I also have a 1998 Bravada that has been nothing more than a headache for the past almost 5 years. I keep holding on thinking that almost every major thing that can go wrong with this car has, but obviously the replacement parts are just as unreliable as the parts that were originally put on the car. I have had electrical problems, axle problems, the blower motor was a big on with having it replaced 5 times. My booster went out and I lost my brakes 4 months ago where I almost hit a Semi truck. My most recent problem comes with the heater coil. The extended warranty people told me that they've paid out over $4,000.00 in repairs and that from this point forward I will play heck getting any claims through them. The dealership has quoted me $890.00 to fix the problems I am currently having. The extended warranty people are denying the claim saying that they believe it's just a clogged coil so I have no heat in my vehicle and it's winter time!! The stereo system that was supposed to be such a great system has quit working and of course the extended warranty people say that it is not a covered item. By the way Dimensions is the name of the warranty company. They are telling me that it is up to their interpretation on whether or not an item is covered. It's amazing that so many people are having such similar problems with their Bravada and yet there has been no re-calls and the Manufacturer has not stepped up to take care of the people who spent so much money on their product. I've went to everyone trying to get someone to help me and I guess the bottom line is once you buy a vehicle you are stuck with $500 - $600 a month payments for 60 months. I would have thought that Oldsmobile would have been an upstanding Manufacturer, but like others their bottom line is the dollar. It is not taking care of their consumers. If I can offer one piece of advice to anyone considering buying an Oldsmobile/GM product be very careful and take the time to talk to others on the performance, the reliability, and how well will you be taken care of if a problem does arise. One special note to Oldsmobile if you are reading these reviews: Shame on you!! You used to have a good reputation, but you've ruined that due to the fact that you do not take care of your responsibilities. I could be your mother or your sister driving on of these Bravada's. I can almost bet that you are not driving one of your own cars. People put their trust in you and you turned your back on us. I've not talked to one person who owns a Bravada that has anything good to say about your product other than it's comfortable. You suckered me in once, but you can be rest assured that it won't happen twice. This was my 5th Oldsmobile product that I've owned. It will be my Last.
Oldsmobile is a GM product. I can't believe that they haven't done something about the Bravada.
All of these cars need to be recalled.
These cars are dangerous.
I own a 1998 Oldsmobile Bravada. This is my 3rd Oldsmobile and will be my last GM car. I don't have as many problems, but spent around $1500 to fix the electrical system, replace the alternator, etc. The GM dealer still can't tell me what is exactly wrong besides replacing the parts one after another. The CD/ cassette never worked right and by the time it really died to prove that there's something wrong with it, the warranty ran out. I think the axle problem is about to hit me because there's a small clunk whenever I make a left or right turn now.
People are flocking to quality conscious manufacturers (Business Week 11/17/2003 issue on Toyota). It is as if GM designs their car in such a way to allow the dealers to make money on repairs to support the show room for GM cars. Also the fact that they continue to charge customers FULL list price for parts just make me feel disgusted.
I also have a 1998 Bravada and it has been the worse vehicle I've ever owned. Nothing but problems since day one. I bought it new. Had it in the Dealer 7 times for transmission slipping and they kept telling me it was OK. Have a report from the manufacturer regarding the problem. Needless to say, transmission failed a few months after warranty expired and Oldsmobile has refused to help in any way. Other problems include braking, handling, rattles, misfitting door, the list goes on and on. Will never purchase another GM product.
I also own a 1998 Bravada that has been nothing but problems. I had to have the transmission rebuilt, too. It seems all 98 Bravadas have a problem with a valve in the transmission.
I had to replace the alternator and battery right after I got it.
Now the windshield wipers are stopping intermittently. I contacted Oldsmobile because they had issued a recall for some other year models of Bravada because of this same problem. They said the didn't have sufficient reports of problems of this nature to warranty a recall, but I have seen many reports on the web.
I would not ever purchase another Oldsmobile product, so it is a good thing they are not making them anymore. I'm not real sure I would purchase a GM product either, after the lack of support I have gotten.
I purchased my 98 Bravada in Dec 98. I have had to replace the gas tank, fix the a/c, have had electrical problems with the heater seats, parts falling off dash, transmission was just re-built at 65,000 miles. Most of which was still under warranty. Transmission waited awhile longer before it kicked the bucket. If Ooldsmobile had stayed in business, I would never buy from them again.
Interesting about the wiper comment - we just had to replace the wiper motor in our 98 Bravada - the mechanic said he'd done quite a few of them. Too bad it wasn't a recall item.
I too have had nothing, but problems with my '98 Oldsmobile Bravada. First of all was a rebuilt transmission; then the heater/ac has been worked on so many times I can't count and it still doesn't work. Windshield wipers never work properly. Two alternators in two years, and on and on it goes. I will never buy a GM product again.
My experience with my 1998 Bravada has fortunately been less uneventful. I purchased the vehicle new in 1998, but only have about 68K miles now (July 2005). The only significant problems I've had were:
(1) the AWD electronic control module died at about 60K miles.
(2) the alternator stopped working (no output) at 67K miles.
(3) going through 2 batteries over ~7 years/67K miles. The batteries may have been short lived because they were being overcharged. (The voltage across the battery usually was about 14.5-15.0V with the engine running under most conditions.) I did not complain since the batteries were replaced under warranty.
(4) the wheel alignment was out of spec from the factory and the dealer I bought it from refused to fix it under warranty. I didn't bother complaining to GM since another dealer agreed to fix it under warranty.
I just traded my 1998 Olds Bravada for a 2005 GMC Sierra. I bought the Bravada used with about 46,000 miles on it. It had a little over 108,000 miles on it when I traded it in. I must have been lucky with mine, other than 2 batteries, one water pump and radiator, and a ignition coil, my Bravada was a good truck. I towed a 21 foot ski boat and the thing did OK, which is why I traded it, I wanted something with a V8. The Olds never left me stranded.
I purchased a used 1996 Olds Bravada in May of this year and have had nothing, but problems. I was told by the salesman that the car had been serviced religiously, but about 4 weeks after we had it we had the vehicle it broke down. We had to pay for a front transaxle overhaul which amounted to $3600 and now, only 2 months later the vehicle is broke down again. This time it probably needs a new motor.
I'm 17 and received my 1998 Bravada from my dad one year ago and it's been nothing, but problems.
We've put a lot of money into fixing it!!!
1. The transmission began slipping and we had it fixed for a large sum of money then it broke over and over (3 times to be exact) each time was a new part and more money or a bad fix job.
2. My wiper blades work when they feel like it and the back blade just doesn't work any more.
3. My gas gage floats causing me to never know how much gas I have. It forces me to multiply how many gallons I put in by the reccommended gas mileage which is pretty much unknown because the temperature gage above doesn't work.
4. My AWD light has been on for some time so I took it in to have them run a computer test and it seems to be the 4X4 module which i've read others have had problems with.
5. The doors rattle when I go down bumpy roads, living in a undeveloped area you notice these things when your going down back roads.
6. The CD player/radio gets really warm and won't accept my CD's and the sound quality is horibble coming out of the speakers.
7. Theres a piece that falls out of the dash board even when i'm not going down a bumpy road.
8. My rear defroster has come unsodered form the window.
9. The center counsel has been broken since i received it and the glovebox has to be forced shut.
From all of my problems i'd have to say this car is not reasonable and something should be done by the manufactuer to repay or pay for any new mechanical errors that should arise. Which I feel is previlent and shall come up in the future.
Morgan of Michigan
Well, I bought my 98 Bravada back in 2000 and to this date have put over 100,000 miles on it. It has never left me stranded.
I did have to replace the transmission and the front wheel axles, and it's only gone through one battery in all this time. But once it was fixed it was fine.
All the other little items that have gone wrong with it are due to just normal wear and tear. Cars are like computers, if you don't perform "good" maintenance on them they will wear out. You can't expect parts to always perform as new overtime with usage. And just like with computers there are many people out there that claim they now how to fix them and just end up doing a bad job which then leads to other issues.
I fortunately trust my Bravada, on top of the fact that I have not been the best at keeping up with its maintenance.
I purchased a 98 Bravada about 2 1/2 years ago with 62,000 miles. It now has 98,000 miles. In the time I have had it I had to replace the Passenger side wheel bearing (which the dealer took care of, big thumbs up here), water pump, and alternator. I am pretty meticulous and keep up on the PM's and perform the work myself, which has saved me buku bucks. Now it has developed the "shudder", but only when I pull my snowmobile trailer. I will do a fluid flush of the transfer case to see if that helps. Has anyone done or considered a conversion to the Blazer 2 speed transfer case? None of the problems I've had are really to serious. I do have to wonder however 2-3000 for coolant repair on a vehicle! Were all the components gold plated! Sounds like someone is getting taken advantage of! Good thing I got that Dex-Cool out of there when I swapped the water pump out. It seems strange however. The last couple of vehicles I have purchased just don't seem to be of very high quality. GM, or Ford. I had a 76 volare I drove 100,000 miles in high school and never did anything to it, never! Now all these newer vehicles have all these little problems, like someone said above engineered to break. One thing I will say is there is a definite difference in the replacement parts you buy from part store to part store. So pick your parts wisely.
I got my 1998 Bravada in August of 2004. It was not long before I noticed my wipers had a mind of their own. The heat quit working this November and I noticed the return line from the heater core was not hot. It was not leaking anywhere so I figured it was plugged up. The radiator drain plug is very hard to get at and had to use a socket to loosen it. Be careful, it is plastic and does not screw out completely, half a turn is all it does. While changing the anti-freeze, I used HOT WATER to flush the system by disconnecting the heater hoses and blew air from my air compressor into the inlet hose and slid a garden hose over the firewall oulet so the water would not spray in the engine compartment. I did this process 8 times untill I got a good flow from the outlet. You have to refill the radiator each time you do this. It is very important that you use hot or warm water in a hot engine and to replace the radiator cap after refilling or water will blast out when applying the air pressure. I now have heat.
Now at 90,000 miles, the transmission went out. Reverse, second and overdrive gears quit working. After $1,300 for this and reading the other problems I may be facing, I am selling.
I own a 1999 all wheel drive Bravada,which I bought used, it has been nothing, but a head ache, first the ABS light came on,I replaced the left speed sensor,OK for a week now the right one is no good also the ALL WHEEL DRIVE never shuts off. Every time I take a turn it feels like a 4wd on a dry road. it rattles,squeaks, the rear wiper quit long ago. also when I was having the awd problem the garage told me to change the fluid in the transfer case and drive it 200 miles. that did not work so they said do it again at $7.00 a quart that didn't work guess what know its out of warranty whats new. I SHOULD OF KNOWN better being a G.M. mechanic for 20 YEARS. ITS FOR SALE NOW...
We purchased our '98 Bravada with 24,000 miles. It now has 162,000 miles on it. I had to replace the alternator last summer when it had about 140k. I noticed a few people said they had to replace their alternators multiple times. Usually that's what happens when you replace it with a cheap rebuilt alternator (ie. NAPA). If you have one built by a specialist they know what parts of that particular alternator have a tendency to fail and beef them up in that respective area. I paid $120 for a better-than-GM alternator. Also, when replacing the battery for the first time, I never buy junk. I replaced the original battery when it was five years old with an Interstate. I don't have to worry about replacing it again as long as I own the vehicle. Dekka is another indestructible brand and is very reasonably priced. Don't buy Wal-Mart EverStart junk or you WILL be replacing batteries every couple of years. It's -30F here in the winter and I have never even had to put a battery charger on my Bravada. I run Mobil1 synthetic oil with a Baldwin oil filter and change every 10,000 miles or so. Synthetic oil makes a HUGE difference with extremely cold starts. I still pull 20mpg and I have yet to replace the original plugs or plug wires (yep, 162,000 miles)! If it ain't broke... Anyway, I replaced the brakes around 60,000. I installed high-carbon brake pads. They cost about $65 per pair, but if you like buying the $29/pr. junk, get used to changing them every 20,000-25,000 miles. Again, this is something you only have to do once in the vehicles life if you buy the right replacement parts. As far as the loss of heat in the passenger cabin, that is caused by a plugged heater core. I've had mine cleared twice now. Apparently inferior materials were used in the manufacturing of the original coolant hoses. In time they erode on the inside and the little pieces of rubber collect in the heater core and cause blockage. All I've had to do is disconnect the hoses from the heater core and take and air nozzle and reverse the flow through the heater core. A glob of black rubber pops out of the other end and you're good for a couple more years. It is usually best to replace the OEM hoses to prevent this from happening again. I also replaced the shocks and rear u-joints this spring, but that's about it. You guys must have bought Bravadas that were "built on a Friday". This ones been about as reliable as a 3800 engine. Maybe I've been extremely lucky, but I can't think of any other explaination, sorry and wish yours were better. My last 6 vehicles own (ed) '88 Delta 88, '89 Cutlass Ciera, '98 Bravada, '01 Aurora 4.0, '90 Delta 88, '87 Buick Grand National 44k mint (mid-life crisis)! But I too am afraid that's where my purchase of GM vehicles may end.