1998 GMC Sonoma problems
NHTSA has received 202 complaints about the 1998 GMC Sonoma, and 28% of them involve wipers, windshield & visibility. After that come seats (15%) and brakes (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 202 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Wipers, windshield & visibility 28% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 15 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 68,000 miles 74 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 | 4 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 21 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 14 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 6 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 74 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 68,000 miles. For wipers, windshield & visibility specifically, the median reported mileage is about 52,000 miles (32 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 15 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the GMC Sonoma with enough data (100 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
While driving 20MPH driver applied brakes and the vehicle did not stop. Consumer rear ended another vehicle. Neither driver's side nor passenger's side airbags deployed. Dealer said it was normal. Driver has rib cage injury.
While driving vehicle caught on fire, cause unknown, fire department was unable to determine whether it was gas or electrical.
1998 GMC sonoma highrider 4x4. The handle on the bucket seats that lets the seats decline are broke off they are made out of cheap metal. My mom owns a 1998 chevy blazer same thing,also on the third door the handle that opens it breaks easily.
Intermittently the windshield wipers malfunctioned. The windshield wipers engaged by themselves to the fastest speed setting when in the slow speed setting. On 3 separate occasions the windshield wipers quit working, but engaged again within seconds on two occasions. Then, failed to come back on the third occasion. This failure was due to a defect described in the windshield wiper recall 03v159000, but this vehicle was not included in the recall due to VIN.