Total Complaints
1 filings
CHEVROLET M SERIES · model year
1 NHTSA complaints, 1 crash report for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1996CHEVROLETM SERIES carries 1 consumer safety complaint in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 1 crash, 0 fires, 2 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1996 M SERIES is service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip with 1 filings. Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 57 investigation files overlapping the 1996 M SERIES, and 2 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
1 filings
Crashes Reported
1 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP | 1 |
IT WAS A RAINING DAY, PICKED UP DAUGHTER AT A HOUSE ON THE DOWNPART OF A HILL. CAR WAS IN PARK, TOOK THE CAR OUT OF PARK TO DRIVE DOWN THE HILL, MY FOOT NEVER TOUCHED THE ACCELERATOR DUE TO BEING ON THE DOWN PART OF THE HILL, MY BRAKES STARTED TO PULSATE VIGOROUSLY , I KNEW NOT TO PUMP THE BRAKES BUT I ALSO KNEW THAT MY VAN WAS NOT STOPPING, THERE WAS A CAR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL AT A STOP SIGN, I HAD BOTH FEET ON THE BRAKES, THEY PULSATING SO HARD I COULDN'T KEEP MY LEGS STILL, I WENT TO TURN MY STEERING WHEEL THINKING IF I TURNED INTO THE BUSHES I WOULD AVOID HITTING THE CAR AND GOING INTO THE MAIN STREET. MY STEERING WHEEL WOULD NOT TURN. I KNEW AT THIS POINT I WOULD HIT THE CAR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STREETK, (MY CAR WAS NOT STALLED BECAUSE I LOOKED ON DASH BOARD TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS NOT WARNING SIGNALS0I PUSHED THE CAR INTO MAIN STREET HE TURNED AND I WENT STRAIGHT AHEAD INTO A HOUSE, I THREW THE CAR IN PARK AFTER I HIT THE CAR AND THE VAN STILL MOVED FORWARD INTOTHE HOUSE.
Loss of motive power due to engine failure
Loss of Motive Power due to the Battery Energy Control Module
Electric Vehicle Battery Fires
Outboard Front Seat Belt Anchor Cable Failure
Fuel Line Leak
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.