1997 Chevrolet Blazer problems
NHTSA has received 1,098 complaints about the 1997 Chevrolet Blazer, and 15% of them involve brakes. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (12%) and suspension (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,098 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 72 and 44
- Injuries and deaths
- 81 and 7
- Typical mileage
- 83,000 miles 244 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 9 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 39 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 49 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 67 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 34 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 14 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 7 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 12 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 244 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 83,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 80,000 miles (21 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 72 complaints mention a crash; 44 complaints mention a fire; 81 injuries reported; 7 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 22 model years of the Chevrolet Blazer with enough data (592 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Rear seat belt were incompatible for booster seat resulting in fatality during collision, restraint failure.(attorney for consumer).
Driver lost control of vehicle, ran into a house, ejecting driver from vehicle. A small fire started in the engine, someone tried to extinguish the fire, but it kept burning , causing damage to house and totaling vehicle. Fuel pump did not shut down. Seatbelt may have failed; there was a recall to replace belts following collision.
Encoder motor failure: called chevrolet 800 number to complain about not being able to swictch from 2-wheel drive to 4-wheel. Made an appointment with local dealer. After diagnosis, told there was a encoder motor failure and the motor had to be replaced. Made several attempts to contact chervrolet point of contact to discuss if this should be covered under warranty since the 4-wheel drive was hardly used and the part is probably defective. However, no response as of yet. The cost is $600 for the repair.
Faulty windshield wiper motor. The motor continues to run but the wipers do not move. Have to get out of car & manually try to get them moving. Also the key gets stuck in the ignition. Have had this fixed @ 1 yr. Ago but started happening again. Does not seem as bad in the real cold weather.