What breaks most · 1990 to 2018 model years
Chevrolet S10 problems by year
Owners have filed 5,663 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Chevrolet S10 across model years 1990 to 2018. Three years stand out: 1994 for brakes (hydraulic) complaints, 1995 for brakes (hydraulic) complaints and 1996 for brakes (hydraulic) complaints. The quietest years are 2006, 2016 and 2004.
- Years to check closely: 1994, 1995, 1996
- Fewest complaints: 2006, 2016, 2004
- Complaints on file
- 56631990 to 2018, all trims
- Worst year
- 1994963 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 75699 fires · 591 injuries · 16 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 63kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 101Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 3 | 5 | Brakes (hydraulic) (10) | |
| 174 | 18 | 9 | Brakes (hydraulic) (70) | |
| 180 | 25 | 6 | Brakes (hydraulic) (118) | |
| 233 | 36 | 6 | Brakes (hydraulic) (135) | |
| 963 | 122 | 8 | Brakes (hydraulic) (520) | |
| 910 | 178 | 8 | Brakes (hydraulic) (306) | |
| 665 | 111 | 10 | Brakes (hydraulic) (209) | |
| 469 | 63 | 8 | Visibility (113) | |
| 613 | 61 | 11 | Visibility (200) | |
| 231 | 33 | 5 | Brakes (hydraulic) (34) | |
| 471 | 52 | 9 | Body and structure (93) | |
| 308 | 20 | 5 | Body and structure (75) | |
| 213 | 17 | 3 | Body and structure (73) | |
| 178 | 16 | 4 | Body and structure (30) | |
| 21 | 1 | 3 | Brakes (hydraulic) (4) | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | Unknown or other (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Brakes (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Brakes (1) | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | Engine (1) |
What fails on the 1994 Chevrolet S10
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes (hydraulic)Brake pads, rotors and calipers | 54% |
520 | 99 | Shop brakes (hydraulic) parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
| VisibilityMirrors and glass | 25% |
239 | 2 | Shop visibility parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
| Engine and coolingRadiators, thermostats and cooling | 7% |
66 | 2 | Shop engine and cooling parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
| Speed control and throttleThrottle and pedal sensors | 4% |
39 | 5 | Shop speed control and throttle parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
| Fuel systemFuel pumps and injectors | 4% |
38 | 0 | Shop fuel system parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 4% |
37 | 3 | Shop powertrain and transmission parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 3% |
27 | 0 | Shop electrical system parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
| SuspensionStruts, springs and control arms | 2% |
21 | 0 | Shop suspension parts for the 1994 Chevrolet S10 |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
-
Vehicle's ABS have been replaced three times.*mr the ABS was replaced under recall but failed again. The vehicle uniroyal tires seemed to be out of round. *nm *jb
-
While braking ABS failed, causing extended stopping distance. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak
-
After hitting a bump in the road brakes failed while the consumer was parking in the lot causing the vehicle to hit a lamp post at a speed of 5 mph. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak *tc
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 6, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Chevrolet S10 years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 1994, 1995, 1996 carry the most filings on the Chevrolet S10. The 1994 alone has 963 complaints, led by brakes (hydraulic).
What is the most common Chevrolet S10 problem?
On the 1994 model year, the most-reported component is brakes (hydraulic) with 520 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Chevrolet S10 problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Chevrolet S10 complaints that include mileage is about 63,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.