1998 Chevrolet Blazer LT 4.3 vortec from North America

Summary:

Would not buy another

Faults:

The rear passenger side carpet was always wet, dealer replaced door seals.

The check engine light kept coming on, dealer replaced gas cap, twice.

The passenger seat adjustment lever broke 3 times.

The wipers operate erratically (sometimes don't shut off, sometimes no intermittent.

The gas pedal sticks.

Transmission kicks into 2nd gear when vehicle warms up,1870 code, check engine light.

Ball joints replaced at 88k.

General Comments:

Comfortable vehicle, problems aggravating.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th March, 2005

1998 Chevrolet Blazer LS 4.3L V6 from North America

Summary:

Mixed feelings

Faults:

I replaced the brake pads and the left rear caliper about two months after I purchased it. Just two weeks after that the two front brakes were making a high pitched sqeak.

Door panels rattle and are coming loose.

Doesn't handle well on bumps. Even the slightest imperfection on the road makes the whole truck shake.

General Comments:

I understand that I purchased this vehicle with many miles already on it and some troubleshooting would be inevitable; but this is ridiculous.

I will admit it looks great; a whole lot better than the explorer, but looks can be deceiving.

The engine and the transmission have held up to their expectations.

Now I just want to sell it or trade it in for something more comfortable.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd March, 2005

1998 Chevrolet Blazer from North America

Summary:

I highly recommend the 1998 Chevy S-10 Blazer for anybody looking for a dependable ride

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with our Blazer. Not a thing. We have only had to perform basic maintenance on the vehicle since we bought it new in 1998. Our Blazer still drives fine, gets fair gas mileage and the interior looks good. We take it everywhere. We would buy another new one if they still made them. I suppose we're lucky. At least, that's the impression I'm getting from the previous reviews. The paint looks great. There are no worn areas on the seats, although there are a few minor stains. It's one of the best buys we have ever made. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the rear end fell out while on the interstate or that the engine blew out at the stoplight. We have always had Chevrolet vehicles and we've really not had any major disappointments with them.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 31st January, 2005

1998 Chevrolet Blazer LT 4.3 Vortec from North America

Summary:

Your mechanic and gas station better be your best friend, you'll be seeing a lot of them

Faults:

Would never start correctly. Tune and fuel injector cleaner every other tank did absolutely nothing to help. Would crank for 3-4 seconds, let off, crank again and it would fire. Was told by dealer to turn key forward and let fuel pump energize before cranking.. still didn't help.

Would it have been so hard to just put an old fashioned manual lever shift transfer case? The four wheel drive system on this vehicle is overengineered to say the least.

Encoder motor burned up ($475 dealer list)

Switch burned up ($37 dealer list)

Module burned up ($270ish dealer list)

After replacing all of these parts the 4wd still did not work. All of these parts can be found on ebay for cheap. Which you'll need to buy them off of anyways, because the dealer doesn't stock them. There is currently a national backorder for the module, very common failure. All of the above parts are common failures, but of course aren't stocked at your Chevy dealer.

Compass worked..sometimes.

Outside temp gauge never worked until the week I sold it. Then it bounced from -40 F to 140 F.

Door started to sag where it did not shut properly. Common, but kind of early for it to be happening at 70k.

The transmission has moodswings. When shifting from 1st to 2nd gear, it would slam... literally slam into gear. Even with all of the complicated computers in the transmission, the only code this triggered was a generic "transmission" code. Transmission flush, filter, gasket, and cooler did not fix.

Terrible road noise.

Won't hold an alignment. If you need an alignment just park on a curb in the proper direction. :)

Rear wiper motor burned up.

Wiper module had a mind of it's own. Chevy dealer had them in stock and said there was "..a campaign, but no recall, SOL."

General Comments:

Money pit. Gas mileage sucks. Yes it's an SUV, but seriously, it's only a 4.3. If it were a 350 the 16mpg on the interstate would be fine. This was the mileage AFTER the tune up.

Hopefully the above have been enough to convince you not to throw your money away on this vehicle. If not, read other reviews. I was lucky as I did not have to replace the entire front suspension and steering rack like some Blazer owners.

If you have under 100k trade it while you've still got SOME value.

Heated leather, heated sideview mirrors, and self dimming rearview are just a few of the creature comforts the Blazer offers. While these are nice, don't do it. :)

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th January, 2005

20th Sep 2008, 16:45

You got a lemon. Our Blazer has 140k with only minor problems. Recently the fuel pump has been replaced and we are still having problems. The suspension is worn and the blazer handles like POO. But after 140k that's not bad. The motor is developing leaks now also.