1988 CHEVROLET CAPRICE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 12 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (3 complaints · 25.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 0
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 0
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1987 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 3 of 12 owner complaints (25.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 25.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 25.0% · 1 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 2 complaints, 16.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 2 · 16.7% ENGINE: 1 complaints, 8.3% of reports ENGINE 1 · 8.3% POWER TRAIN: 1 complaints, 8.3% of reports POWER TRAIN 1 · 8.3% SERVICE BRAKES: 1 complaints, 8.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 1 · 8.3% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 8.3% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 8.3% TIRES: 1 complaints, 8.3% of reports TIRES 1 · 8.3% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 1 complaints, 8.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 · 8.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 11 complaints, 91.7% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 11 · 91.7% · 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 25.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SEAT BELTS 2 16.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 1 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 1 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 1 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 1 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 11 91.7% 0 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Jun 1989. 1995-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Mar 1989 Oct 2007 Recall campaign 89V102000 ◆ Recall campaign 89V102000 Recall campaign 06E043000 ◆ Recall campaign 06E043000 Recall campaign 07E088000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E088000 Investigation C89001 ● Investigation C89001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 1
1995-Q2 Owner reports 2
1995-Q3 Owner reports 2
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
Recall campaign 1 89V102000
Recall campaign 1 06E043000
Recall campaign 1 07E088000
Defect investigation 1 C89001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 06E043000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION MAY CAUSE AN INADEQUATE SEAL AT THE CONNECTION, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO A FUEL LEAK. IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, A FIRE COULD OCCUR.
    Remedy:
    HONEYWELL WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE FUEL FILTERS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 18, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FRAM CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-800-890-2075 (OPTION 1).
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 07E088000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION MAY CAUSE INADEQUATE SEALING AND LOSS OF ENGINE OIL, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    HONEYWELL WILL REPLACE THE AFFECTED OIL FILTERS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN DURING NOVEMBER 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT FRAM CUSTOMER SERVICE TOLL-FREE AT 1-800-890-2075.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 89V102000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    SERVO ROD ASSEMBLY COULD CATCH ON ENGINE COMPONENTS ANDRESULT IN A STUCK THROTTLE WITH POTENTIAL FOR A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    INSTALL A NEW BUSHING IN CRUISE CONTROL SERVO BAIL.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 12 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

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Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources