Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIGITAL INSTRUMENT PANEL | |||
| 05/01/2006 | 1 | ||
| I have a 2003 chevy cavalier and the instrument panel has stopped working. i purchased the car in 2005 and in about 2006 it started acting up. at first the gauges would flicker in and out one at a time sometimes reading incorrect speeds or fuel level and sometime not working at all. they would sometimes seem to be affected by the temperature and other times not. i took it in and the mechanic fidgeted with the fuses and it started working again and he said that was the problem. so each time they acted up i would adjust the fuses & they would start working again until even that didn't work. so i went to buy new fuses and the employee at the part store checked my fuses and said they were working fine. i haven't been able to afford to have it fixed. in about 2008 or 2009 i had some other work done on the car and the mechanic said that he had actually seen other cavaliers with the same problem and that the panel needed replaced. my dad wants to fix my car but we are waiting to afford it and not sure if that will fix the problem. i have looked online and seen many other complaints about the same problem and i am wondering why there isn't a safety recall to fix the problem that is obviously characteristically a problem with the chevy cavalier in more than one year. i don't believe that this is something that the consumer should have to worry about and pay for when it is obviously a manufacture default. it is not only monetarily inconvenient but it is a safety problem. you are unable to know how fast you are actually going, or how much fuel you actually have. there is a reason we have those gauges and it isn't simply to look pretty. i would appreciate if someone would take the time to look into this and realize that this is a serious issue for a lot of people. thank you. *tr | |||
| 03/06/2010 | 49240 | 1 | |
| 2003 chevy cavalier speedometer failed at 49,240 miles. resulting in potentially unsafe driving speed in otherwise perfect driving conditions. *tr | |||
| 01/07/2010 | 72000 | 1 | |
| Speedometer in my 2003 chevy cavalier jumps and doesn't display the correct speed. *tr | |||
| 02/12/2010 | 1 | ||
| The fuel gauge began to malfunction about a year ago. assuming it was just the float, i decided i would ignore it and use the trip odometer to determine how much gas i had left. unfortunately, because the gas gauge went well past full, into the realm of what would be considered two tanks of full, the temperature gauge needle could not move. eventually, the gas gauge needle went past the temperature gauge (now at what would be considered two and a half tanks) which freed the temperature needle to actually register. now, the temperature gauge is malfunctioning, resting at the half way point even after the car sat all night in our recent frigid temperatures. it now runs in the red even though there is nothing wrong with the engine. now, the speedometer is showing signs of malfunctioning, as it reads 5 mph though i am at a complete stop. research on various internet message boards suggest this is a very common problem in not only 2003 chevrolet cavaliers, but other years and models of chevy vehicles. when i complained to gm that a malfunctioning speedometer was a safety issue, i was greeted with there's no recall, it's no longer under warranty, can't help, your problem, deal with it. following this logic, what's stopping gm from creating more defective vehicles, if the problem happens after the warranty expires? they've adopted the attitude it's not their problem. at what point is a defective speedometer not a safety problem worthy of a recall? *tr | |||
| 06/09/2008 | 27500 | 1 | |
| Problem is with instrument cluster. first tach starting failing now and then. now engine temp gauge is doing same thing. sometimes tach works sometimes it doesn't. temp gauge sometimes works, sometimes shows engine hot, sometimes cold when engine is at operating temp. problem started while car was being driven. so far, nothing has been done to fix problem, mechanic says cost to fix is $375.00. *tr | |||
| 10/03/2009 | 1 | ||
| I own a 2003 chevy cavalier and the temperature gauge does not work and now the rpm gauge isn't working. i have about 45,000 miles on it and the dealership says i need to replace the cluster. after doing a lot of research on the internet about the repair, i have discovered that this is a common problem among all cavaliers; the cluster needs to be repaired. i will have my car repaired this week and will need to spend $500 to repair it. i have even called gmc's customer service to see if their is a warranty on the part or a recall. why are car owners spending $500 plus to fix this problem when it is a known problem? *tr | |||
| 07/01/2006 | 1 | ||
| I have replaced fuel pump 3 times. cluster panel works occasionally. *tr | |||
| 03/12/2009 | 39000 | 1 | |
| The instrument cluster on my 2003 chevy cavalier went crazy just before 40, 000 miles. sometimes it works, sometimes the gauges take turns working or not working, sometimes nothing works. some days i don't know how fast i'm going, how hot my car's running, or how much gas i have....not to mention rpms. this is very unsafe, and at 40k, i feel it's a bit premature. *tr | |||
| 09/15/2008 | 68000 | 1 | |
| The cluster board has gone out. it does not light up, the speedometer, the fuel gage and rpm gage all does not work. chevy has already recalled trucks for this problem but i have a cavalier and on ebay you can buy a fixed cluster board and send back your old one and get 100.00 back so it must be a big problem not just my car. *tr | |||
| 02/16/2009 | 1 | ||
| My speedometer was acting up for a year. while i was driving it would stop. when i would come to a complete stop it was stuck on 65mph. made driving hazardous not knowing exactly how fast i was driving.if i let it sit for awhile and cool of i would start it back up and the speedometer meter would go down about 10 mph so i would beat 55mph instead of 65mph. everytime i would start the car it would go down further. then it would work properly for a few months w/o acting up and then start all over again. this went on for about a year. when i finally had it replaced it completely stopped working the needle registered 110 mph and was not coming back down. i had to wait 2 weeks before the dealership was able to replace the instrument panel b/c the had to order the part they were completely out of stock. they told me they've had to replace the ip in alot of vehicles lately. *tr | |||
| 08/08/2008 | 55000 | 1 | |
| Speedometer fails to read correct speed. has not read correct speed since car reached 55,000 miles on odometer. occasionally speedometer will reset itself, but after 10-15 minutes driving, will climb on its own and stick above 110 mph. dealer states is gm manufacture issue, but will not recall / repair. *tr | |||
| 11/01/2007 | 50000 | 1 | 06/29/2005 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that the speedometer displays 60 mph when he is traveling at much lower speeds. the speedometer also becomes stuck at a lower speed when he is driving at a much faster rate. the rpm's in the vehicle will either not move at all or go up as far as possible while driving in first gear only. the rpm's will then become stuck and not move back down. the vehicle has not been inspected by the dealer. he must restart the vehicle in order for the speedometer dial to return to its regular position. the dial does not move at all in cold weather conditions. the contact has gotten pulled over while driving 20 mph (85 mph) over the speed limit when he thought he was traveling 65 mph. he believes that the failure could have been a manufacturer defect. the failure mileage was 50,000 and current mileage was 86,000. updated 03-06-09 *bf the speedometer would stick at 50 mph. the consumer stated when he increased or decreased his speed the speedometer would still register at 50 mph. updated 03/11/09. *jb | |||
| 11/10/2008 | 75000 | 1 | |
| My speedometer stopped working properly. the needle does not return to zero at stop or when the car is turned off. it registers in excess of 110 mph when the car is in motion. this seems to be a very common problem with all gm cars and trucks made between 2002 and 2005. gm offers free repair for trucks and suv's, but not all dealerships know of the directive since it has not been publicized. all car buyers must pay for the fix - which exceeds $500 - because gm won't acknowledge the problem exists in the cars. *tr | |||
| 06/09/2008 | 28500 | 1 | |
| I have a 2003 chevrolet cavalier 4 dr. sedan with 28, 550 miles. today when i went out the speedometer was on 35 mp and didn't go down. as the day wore on it went up to 90. this is a safety issue and chevrolet should have to have a recall to fix this. *tr | |||
| 02/23/2008 | 110000 | 1000 | |
| I have a 2003 chev cavalier. owned it from the time it had 4 miles on the odometer. recently i noticed that the speedometer wasn't reading quite correctly. i first noticed it when the speedometer read that i was going 15 miles an hour over the speed limit and people were tailgating me. i didn't realize why until when i came to a stop my speedometer was stuck at 20mph. over time i have noticed that this problem has only gotten worse. every now and then it will read at 60mph at a dead stand still. but that is not even the half of it, it still got worse. at a stand still it would read 100mph+ and when moving it would go back over and start at 0mph. ridiculous!!! i have received two tickets because of this problem. also, on top of all of that, my temperature gauge will sometimes read 260 degrees. i've checked the water and anything that would be causing my temp to read excessively high and there are no other problems. the whole dashboard cluster is messed up. sometimes my fuel gauges won't even read correctly. the problem has just gotten out of hand. i have been told it can cost as much as $1,000 to fix this problem. *tr | |||
| 05/01/2005 | 1 | ||
| Please also see complaint odi number 10218011, involving the second instrument panel that will have to be replaced. this complaint involves the first instrument panel that had to be replaced. the speedometer and thermostat gauge did not work correctly and gave erroneous readings. this is a separate complaint about a similar problem as listed above that occurred several years ago. that problem was repaired at a cost to me of about $500. i did not keep all the paperwork, but i suppose that the jack schmitt chevrolet service department will have that data. the incident date listed is an estimate, i do not recall the date or year exactly, it could have been in 2006. mileage at the time is unknown. *tr | |||
| 01/15/2008 | 131100 | 2 | |
| The instrument panel speedometer and thermostat gauge are not working correctly, but are giving erroneous readings. the instrument panel has failed for the second time. the car was purchased in 2003 and the first instrument panel one was replaced about three-years later for the same problem. the cost to us then was about $500. *tr | |||
| 10/15/2007 | 30000 | 50 | 11/16/2002 |
| Just driving along. the speedometer starts to jump, slow, speed up, and stop. per phone conversation 1/14/08 problem with speedometer not working, not vehicle slowing down. smch *tr | |||
| 06/01/2007 | 12 | ||
| I just watched a report about speedometer going haywire on gm trucks and suv's. well, i wanted you to know that my 2003 chevy cavalier is also having this problem and it is scheduled for service on friday to the tune of $400.00. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2007 | 99000 | 1 | 04/07/2003 |
| The speedometer does not work properly it can say that i am going 90 when i am going only 35 also the heat gauge next to it will go way over into the speedometer area which then they hit each other which causes them to not work properly also the gas gauge does not work right either when i get low enough for the check gauge light to come on it will start going up saying that i have a half tank of gas even though i know that i do not. *tr | |||