Owners have filed 88 complaints on the Chevrolet SS, covering 2014–2017. The system named most often is Steering (57 reports). Worst years by volume: 2014, 2016, 2015; cleanest: 2017, 2015, 2016. 3 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 3.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet SS
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 88 SS complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Steering 57 Read
The contact owns a 2014 chevrolet ss. The contact stated that the power steering failed and caused a crash. The contact's vehicle struck the bumper of another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The dealer diagnosed that the steering wheel assembly needed…
My power steering has a tendency to fail during operation of the vehicle. I have had my power steering cease to function, and become extremely difficult to control the vehicle at speed. Luckily I was on the highway, and able to safely maneuver the vehicle to the side of the highway. I shut the vehicle off and turned…
While turning at 40mph the steering wheel failed and caused my rear wheel to hit a curb and damage the rear wheels
Seat Belts 10 Read
Filed second time. Recall repair is defective! Recall repair has left seat belt tensioner cable exposed and flopping! Metal bits and pieces are now on carpet and area around seat belt foundation and lower replaced cover area. The replaced rubber cover (92507580) is ripped and ripping more at lower connection of…
The contact owns a 2016 chevrolet ss. The contact stated that the vehicle was serviced per NHTSA campaign number: 16V518000 (seat belts); however, the cable wires were visible. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for a second opinion and the technician stated that the seat belt tensioner cable was coming…
I was in for body/paint service on 5/9/16 (ed rinke chevy) when it was brought to my attention that I had two open recalls. I offered to leave the vehicle but they said they had no parts to do the repairs at that time. So on 11/7/16 they called me and said they had the part (for the seatbelt) so I took the car in and…
Electrical System 5 Read
I purchased my 2016 chevrolet ss sedan in december of 2016. Part of the infotainment 'mylink' system is an app that controls pandora, an internet radio program, via a bluetooth connection on the touchscreen of the radio. With this system, the user is able to change tracks, change stations, view what's playing, and…
The blind spot sensor started not to work sporadically started not to work at 36,500 miles. Now they don't work at all and at least I am notified of this two to three times every use of the vehicle. Talked and researched this which is a common issue with gm cars and trucks of my cars vintage. Gm knew of the design…
The contact owns a 2016 chevrolet ss. While reversing the vehicle, the radio screen turned black and there was no picture display for the rear camera. The vehicle was taken to dave white chevrolet (5880 monroe st, sylvania, oh 43560, (419) 885-4444) where it was diagnosed that the radio needed to be replaced. The…
Air Bags 3 Read
My new ss was modified with hand controls. I was going into a turn at 50mph and my knee got caught behind the hand controls not allowing me to push my brakes in going around a turn. I hit the curb taking out two trees then hitting a third tree to bring the vehicle to a stop. The front end of my car is now gone with…
On 08/18/2017, both the driver and passenger side-impact airbags, along with the seat belt pretension systems, deployed unexpectedly while entering a highway. No collision occurred
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet SS. The contact stated that the service air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the passenger’s side seat sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of…
Suspension 3 Read
Right rear sealed wheel bearing failed and was just replaced at 50,564 miles at a cost of $1,142,82, parts, tax, and labor. I have seen correspondence from approximately 12 other owners of this model vehicle (12,500 imported to the USA by Chevrolet over 4 years), who have all experienced similar failure of front…
The rear shock absorbers need to be replaced at 43000 miles. These are electronic magnetic rhealogical shocks and cost over $600 each!! This seems like an abnormal issue that should be covered by gm. I understand this is a common problem on these cars and since the part number has changed it seems that gm knows about…
Noticed a noise in the front suspension and took it in to dealership to get looked at. Dealership inspected and told me some internal component of the strut had failed and it wasn't operating correctly. I asked if I could just continue to drive it and they told me it could be a safety issue if I didn't get it fixed.…
Service Brakes 2 Read
I am complaining about the brakes on my 2017 chevrolet ss. The car is still under warranty and experiences very annoying brake squeal when applying the brakes. I have talked directly with chevrolet to no avail. I have also emailed the brake manufacturer, brembo brakes, with no response to my complaint. I feel that the…
When we first bought the vehicle after the first couple of weeks the brakes started to squeal only when wet or cold. I have talked to the dealer and was told that it's a high performance car the brakes are going to squeal. I have approached the dealer 4 times regarding this issue and I'm told the same thing. This last…
Lane Departure 2 Read
"service side detection system" and "park assist unavailable", are errors due to water intrusion to proximity sensors. In addition sensor modules are physically bulging and there was some corrosion on my passenger side harness connector and visible rust inside both modules' connectors. Errors are starting to affect…
The driver information center is displaying "Service Side Detection System" alert. On the SS Forum this appears to be an increasingly popular problem with these cars
Engine 1 Read
I was sitting in park in line at a gas station waiting to get gas. When the person in front of me left, I moved my car from park into drive, the car went into unintended, unexpected, high power accelerations, holding down the brake pedal did little to stop the car was going full bore. I ended up hitting the gas pump…
SS 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Service Brakes | — | — | |
| 2016 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 2 | — |
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 | 36 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.4 |
| Worst single series | 8 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.2 years |
A model average of 2.4 hides a worst series at 8. 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 SS?
By complaint volume, 2014, 2016, 2015 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 SS years are the cleanest?
2017, 2015, 2016 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet SS have?
88 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2014–2017. Of those, 3 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.