10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
7 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 1
Average Mileage:
44,704 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #11

Oct 292019

Cavalier

  • 165,700 miles
Airbag light comes on at random intervals for about 5 seconds, then turns off. Speed, road conditions, and gear make no difference as to when it comes on. It has come on while turning, while driving in town at 20 mph, while at a complete stop, while going over a bump, and while going 50mph on the highway.

- Battle Ground, WA, USA

problem #10

Aug 062016

Cavalier

  • 50,000 miles
Takata recall air bag did not deploy after hitting telephone pole. Snapped in half, car totaled. State road 252 martinsville, Indiana. Car in motion.

- Martinsville, IN, USA

problem #9

Aug 062016

Cavalier

  • 50,000 miles
Takata recall air bag did not deploy after hitting telephone pole. Snapped in half, car totaled. State road 252 martinsville, Indiana. Car in motion.

- Martinsville, IN, USA

problem #8

Aug 062016

Cavalier

  • 50,000 miles
In motion. 2004 Cavalier air bag did not deploy causing injury after impact with telephone pole. Picture of pole snapped in half. State road 252 martinsville Indiana. Picture of pole car is totaled.

- Martinsville, IN, USA

problem #7

Jan 032008

Cavalier 4-cyl

  • miles
Horn doesn't work, had it look at by mechanic, he said it had something to do with the airbag. Then had it look at by a steering column mechanic, he said it was the clock spring in the steering column.

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #6

Aug 072006

Cavalier 4-cyl

  • 50,000 miles
Air bags did not come out car flipped over twice and there was 1 death and 1 injury.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #5

Jan 032011

Cavalier

  • miles
Horn won't blow, had it serviced and they said horn was good. They track the situation back to the air bag/horn connection. Never had an accident in this vehicle. So I don't understand why the horn won't blow. The guy that serviced it, said the connection for the horn is connected to the air bag and I would need a new air bag to possible fix this issue. What could I possible do to get this corrected? it's been like this for a couple of years, I've been worried about this issue and getting more worried about it lately.

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #4

Feb 272014

Cavalier

  • miles
Recently General Motors issued a recall on the ignition switch for some of their cars, but it does not include all of the vehicles affected with the exact same problem. Here is a list of cars currently listed, but I want my 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier added to the recall too: Chevrolet cobalt, Pontiac G5, Saturn ion, Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac solstice, and Saturn sky. Many years ago I tried to get a local Chevrolet service center to fix the problem in my 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. They could not fix it, so we just kept driving the car. Had I known it would affect the air bags getting deployed I would have written to you sooner. This problem needs to get fixed by GM as soon as possible on all models listed including my 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. The defect allows the ignition switch to move from "run" to "accessory" if I hit a bump or I use a heavy key chain. That shuts off the engine and may disable the front air bags. The loss of the air bag crash protection is my biggest worry. Please help me get this fixed and warn other people who have 2004 Chevrolet Cavaliers with the same problem.

- Magna, UT, USA

problem #3

May 232008

Cavalier 4-cyl

  • 45,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that the drivers seat malfunctioned and the air bag did not deploy when a truck crashed into her vehicle from the rear. She also crashed into the vehicle in front of her. The contact and a passenger were injured and had to go to the hospital the following day. The police was there but no report was filed. The GM manufacturer was notified and a claim was filed. A representative was scheduled to inspect the vehicle but they never came. The failure mileage was 45,000. Updated 03/05/10

- Scio, OR, USA

problem #2

Nov 102009

Cavalier 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 81,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. While driving 40 mph the consumers husband crashed into the back of another vehicle. None of the air bags deployed. The contact suffered injuries to his head, neck and shoulders. The vehicle has not been diagnosed. There were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 81,000. Updated 02/1710 the vehicle was totaled. Updated 02/19/10.

- Tulsa, OK, USA

problem #1

Mar 132006

Cavalier 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 41 miles
While I was driving over a highway at 55 mph under heavy rain conditions, I lost control of my vehicle (Chevy Cavalier 2004) and had a frontal crash against the concrete median. During the impact, the air bags did not deploy provoking minor injuries in the face to the only occupant of the vehicle. Two days after the accident I filled out a report with GMC and they sent an inspector to take the information from the "black box" and some pictures of the final condition of the car. I tried to contact the representative in charge (tracy saverino) for weeks, I left several voice messages to find out what to do with the damaged vehicle, already being repaired by the insurance company. I expressed my concern for keeping this vehicle in operation after the safety system's test in real conditions. Recently I was notified by a letter through the GMC claims department that they are not going to take responsibility for the defective system and they did not give any result of the investigation or explanation of the causes that originated the malfunction. They encourage me to preserve in the immediate post-accident condition the vehicle if I wished to support with evidences my claim when they have the information taken directly from the vehicle which was in the post-accident condition by the day of the inspection. This behavior constitutes a disrespect and is a form of abusive treatment considering that the company was reluctant to answer my phone calls and intentionally protracted the procedure to allow the customer to start with the repairs and Dodge the responsibility and conceal a mechanical defect in this vehicle and probably many others with the same component serial number.

- South Elgin, IL, USA