The Used Car Index

2016 Chevrolet Spark EV problems

NHTSA lists 14 complaints for the 2016 Chevrolet Spark EV, 2 of them mention a crash and 0 mention a fire. 1 complaints mention an injury, with 1 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-09.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as CHEVROLET SPARK EV.

At a glance

Complaints
14
With crash
2
With fire
0
With injury (complaints)
1
Injuries
1
Deaths
0
Recalls
2
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
3,640,162
Investigations
2
Open investigations
1
Manufacturer communications
896

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
SERVICE BRAKES1071.4%
AIR BAGS321.4%
SEATS17.1%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags

These labels are model-generated, not NHTSA data.

Failure modes
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
loss of control1071.4%0.86
restraint or airbag321.4%0.90
unclear17.1%0.95
Severities
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
moderate964.3%0.93
high428.6%0.92
critical17.1%0.92

Model: typesafe/jev-1.13-20260917; schema version: tag-v1. 14 tagged complaints of 14 complaints (100.0%).

Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.

Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

2 recalls.

17V437000

Date: 2017-07-10. Systems: AIR BAGS, SEAT BELTS.

Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Trax, Suburban and Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles, and 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 250 (excerpt)

Consequence: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger. (excerpt)

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC custom (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

16V651000

Date: 2016-09-08. Systems: AIR BAGS, SEAT BELTS.

Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV (excerpt)

Consequence: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger. (excerpt)

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC cust (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

2 investigations; 1 open.

DP22005

Opened: 2023-01-27. Closed: 2023-08-07.

Pedestrian alert sounds

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and ele

Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Linked campaign numbers: 22V063000.

EA21002

Opened: 2021-09-17. Closed: Not listed.

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupt

Systems: AIR BAGS.

Linked campaign numbers: None listed.

Manufacturer communications

896 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
EQUIPMENT424
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM218
ENGINE63
EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY62
POWER TRAIN62
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING61
UNKNOWN OR OTHER57
WHEELS46

11037555

Date: 2026-09-26. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This PI provides Diagnostics tips on how the LIN bus works and how to diagnosis it.

11037253

Date: 2026-09-04. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email GDS2 session logs into Technical Assistance.

11035340

Date: 2026-07-21. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

PI to help diagnose A/C concern

11030974

Date: 2026-04-01. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This preliminary information communicates information about how to determine if a wheel and tires size change is available.

11030091

Date: 2026-03-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email GDS2 session logs into Technical Assistance.

11030092

Date: 2026-03-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary information communicates the steps on how to save a GDS2 Session Log and upload to a Technical Assistance Case in CX Connect.

11027601

Date: 2026-01-08. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email GDS2 session logs into Technical Assistance.

11025755

Date: 2025-11-20. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have had multiple repair attempts that are being performed on customera s vehicles that exhibit vibration conditions without utilizing the support of General Motors Technical Assistance Center. If

11023091

Date: 2025-09-09. Type: Other. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

New Vehicle Monitoring Programs Section in IVH

11024324

Date: 2025-09-04. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM.

This Warranty Administration service bulletin provides Lithium-Ion battery Exchange Process and Transaction Submission information.

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
SPARK EV14

Same model, other years

All model years | All Chevrolet models

Other Chevrolet models, 2016

Sources

Get this record as JSON

The free rate-limited demo needs no key.

curl "https://api.theusedcarindex.com/v1/demo/vehicle_risk?make=Chevrolet&model=Spark+EV&year=2016"

Paid endpoint: https://api.theusedcarindex.com/v1/vehicle_risk. MCP endpoint: https://api.theusedcarindex.com/mcp.