1996 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 123 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (21 complaints · 17.1%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 11
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 13
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
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 AIR BAGS appears in 21 of 123 owner complaints (17.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 21 complaints, 17.1% of reports AIR BAGS 21 · 17.1% · 8 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 18 complaints, 14.6% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 18 · 14.6% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 11 complaints, 8.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 · 8.9% · 4 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 10 complaints, 8.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 10 · 8.1% ENGINE: 9 complaints, 7.3% of reports ENGINE 9 · 7.3% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 9 complaints, 7.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 · 7.3% STEERING: 7 complaints, 5.7% of reports STEERING 7 · 5.7% SEAT BELTS: 6 complaints, 4.9% of reports SEAT BELTS 6 · 4.9% · 2 crash reports STRUCTURE: 6 complaints, 4.9% of reports STRUCTURE 6 · 4.9% · 1 fire reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 96 complaints, 78.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 96 · 78.1% · 8 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)
AIR BAGS 21 17.1% 8 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 18 14.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 8.9% 0 crashes · 4 fires
POWER TRAIN 10 8.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 9 7.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 7.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 7 5.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 6 4.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 6 4.9% 0 crashes · 1 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 96 78.1% 8 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 Apr 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Mar 2007. 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1997-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1998-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2001-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1996 Apr 2015 Recall campaign 07E021000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E021000
  • Campaign 07E021000 was reported 3,723 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1996-Q4 Owner reports 5
1997-Q1 Owner reports 3
1997-Q2 Owner reports 8
1997-Q3 Owner reports 3
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 6
1998-Q2 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 1
1999-Q3 Owner reports 8
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 4
2000-Q2 Owner reports 5
2000-Q3 Owner reports 5
2000-Q4 Owner reports 7
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q2 Owner reports 5
2001-Q4 Owner reports 3
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 5
2002-Q3 Owner reports 7
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 3
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 3
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 3
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 2
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q1 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 07E021000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 07E021000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER
    Consequence:
    FUEL MAY LEAK, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DELPHI WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE UPR FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 23, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT DELPHI AT 877-411-8770.
    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 123 complaints · page 1 of 5

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.

 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