Consumer Complaint Detail

CHEVROLET / CAVALIER / 1996

Recalls
1 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 000074857 Incident Date: Oct, 09 2000
Consumer's City: TEMPLE Consumer's State: TX
Vehicle Transmission Type: Manufacturers Name: General Motors, LLC
Model Name: CAVALIER Model Year: 1996
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Equipment:appliance:air conditioner
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 1
Vehicle's VIN#: 1G1JF52T7T7 Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jul, 09 2001 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Dec, 31 1995
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 0 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: My car was programmed by the manufacturer to have the a/c on at all times. so, during the last five years, my a/c was always on, unbeknownst to me. this caused the compressor to malfunction this fall. that's when the problem with the car finally revealed itself, and a mechanic at don ringler's chevrolet finally figured out that the a/c needed to be reprogrammed so that it was not on at all times. meanwhile, all during the five years, the brakes kept failing at various times, causing me to nearly crash or run out into traffic. many times i was bruised from the incidents. my car also stopped running altogether several times while operating at different speeds, and just as the power would shut off, the brakes would stop working. i have gone out into the middle of highways, almost being killed. each time i took the car in, i was told that the problem could not be detected or the problem had been resolved. being only the second car in my life (the first one, a geo metro, caused no problems at all), i trusted the verdict each time, and did not know that there was a deeper, underlying problem to report. it took me five years to uncover this. believing the mechanics at chevrolet dealerships each time that the problem had been resolved, i continued to keep careful maintenance on it with the very best quality care. this fall, i was told the same thing, that it was something other than the real source of the problem, and after another $500 and a test drive with the head mechanic where the power failed once again, it was discovered that the a/c was misprogrammed and causing power failure. evidence of this lies in the fact that when the a/c is kept off, the car runs fine. the compressor is ruined. i am concerned that all the other 1996 cavalier complaints (nhtsa) on power/brake failure may be attributable to a/c misprogramming. those customers could not figure out the reason either. a recall may be necessary. please investigate--gm staff is ignoring me.*ak