2018 Chevrolet SONIC - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 Chevrolet Sonic receives a top safety rating of 5 out of 5 stars, making it an excellent choice for those looking for a safe vehicle. This car is equipped with electronic stability control, which helps improve vehicle stability and prevent skidding, making it easier to maintain control in hazardous conditions. Additionally, it offers optional forward collision warning and lane departure warning systems, which provide added safety measures to help prevent accidents.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the Chevrolet Sonic has had 12 complaints reported, and there has been 1 recall issued. While it's important to consider these factors, the overall safety rating and available safety features make the 2018 Chevrolet Sonic a solid option for those prioritizing safety in their vehicle choice.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

12

Recall Count

1

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2018 Chevrolet Sonic 5 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 Chevrolet Sonic 5 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

Optional
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2018 Chevrolet Sonic 5 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 Chevrolet Sonic 5 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2012 Score 2018 Score 2020 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2012 Score 2018 Score 2020 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear 5 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating 5 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2012 Score 2018 Score 2020 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating 5 5 5

Complaints for the 2018 Chevrolet SONIC

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"having an issue with the radio itself, its went black a few times on me as i was driving. and also when i was parked. no response on it at all. im afraid if something happens like when im in a wreck and when i try to call onstar while its not working im afraid of it not connecting, and also ive had issues with the window switches not rolling up or down the windows no clicking noises when i push on the switch all four have done it, acting like its not getting a electric signal to the switches, what i usually do when that happens is pull the car over turn off the iginition and let the car sit for 30 seconds then start the car and it usually works. ive also checked to make sure the safety switch aint on and it isnt."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2019-01-05

Complaint:
"my 2018 chevrolet sonic radio screen went black without warning while i was driving. i lost all functions through the radio screen. this happened a second time in route to work within a few days. i'm concerned that the radio may go black during an emergency when i need to use on star."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2019-10-09

Recalls for the 2018 Chevrolet SONIC

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain 2018 chevrolet sonic vehicles. a joint in the driver's seat-back frame may not be properly welded, reducing the strength of the seat-back frame."
Consequence:
In the event of a rear-impact crash, the seat-back may fail, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's seat-back, free of charge. The recall began June 28, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 18178.

Component(s) Involved: SEATS
Date of incident: 2018-05-27

CHEVROLET Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

CHEVROLET ranks 2 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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