1997 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 96 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (20 complaints · 20.8%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 7
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 6
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1996 →
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 SERVICE BRAKES appears in 20 of 96 owner complaints (20.8%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 20 complaints, 20.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 20 · 20.8% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 19 complaints, 19.8% of reports STEERING 19 · 19.8% · 2 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 13 complaints, 13.5% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 13 · 13.5% · 1 fire reports ENGINE: 10 complaints, 10.4% of reports ENGINE 10 · 10.4% AIR BAGS: 5 complaints, 5.2% of reports AIR BAGS 5 · 5.2% · 2 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 5.2% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 5.2% FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 4.2% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 4.2% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 4 complaints, 4.2% of reports SUSPENSION 4 · 4.2% VISIBILITY: 4 complaints, 4.2% of reports VISIBILITY 4 · 4.2% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 68 complaints, 70.8% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 68 · 70.8% · 7 crash 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)
SERVICE BRAKES 20 20.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 19 19.8% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 13 13.5% 0 crashes · 1 fires
ENGINE 10 10.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 5 5.2% 2 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 5.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 4.2% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 4 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 4 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 68 70.8% 7 crashes · 0 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 1997. 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 1999-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1997 Jul 2020 Investigation PE00009 ● Investigation PE00009 Investigation EA00019 ● Investigation EA00019 Investigation PE01038 ● Investigation PE01038 Investigation EA02003 ● Investigation EA02003 Investigation RQ03001 ● Investigation RQ03001 Investigation RQ04006 ● Investigation RQ04006
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 3
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 2
1998-Q3 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 8
1999-Q3 Owner reports 2
1999-Q4 Owner reports 6
2000-Q1 Owner reports 2
2000-Q2 Owner reports 3
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 4
2001-Q1 Owner reports 5
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 3
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 5
2004-Q2 Owner reports 2
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q1 Owner reports 1
2020-Q3 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE00009
Defect investigation 1 EA00019
Defect investigation 1 PE01038
Defect investigation 1 EA02003
Defect investigation 1 RQ03001
Defect investigation 1 RQ04006
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 96 complaints · page 1 of 4

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