These help you judge whether this one is worth its price.
Costly problem zones ahead at your miles come with a Car Hunt Pass or Pro. See plans
Loading the EPA's yearly fuel cost
What about the price? Check the asking price on two listing sites. Buying from a dealer? Run its offer through the offer X ray.
Education, not financial or mechanical advice. Have any used car checked by a mechanic you trust before you buy.
The full record
Tap to open
What owners complain about
Loading owner complaints
Seller kit
Questions for the seller, test drive checks and price points
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
Walk up to the seller ready
Questions to ask the seller of a 1998 Chevrolet Express, built from this year's owner complaints and recalls. What to feel, hear and look at on the test drive, with boxes to tick at the car. Honest points to raise on price, from the records and never from guesses. Copy the questions to your phone in one tap.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
Write your offer
A ready to send offer for the seller, by text or email
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
Send the seller a fair offer
Type the asking price and your own offer for the 1998 Chevrolet Express, tick what you found, and get a polite message ready to text or email. Its reasons come from this year's owner complaints, recalls and crash ratings, and never from made up repair prices.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
When problems show up
Loading mileage at failure
Will it outlast the loan?
The month of your loan each problem zone lands in
Loading the problem zones
Recalls
2 recalls on file
Loading recalls
Crash ratings
NHTSA's stars out of five, for each version it tested. Front crash stars only compare cars of about the same size and weight. The tests changed for 2011 models, so these stars do not line up with newer ones.
Loading crash ratings
Fuel economy
The EPA's estimates for each engine and transmission, and its own yearly fuel cost. Yours depends on how you drive and the shape the car is in. Figures for 2007 and older use the EPA's 2008 method, so they may be lower than the original sticker.
Loading fuel economy
True cost to own
The loan, fuel, insurance and upkeep, a month and over 5 years
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
What it really costs to own
What the 1998 Chevrolet Express costs a month and over 5 years: the loan and its interest, fuel worked out from the EPA's figures for the version you pick, and your own insurance, registration and upkeep. A cost a mile, a link that reopens your numbers, and the breakdown copied to your phone in one tap.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
Every year of the Express
Owner complaints for each model year, this one outlined. Tap a year to open it. The newest 2 are not judged yet. Bars are totals, so older years stand taller; the verdict compares every year at the same age.
Loading every year of this model
Before you buy this one
Built from this year's numbers. Whatever the data says, the car in front of you is the one that counts.
A history report such as Carfax or AutoCheck pulls in more of the car’s past than these checks can:
Crashes and damage reported by police, insurers or shops, even when it was fixed.
Service visits that shops reported, with the miles each time.
How many owners, for how long, and the states it was registered in.
Whether it was a rental, fleet or lease car, when that was reported.
It only knows what was reported to it. A clean report is not proof of a clean car. Ask the seller first: many dealers hand one over for free.
Red flags in a history
Salvage title
Usually an insurer called it a total loss. In most states it cannot be driven on the road until it is rebuilt and inspected.
Rebuilt title
A salvage car that was fixed and passed a state check. It can be fine, but it is worth less, can be harder to insure, and needs a careful inspection.
Flood damage
Water can ruin wiring and sensors months later. Be wary of a flood brand that vanished after a move to another state.
Lemon or maker buyback
The maker bought it back over a defect it could not fix. Ask what the defect was and how it was fixed.
Odometer rollback
A mileage reading lower than an earlier one, or a title marked not actual miles.
Many owners, fast
Three owners in two years can mean a problem each one passed along.
Gaps in the records
Years with no service or registration. Ask why: it may have sat, been off the road, or been rebuilt.
Title words and rules differ by state. Not legal advice.
Before you pay
Pre purchase inspection
Have a mechanic you choose, not the seller, put it on a lift and look it over before you pay.
Insurance quote
Get a quote on this exact car before you sign. Ask your own insurer and one or two others.
Not every car needs every fix. Run the VIN at NHTSA to see which are still open. Repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand; ask before any work.
Lights
Apr 7, 2009 · Recall 09E012000
Sabersport is recalling 16,270 combination corner and bumper lamp assemblies of various part numbers sold for use as aftermarket equipment for various passenger vehicles. These headlamps fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." these lamps do not contain the required amber side reflectors.
What can happen
Decreased lighting visibility may result in a vehicle crash.
The fix
Sabersport will notify owners and offer a full refund for the noncompliant combination lamps. The safety recall began on may 11, 2009. Owners may contact sabersport at 1-909-598-7589.
Brakes
Feb 17, 1998 · Recall 98V033000
Vehicle description: light duty pickup trucks and multi-purpose passenger vehicles. One or both front brake rotor/hubs were built with an out-of-specification gray iron that can fail during the life of the vehicle.
What can happen
If a driver continues to drive with a cracked rotor, the cracks could continue around the wheel mounting bolt circle and ultimately result in a wheel separation.
The fix
Dealers will inspect the rotors for a core date of "287" and, if found, replace the rotor.
23 complaints; the part named most is the wheels and tires
Unverified reports, not adjusted for sales. One complaint can name several parts, so shares add up past 100%. Filed Nov 12, 1998 to Jan 20, 2006. 22% name a part that is usually costly to fix.
Owners reported 2 fires in these complaints.
Wheels and tires6 · 26%
Brakes4 · 17%
Body and frame3 · 13%Usually costly to fix
What one owner wrote about the wheels and tires
I noticed a continuous tire thump" and stopped the vehical and checked the tires. The left front tire had a flat spot in the center of the tread, about 2in x 1.5 in. There were no other abnormatities. After traveling about 30 more miles the "thump" got alot more apparent and I heard a loud "clinking" noise. I stopped and inspected the tire and found the…
Filed Mar 24, 2002NHTSA complaint 7597201 of 16 owner quotes
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
7 more parts, and 16 owner quotes
Every part owners name for the 1998 Chevrolet Express, with their own words about what went wrong. Usually costly to fix among them: Engine.
Run the VIN at NHTSA to confirm every recall was fixed.
This year has 2 recalls on file. Recall repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand. Ask the dealer to confirm before any work is done. Look up a VIN at NHTSA.
Ask the seller for the service records.
Look closely for any work on the wheels and tires. It is the part owners complain about most for this year.
Have a mechanic you trust inspect it before you pay.
Ask them to look at the wheels and tires first.
Look at a vehicle history report.
It can show reported crashes, flood or salvage titles, and mileage that does not add up.
On the test drive, pay attention to the wheels and tires.
Look at how the tires are wearing, and feel for shaking at highway speed.
1998 Chevrolet Express: problems, recalls, verdict · WhipWorthy
Year verdict
Worthy
0.3× a typical year
Fewer owner complaints than a typical year. Still get it inspected.
Confidence: Medium
Based on 22 complaints in its first 8 years: enough to go on, not a lot.
NHTSA did not answer for 16 years, so this may change.
How the dial was counted
Year verdict: Typical year: 57 complaints, the median of 8 nearby years. Each counted over its first 8 years from January 1997; this one had 22.
8 Worthy, 4 Maybe, 0 Pass, of 32 years on file, 16 with no answer
Our take: worth a look.Owners filed fewer complaints than in a typical year of this model.
