1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme problems
Owners have filed 54 complaints with NHTSA about the 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 19% of complaints. Next are brakes (19%) and electrical system (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 54 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 19% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 68,000 miles 10 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 | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 10 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 68,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions 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 1996 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 5 model years of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with enough data (29 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.
Battery failed and was removed by owner and placed in back of owners suburban to transport for exchange for new battery at wal-mart. Apparently the battery leaked during transport and was not detected. Upon removing battery to bring into store, owner was burned with battery acid. Owner was treated by flusing with water. Vehicle was damaged due to acid. Carpet in back of vehicle was dissolved, underflooring began to rust, and other personal belongings such as a baby blanket were dissolved by the acid.
Air bag deployed when consumer turned ignition on. She received neck and back injuries when this occurred. Dealership has not examined vehicle. Please provide any additional information/attachments.
This happened some time ago but I recently read of an investigation that you have undertaked and decided that this may be relevant. I also have seen service bulletins for this issue. While driving, the accelerator cable became detached from the accelerator and I lost all acceleration while traveling at 65 MPH on a freeway in morning traffic. It seems that this should rise to the level of a recall.
We got a low coolant light on our dashboard, and found the coolant resevoir to be completely empty. This was less than 3k miles since the coolant system was serviced - drained, refilled, and new radiator hoses installed. After refilling, we found a small coolant leak on the ground under the engine (when parked on a dry surface indoors - normally the car is in the driveway, where snow, ice, and rain may have masked a long-time small leak).
While making a left turn steering wheel locked up. Driver had managed to pull over to side of road and stopped vehicle. Had vehicle towed to dealer. Mechanic could not locate cause of steering wheel locking up.