1998 Chevrolet Truck M/L Van problems & reliability
42 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 1998 Chevrolet Truck M/L Van. Last verified Aug 8, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several components.
1 complaint report injuries (1 injured).
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility → | 19 | 45% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 6 | 14% |
| Electrical System | 4 | 10% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 3 | 7% |
| Parking Brake | 2 | 5% |
| Steering | 2 | 5% |
| Suspension | 2 | 5% |
| Fuel System, Diesel | 1 | 2% |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 1 | 2% |
| Power Train | 1 | 2% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 14 reported components →Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 27 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 65,000 miles (middle 50% between 40,000 and 77,266 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“Windshield wipers will stop working when they have been on for more then 5 to 10 minutes. I have friends who have had the same problem with different year models.*ak”
Visibility · filed Dec 30, 2004
“I own a chevrolet 1998 crew cab pickup truck, and have a factory installed towing package. In august of this year I was towing a small ski boat, considerably less weight than the max allowed by the manufacturer, when the towing mechanism buckled, and disengaged from its housing on the truck. If not for the spare tire…”
Trailer Hitches · filed Dec 26, 2004
“This is a description of a potential safety hazard:as you might know, c5 chevrolet corvettes (1997-2004) have a problem with the steering-column lock malfunctioning and leavcing owners stranded. I know of several owners thus affected, and they have had to have their cars towed. Gm has known about this problem but has…”
Steering · filed Dec 3, 2004
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Safety recalls
No NHTSA recall campaigns name the 1998 Chevrolet Truck M/L Van in our current data. Recalls may apply only to certain VIN ranges — always confirm with a VIN check.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 1998 Chevrolet Truck M/L Van?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 65,000 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.