1996 Oldsmobile 88 problems
NHTSA has received 113 complaints about the 1996 Oldsmobile 88, and 22% of them involve engine. Next are electrical system (10%) and air bags (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 113 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 9
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 125,000 miles 28 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 | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Of the 28 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 125,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 9 complaints mention a fire; 13 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 9 model years of the Oldsmobile 88 with enough data (32 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 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.
Going 20-25 MPH, vehicle brakes pedal malfunctioned which caused the brake pedal to hit the floor and it did not stop the vehicle, resulting in a frontal collision with extensive damage to the vehicle.
This auto is going to a total loss, I hit a car at 30 in the rear end and another auto hit me in the rear end then I hit # 1 car in the rear a second time. I very concerned and mad that the air bags did not deploy on either side, driver or passenger. Both bumpers were hit, lights broken, truck pushed in at least 10 inches and radiator was pushed in to the motor with bumper, but no deployment. Is there a problem with this car? I bought because it was talked about as such a safe car, you can't prove it my me!
On the morning of august 8, 2009, I was driving my 1996 oldsmobile eighty eight on northbound us-27, near alma, michigan. At one point the air bag light on my dashboard came on. Shortly thereafter, both the driver and passenger side air bags deployed spontaneously. I would also like to mention that it was raining quite heavily prior to and throughout this incident. My car is in the process of being repaired. The front windshield was shattered and is being replaced.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 oldsmobile 88 ls. The contact stated that the engine made a loud noise when the vehicle was started and the engine caught on fire. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who inspected the vehicle and located the failure at the intake manifold plastic, which failed and caused the fuel lines to burn and melt.
Fuel gauge failure--sending unit got so hot it fused the wires together and then sent a jolt of electricity to the instrument cluster burning out part of the cluster; in attempting to repair these problems the plastic fuel lines were so brittle that they fell apart therefore, it would seem that each of these problems could lead to a fire or an explosion. I have the sending unit out of the fuel tank with the fused wires.