Owners have filed 10 complaints on the Chevrolet Chevette, covering 1981–1986. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (2 reports). Worst years by volume: 1986, 1982, 1981; cleanest: 1983, 1984, 1981. On average the car was 12.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Chevette
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 10 Chevette complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 2 Read
Fuel pump failure, causing intermittent stalling; also replaced carburetor/transmission/engine
Timing belt failed
Vehicle Speed Control 2 Read
Vehicle often loses power and unable to go above 20 mph, unless going downhill. Happens primarily when cruising on highway when suddenly vehicle slows down and there is little response from the accelerator. Problem cannot be determined
Accelerator pedal worn out, replacement part not available
Electrical System 2 Read
Wiring harness that lies against firewall smokes/burns/melts when starting vehicle
Vehicle smokes and melts wires and harness box to each other against firewall when vehicle is turned on
Service Brakes 1 Read
Brakes failed after recall repair
Interior Lighting 1 Read
Courtesy light fuse shorts out, causing problems seeing at night
Seat Belts 1 Read
The driver and passenger side seat belt buckle can't get it to buckle it is hard to lock. Tt
Power Train 1 Read
The automatic transmission shift lever mechanism is worn out, causing difficuly shifting into park/ reverse
Chevette years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling,fuel System, Gasoline,power Train,vehicle Speed Control | — | — | |
| 1984 | Vehicle Speed Control | — | — | |
| 1983 | Interior Lighting | — | — | |
| 1982 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1981 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 8 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 12.4 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 2. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Chevette?
By complaint volume, 1986, 1982, 1981 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Chevette years are the cleanest?
1983, 1984, 1981 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Chevette have?
10 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1981–1986. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.