1998 Oldsmobile Bravada problems
NHTSA has received 139 complaints about the 1998 Oldsmobile Bravada, and 24% of them involve wipers, windshield & visibility. After that come electrical system (18%) and suspension (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 139 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Wipers, windshield & visibility 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 71,000 miles 58 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 | 6 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 14 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 17 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 12 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 58 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 71,000 miles. For wipers, windshield & visibility specifically, the median reported mileage is about 60,000 miles (20 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 3 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the Oldsmobile Bravada with enough data (80 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.
Heating element located in seat back shorted out or overheated causing right front seat cover to melt. The passenger sitting in the right front seat received very light superficial burns on her back. This could have been more serious if the car had been running for a period of time when the passenger sat down in the seat. It happened on a warm day, and the heating unit was not purposely switched on. The switch to the heating unit is located on the bottom side of the seat.
Transmission fluid leaks from compression fitting onto an exhaust pipe sitauted immeidately below fitting. The leaking of the fluid onto the very hot pipe becomes more intense when the auto is stopped. Contacted olds hot-line and they confirmed that they have a serious program with this part; however, they declined to recall auto and they declined to pay for repair. Furtger, their own dealer refused to accept the SUV for safety inspection.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 oldsmobile bravada. The contact stated that while reversing at unknown speeds, the driver's side front seat caught on fire. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was not available.
Internal piece (part number?) of the throttle body (21247) attached to the throttle plate (21465) that is held in by (2) rivets. The 2 rivets failed causing whatever was there to get sucked into the intake manifold. I have the old part with the broken rivets. This was not caused by any foreign object. The total for the repair = $1360.00. *nlm
I purchased a used 1998 olds bravada. It has been an ok car except. The heater/air conditioner doesn't work properly. My dealer says you have to switch it back and forth from heat to cool in the dash somewhere (my question was, what is the thermostat button for then???). Also, the transmission or motor at 3000 rpms cuts out bad and jumps and could cause an accident if you are in the passing zone when this happens. Also, the dimmer switch doesn't work anymore.