IllustrationMY SPEEDOMETER AND TEMP GUAGE ARE SPUN ALL THE WAY AROUND SHOWING THAT MY CAR IS ALWAYS GOING 150 MPH AND ITS RUNNING AT 500 DEGREES. *TR
2005 Chevrolet Cavalier
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Cavalier years
Owner complaints for the 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier are substantially higher than the model-year median of 140.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Cavalier years →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
180–25K
4825–50K
7350–75K
4675–100K
37100–150K
8150K+
230 reports with mileage · 57 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 211 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Vehicle Speed Control. Review the 18 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Power Train. Review the 16 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
7 crash reports0 fire reports5 injury reports
Electrical System complaints
211 reportsI OWN A 2005 CHEVY CAVALIER I AM THE FIRST OWNER. THE CAR HAD 50,000 MILES ON IT WHEN ALL THE GAUGES ON THE DASH BOARD STOPPED WORKING. THE PROBLEM STARTED WITH THE GAS GAUGE THEN FINALLY ALL GAUGES STOPPED WORKING. *TR
I HAVE A 2005 CHEVY CAVALIER LS THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER HAS GONE WACKY ALL THE GAUGES ARE TO THE RIGHT AND YOU CANNOT TELL WHAT SPEED YOU ARE GOING, HOW MUCH GAS YOU HAVE, WHAT THE TEMP IS. ONLY HAVE 19,000 MILES ON THE THING AND THE LIST OF COMPLAINTS I SEE REGARDING THIS PROBLEM , I THINK GM SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL. *LN
I HAVE A 2005 CAVALIER WITH A FAULTY GAUGE INSTRUMENT PANEL (CLUSTER), FAULTY SPEEDO AND TEMP GAUGE. I HEAR THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH GM CLUSTERS. WHERE IS THE RECALL??ITS ONLY 5 YRS OLD. THE SPEEDO NEEDLE GOES ALL THE WAY PAST THE #S AND RESTS AT MY MILEAGE #S. MY TEMP GAUGE GOES PAST ALL THE #S. *TR
2005 CHEVY CAVALIER SPEEDOMETER STOPPED WORKING. ON-LINE RESEARCH FROM OWNERS OF THIS CAR SHOWS THAT REPAIR OF THE SPEEDOMETER IS NOT POSSIBLE AND THE PART ALONE IS AVERAGING $300. AGAIN COMPLAINTS ARE ON THE FACT THAT THE SPEEDOMETER IS NOT REPAIRABLE. *TR
AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE ON OUR 2005 CHEVROLET CAVALIER FLUCTUATES WILDLY AND IS UNREADABLE. REDUCING SPEED GREATLY OR CHANGING RATE OF ACCELERATION/DECELERATION WILL CORRECT THE PROBLEM TEMPORARILY, BUT IT RECURS EVERY TIME THE CAR PASSES 55 MILES PER HOUR. *TR
I DRIVE A 2005 CHEVY CAVALIER AND ALL GAUGES HAVE STOPPED WORKING COMPLETELY. IT FIRST STARTED WITH THE RPM'S GAUGE ABOUT 10 MONTHS AGO, THEN THE SPEEDOMETER ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO, NOW WITH THE GAS GAUGE JUST A FEW DAYS AGO. I CAN NOT LONGER TELL HOW FAST I AM GOING, NOR HOW MUCH GAS IS ACTUALLY IN MY TANK. I PROPOSE A RECALL AS I …
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I DRIVE A 2005 CHEVY CAVALIER AND ALL GAUGES HAVE STOPPED WORKING COMPLETELY. IT FIRST STARTED WITH THE RPM'S GAUGE ABOUT 10 MONTHS AGO, THEN THE SPEEDOMETER ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO, NOW WITH THE GAS GAUGE JUST A FEW DAYS AGO. I CAN NOT LONGER TELL HOW FAST I AM GOING, NOR HOW MUCH GAS IS ACTUALLY IN MY TANK. I PROPOSE A RECALL AS I HAVE SEEN MANY COMPLAINTS OF THE SAME ISSUES. I LIKE TO BUY AMERICAN AND I FEEL IF AMERICAN AUTO MAKERS WANT TO KEEP THEIR CUSTOMERS THEY NEED TO STEP UP THE QUALITY OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICE! *TR
I DRIVE A 2005 CHEVY CAVALIER AND ON VERY HOT OR COLD DAYS, OR WHEN I DRIVE LONGER THAN USUAL DISTANCES (OVER 30 MILES), THE SPEEDOMETER OFTEN MALFUNCTIONS, EITHER BY GETTING STUCK READING OVER 110 MPH, EVEN WHEN STOPPED, OR BY READING UNDER ZERO, EVEN WHEN I'M MOVING. AND LATELY THE TEMP GAUGE HAS STARTED DOING THIS AS WELL, A…
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I DRIVE A 2005 CHEVY CAVALIER AND ON VERY HOT OR COLD DAYS, OR WHEN I DRIVE LONGER THAN USUAL DISTANCES (OVER 30 MILES), THE SPEEDOMETER OFTEN MALFUNCTIONS, EITHER BY GETTING STUCK READING OVER 110 MPH, EVEN WHEN STOPPED, OR BY READING UNDER ZERO, EVEN WHEN I'M MOVING. AND LATELY THE TEMP GAUGE HAS STARTED DOING THIS AS WELL, ALERTING TO ME OVERHEATING ON COLD DAYS EVEN THOUGH THE ENGINE IS NOT OVERHEATING AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER COMES ON. IT'S FRUSTRATING AND FRIGHTENING AND UNSAFE. *TR
WHEN COLD OUTSIDE THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE WILL READ INACCURATE TEMPERATURES AND GAUGE IS STUCK TO FAR LEFT AND DOES NOT BUDGE. A WEEK LATER THE GAS GAUGE ALSO GAVE OUT. DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH GAS IN TANK! WAS DRIVING ACROSS THE STATE ON A VACATION TRIP AND WAS USING CRUISE CONTROL. ONCE TAKEN OFF CRUISE CONTROL THE SPEEDOMETER IS ST…
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WHEN COLD OUTSIDE THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE WILL READ INACCURATE TEMPERATURES AND GAUGE IS STUCK TO FAR LEFT AND DOES NOT BUDGE. A WEEK LATER THE GAS GAUGE ALSO GAVE OUT. DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH GAS IN TANK! WAS DRIVING ACROSS THE STATE ON A VACATION TRIP AND WAS USING CRUISE CONTROL. ONCE TAKEN OFF CRUISE CONTROL THE SPEEDOMETER IS STUCK AT 65MPH AND WILL NOT CHANGE. VERY DANGEROUS. GOING ON LONG DISTANCE TRIPS AND NOT KNOWING HOW MUCH GAS, MY SPEED OR THE TEMPERATURE OF THE INTERNAL SYSTEM IS SCARY INDEED. *TR
LAST NIGHT I WAS DRIVING HOME IN THE DARK AND THE SPEEDOMETER WAS NOT CORRECTLY WORKING. (THIS HAS HAPPENED MANY TIMES SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR SEVERAL MONTHS AGO) THE SPEEDOMETER WILL WORK SOMETIMES, THEN WILL READ ERRATIC, FLUCTUATES FROM 10 MPH TO 120 MPH WHETHER THE CAR IS PARKED OR DRIVING. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING A LOT OVER …
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LAST NIGHT I WAS DRIVING HOME IN THE DARK AND THE SPEEDOMETER WAS NOT CORRECTLY WORKING. (THIS HAS HAPPENED MANY TIMES SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR SEVERAL MONTHS AGO) THE SPEEDOMETER WILL WORK SOMETIMES, THEN WILL READ ERRATIC, FLUCTUATES FROM 10 MPH TO 120 MPH WHETHER THE CAR IS PARKED OR DRIVING. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING A LOT OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS. I JUST BOUGHT THE CAR A FEW MONTHS AGO. THE DEALERSHIP RECOMMENDS A NEW GAUGE CLUSTER @ $500+. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2005 CHEVY CAVALIER AND OTHER YEAR MODELS AS WELL. I GOT ON THE INTERNET AND SAW MANY ENTRIES ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM, SAME BRAND, SAME MODEL. GM SHOULD RECALL THIS AND FIX IT. I AND OTHERS ARE FORCED TO DRIVE IN AN UNSAFE CONDITION. I AM RETIRED AND CANNOT AFFORD THE PART NOR AFFORD TO TRADE THE CAR IN. PLEASE HELP ME AND OTHERS WHO HAVE NO PLACE TO TURN, THANKS. *TR
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
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
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.