1998 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 problems
The 1998 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 has 452 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (33%) concerns brakes. Next are wipers, windshield & visibility (13%) and steering (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 452 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 33% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 17 and 12
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 74,000 miles 160 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 | 17 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 14 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 21 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 36 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 16 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 19 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 15 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 6 |
| 200k+ miles | 8 |
What the data shows
Of the 160 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 74,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 70,000 miles (59 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 17 complaints mention a crash; 12 complaints mention a fire; 6 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 20th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with enough data (229 complaints in that window).
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.
Vehicle was involved in an accident, the air bags experienced no deployment, the driver and passenger sustained minor injuries. *slc
The event was a crash of my 1998 chevrolet silverado p/u. The crash was a forward moving impact to the side of another vehicle with a speed of 40 MPH. And the air bags didn't deploy. The results was the driver impacted the steering wheel as of today only minor pain and bruises are evident. The is the first failure of this system I know of. I have tried to deploy the air bag form a 1995 buick and it didn't fire also, what is the problem with this system. This incident could have resulted in the death of the driver.
Tire blow out caused accident on 09/26/2000 - caused loss of consciousness and serious spine injury. Lucky to be alive and that my 2 little girls were not with me at the time. (tiresize: lt225/75r1)( DOT number: tire size: lt225/75r1 )
ABS brakes on my truck engage at low speeds, making stopping difficult. GM has issued a recall for this problem for 1999-2002 trucks, but mine is a 1998. I called GM to verify the recall and was told that I did not qualify because my truck was a '98 and not a '99 problem has been happening for several months and almost every time I am at a slow speed. The recall needs to be expanded.
Dt*: the contact stated that the vehicle's anti-lock brakes operated as if the wheels were locked up. Plus, the brake pedal pulsated and vibrated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on 11/18/02 who determined that the front driver's side hub was bad, and replaced the hub at no cost. The vehicle was taken back to dealership on 06/26/06 because the ABS in the front began having problems again. The dealer determined that both hubs were defective and declined to repair the problem at no charge.