1998 Chevrolet Express 3500 Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 1998 Chevrolet Express 3500, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Airbags266.7%
- Body & structure133.3%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Airbags
Reports naming the air-bag system — deployment behaviour, inflators, sensors and warning lights.
From owner reports, verbatim
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 CHEVROLET EXPRESS 3500. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 65 MPH WHEN THE AIR BAG DEPLOYED ERRONEOUSLY AND WITHOUT WARNING. THE DEPLOYMENT CAUSED THE CONTACT TO MOMENTARILY LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO BRING THE VEHICLE TO A STOP SAFELY AND WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED OR INSPECTED FOR THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 163,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 CHEVROLET EXPRESS 3500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 10 MPH, THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG SUDDENLY DEPLOYED ALTHOUGH THERE WAS NO CRASH. THE PASSENGER WAS INJURED AS A RESULT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHO REFERRED THE CONTACT TO THE MANUFACTURER. THE MANUFACTURER HAD NOT BEEN NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 140,000.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Body & structure
Reports naming the vehicle structure, frame, body panels, doors, hood and trim.
From owner reports, verbatim
WE CURRENTLY OWN A 1998 AND A 2000 EXPRESS VAN AND WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM ON BOTH OF THEM, THE PASSENGER SIDE DOORS (THE 'DOUBLE DOORS') ARE SEIZING UP. WE TRIED TO LUBRICATE THEM BUT IT HASN'T HELPED ANY. THE ONE DOOR ON THE 1998 HAS GOTTEN SO BAD THAT WE CAN'T EVEN OPEN THE LEFT HAND SIDE DOOR BECAUSE IT IS SO HARD TO SHUT AND IT HAS ALREADY STARTED TO BECOME OUT OF ALIGNMENT. I BELIEVE THIS COULD BE A SAFETY HAZARD AS WE HAVE 6 CHILDREN, 3 OF WHICH HAVE TO SIT IN THE BACK SEAT AND IF THERE IS AN EMERGENCY WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO GET THE DOOR OPEN TO GET THEM OUT FASTER. WE HAVE HAD A DEALER DRILL HOLES IN THE HINGES TO LUBRICATE THEM, BUT THIS SEEMS TO BE A TEMPORARY AND EVENTUALLY INEFFECTIVE FIX TO A MAJOR PROBLEM. *TR
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .