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2014 Chevrolet Sonic

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Sonic years

Owner complaints for the 2014 Chevrolet Sonic are substantially higher than the model-year median of 42.5.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

Other model years Selected year
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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

112 reports with mileage · 38 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Electrical System. Review the 49 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 38 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Air Bags. Review the 24 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

11 crash reports4 fire reports5 injury reports

Vehicle Speed Control complaints

3 reports
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Mileage unknown · Jun 6, 2021
Unknown Or OtherVehicle Speed Control

Since January I’ve consistently had issues with my 2014 Chevy Sonic Hatchback, in particular, Codes 84, P2138, check engine light and traction control lights. (my job has us all working from home since March of 2020, so I only do local shopping, no long distance). Due to the codes mentioned above, my car was “repaired” at dealer…

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Since January I’ve consistently had issues with my 2014 Chevy Sonic Hatchback, in particular, Codes 84, P2138, check engine light and traction control lights. (my job has us all working from home since March of 2020, so I only do local shopping, no long distance). Due to the codes mentioned above, my car was “repaired” at dealership on January 4, 2012. In the end of March I was constantly getting the same codes over a period of two days. I called GM (1 800 462 8782) on March 29, spoke with a woman by the name of Michelle and I explained what has been happening with the vehicle codes, along with other issues over the past year. She opened a case file # 9-6627321866 and she called the dealership to discuss my issue. I was told to drop the car off and it will be repair at no cost to me. The car was brought to dealership on April 7, 2021 and when the diagnostic was preformed, it showed no codes in the history. They did no repair at that time and gave me back the car. While running local errand on April 17, all the same codes appeared and once again I had reduced engine power. I was near the dealership and dropped off the vehicle, even though the service department was closed at that time. Once again, a new pedal and sensor was installed. I told them to please keep the vehicle for a few days, test drive it once in a while to ensure it is truly repaired. They test drove it several times during the 4 days they had it and since there were no issues, I picked the vehicle up on April 22, 2021.On June 5, while driving to a store a nearby store, I was stopped at a light to make a left turn and all the codes suddenly came on. I had very little acceleration making the left turn. The vehicle approaching me which was a block and a half away was now very closely approaching me and luckily realized I had an issue and stopped. I immediately headed back home. AutoZone ran a diagnostic and it's the same issue.

NHTSA ODI #11419806

31,000 miles · Apr 26, 2017
EngineSteeringVehicle Speed Control

TWICE IN ONE MONTH THE CAR ENGINE SHUT OFF WHILE I WAS DRIVING. POWER STEERING WAS ALSO LOST. MILEAGE APPROX. 31,000. I WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE CAR AFTER PUTTING IT IN PARK. THE FIRST TIME, I WAS TURNING, PULLING INTO A PARKING LOT, SO I WAS ABLE TO DRIFT INTO A PARKING SPOT SAFELY. SECOND TIME I WAS IN SMALL TOWN BUMPER TO BUMP…

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TWICE IN ONE MONTH THE CAR ENGINE SHUT OFF WHILE I WAS DRIVING. POWER STEERING WAS ALSO LOST. MILEAGE APPROX. 31,000. I WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE CAR AFTER PUTTING IT IN PARK. THE FIRST TIME, I WAS TURNING, PULLING INTO A PARKING LOT, SO I WAS ABLE TO DRIFT INTO A PARKING SPOT SAFELY. SECOND TIME I WAS IN SMALL TOWN BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC. TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE AND STEPPED ON THE GAS AND NOTHING HAPPENED, SO I PUT IT IN PARK AND RESTARTED IT AND IT SEEMED FINE AFTER THAT. TOOK IT TO DEALER WHERE I BOUGHT IT, THEY DID NOTHING AS THE CAR WAS NOT THROWING ANY CODES AND NO WARNING LIGHTS WERE ON. SECOND GARAGE I WENT TO ALSO COULD NOT FIND AN ISSUE SO THEY DID NOTHING. TOOK IT TO ANOTHER DEALERSHIP AND THE CAR STALLED ON THEM AS THEY WERE PARKING IT, RIGHT AFTER I HAD DROPPED IT OFF. THEY KEPT IT FOR ALMOST A WEEK AND DROVE IT 61 MILES AND COULD NOT RECREATE THE STALLING. THEY CHECKED THE CAR THOROUGHLY AND NOTHING APPEARED TO BE WRONG WITH IT. THEY CHECKED ALL RECALLS AND BULLETINS, NOTHING MENTIONED IN THOSE. THE CAR WOULD ALSO "BOUNCE" UP AND DOWN WHEN I WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. THAT WAS HAPPENING MORE FREQUENTLY ONCE THE ENGINE TROUBLES STARTED. I GOT MY CAR BACK LAST NIGHT FROM THE OTHER DEALER AND DIDN'T NOTICE ANY "BOUNCING" SO MAYBE THEY FIXED SOMETHING WHEN THEY WERE CHECKING THE CAR, HOWEVER THE INVOICE STATED ALL THEY DID WAS A 27-POINT INSPECTION AND ALIGNMENT CHECK. NO CHARGE TO ME AS CAR IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY BUT WARRANTY RUNS OUT IN 5 MONTHS.

NHTSA ODI #10980845

608 miles · Apr 17, 2015
Vehicle Speed Control

AT A STOP LIGHT/SIGN WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE THE CAR WILL START TO SHAKE/LUNGE FORWARD LIKE THE CAR IS TRYING TO GO BUT CANT BECAUSE MY FOOT IS ON THE BRAKE. IT WILL HAPPEN WITHIN A MILE AFTER STARTING AND DRIVING MY CAR AND WHEN IT STARTS TO SHAKE IT WILL LAST MAYBE 5 SECONDS. IT HAPPENS 2 OR 3 TIMES A WEEK ESPECIALLY WHEN IT…

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AT A STOP LIGHT/SIGN WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE THE CAR WILL START TO SHAKE/LUNGE FORWARD LIKE THE CAR IS TRYING TO GO BUT CANT BECAUSE MY FOOT IS ON THE BRAKE. IT WILL HAPPEN WITHIN A MILE AFTER STARTING AND DRIVING MY CAR AND WHEN IT STARTS TO SHAKE IT WILL LAST MAYBE 5 SECONDS. IT HAPPENS 2 OR 3 TIMES A WEEK ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS COLD OUTSIDE. *TR

NHTSA ODI #10706393

Official recalls

4

16V257000 · Electrical System:software; Equipment:electrical:radio/tape Deck/cd Etc.

Apr 28, 2016

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2016 Chevrolet Sonic and Trax vehicles and 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark vehicles equipped with a Bring Your Own Media radio. The affected radios may fail to provide an audible warning chime when the driver, after turning off the ignition and leaving the key in the cylinder, waits 10 minutes or longer to open the door. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114 "Theft Protection."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Without audible indicators, the driver may leave the key in the ignition, increasing the risk of theft.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the radio software, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 17130.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Electrical System:software

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2016 Chevrolet Sonic and Trax vehicles and 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark vehicles equipped with a Bring Your Own Media radio. The affected radios may fail to provide an audible warning chime when the driver, after turning off the ignition and leaving the key in the cylinder, waits 10 minutes or longer to open the door. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114 "Theft Protection."

Consequence: Without audible indicators, the driver may leave the key in the ignition, increasing the risk of theft.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the radio software, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 17130.

Equipment:electrical:radio/tape Deck/cd Etc.

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2016 Chevrolet Sonic and Trax vehicles and 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark vehicles equipped with a Bring Your Own Media radio. The affected radios may fail to provide an audible warning chime when the driver, after turning off the ignition and leaving the key in the cylinder, waits 10 minutes or longer to open the door. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114 "Theft Protection."

Consequence: Without audible indicators, the driver may leave the key in the ignition, increasing the risk of theft.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the radio software, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 17130.

14V543000 · Air Bags

Sep 9, 2014

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured July 28, 2014, to August 1, 2014. Due to a loss of electrical connection in the steering column, in the event of a severe crash, the driver's frontal air bag deployment may be limited to the first-stage deployment only instead of the intended first-stage and second-stage deployments.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If only the first-stage of the driver's frontal air bag deploys without the additional second-stage, the driver has an increased risk of injury during a crash.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will test the terminals in the IP harness clock spring coil connector and replace any loose terminals, free of charge. The recall began in October 2014. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14537.

14V417000 · Equipment:electrical

Jul 2, 2014

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Buick Encore all-wheel-drive vehicles manufactured August 23, 2012, to September 9, 2013; Verano vehicles manufactured August 8, 2012, to June 20, 2013; Chevrolet Cruze vehicles manufactured August 7, 2012, to August 16, 2013, and 2012-2014 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured May 10, 2011, to August 16, 2012 equipped with a Calix oil pan/block heater. In cold temperatures, the insulation on the engine block heater cord can become damaged, allowing the wires to be exposed.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Exposed wires increase the risk of electrical shock and personal injury if the cord is handled while it is plugged in.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the engine oil pan/block heater cord with a new cord that is rated for temperatures of minus 40 degree Celsius. The recall began in August 2014. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14257.

13V464000 · Fuel System, Gasoline:storage:tank Assembly:mounting

Sep 26, 2013

General Motors (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured August 2, 2013, through August 12, 2013. Due to insufficient welds, the front fuel tank strap bracket may separate from the vehicle.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If the front fuel tank strap bracket separates, the increased load may lead to the failure of the other tank support. As a result, the fuel tank may come loose from the vehicle causing a fuel leak. A fuel leak, in the presence of an ignition source, may result in a fire.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the front fuel tank strap bracket, and repair it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on November 7, 2013. Owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. GM's recall campaign number is 13296.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.