Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | ||||||
| PE07051 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 10/19/2007 | 02/14/2008 | STUCK THROTTLE VALVE | ||
| On october 19, 2007, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened a preliminary evaluation to investigate alleged stuck throttle incidents due to ice formation within the engine air intake tract in certain model year (my) 2004-2005 chevrolet aveo vehicles manufactured for sale or lease in the united states.this investigation was prompted by a safety recall campaign (05f-069) conducted by general motors corp. (gm) involving substantially similar vehicles manufactured for sale or lease in canada.at that time, gm issued a technical service bulletin (tsb #05-06-04-065) to address the alleged defect condition in u.s. vehicles.gm subsequently revised the canadian recall campaign to include more detailed instructions after it discovered certain vehicles were not properly serviced under the original recall campaign.gm revised the canadian recall campaign a second time to include more substantial changes to the throttle body, intake manifold, positive crankcase ventilation (pcv) and engine cooling systems to further reduce the likelihood of icing within the engine air intake tract.again, gm issued a technical service bulletin (tsb #08-06-04-009) to address the alleged defect condition in u.s. vehicles using the revised procedure.odi is aware of 28 non-duplicative complaints/field reports and 46 warranty claims related to the alleged defect affecting 63 unique subject vehicles.the alleged defect condition is most likely to occur during the winter months when ambient temperatures are below freezing.however, the information provided in gm's response to odi's information request letter dated november 2, 2007, does not capture events that may have occurred during the most recent winter months.accordingly, this investigation has been upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea08-005) to further study the frequency of the alleged defect. | ||||||
| EA08005 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 02/14/2008 | 10/14/2008 | STUCK THROTTLE VALVE | ||
| To date, the office of defects investigation (odi) is aware of 29 non-duplicative complaints/field reports and 52 warranty claims related to the alleged defect affecting 69 unique subject vehicles.because the alleged defect condition is most likely to occur during winter months when ambient temperatures are below freezing, odi upgraded this investigation to an engineering analysis on february 14, 2008 so that it could continue to monitor the field experience during the 2007/2008 winter season.by letter dated may 22, 2008, general motors corp. (gm) supplemented its previous information request response with field data received by gm through may 1, 2008.according to gm, when moisture freezes in the positive crankcase ventilation (pcv) system and/or the engine air intake tract it is most often observed as a hard to start/no start condition, throttle stuck closed, rough running engine, stalling at idle, or oil leakage.of the 29 complaints related to stuck throttle, odi identified 5 reports that allege unwanted acceleration, 13 reports describe an apparent high-idle condition at start up or when slowing the vehicle to a stop without any allegation of unwanted acceleration or diminished braking performance, and the remaining 11 reports describe ambiguous allegations of stuck throttle without regard to severity or consequence.odi analysis of field incident data shows that the complaint and warranty trends appear to be in decline, with only 1 additional complaint and 6 warranty claims related to the alleged defect received by gm since april 2007. a safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation has been closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | |||
| 07/17/2008 | 20000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet aveo. the contact stated that the accelerator pedal failed and would depress to the floor whenever the vehicle was driven downhill. the contact was able to slow the vehicle down by applying the brakes. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and the failure was unknown. the contact also stated that the seat belt material began to get fuzzy and would get caught in the retractor. the dealer stated that the seat belt needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 20,000. | |||
| 07/17/2008 | 20000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet aveo. the contact stated that the accelerator pedal failed and would depress to the floor whenever the vehicle was driven downhill. the contact was able to slow the vehicle down by applying the brakes. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and the failure was unknown. the contact also stated that the seat belt material began to get fuzzy and would get caught in the retractor. the dealer stated that the seat belt needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 20,000. sm. | |||
| 07/17/2008 | 20000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet aveo. the contact stated that accelerator pedal failed. the contact stated that any time she went down a hill, the accelerator pedal would go all the way to the floor on its own. the contact pressed the brake pedal and the vehicle had slowed down. the vehicle taken to the dealer for inspection and the failure was unknown. the contact also stated that seat belt material began to get fuzzy and would get caught in the retractor. the dealer stated that the seat belt needed to be replaced the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 20,000. ap | |||
| 08/27/2009 | 4029 | ||
| Tl* the contact owned a 2005 chevrolet aveo. while pulling into a parking space she noticed there was a sudden increase in engine rpms. the engine roared loudly and immediately, the vehicle abnormally accelerated at a rapid rate of speed, crashing front end into a vehicle to her right. the vehicle bounced back at the impact and swerved to the left, crashing into a jeep. the vehicle did not stop despite the contacts several attempts to depress the brake pedal. the brakes would not respond and the contact was thrust back into her seat. she continued to depress the brakes until finally the vehicle slowly coasted to a stop. there were no injuries, however the vehicle was declared as destroyed by her insurance company. the failure mileage was approximately 4,029. updated 4/30/10 *cn | |||
| 02/10/2010 | 54000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet aveo. the contact stated that as she was driving 5 mph into a parking space the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a fence, a driveway and then stopped on a porch. no one was injured. the vehicle was destroyed. a police report was available if needed. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 54,000. | |||
| 04/29/2009 | 90000 | 1 | |
| I purchased a 2005 chevy aveo and i have had nothing but problems ever since. after 1 year the car broke down. the idler stuck at full-throttle and burned my timing belt off. not only the engine but the car was rendered useless after that. i had to replace the engine (my pops did really) and now the second engine has done the very same thing at only 18,000 miles. twice i was lucky enough to be in a position where my daughter was not with me at the time and i could push my car off of the road myself and not get killed. i called gm and they say that they cannot guarantee that they will fix the problem for me. the first time i talked to them they wouldn't even listen to me. they told me that my vin number did not match the recalls...though these cars had the very same problem. the car should have either been replaced or i should have gotten my money back. i have been rendered homeless and jobless twice now because of this car. i've lost everything. i can't keep paying on this car with their faulty engines. if i replace the engine it will do the same thing. it's not vin specific...it's the engines period. i could have gotten killed twice! *tr | |||
| 08/25/2005 | 500 | 5 | 08/25/2005 |
| My 2005 chevy aveo rpm's stick and will not be forced down by de-acceleration or hitting the brake. this has been occurring on an irregular basis since purchase (august 2005). i have had the car back to the chevy dealer at least 5 times for the same reason in addition to other times when the dash board light warnings come on. the dealer can not recreate or fix. the dash board light did come on back in june 07 re: electrical and the fix to the electrical issue did for a few months fix the rpm sticking. however the intermittent rpm sticking has returned (jan 2008). the rpm's stick usually between 35 to 65 mph and in any type of weather. usually when just starting home from work or on highway driving. *tr | |||
| 11/01/2005 | 3000 | 3 | 05/23/2005 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet aveo. the contact was at a stop sign with the brake and accelerator pedal engaged. the vehicle speed control switch was replaced previously. the manufacturer advised the contact to try another dealer. the dealer test drove the vehicle and stated that it was operating normally. the current mileage was 17,873 and the failure mileage was 3,000. updated 02-14-08. *kb the consumer stated the speed control switch was repalced. updated | |||
| 01/01/2008 | 48400 | 1 | 11/20/2007 |
| After making a right turn the engine went to full throttle, i applied the brake with both feet on the brake peddle and the car was still moving forward. i applied the hand brake and the car stopped. i then turned off the key to stop the motor.*cn | |||
| 01/01/2005 | 1 | ||
| My 2005 chevrolet aveo accelerates or maintains very high rpm's with no pressure on the gas pedal. this has been occurring since my purchase of the car, on an irregular basis. sometimes it will continue for weeks at a time, sometimes there is no problem for weeks. this problem makes the car extremely dangerous to drive, necessitating very heavy brake use and frequent shifting into neutral (automatic transmission) to try and control the acceleration. i have had the vehicle in to the chevrolet repair department four times, but it will not show this problem when they test drive it. chevrolet has replaced one metal washer on the accelerator cable, replaced the atmospheric pressure sensor, and installed a mini-computer which was unable to record the problem. chevrolet seems only willing to make the cheapest repairs possible, and it will be close to two years now that i have had to deal with this uncontrolled acceleration. *tr | |||
| 06/19/2006 | 21500 | 1 | 05/19/2005 |
| Upon coming home we pulled into the driveway and removed the right foot from the accelerator and started gently breaking as approaching the garage. as nearing the garage the engine quickly accelerated to maximum. maximum force was applied to the break pedal and the engine shut off inches from the front of the garage. we will be taking the vehicle to the dealership today. *nm | |||