Chevrolet Suburban / 1998
1998 Chevrolet Suburban problems
Owners have filed 299 complaints about the 1998 Chevrolet Suburban with NHTSA. Service brakes, hydraulic account for 24.1% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of visibility at 18.1%.
Complaints299
Crashes11
Fires3
Injuries10
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Service brakes, hydraulic 24.1% · 72
Visibility 18.1% · 54
Steering 8.0% · 24
Engine and engine cooling 7.4% · 22
Power train 6.7% · 20
Electrical system 6.0% · 18
Tires 4.7% · 14
Suspension 4.7% · 14
Severity
Of those complaints, 11 describe a crash, 3 describe a fire and 10 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 29 model years of the Chevrolet Suburban in this data, 1998 sits 14th by complaint volume. 1994 draws the most.
Filings are rising — 4 in the last three years against 3 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 76,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Spoken to Chevrolet customer service. Dealer says no problem with brakes. Vehicle is under recall notice -- nhtsa recall 98v033000. Currently on third set of front brakes. Chevrolet area service representative, harvey myer has never followed up with complaint, customer service representative barbara fleming is helpful. Dealer worked on brakes when under warranty, refuses to accept nhtsa information. Service brakes, hydraulic
I have had to replace the disc pad 4 times in under 10,000 miles, I have had to replace the rotors twice in the same amount of time. I am now facing another rotor and brake pad replacement. The rotors warp very quickly and the pads do not last, seems to always have some pull when brakes applied in normal braking situations. Also, the vehicle pulls hard and wildly in emergency braking situations. Service brakes, hydraulic
The brake pedal will go to the floor under moderate braking. The brake system is inadequate for such a heavy duty 3/4 ton vehicle. Have had several near misses, when having to brake suddenly, where there was sufficient distance between my vehicle and the vehicle in front of me. The brakes make a groaning noise under hard braking. Also, vehicle pulls wildly and hard when emergency braking. Service brakes, hydraulic
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…
Other Chevrolet Suburban years
1995 587 complaints · 31.3% service brakes, hydraulic 1996 531 complaints · 30.7% service brakes, hydraulic 1997 556 complaints · 20.7% steering 1999 861 complaints · 30.0% service brakes, hydraulic 2000 382 complaints · 14.9% service brakes, hydraulic 2001 543 complaints · 17.9% service brakes, hydraulic