2015 Chevrolet Sonic problems
Owners have filed 171 complaints with NHTSA about the 2015 Chevrolet Sonic. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 20% of complaints. Next are air bags (16%) and engine (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 171 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 18 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 19 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 39,000 miles 113 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 | 34 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 29 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 20 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 13 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 113 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 39,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 50,000 miles (23 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 18 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 19 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2015 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Chevrolet Sonic with enough data (123 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 chevrolet sonic. The contact stated that while the driver was driving at 50 MPH, another vehicle crashed into the contact's vehicle and the vehicle engulfed in flames. The driver sustained fatal injuries and died on the scene. A police report was filed. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was towed and was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was unavailable.
My husband and I were traveling straight in a 2015 chevrolet sonic lt at approximately 35-40 MPH when the driver of a 2002 toyota corolla made a left hand turn causing a collision. Simply put we t boned the other vehicle. 2015 chevy sonics are equipped with weight sensing restraint systems. I was the passenger and weigh approximately 142 lbs. Both driver front air bags deployed, knee and steering wheel. The passenger front air bags did not deployed. Almost all of the damage was to the front end passenger side.
Our vehicle was hit while in motion at approximately 30 MPH on a city street on the driver side by another vehicle that didn't yield at a stop intersection. Side airbags did not deploy. Entire driver side of our the vehicle was destroyed. My head bounced off the driver side window causing injury that I didn't seek medical attention for. Child in backseat driver side hit head as well, and did seek medical attention. Our vehicle was inoperable, and had to be towed from the scene.
The passenger air bag system turns off even with an adult in the passenger seat. Sometimes it turns on and then turns off midway through a trip, while the vehicle is in motion, with no explanation. It works sometimes and other times does not for no rhyme or reason.
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet sonic. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 25 MPH, there was white smoke coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The contact mentioned that once the vehicle was to the side of the road, the contact noticed that there was antifreeze all over the engine. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the rear water outlet needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred twice.