Owners have filed 7 complaints on the Chevrolet Optra, covering 2005–2007. The system named most often is Exterior Lighting (4 reports). Worst years by volume: 2005, 2007, 2006; cleanest: 2006, 2007, 2005. 0 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 7.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Optra
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 7 Optra complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Exterior Lighting 4 Read
The contact owns a 2005 chevrolet optra. The contact stated that the head lights failed. The contact stated that he would turn the lights on and burning fumes would emit into the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnose that the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired under a…
Big problem with light switch, the one from factory melted, at the time I did not know about the recall. The replacement melted to. At that time I did found out about the recall for this cars regarding that problem, the dealer did not help whit the problem despite I took documentation about the problem and what the…
While I was driving on highway at 11pm, all lights suddenly went off. The same issue happened in 2006(?) and was fixed. In 2008(?), there was a recall from gm about the issue and I did bring my car to dealer for the recall, although I don't know what they did. Now it is happening again. I think either they didn't do…
Power Train 1 Read
Since last year I have had problems with my car when it is on the road specifically going up a hill it would lose power and it slows down and then it turns off while running. Which is very dangerous because sometimes the car behind me come very close to crashing against me. We took the car to a gm dealer where we…
Electrical System 1 Read
Chevrolet optra 5 2005. Headlamp low beams and day time running lamps work sporadically. It was a recall for this problem and I was never notified from gm dealer. I already spent a lot of money trying to fix it (problem is still on it) and just now I knew about the recall. This is a safety issue special during the…
Air Bags 1 Read
The service air bag light on with code b2502, b1104, b2500. They call the replaced part as "display/clock" assembly which makes it sound like a non-safety related issue but it is actually something wrong with the airbag. It happened twice on my car. The first time it is was still in warranty, mileage should be around…
Optra 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Power Train,engine,fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2006 | Exterior Lighting | — | — | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | — | 1 |
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 | 6 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.4 years |
A model average of 1.2 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
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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 Optra?
By complaint volume, 2005, 2007, 2006 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 Optra years are the cleanest?
2006, 2007, 2005 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Optra have?
7 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2005–2007. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 1 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.