1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue GL from North America - Comments

No start condition fixed by replacement of battery and starter ($400 parts plus labor). Obnoxious rattle in back seat area fixed by replacement of rear suspension trailing arm, $50 part plus labor. (The bushing had worn out and snapped the bolt!) Power windows randomly inoperative, not fixed. (also, windows stick to weatherstripping!) Fuel gauge suddenly inoperative, I'm not bothering to fix it because I know it won't be cheap. I'll be fine using the trip clock to know when it's time to fill up... I hope. Many other random gremlins that seem to fix themselves as quickly as they appear, making repairs annoyingly difficult and/or impossible.

GM should be ashamed of themselves selling this car for $25,000. I bought mine 3 years old for $12,000 (does this depreciation tell us anything?) and now, for a 4 year old car I still feel slighted. (Further loss of value has left the worth of the car at $3,000 under any kind of retail, making it impossible to get out of this car without substantial fiduciary distress!) The car is a nice drive; handles well, accelerates superbly, and is definitely well thought out as far as that goes. (More than 20 mpg would be nice in the city though, esp. from a V6! The Taurus can do it!) The engine and drivetrain are beyond reproach. The interior, while nicely laid out, is put together cheaply, many seams and corners look crooked or misaligned. Seat comfort is good, and general driving manners are predictable and pleasing. For the money, I would opt for the Grand Prix GT, same wonderful drivetrain, but much quieter, smoother and far more solid. If you must buy an Intrigue, do not buy a 1998 (MANY bugs attributed to this first year model), and be sure to buy it used. It will depreciate anyway, you might as well benefit from it somehow.

Hi, I own a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue, it is a nice car, but lately things just seem to keep going wrong. I bought it used at 90,000 miles, and at 107,000 miles I had to replace the starter. I have also replaced the brake pads twice, back seat seat belt is stuck, I've also had some suspension problems, and now when I hit 40 miles per hour it jerks. My advice don't buy this car, it's costing me more to fix it than it's worth.

I just bought a used 1998 Olds Intrigue that was well maintained. However, I also notice a rattle in the area of the trunk. Thanks for the comment on a possible issue with the rear trailing arm, it may help in troubleshooting.

I like the smoothness and response of the 3.8 V-6 and the low cruising rpm of the engine/transmission at highway speeds.

1998 Olds Intrigue

Paid too much for used 98 Intrigue in 2000.

Strong engine, nice handling, nice on gas.

Repeated rotor wear (yearly), brake replacement (2x's year).

Poor upholstry seaming on inside roof, floor, doors.

Air tight body results in moisture inside the car, fuse box, and dash when setting.

Humming from the rear wheels when driving.

Cooling system uses plastic parts (upper rear plan um, relating to heater).

Start motor spring bad, causing shaft to slide when turning, resulting in starter gear to engage flywheel, sounding rougher than the "smart track" engaging (Knocking sound while in turn).

Replaced master cylinders in brakes a couple times.

Speakers are bad/damaged under less than regular use (possibly moisture).

Easily stuck in snow, mud, ice due to smart track (as soon as a wheel spins, the power is shut off to that wheel, making any progress only hopeful, though when moving, the car will go easily through snow/water/ice.

Coolant for the engine gums up repeatedly with or with out antifreeze removal/change. Many mechanics have stated that the new type of coolant is more of a problem then a benefit.

Rear seat belt straps stick/unusable (been recalled).

Windshield fluid motor replaced twice.

Strong shock EVERY TIME I turn the engine off, and get out and touch the door to shut it.

Air drafts/leaks around door handles/controls when the car is moving (chilly in winter).

Controls and trim on doors are poorly designed, and the cheap plastic snaps easily, leaving window control panels hanging down.

Washer fluid button failed/broke (thumb button). Expensive little part and service.

I have talked to approx. (8) other persons with Intrigues. Their problems were associated with rotors, brakes, coolant system, humming from the rear wheels, inside carpet/upholstry, electrical problems inside the car and under the hood.

I bought a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue with 98,000 miles and I love the car. I had some head gasket problems and thank god it was under warranty because they had to replace the engine because of antifreeze getting inside of the engine, other than that the gas mileage stinks whether it be on the highway or not you fill the tank and before you know it your empty. I love the car though, picks up nice, roomy, sporty, and sharp looking I would buy another one for sure.

My 1998 Intrigue has over 205,000 miles on her, getting 31mpg and she is still running very strong. I'm putting 20,000 miles on a year. The things that have been replaced on this car are the upper intake plenum (which is the most common problem on GM V-6 cars) water pump and oil pan gasket. Other than that this car has been VERY well maintained and it shows, still on original transmission and engine and it couldn't run better. Keep the car maintained well and you won't have problems, or its just luck of the draw, but I know my Intrigue will make it to at least 250,000 miles.

I have a '98 Intrigue, very satisfied with it overall. Has ~111,000 miles on it and still runs like new! Doesn't burn much oil at all, it could go the 3000 miles without adding any, but I like to keep it topped off.

I've had it since 85,000 miles and I've replaced: front brake caliper, intake plenum, a couple tie rods, map sensor, and a few other small things. nothing too major, just mostly normal wear and tear.

Starting to rust a little (I live in NY) but still is a sharp, quick little bullet.

The '98 has the better, more reliable of the two engines (3800), and recently I got 33.7 mpg on highway. VERY respectable for that size engine! :)

Keep it well maintained and you will be happy with it. I sure am.

I recently bought a 98 Olds Intrigue with the 3800 series motor. Hmmm, plenty of power and rides nice. Good on fuel if you lay off the pedal. However the map fuel sensor is continuously making the check engine light come on, and something is weird with the coolant system - low coolant level light always flashes on the dash, and the radiator is full. No leaks on motor though.

She has 235,000, but runs great, and I always get shocked when I get out and close the door. "Weird", roomy and comfy, the radio is garbage, however I'm thinking about going back to old school rides where I can work on them.

I have 123,000 on my current vehicle. The engine doesn't sounds very good and I am slowing dumping more money into it. I have an opportunity to buy a 1998 Intrigue. This car was driven by a sweet little old lady who is the original owner. It has 82,200 miles on it and has had no problems. Any feedback, comments, suggestions?

I have a 1998 Olds Intrigue with 256,000 miles. It is the best car, with the least problems I have ever owned. I just replaced the water pump at 256,000 miles, the only other things I have ever replaced is is the battery (twice), the drivebelts ($20), and breaks. It's old now, and I have to go easy with it, but I never thought I would have a shot at 300,000 miles in an American car.

I have just bought a 1998 Olds Intrigue GLS with 85,000 on it for $2500. I thought it was a good price, even though I saw it some problems with the brakes and an oil leak on the intake manifold. Retail I see dealers in area are selling at close to $5000 for this mileage.

I am in the process of having the brakes and rotors replaced, as well as all the fluids since those didn't seem to be maintained well. Everything else seem to be working fine, and I bought this car from the original owner. My mechanic seems to think the car has no further problems, but we will see when I actually start driving it routinely.

I noticed no shock when operating the car on a test drive. He showed me previous repair bills where the power steering pump had been replaced along with the rack and pinion assembly as mentioned in other comments. I will come back in 6 months with a further review or earlier if the car goes bad. There is no doubt that this is still a nice ride if everything works out!

I have a '98 Intrigue with the 3.8L-V6 and love it. I bought it from a bank that had them as company cars in 2000 with 35,000 miles. It now has 165,000 miles.

I have done the typical maintenance, as well as two major endeavors. 1) The intake manifold lower gasket has been known to leak as well as the plastic 90 degree elbow. Changed and no more fluid loss/leaks. The other thing I did was upgrade the brakes to the heavy duty option. Very easy conversion. The only difference is the caliper bracket (I got mine from a salvage yard - but the A1Cardone reman calipers also come with new brackets too) and the larger brake rotor. No more pulsing pedal or abnormal front brake wear.

I do plan to run this car until it dies, and at the rate it is going, it looks like it will be around for a while yet. It had held up to wear-n-tear quite nicely. -Chad.

I also own a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue, and most of the problems are minor. The fuel gauge randomly messed up, it's a really easy fix; just get a screw driver and take out your gauges and put it back in place (mines worked every since).

I only have problems with windows. None of my back windows work and my passenger window probably needs a new motor.

I have strange blinker problems that are costing me a lot because even my mechanic is not really sure what is going on. But I think it's a great first car.

I bought this 98 from my grandmother. It had 17000 miles when I got it. it was good for 2 years then started leaking coolant. Lots of expensive coolant.

There is a strange noise possibly with the brakes while braking and turning the wheel to the right only sometimes. when it does happen its when I'm going in reverse.

Rear windows work.. also only sometimes. Suddenly they decide to work for a couple weeks.

It makes me crazy that things seem to be broke only sometimes... IT CAN'T EVEN BE A PIECE OF JUNK RIGHT!

Luckily the car is paid off, I'm so sick and tired of it that I'm going to drive it till she's completely dead. I would NEVER EVER EVER EVER (repeating) buy this car again. This car helped convince me GM has gone astray.

I cannot stress how much of a mistake it was to buy this car.