general problems of the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic - part 1

48 problems related to electrical system have been reported for the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic based on all problems reported for the 2013 Sonic.

1 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 07/22/2024

Was driving in heavy rain when car suddenly cut power and decelerated showed code 84 and the cel came back with p2138. It is a known issue that rain gets up into the connector and causes a malfunction.

2 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 12/10/2022

The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 mph, the rear windshield suddenly imploded, causing glass shards to be propelled inside the cabin of the vehicle. The contact stated that it sounded as if a shotgun had been fired. As a result of the implosion, the contact sustained injuries to the left eye. The contact sought medical attention. The contact stated that there was an abnormal electrical humming sound coming from the rear windshield prior to the failure. The contact stated that the defroster was not activated at the time of the failure. The contact stated that there was prior electrical shortage failures with the vehicle. Additionally, there was melted solder present at the rear window defroster electrical connection. An unknown local dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The contact stated that he had a police report for the failure. The contact stated that a field investigator was sent to the residence to inspect the vehicle; however, the cause of the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 125,000.

3 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/06/2022

The air conditioner instead of blowing cold air, it blows hot air. I have taken it from miami to a 3rd party mechanic where it did not helped much. Nobody knew what was the problem. I move to texas and in summer over 100 degrees and having a baby sweat is not good. The temperature as “weather shows -15 degrees. When right now is 99 degrees at 7:10 am central time.

4 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 03/20/2022

My odometer miles was erased about 9 months ago and I cannot retrieve it. A chevy dealership associate looked at it this week (October 31, 2022) and manually could not recover the miles. A gm parts online website suggested it could be a speed sensor (blown fuse) or dash cluster. To diagnose the problem, the dealership wants to perform a diagnostic which costs $120-140 plus parts and labor. This is unjustified: gm and dealerships should be aware of this problem since it is prevalent in chevy Sonics. Gm should back this repair either partially or fully.

5 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/04/2021

At around 45,600 miles the odometer and trip meter on my 2013 Sonic stopped displaying numbers and instead shows just 3 dashes. Disconnecting the car's battery for 30 mins, reconnecting, and starting the car displays the mileage for a few seconds and then returns to the ---. Same happens when pulling the fuse for the gauge cluster; the mileage is displayed for a few seconds and then returns to the ---. Attempting to reset the trip meter results in the normal 'beep' but numbers are not displayed. Brought the car to the dealership and since the vehicle is out of warranty they want a nonrefundable deposit of $700 just to diagnose, parts and labor would be an additional bill on top of that. Ridiculous. Since this is likely a computer issue it's beyond the scope of work that can be performed by my trusted local garage and as a result I have not had the issued corrected. This should be a gm recall.

6 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 09/05/2020

My power steering keeps going out, I have to tap on the battery post connectors and the power steering starts working again. Sometimes a warning light comes on, sometimes not. My daughter was driving going around a bend in the road when the power steering went out, almost lost control. My odometer quit working, I took it to a shop and was told it's a common problem. Why is this not on recall if a Chevrolet mechanic is telling me it's a common problem. . . Very expensive and unnecessary and should be on recall if it's that common.

7 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 07/10/2020

Code 84 while driving on regular road at normal speed. Car goes into power reduction mode. It's difficult to accelerate and the "see mechanic" symbol on the dash. Took it to midas, had the pedal assembly replaced and electrical wires greased. Next week same thing, replaced pedal assembly again. Same thing happened again today. Driving in nice weather going under 45mph. Stabilitrack light comes on and power reduction turns on. Turn car off, sit a minute, turn back on, check engine light and power reduction off. Will happen again. Every day for the last 3 weeks after about a year ago having pedal assembly replaced. Code 84 came on again today, took to the mechanic, they say everything is running fine with the diagnostic reading. Not sure why the power reduction comes on. I have tried driving with traction control off, tc off and stabilitrack off. New tires, new brakes, new windshield (replaced when I bought the car in case there was an internal leak. No water intrusion was found by the mechanics. I cannot drive the car safely on the busy road I work on. Car will go into power reduction at random even when on the highway, causing the car to lose ability to accelerate fast enough to not get hit. Always while driving. Sometimes the check engine light stays on and sometimes it's not on at all. Intermittent power reduction. Mechanics say could be an electrical issue but couldn't find the source of the problem. This has been happening on and off for over a year and no solution has been found. All regular maintenance is scheduled in a timely fashion. Unknown cause of safety issue.

8 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/01/2020

I've been having a lot of problems with the air conditioner for the last couple weeks I bought it used. I just spent $900 on a new compressor for the air conditioning air switch and now they're saying that it's all electrical issues. I was wondering if there was a recall on the air conditioner unit for a 2013.

9 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 04/15/2020

The mylink stereo system all the sudden began changing stations on its own constantly. It reprogrammed all stations to the same channel, the touch screen will not respond to touch. Bluetooth hands free had to be disconnected because it also randomly calls people in my recently called list, often clients. I have a prepaid xm subscription but cannot use my radio at all. There are a number of us with the same issue and we have identified eachother in a facebook group. There are at least 10-15 people who are currently experiencing the same issue. The stereo actually called 911 one day because I had recently dialed the number to report an accident outside my home. This could cause safety issues. This happens whether the vehicle is in motion or parked, any time of day. It's like the stereo has just gone haywire.

10 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 03/20/2020

We bought the car used and ever since then it had a weird double locking mechanism, such as when I put it in park it would unlock but when I went to open the drivers side door it would lock itself as I was in the process of opening it. So it would be slightly opened and I'd have to press the button to unlock it to open the door. It did this often only on the drivers side. Then one day after I had drove it somewhere we closed the door for 2 mins max when we went to use the key fob to open the door while the door was parked in a driveway the car door lock would go up then immediately back down. The only way we could open the passenger side door was to try and open it as the door lock went up before it came back down, which was possible but after getting in there was no way to open the drivers side door at all. It was as if the car door lock stick didn't go up all the way to actually unlock the door. There's also no way to get the door panel off with the car door being closed. We've taken it to different places that have actually no idea what's wrong with it. This is such a huge safety problem with the car door not being able to open at all if there was a car crash or anything.

11 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 02/18/2020

I bought my van Chrysler pacifica back on July 30 2018 after couple months after I stater noticing sliding door driver side when trying to close it either by key fob inside button nor door was not closing any once need it to try 3 or 4 times to close all the way then radio turning off I called a web called pacifica cares then I was reach by them I was told to provide a email phone number time and date of appointment name and address of the dealership then y was reach by one case manager I share with her the issues we agreed on the appointment at the date and time which was yesterday 2/26/2020 8 am she said she called them explained to them what was going to happen at the date and time so I got to the dealership and none had a clue about my reason so I explained to service person he said you can't generalized and said the isn't no issues whatsoever which pacificas I called case manager but she wasn't reachable because she's in other state so I was told by advisor at the service that she never talk to him after two hrs I was reach by my case manager and then explained to me that I need it to pay the diagnostic to be able to move forward in the case which it cost 140$ I told her that I was never told that I need it to cover that out of my packet before they can make any decision at this point I'm very disappointed and upset because I was never told that I need it to pay for this diagnosis if I can get any help will appreciate.

12 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 07/24/2019

The chime is not working in my car. I called gm about this and they said the recall 17130 has already been closed on my car but the chime is not working. It seems to be a problem with mylink as other things arent working either. Summary general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2013-2016 Chevrolet Sonic and trax vehicles and 2013-2015 Chevrolet spark vehicles equipped with a bring your own media radio. The affected radios may fail to provide an audible warning chime when the driver, after turning off the ignition and leaving the key in the cylinder, waits 10 minutes or longer to open the door. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) number 114 "theft protection. " without audible indicators, the driver may leave the key in the ignition, increasing the risk of theft. Gm's number for this recall is 17130.

13 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 07/02/2019

2013 Sonic LS -from the start, the air conditioner doesn't work, the car was driving on freeway sways uncontrollably but seems like wind at first but there's no wind. It started jerking and hesitating, lights and radio flickering, when in motion in freeway, car started getting hot but not all the way over heating pulled over then the steering column locked in the turn to pull over, when stopped, the car rpm started revving but car wasn't going nowhere, then turned the car off after putting in park and and the key won't come out of the ignition. . . After wiggling the key for a few minutes it released. Towed the car to friendlies auto repair shop and told them everything that was happening they said they needed to replace the ratiator for $1400. 00 and we paid it. However the car is still doing the same thing and the radiatir didnt fix anything we seen as being wrong. Now they said it's the compressor but we don't have additional money to continue fixing. I read online others with this car are having similar issues.

14 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 03/12/2019

Was unable to get key out of ignition due to the gear shift button being stuck in.

15 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 02/11/2019

Tl the contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. The contact just purchased the vehicle and noticed that the chime failed to sound when the key was placed in the ignition. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed the contact to take the vehicle to a Chevrolet dealer. The vehicle was taken to gold rush Chevrolet (located at 570 grass valley hwy, auburn, CA 95603, (530) 392-4672), but was not diagnosed or repaired due to the diagnostic and repair fees. The contact also stated that all the doors failed to remain unlocked when exiting the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failures and provided case number: 9-5199799138. The contact was referred to NHTSA. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000.

16 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 12/20/2018

Car gave me a code of u0101 and took it to chevy dealership and told me it has something to do with lost communication. They tried fixing issue but couldn�t.

17 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 05/28/2018

"takata recall". My air conditioner went out on may 28,2018 while I was sitting in my yard waiting to cook off my car. So I have replaced the air compressor fuse and relays and it still does not work. It came on once since they have been exchanged and the compressor still will not come back on after I have had it unplugged and plugged back in.

18 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 04/08/2018

It started with the radio going dark sometimes not working then the windows wont" go down then my car would not turn on took it to many mechanics no one could figure out whats wrong finally one told me that some Sonics had a recall and it was doing the same thing as mine. This is more often it was once in a while but now is very often my radio doent come on and my head lights keeps going off too.

19 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 01/10/2018

The indicatior light for low tire pressure comes on but no warning chime is heared. This can be very bad when driving on the interstate. The tire was loosing pressure without me knowing and I had no clue until the vehicle ran off the road due to not being able to control it. The chime never went off. Same with an over heating issue the light came on but I did not know it was over heating until it stated shaving and steaming and I looked at the dash to see the light on.

20 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 11/01/2017

Things started after my vehicle was repaired after a car hit me and took off. I noticed the check engine light came and stayed on, at certain times the car either while driving or while stopped the car will either shake for 2-3 minutes or also while stationary the traction system light will come on then turn off. I've also experienced issues with slow or not as responsive acceleration or unprompted rpg gauge revving and sometimes thats coupled with the shaking to the point that my has shut off while driving down a city street. I was never aware of any recalls so im not sure if it has anything to do with a possible recall that hasnt been diagnosed but theres great cause for concern. - I wasnt able to choose every affected part.

21 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 11/01/2017

After several manufactural repairs my car continues to run hot. I have had over $2000 worth of repairs and my car continues to run hot. Also the electrical system appears to be going know if you close the door with the keys in the ignition the car locks.

22 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 07/17/2017

Acceleration is bad, and inconsisten. Also, when shifting gears the shifter button gets stuck everytime never fails. That's a real safety issue considering I accidently bump it, and the car went into manual, while driving. I barely touched it and it moved. This is the last gm car that I will ever buy always something with their cars. The acceleration for this car on the interstate is bad people go around me because it takes so long to accelerate, it also hesitates when accelerating. I've only had this car for about a month.

23 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/01/2017

My driver side window has went down 3 times only the driver side window switch quits they can roll it up at the shop with a computer but I cant.

24 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 05/02/2017

The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. While the vehicle was undergoing an inspection, the contact was informed that there was a manufacturer recall regarding the catalytic converter that needed to be addressed. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle stalled several times without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle, but the failure recurred intermittently. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The recall details were not provided. The approximate failure mileage was 83,000.

25 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 01/21/2017

At around 38,000 miles the odometer and trip meter on my 2013 Sonic stopped displaying numbers and instead shows just 3 dashes. Disconnecting the car's battery for 30 mins, reconnecting, and starting the car displays the mileage for a few seconds and then returns to the ---. Same happens when pulling the fuse for the gauge cluster; the mileage is displayed for a few seconds and then returns to the ---. Attempting to reset the trip meter results in the normal 'beep' but numbers are not displayed. Brought the car to the dealership and since the vehicle is out of warranty they want a nonrefundable deposit of $700 just to diagnose, parts and labor would be an additional bill on top of that. Ridiculous. Since this is likely a computer issue it's beyond the scope of work that can be performed by my trusted local garage and as a result I have not had the issued corrected. This should be a gm recall. Knowing my vehicle's mileage is critical safety information as it is a benchmark for routine maintenance, as well as for accurately reporting insurance information.

26 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 12/07/2016

Key sticks in the ignition, unable to remove when in park position. I work a dangerous job in bad areas and cannot depend on the key being released from the switch after parking. Whatch puts me in a awkward situation in regards to safety.

27 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 11/02/2016

After turning off engine and getting out of the car. . . It "cranked" over once trying to start on its own. I jiggled the key and it did it again. Removed the key several times and started/stopped the engine. Could not get it to duplicate the symptoms.

28 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 08/19/2016

The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. While pulling out of a parking space, another vehicle crashed into the front driver's side of the contact's vehicle at a high rate of speed. The front driver's side wheel fractured and the key was unable to be removed from the ignition. The driver sustained whiplash and minor bruising. The front passenger flew into the front windshield. The gear shifter fractured when the front passenger was impacted by the force of the crash. An adult passenger in the rear of the vehicle and two children passengers sustained whiplash. Medical attention was received. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a yard. The manufacturer investigated the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 57,700.

29 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 07/07/2016

The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. While the vehicle was stationary, the button on the shifting lever became stuck and would not release when the vehicle was shifted into park. As a result, the ignition key became stuck in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to be repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 29,300.

30 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/12/2016

Faulty computer/recalls I purchased the used vehicle 2 years ago and a month after the check engine light came on. I have brought this back to the dealer multiple times to fix, but it keeps happening. It is not an issue with my engine, but rather the computer. Because of the faulty computer issue, it has caused other issues in my car, including faulty reading and my inability to know if something dangerous actually was occurring in my vehicle. I am very frustrated, because this keeps happening and each year I have to deal with this issue to get my car inspected.

31 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/02/2016

My vehicle was in motion, straight-line, at 60 mph. This morning on my way to work, my gauge panel went haywire. This isn't the first time it's happened. It's happened many times. I've taken video of this condition and uploaded it to youtube. . Read more...

32 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 05/02/2016

The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. When the vehicle was placed in the park position, the engine turned off and it was difficult to remove the key from the ignition. The contact stated that the button on the shift lever seized. The contact stated that the shift lever had to be tapped to disengage the button and remove the key from the ignition. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,000.

33 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 04/12/2016

Last year on April 12th 2016 I was in a car accident with a csx dump truck her merged onto my side and hit me my door caved in and everything but my airbag did not deploy im okay and so is my car but I had to get my whole driver side fixed and now my child dont work at all and I have a 3yr old that is figuring out how to open the door and im loseing speed and power and my thing that tells me how many miles till the next gas stop is all messed up it just tells me off the wall numbers and I need all of this fixed.

34 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 02/17/2016

Tl-the contact owns a 2013 chevorlet Sonic. The contact stated that their vehicle's computer system has a shortage problem. The contact was stranded in their vehicle for hours. They were locked outside of the vehicle for longer than expected. They tried entering the vehicle multiple times but could not unclock the vehicle. The warning light did not illuminate. The vehicle was taken to their local mechanic where they were informed that the shortage was due to a failing door sensor. The contact called jennings chevorlet Buick GMC (717) 496-4158 916 norland Ave, chambersburg, PA 17201. And an appointment was made for next Friday. The manufacturer was not informed the failure mileage was.

35 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 01/09/2016

Electric recall since 2016, I have had a continuous problem with my cars electric features. It started with the radio randomly shutting off, then I noticed that when I would park my car, I was unable to take my key out of the ignition as if it was stuck. This has caused multiple situations where I would have to leave my key in the ignition because I couldn't turn off my car. Eventually my car was stolen due to this issue. Luckily, I was able to get my car back, however, the problem still persists. Anytime I stop my vehicle and put it in park, the key still sticks and I cannot get it out.


Other Electrical System related problems of the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic


Safety Ratings of Sonic Cars
Fuel Economy of Sonic Vehicles
Sonic Service Bulletins
Sonic Safety Recalls
Sonic Defect Investigations