2013 Chevrolet Sonic
Complaints about this year name key far more often than the model's other years — 20% of them, about 10× the usual rate of 2.1%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 217 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 37 |
| Involving a crash | 24 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 29 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- gauge — 6.9% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the model's other years (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: gauge, odometer, fuse, numbers.
- everything — 6.9% of this year's complaints, against 2.6% across the model's other years (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: everything, turn car.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- gear — 12% of complaints, 6× usual
- ignition — 18% of complaints, 3× usual
- due — 12% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
WAS UNABLE TO GET KEY OUT OF IGNITION DUE TO THE GEAR SHIFT BUTTON BEING STUCK IN.
the button on the gear shifter would not release while shifting between gears. Due to the failure, the key would remain stuck in the ignition due to the defective gear shifter button. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was given a diagnosti…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V257000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 14V417000 EQUIPMENT
- 13V220000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 12V454000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 13V464000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 23V516000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Sonic was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic? What happened to yours?
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