1998 Oldsmobile Cutlass: Reliability Data

223
Total Complaints
60,537mi
Median Mileage
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR
Top Issue
8
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

40,000 25th Percentile
60,537 Median Mileage
105,500 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR
18
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP
13
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
10
STEERING:RACK AND PINION
7
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
7
SUSPENSION:FRONT
7
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM
7
STEERING
7
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC
6
EQUIPMENT:APPLIANCE:AIR CONDITIONER
6

Severity Assessment

8
Crashes
0
Fires
4
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE VIBRATES. *AK"
"WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE GOING 20 MPH BOTH AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. DRIVER DID NOT HIT ANYTHING FOR THE AIR BAG TO DEPLOY. *AK"
"THE AIR BAGS COULD NOT DEPLOY BECAUSE THE COMPUTER THAT CONTROLS THEM WAS OUT OF SERVICE S INDICATED BY WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASH. THE FIRST TIME THE FUSE BLOCK WAS REPLACED THE CAR WAS FULLY FUNCTIONAL EXCEPT THAT THE CONTROLS OT THE MASTER BRAIN WERE NOT WORKING, HENCE THE SAFETY CONCERNS. THE ..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE 10 complaints
25th: 44,000 mi Median: 55,000 mi 75th: 112,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

TX: 19 CA: 16 NY: 14 WI: 13 KY: 12 PA: 9 GA: 9 MD: 8 LA: 8 MI: 8

Who Files Complaints?

60.1%
Original Owners
39.9%
Second+ Owners

Oldsmobile Cutlass — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
199015111
199126613
199218213
199319311
199420021
199519915
199616014
19971619
19991173

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28