1998 CHEVROLET S10 — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 608 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: VISIBILITY (196 complaints · 32.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 61
  • Fires 9
  • Injuries 40
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1997 →
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 VISIBILITY appears in 196 of 608 owner complaints (32.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. VISIBILITY: 196 complaints, 32.2% of reports VISIBILITY 196 · 32.2% · 2 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 58 complaints, 9.5% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 58 · 9.5% · 13 crash reports ENGINE: 45 complaints, 7.4% of reports ENGINE 45 · 7.4% · 3 fire reports AIR BAGS: 36 complaints, 5.9% of reports AIR BAGS 36 · 5.9% · 35 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 35 complaints, 5.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 35 · 5.8% · 5 fire reports STRUCTURE: 34 complaints, 5.6% of reports STRUCTURE 34 · 5.6% POWER TRAIN: 29 complaints, 4.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 29 · 4.8% SUSPENSION: 17 complaints, 2.8% of reports SUSPENSION 17 · 2.8% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 16 complaints, 2.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 16 · 2.6% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 468 complaints, 77.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 468 · 77.0% · 49 crash reports 5 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)
VISIBILITY 196 32.2% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 58 9.5% 13 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 45 7.4% 0 crashes · 3 fires
AIR BAGS 36 5.9% 35 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 35 5.8% 0 crashes · 5 fires
STRUCTURE 34 5.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 29 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 17 2.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 16 2.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 468 77.0% 49 crashes · 5 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 1998. 1998-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1998-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 1998-Q4: 16 owner reports 16 1999-Q1: 46 owner reports 46 1999-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q3: 27 owner reports 27 1999-Q4: 20 owner reports 20 2000-Q1: 16 owner reports 16 2000-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2000-Q3: 20 owner reports 20 2000-Q4: 19 owner reports 19 2001-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2001-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2001-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2001-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2002-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2002-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2002-Q3: 16 owner reports 16 2002-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2003-Q2: 34 owner reports 34 2003-Q3: 37 owner reports 37 2003-Q4: 24 owner reports 24 2004-Q1: 22 owner reports 22 2004-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2004-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2004-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2005-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2005-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2005-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2005-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2006-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2006-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2006-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2006-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2007-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2009-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1998 Jul 2020 Investigation EA99012 ● Investigation EA99012 Investigation RQ04012 ● Investigation RQ04012 Investigation EA05008 ● Investigation EA05008
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1998-Q1 Owner reports 5
1998-Q2 Owner reports 9
1998-Q3 Owner reports 10
1998-Q4 Owner reports 16
1999-Q1 Owner reports 46
1999-Q2 Owner reports 10
1999-Q3 Owner reports 27
1999-Q4 Owner reports 20
2000-Q1 Owner reports 16
2000-Q2 Owner reports 14
2000-Q3 Owner reports 20
2000-Q4 Owner reports 19
2001-Q1 Owner reports 15
2001-Q2 Owner reports 7
2001-Q3 Owner reports 8
2001-Q4 Owner reports 12
2002-Q1 Owner reports 8
2002-Q2 Owner reports 14
2002-Q3 Owner reports 16
2002-Q4 Owner reports 6
2003-Q1 Owner reports 17
2003-Q2 Owner reports 34
2003-Q3 Owner reports 37
2003-Q4 Owner reports 24
2004-Q1 Owner reports 22
2004-Q2 Owner reports 14
2004-Q3 Owner reports 11
2004-Q4 Owner reports 10
2005-Q1 Owner reports 9
2005-Q2 Owner reports 16
2005-Q3 Owner reports 17
2005-Q4 Owner reports 10
2006-Q1 Owner reports 12
2006-Q2 Owner reports 8
2006-Q3 Owner reports 4
2006-Q4 Owner reports 2
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 6
2007-Q3 Owner reports 3
2007-Q4 Owner reports 4
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 5
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 3
2009-Q2 Owner reports 3
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 3
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q3 Owner reports 2
2011-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q1 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2013-Q1 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 4
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q2 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 2
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
2020-Q3 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA99012
Defect investigation 1 RQ04012
Defect investigation 1 EA05008
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 608 complaints · page 1 of 25

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 Aug 21, 2026
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.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

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