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CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic is fairly new & is already showing an early trend of transmission problems.

Owners report hesitation when shifting & grinding/hard shifting into gears. Some dealers are calling the condition "normal". Another owner reported his dealership replaced the transmission under warranty, but the new transmission had the same exact grinding problem. Design defect?

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
75,223 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Chevrolet Sonic seat belts / air bags problems

seat belts / air bags problem

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2012 Chevrolet Sonic Owner Comments

problem #4

May 042023

Sonic

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was driving my 2012 chevrolet sonic on April 26 and was rear ended my seatbelt did not engage and I was injured. I was rushed to the hospital for a concussion and on may 4th I got dizzy from my concussion from the accident suffered on April 26 and lost control of my vehicle and struck a concrete barrier on i20 west then bounced of the barrier and struck the barrier yet again. My seatbelt never engaged and my airbags never deployed either time striking the barrier nor the prior accident.

- Trenton, SC, USA

problem #3

Dec 272018

Sonic

  • 115,320 miles
Seat belt tensioner cables frayed and broke off

- Mechanicsburg, OH, USA

problem #2

Jan 312016

Sonic 4-cyl

  • 40,000 miles
On 1/31/2016 a vehicle pulled out in front of me. The first and biggest issue was the airbag never went off and the seat belt tensioners did not lock the belts either. I went forward and hit my head on the steering wheel rendering me unconscious!!! almost the whole front end had to be replaced e.g.: grill and front panel, left and right front quarter panels, radiator, both wheel wells, suspension on both sides and everything that goes with those plus a whole lot of other things like the radiator, coolant and washer tanks etc. Etc.... this was a full-frontal wreck and not a single airbag went off!!! secondly are the ABS and traction control. The roads were a little slick so I had the tc on. When I hit my brakes all they did, have done since I bought the car, and continue to do to this day, is immediately lock up! I had zero control of my car. This car has, by far, the worst ABS system I have ever used. The tc is complete [xxx], too!!! thirdly, every time I start the car the engine seems to misfire or something! it rattles and shakes the whole car, hard!!! after a few seconds it seems to find it's groove and idles normally. I have brought the car in to the local Chevy dealership where I purchased the car to address these problems. All they tell me is they are design and/or manufacturing flaws. They said I can pay to fix these issues with my own money or wait and see if the issues become recalls. Which, according to my research, have not yet. To me, these are some pretty big safety issues the manufacturer should be addressing!!! and why aren't they"???" I have photos of the accident, but can't seem to find them anywhere. I'll come back if I find them. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Kingsford, MI, USA

problem #1

Jan 062016

Sonic

  • 145,573 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic. The contact stated that the seat belt latch that attaches the seat belt to the vehicle seat fractured on the driver side and became detached. The contact stated that the passenger side seat belt experienced the same fracture. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the seat belt needed to be replaced. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle would be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 145,573.

- North East, MD, USA

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