CSR

Chevrolet · NHTSA safety record

2015 Chevrolet Sonic

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

114

Complaints

15

Crashes

3

Fires

19

Injuries

1

Deaths

Owners of the 2015 Chevrolet Sonic have filed 114 safety complaints with NHTSA between March 2015 and May 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 34 of them (30%). The typical failure was reported at 35,000 miles, the median across the 79 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 3 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (3)

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:SOFTWARE

16V422000 · June 10, 2016

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Chevrolet Sonic and Trax, and 2013-2015 Spark vehicles equipped with a Bring Your Own Media radio. The affected radios may fail to provide an audible warning chime when the driver fails to fasten their seatbelt or if the driver leaves the key in the ignition. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 208 "Occupant Crash Protection" and 114 "Theft Protection."
The risk
Without audible indicators, the driver may not fasten their seatbelt, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the radio software, free of charge. The recall began on July 22, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 45340.

General Motors LLC · up to 18,780 vehicles across all model years covered

EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:RADIO/TAPE DECK/CD ETC.

16V257000 · April 28, 2016

The defect
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."
The risk
Without audible indicators, the driver may leave the key in the ignition, increasing the risk of theft.
The 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.

General Motors LLC · up to 317,572 vehicles across all model years covered

EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:RADIO/TAPE DECK/CD ETC.

15V416000 · June 30, 2015

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Chevrolet Spark vehicles manufactured April 30, 2014, to May 20, 2015, and 2015 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured June 18, 2014, to June 10, 2015. In the affected vehicles, equipped with the base radio and OnStar, the radio may lock up due to a software issue, causing the display to go blank and all audio functions to cease. Because of this, there may be no warning chimes such as the reminder to buckle the seat belt and the key being left in ignition when the driver goes to exit the vehicle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208 "Occupant Crash Protection", and 114 "Theft Protection."
The risk
Without audible indicators, the driver may leave the key in the ignition, increasing the risk of theft. If a driver or front passenger does not buckle their seat belt, there would be no chime to remind them to fasten their seat belts. If a driver or passenger does not buckle their seat belt there is an increased risk that they will be injured in a crash.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the radio software, free of charge. The recall began on August 11, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 15504.

General Motors LLC · up to 45,785 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 114.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 34 30%
AIR BAGS 27 24%
ENGINE 23 20%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 22 19%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 12 11%
POWER TRAIN 12 11%
STEERING 6 5%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 4 4%
EQUIPMENT 4 4%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 3 3%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 3%
SERVICE BRAKES 3 3%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2016 at 17.

2015 2016 2026
2015 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

1 death · fire · crash · towed

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 CHEVROLET SONIC. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE THE DRIVER WAS DRIVING AT 50 MPH, ANOTHER VEHICLE CRASHED INTO THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE AND THE VEHICLE ENGULFED IN FLAMES. THE DRIVER SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES AND DIED ON THE SCENE. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS ABLE TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED AND WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.

NHTSA complaint 10811525. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

4 injured

The driver, and front passenger interior door handles the metallic chrome coating starts to lose its adhesive. When opening the door from the inside it cuts your hands if you don't notice it. Both door handles started to have the same issue within the same year. My children, my wife and myself all have been cut from the same problem. I tried to remove the parts that caused the injury due to us not being home and still required to use the door handles. I didn't want further injury to occur to my family.

NHTSA complaint 11495754. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

3 injured · crash · towed · 23,816 miles

OUR VEHICLE WAS HIT WHILE IN MOTION AT APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH ON A CITY STREET ON THE DRIVER SIDE BY ANOTHER VEHICLE THAT DIDN'T YIELD AT A STOP INTERSECTION. SIDE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. ENTIRE DRIVER SIDE OF OUR THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED. MY HEAD BOUNCED OFF THE DRIVER SIDE WINDOW CAUSING INJURY THAT I DIDN'T SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION FOR. CHILD IN BACKSEAT DRIVER SIDE HIT HEAD AS WELL, AND DID SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION. OUR VEHICLE WAS INOPERABLE, AND HAD TO BE TOWED FROM THE SCENE.

NHTSA complaint 11001671. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

3 injured · crash · 3,191 miles

MY HUSBAND AND I WERE TRAVELING STRAIGHT IN A 2015 CHEVROLET SONIC LT AT APPROXIMATELY 35-40 MPH WHEN THE DRIVER OF A 2002 TOYOTA COROLLA MADE A LEFT HAND TURN CAUSING A COLLISION. SIMPLY PUT WE T BONED THE OTHER VEHICLE. 2015 CHEVY SONICS ARE EQUIPPED WITH WEIGHT SENSING RESTRAINT SYSTEMS. I WAS THE PASSENGER AND WEIGH APPROXIMATELY 142 LBS. BOTH DRIVER FRONT AIR BAGS DEPLOYED, KNEE AND STEERING WHEEL. THE PASSENGER FRONT AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOYED. ALMOST ALL OF THE DAMAGE WAS TO THE FRONT END PASSENGER SIDE. TOTAL MILEAGE AT TIME OF COLLISION WAS 3,191. SO FAR INSURANCE HAS ESTIMATED REPAIR COSTS TO BE $8,863.10, NOTE THIS IS BEFORE TARE DOWN. FINAL COST WILL RISE CONSIDERING THEY FAILED

NHTSA complaint 10704189, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
Passenger seat airbag shows that it is still off even when there is someone in the Passenger seat

NHTSA complaint 11739750. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:INSTRUMENT PANEL:SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER

60,700 miles

Odometer Fraud. The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Sonic. The contact purchased the vehicle from a dealer in March 2024. The contact stated that when the vehicle was purchased, the odometer at 60,000, and the advertisement stated 60,000. The contact recently acquired the Carfax report, which indicated that in April 2015, the odometer reading was 15,073 miles. The Carfax report indicated that the odometer reading was reported in April 2024 at 60,700 miles. The dealer was made aware of the discrepancy but provided no assistance.

NHTSA complaint 11690289. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
my recall is already completed, why on the your website still showing incompleted?

NHTSA complaint 11672416. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR

115,000 miles

The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Sonic. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the catalytic converter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 115,000.

NHTSA complaint 11640293. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I have had this vehicle for three years now and no matter of the repairs I had done to it by machanics the check engind light continue to turn on and the vehicle has shut down on the road and I can't find out what the solution is. I am afraid to drive it.Also the mylink radio which has all the vehicle settings in it has malfunctioned. I cannot get to reset veichle settings. Vehicle will not turn over on the first key turn. The engine turns over on the third or forth turn and when it dose there is a loud ratteling noise.

NHTSA complaint 11622159. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Right Hand Steering Wheel Controls Inoperative, Outside Ambient Temperature Reading on Radio Display Inoperative, inoperative rear vision camera gridlines, and Onstar Menu Screen is Not Showing When Pressing Onstar Button. Inoperable radio steering wheel control buttons increase driver distraction risk in reaching for the radio display. Absence of rear camera gridlines reduce driver guidance in reverse. Onstar menu not starting in case of need. Reported in existing GM Technical Service Bulletin 16-NA-347. [XXX] ) Related to completed Key Chime recall completed prior to October 10, 2016. Current vehicle codes were reviewed by Hendrick Chevrolet Buick GMC Southpoint, and no existing error

NHTSA complaint 11620044, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Chevrolet Sonic

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2018 14 1
2017 37 0
2016 48 2
2014 149 4
2013 217 6
2012 353 7 1

Other 2015 Chevrolet models

Every Chevrolet on this site — 298 vehicles, 747 recall campaigns and 5 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst