Total Complaints
2 filings
CHEVROLET S PICKUP · model year
2 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1996CHEVROLETS PICKUP carries 2 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 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 S PICKUP is engine and engine cooling:cooling system:fan with 1 filings, followed by service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip:control unit/module (1). 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 S PICKUP, 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
2 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM:FAN | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE | 1 |
I READ WITH GREAT INTEREST TODAY THAT GM IS RECALLING SEVERAL PICKUPS AND SUVS FOR THE INADVERTENT APPLICATION OF ABS IN LOW SPEED STOPS. I WAS SURPRISED, HOWEVER, THAT MY VEHICLE WAS NOT NAMED. I DRIVE A 1996 CHEVY S-10 PICKUP, AND, ON THREE OCCASIONS, HAVE HAD THE ABS 'KICK IN' WHEN DOING A VERY GRADUAL STOP AT SLOW SPEEDS ON DRY PAVEMENT. TWICE I ALMOST REAR ENDED THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. ONCE THERE WAS NO ONE AND I MERELY DRIFTED INTO THE INTERSECTION BY A FEW FEET. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU INCREASE THE SCOPE OF YOUR INVESTIGATION TO INCLUDE MY YEAR AND MODEL OF VEHICLE, AS IT SOUNDS LIKE IT IS SUBJECT TO THE SAME PROBLEMS THAT HAVE DRIVEN YOUR CURRENT RECALL. V/R, KEN ZEMACH. *NM
Mileage: 20,000
COOLING FAN CLUTCH FAILED ON MY 1996 CHEVROLET S-10 2.2 L ENGINE VEHICLE WITH ONLY 60,000 MILES. *AK
Mileage: 60,000
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.