1998 Chevrolet Venture LX from North America - Comments

Head lights - Water accumulates after 6 month or so and needs to be replaced.

Driver Side Widow inoperable The scissors bent inside window that drive the glass up and down.

Axle replaced this was vibration related.

Lower intake manifold gasket leaking at 70k.

Head gasket blew - 160k miles engine was replaced. Payed nearly 6k for new engine.

Lower intake manifold gasket leaking with new engine at 40k miles, and was replaced by the dealer only after I hounded them. Otherwise they wanted to charge me 1,200 dollars.

This list is a fraction of what has been done to keep it on the road.

My Veture van has been very problematic. I have easily spent over 10 grand in repairs and cannot afford to sell this car. I recently bought a 2005 Honda Civic to take the pressure off the Venture, but I still own it, and will use it as a back up vehicle. I have done everything possible to maintain the Venture, but it simply has defects from Chevy that have gone ignored by the manufacturer. I have vowed never to buy another Chevy product, and will do everything in my power to steer potential buyers away. I bought the car new in 1998, and it has been nothing, but a nightmare to maintain, and keep it on the road.

Just look at the mileage you got out of this thing!

True, I have a lot of miles on my Venture, but it has cost a lot of money keeping it on the road, and that has been my main complaint.

I have a 98 venture that has had all the same problems as yours. Plus a bunch more! I also bought a new motor only to have the same problems start to occur. Chevrolet knows there is a problem, but says oh well..

My 98 venture finally went to rest at 465,000km. the lemons out there should know that not all the bad rap the venture is getting is all that is going on. the only work ever done was minor, from oil changes every 5000 km to brake jobs every 100,000km.

I bought my 98 Venture with 93000 kilometers in 2002. I guess I'm lucky to get to 183,000 K's. One water pump, leaking headlight, rear wiper motor seized, rear hatch key opener seized, paint peeling all over and the ever present GM secret warranty problem, but no recall, a leaking intake manifold gasket. By the time you find out it is leaking it is too late. Two months ago I had the windshield replaced to find out that it is rusting out across the entire top of the windshield (numerous holes, not leaking yet). In the last 3 to 4 weeks I find out my air conditioning is not working, the right front CV joint is going, my left front wheel bearing and to top it off the engine starts knocking (finished). My power mirror switch shorted out 4 weeks ago and burned the plastic and left a terrible smell in the van. What kind of cancer causing chemicals were in that smoke? Too bad it did not burn the whole van. I never like to say never, but I will never buy another GM. For sale, a good pair of snow tires and the radio.

My '98 made it to 143K. Same problems as above. Cool van till the Intake Manifold Gasket thing happened and it was downhill from there.

When I junked it, the woman at the junkyard was impressed that I had gotten so many miles. Said she usually gets them at 100K.

The GM V6 motor is terrible. I feel sorry for my parents with their Buick Rendezvous, same motor, same intake manifold leak. It has 120K and probably not many to go.