Vehicle Data Hub

1998 Chevrolet Cavalier electrical system problems

Owners reported electrical system problems in 76 complaints for the 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier, 16% of the complaints on file. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
76 16% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
77,000 miles 23 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
0 and 10
Injuries and deaths
0 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When electrical system problems show up

Electrical system complaints by mileage, 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 77,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 0 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 1 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 3 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 8 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 3 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 1 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 2 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 1 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 2 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 1 complaints 200k+ miles: 1 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 77,000 miles
Based on 23 complaints that include mileage. 17% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles0
20k to 40k miles1
40k to 60k miles3
60k to 80k miles8
80k to 100k miles3
100k to 120k miles1
120k to 140k miles2
140k to 160k miles1
160k to 180k miles2
180k to 200k miles1
200k+ miles1

What the data shows

Of the 23 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 77,000 miles, and 17% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 10 fires.

What owners wrote

The cavalier was driven to work by my daughter on 11-09-98. She parked the car and locked it and went to work at the after school day care for the ymca. About 5 minutes later, a parent entered and asked who owned the cavalier because smoke was coming from it's engine. By the time my daughter ran outside the car had burst into flames. The school custodians tried to put the fire out with fire extinguishers but they were only successful in putting out the flames that ran from my car to 2 others.

November 1998 Fire

Consumer received recall concerning ignition switch failure. The dealer performed the recall repairs, but before the consumer could get home, the vehicle was having problems. The engine light had also illuminated. The consumer had problems starting the vehicle before the she received the recall. The consumer continued to have problems with the vehicle after the recall was performed, the dealer continued to tell the consumer that they did their part and anything further would cost the consumer.

Reported at 130,000 miles, March 2004

Other problems reported for the 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier

Electrical system problems in other years

Electrical system problems across all Chevrolet models