Other speed control problem on the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier
When other speed control problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier report other speed control problem at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles, from 20 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 1,800 miles at the tenth percentile to 135,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 134,683 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
40% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,817 miles | 21,688 miles | 57,074 miles | 89,241 miles | 136,500 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 140,000 miles.
By volume the 2004 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
While driving at any speed the accelerator pedal stuck. The dealer inspected the vehicle on several occasions, but was unable to duplicate the problem. *ak the RPM would go to 3000 with the consumer's foot was off of the accelerator. The consumer engaged the clutch and hit the gas pedal and the RPM's went back to normal of 950 rpms. The vehicle had 172 miles and when the consumer checked the tires, they were 24 lbs. The recommended pressure should of been 32 lbs. *sc *jb
With less than 100 miles on the car it began to rev up on its own. It has been to the dealer on 9 different occasions. They even installed an on board computer and were able to see the problem that occurs. The mechanic says he believes it is a glitch in the computer and is unable to fix it. It has now begun to accelerate on its own while driving, and the only thing you can do is push in the clutch and hope the engine blows up. This is now a real safety issue. Gm refuses to do anything to correct this problem. We filed a lemon law case with them and they said they are unable to do anything. *jb
Intermittently while consumer's foot was on the brake pedal vehicle experienced sudden acceleration. When this occurred the vehicle was put in neutral. Engine continued to rev for 5 minutes, then it suddenly died down. This failure almost caused two rear end collisions. Vehicle was taken to dealership 8 times, but they only worked on it 5 times. They also test drove the vehicle for 44 miles, no problem was found. *ak
Also reported on the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier
Other electrical problem
Instrument cluster or gauge failure
Fuel gauge or level sensor failure
Other body or interior problem
Other visibility problem
No-start or intermittent start failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 21 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other speed control problem happen on the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier?
Across 20 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other speed control problem on the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier?
21 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 356 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed