AutoUtility currently tracks 181 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Chevrolet Colorado. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 78 complaints (43.1% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 filings cite a crash, 5 cite a fire, 2 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 181 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (78 reports • 43.1% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (34), Engine & Cooling (20)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 5 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
181
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
5
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
2
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2018 Chevrolet Colorado

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 43.1% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

78 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 2 injury report entries
#2 Problem Area 18.8% of complaints

Electrical System

34 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
#3 Problem Area 11% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

20 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
#4 Problem Area 9.9% of complaints

Steering System

18 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 7.7% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

14 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
🔥 1 fire report
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Chevrolet Colorado

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Powertrain & Transmission 3.9% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

7 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Chevrolet Colorado

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11757566
Filed: 08/17/2026

"When shifted into drive, transmission hesitates to accelerate. Not all the time, some of the time."

Incident Date: 08/11/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11754282
Filed: 08/02/2026

"While driving at normal and safe highway speeds, without warning (no audible or visual warning from the vehicle information display) my vehicle experienced engine lockout, loss of all non-electric power, and no control over vehicle speed. A few seconds after loss, the information display did show a..."

Incident Date: 07/08/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,ENGINE
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11751922
Filed: 07/21/2026

"I purchased the truck at the end of March 2025. Within a few weeks I was noticing different issues in the transmission. It would occasionally shudder, have jerky or long shifts, would jump gears and lose power. The shudder was random but mostly on the highway, the jerky or long shifts would mostly..."

Incident Date: 04/20/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11750843
Filed: 07/16/2026

"66,500 miles transmission shudder. Scenic Chevrolet advised the torque converter failed and damaged the transmission."

Incident Date: 07/11/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11750525
Filed: 07/15/2026

"The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the key was difficult to remove from the ignition. The dealer was contacted and informed that the shift interlock switch failed to recognize that the transmission was shifted to park(P). The vehicle..."

Incident Date: 07/15/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Chevrolet Colorado

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Chevrolet Colorado 488 17 7 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 698 14 4 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Chevrolet Colorado 215 5 1 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Chevrolet Colorado Current Page 181 3 1 Current
2019 Chevrolet Colorado 148 6 0 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Chevrolet Colorado 81 1 0 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Chevrolet Colorado 72 6 1 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Chevrolet Colorado 51 1 1 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Chevrolet Colorado 130 2 3 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Chevrolet Colorado 115 6 3 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Chevrolet Colorado 27 1 1 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Chevrolet Colorado 0 0 1 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Chevrolet Colorado

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 54 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 61 1 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 20 0 2 1 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 11 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 6 0 1 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 4 0 1 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 3 1 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 3 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 3 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 2 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,INTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 2 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (181). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.