Problems · NHTSA complaints

1999 Chevrolet Prizm problems

Owners filed 43 complaints about the 1999 Chevrolet Prizm with NHTSA between May 1999 and Dec 2018. The most-cited component is air bags (11).

Complaints
43
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
8
Reported by owners
Fires
2
Reported by owners
Injuries
4
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Air bags11
  2. Engine and engine cooling6
  3. Exterior lighting5
  4. Electrical system5
  5. Service brakes, hydraulic5
  6. Tires4
  7. Steering2
  8. Structure2
  9. Wheels2
  10. Vehicle speed control2
  11. Seat belts2
  12. Seats2
  13. Suspension1
  14. Fuel/propulsion system1

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Nov 7, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
19998
20005
20013
20020
20033
20046
20054
20063
20072
20081
20090
20101
20110
20120
20131
20141
20152
20161
20170
20182

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Air bags

11 reports5 crashes
“I WAS DRIVING TO HELP A FRIEND MOVE ABOUT 4 BLOCK FROM MY APARTMENT COMPLEX ON THURSDAY 18TH JULY AT APPROXIMATELY 12:20PM. ABOUT TWO BLOCKS FROM MY APARTMENT, I LOOKED OVER TO MY RIGHT SHOULDER TO CHECK MY BLIND SPOT TO MERGE INTO THE NEXT LANE AND WHEN I TURNED BACK THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME SLAMMED ON THEIR BRAKES AND STOPPED SUDDENLY. BY THIS TIME I WAS WITHIN TWO CAR LENGTHS AWAY AND SLAMMED MY BRAKES. MY CAR BEGAN SLOWING DOWN BUT SLID STRAIGHT INTO THE BACK OF HER VEHICLE. AFTER I REAR ENDED HER I LOOK AHEAD AND NOTICE A 4 CAR BUILD UP WITH THE 5TH CAR AHEAD MAKING AN ILLEGAL U TURN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. MY ENTIRE FRONT OF MY CAR WAS PRETTY MUCH DESTROYED WITH ALL NEW PARTS HAVING TO BE BOUGHT. BECAUSE MY CAR IS FRONT WELL DRIVE THE FRONT DIPPED AND DID NOT DO MUCH DAMAGE TO THE OTHER PERSONS VEHICLE (1999 HONDA ACCORD COPE) EXCEPT SCRATCHED HER BUMPER. I ONLY HAVE LIABILITY SO HER CAR IS BEING FIXED AND I HAVE TO PAY FOR MINE OUT OF POCKET. BECAUSE THE LEFT FENDER WAS BADLY DENTED, IT HINDERED THE FRONT DOOR FROM BEING ABLE TO OPEN AND I REMAINED PINNED INTO MY CAR FOR A WHILE. I NOTICED THAT MY AIR BAGS NEVER EVEN WENT OFF WHICH COULD HAVE PREVENT…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 20, 2013Exterior lighting, Air bags, StructureCrash reportedODI 10525904

Engine and engine cooling

6 reports1 fire
“1999 CHEVROLET PRISM HAD EQUIPMENT FAILURE. WHEN CONSUMER WENT TO RESTART THE VEHICLE IT CAUGHT FIRE AND WAS EXTINGUISHED BY PASSING MOTORISTS. *KB OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT # 10-0029-90 UPDATED 04/15/10 *BF UPDATED 05/24/10 *BF”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 18, 2010Engine and engine cooling, Electrical systemFire reportedODI 10312110

Exterior lighting

5 reports2 crashes
“AT 70 MILES/HOUR MY GENERAL MOTORS POWER STEERING ASSIST WAS ON FULL ASSIST AND CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. GENERAL MOTORS SECRETLY REMOVED THE POWER ASSIST, REPLACED IT AND THEN JIMMIED THE ENTIRE CAR TO PRESENT FALSE EVIDENCE THAT THE ACCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY BAD DRIVER CAR MAINTENANCE. THEY THEN DENIED THE CLAIM BASED ON PHOTOGRAPHS THEY HAD TAKEN OF MY CAR AFTER THEY HAD CHANGED EVERYTHING. THE ACCIDENT ON 7/20/2018, OCCURRED ON A HIGHWAY DURING A SUNNY LATE MORNING. THE CAR WAS TOTALED. *TR *JS *JS *TT CONSUMER STATED I SENT ONE LETTER TO THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION ON 12/3/2018 WITH 7 QUESTIONS AND ANOTHER LETTER ON 9/27/2019 WITH 3 MORE QUESTIONS TO YOU. I HAVE SENT COPIES OF THESE LETTERS, PER ATTACHMENT. CAN I GET SPECIFIC ANSWERS TO EACH QUESTION FROM YOU AND YOUR PHONE # SO I CAN CALL YOU AFTER MY REVIEW. IT SEEMS TO ME GENERAL MOTORS HAS ALWAYS DESIGNED ITS' VARIABLE POWER STEERING ASSISTS, WHEN THEY BREAK, TO GO INTO FULL, OPEN POWER ASSIST , ALL THE TIME AND AT ALL SPEEDS. THIS IS SOO MUCH MORE DANGEROUS THAN MANUAL STEERING ESPECIALLY WITHOUT LOW SPEED WARNING THAT THE POWER STEERING ASSIST HAS BROKEN. WHAT HAS NHTSA DONE TO PREVENT THIS SAFETY…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Dec 3, 2018Steering, Exterior lighting, StructureCrash reportedODI 11155706

Electrical system

5 reports2 fires
“MY CAR TURNED OFF WHEN PICKING UP MY DAUGHTER FROM SCHOOL. WHEN MY HUSBAND AND DAD TOOK THE CAR TO GET CHECKED, THEY WERE TOLD THAT IT WAS ELECTRICAL. THE COMPUTER BLEW OUT TWICE. THEY WEREN'T CHARGED WHICH WAS A GOOD THING BECAUSE THOSE ARE EXPENSIVE. EVERY TIME YOU SWITCH THE A/C ON OR TURN THE HEADLIGHTS ON THE CAR TURNS OFF. I CAME ON THIS WEBSITES HOPING TO SEE IF THERE HAS BEEN A RECALL ON THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE MY FAVORITE CAR IS JUST SITTING THERE COLLECTING DUST. I DON'T WANT TO JUNK THE CAR BECAUSE IT IS GREAT! I DON'T WANT TO DRIVE IT NEITHER BECAUSE I HAVE TWO KIDS AND DON'T WANT NOTHING BAD TO HAPPEN. PLEASE GET A RECALL DONE. I DON'T WANT TO JUNK THIS CAR.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 17, 2015Electrical systemODI 10749307

Service brakes, hydraulic

5 reports
“I OWN A 1999 CHEVY TAHOE THAT I HAD CALLED THE CHEVY SERVICE CENTER ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE BRAKING ON THE VEHICLE. AT THAT TIME THEY TOLD ME THERE WERE NO RECALLS OR OTHER COMPLAINTS ON FILE. I NOW READ ABOUT A RECALL THAT EXPLAINS THE SAME PROBLEMS I'VE HAD WITH MY VEHICLE SO I CALLED THE CHEVY SERVICE LINE AGAIN AND GAVE THEM THE FILE NUMBER THAT THEY GAVE ME WHEN I CALLED SEVERAL YEARS AGO. THEY DO NOT HAVE RECORD OF MY CALL OR FILE NUMBER ANY MORE. CHEVY TOLD ME BECAUSE I LIVE IN COLORADO INSTEAD OF ONE OF THE STATES THAT THE RECALL IS FOR, THAT IT DOES NOT APPLY TO MY VEHICLE. I FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT MY VEHICLE SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL DUE TO THE FACT THAT I HAD CALLED YEARS AGO TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE BRAKING SYSTEM AND DESCRIBED TO THEM WHAT THEY ARE NOW RECALLING OTHER VEHICLES FOR, ONLY IN DIFFERENT STATES. *JB”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 23, 2005Service brakes, hydraulicODI 10137464

Tires

4 reports1 crash
“THE TREAD ON THE REAR DRIVER'S SIDE TIRE SEPARATED FROM THE TIRE CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO SKID THROUGH THE NORTHBOUND LANES AND THEN INTO THE DIRT MEDIAN AND FINALLY BECOMING CAUGHT ON THE CABLE DIVIDER, TOTALING THE VEHICLE. THE TIRE THAT SEPARATED FROM IT'S TREAD WAS A FIRESTONE FR380 E26L 38B. THE TIRE WAS PURCHASED IN 2009 WITH A 55,000 MILE LIMITED WARRANTY. WHEN THE TIRE WAS PURCHASED THE ODOMETER WAS AT 88,088 MILES. THE ODOMETER WAS AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 140,629 MILES. THIS MEANS THE TIRE WAS STILL 2,459 MILES UNDER THE WARRANTY. THE MINIMUM TREAD DEPTH RECOMMENDED BY FIRESTONE TIRES IS 2/32 DEEP OR 0.0625. THE TREAD DEPTH ON THE TIRE IN QUESTION WAS 0.175, MORE THAN TWICE THE REQUIRED DEPTH. THE STATE TROOPER WHO INVESTIGATED THE CRASH DETERMINED THAT I WAS NOT AT FAULT. THE MECHANIC WHO EXAMINED MY VEHICLE AGREED THAT THE INCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY THE REAR DRIVER'S SIDE TIRE'S TREAD SEPARATING FROM THE TIRE.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 25, 2016TiresCrash reportedODI 10838498
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 7, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.