4.7
definitely annoying- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 22,333 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.
Low beam headlights failed to operate. Daytime running lights operate erratically (sometimes blinking rapidly). I replaced both bulbs and drl relay. I took the vehicle to the dealer hoping that he would be most efficient and lowest cost troubleshooter based on his familiarity with this model. Calls to multiple Michigan dealers acknowledge the existence of this issue on 1998 and 19'99 Sunfire/cavaliers. Root cause is corrosion of wiring within the wire harness. It took 6 hours ($500 worth of labor, $0 parts!) to locate and correct a broken wire within its insulation and within the harness. Unfortunately, GM does not deem this to be an issue which is worthy of providing reimbursement assistance to its customers. Of course, headlights are an important safety component of a vehicle- and I suspect many other 1998 and 1999 cavalier/Sunfire owners recognize this fact. A search of this ODI database reveals others; ref ODI id #10053346, 562403, 8009447, 831751, 718361 and 8008072. I am certain that many, many others go unreported to the ODI. I encourage the NHTSA to investigate this condition and encourage the manufacturer to address this product defect- if not proactively, at least when it manifests itself in its customers vehicles.
- Troy, MI, USA
Starting about two months ago, the headlights have turned off when going over small bumps in the road. They come right back on. I'm concerned about driving a car with headlights that turn themselves off. So far, the dealer has not been much help. They tell me they "need to see the failure" before they fix the car. Possibly related to this, the left headlights don't always come on right away when I turn them on.
- Ringwood, NJ, USA
- Hartford City, IN, USA