was filed.
While driving all warning indicator lights illuminated. This caused vehicle to stall. Dealer replaced the body control module twice, but the problem still occurred.
Two days ago, my ABS (anti-lock brake system) warning light came on. I took it to the shop and they diagnosed that my electronic brake control moduel (ebcm) was bad and that I needed a new one. Given that my car is a 2001 cavalier with less than 47,000 miles, they said this was very unusual. Repairs will be outrageousely expensive.