Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.
A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.
Exact model-level NHTSA results for 2012 CHEVROLET Sonic. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.
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
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.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured March 1, 2012, to June 29, 2012, and equipped with a 6 speed automatic transmission and 1.8L four cylinder engine. In the affected vehicles, the transmission turbine shaft may fracture.
Consequence
If the transmission turbine shaft fracture occurs during vehicle operation in first or second gear, the vehicle will not upshift to the third through sixth gears, limiting the vehicle's speed. If the fracture occurs during operation in third through sixth gear, the vehicle will coast until it slows enough to downshift to first or second gear, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the transmission turbine shaft, free of charge. The recall began on August 8, 2014. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14234.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles manufactured December 2, 2011 to July, 16, 2012, Chevrolet Cruze vehicles manufactured December 7, 2011 to July 25, 2012, Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured December 5, 2011 to August 2, 2012, and Chevrolet Camaro vehicles manufactured December 1, 2011 to June 11, 2012. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
Consequence
If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The recall began on July 25, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact GM at 1-800-222-1020. Buick owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. Note: This is an expansion of recalls 12V-522 and 13V-023.
04
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2011-12-28
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:PADS
GENERAL MOTORS (GM) IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2012 CHEVROLET SONIC VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM JUNE 2, 2011, THROUGH NOVEMBER 21, 2011. ON SOME OF THESE VEHICLES, THE FRONT BRAKE INNER OR OUTER PAD MAY BE MISSING.
Consequence
A MISSING PAD COULD RESULT IN REDUCED BRAKE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy
GM WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE FRONT BRAKES FOR A MISSING INNER OR OUTER PAD. IF A BRAKE PAD IS MISSING, DEALERS WILL INSTALL NEW INNER AND OUTER PADS, A NEW BRAKE CALIPER, AND A NEW ROTOR. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR BEFORE JANUARY 14, 2012
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured from May 5, 2011, through February 24, 2012. These vehicles fail to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 104, "Windshield Wiping and Washing Systems." The windshield wiper washer hose on these vehicles may separate from the washer fluid reservoir. If this occurs, washer fluid will not be available to the windshield.
Consequence
A lack of washer fluid could impede the driver's view, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will secure the windshield washer hose to prevent separation, free of charge. The safety recall began on September 7, 2012. Owners may contact the Chevrolet owner center at 1-866-694-6546.
General Motors is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano, Chevrolet Cruze, and Chevrolet Sonic vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
Consequence
If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal airbag, that airbag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Remedy
General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel airbag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on January 11, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, Cruze and Sonic, and model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
Consequence
If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on February 13, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.
02 · Owner allegations
354 NHTSA complaints
Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.
Crash mentions
27
Fire mentions
5
Injuries reported
18
Most-reported component labels
POWER TRAIN154
ENGINE83
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM59
UNKNOWN OR OTHER46
AIR BAGS34
SUSPENSION19
Complaints across nearby Chevrolet Sonic model years
Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.
An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE · Associated recall campaign 13V023000.
04 · EPA configurations
Fuel economy & specifications
FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.
EPA configurations
8
Combined economy
28–32 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
24–28 / 34–38 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
1.4–1.8 L
Cylinders
4
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
Front-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Compact Cars · Midsize Cars
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$2050–2300
05 · Evidence strength
Exact identity. Explicit limits.
No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.
exact match
Recall campaigns
7 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.
exact match
Complaints
354 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.
exact match
ODI investigations
2 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.
canonical only
Model aliases
Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.
not published
Manufacturer ownership
No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.
PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT
Identity, freshness and provenance.
The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.
Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.
06 · Research paths
Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.
These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.
154 complaint labels
POWER TRAIN
Check recalls and diagnostic information before replacing anything.
Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.