1998 Buick Park Avenue

Typical pattern

5.3% of complaints about the 1998 Buick Park Avenue came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 1998 vehicle — around the middle of the 180 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 5.0 yr in service. The most-reported system is engine cooling (109 complaints), typically at 5.1 yr or about 77,000 miles.

Complaints: 265
Median age at failure: 5.0 yr
Median mileage: 74,342 n=107
Crash / fire / tow: 19.2% of reports
Safety recalls: 2

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

04V090000 2004-02-24

Fuel system, gasoline:delivery

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 3800 V6 (L36) ENGINES AND CERTAIN DELPHI FUEL PRESSURE REGULATORS, THE REGULATORS HAVE A MUCH HIGHER THAN USUAL RATE OF FUEL LEAKS. A LEAK CAN ALLOW FUEL TO ENTER THE INTAKE MANIFOLD THROUGH A VACUUM LINE. IF THE ENGINE DOES NOT START WHEN CRANKED, THE FUEL FROM THE LEAKING REGULATOR AND A MISTIMED SPARK CAN CAUSE A BACKFIRE.

THE BACKFIRE CAN RUPTURE THE INTAKE MANIFOLD. THE RUPTURE OF THE INTAKE MANIFOLD CAN DISPLACE A FUEL LINE, PULLING AN INJECTOR OUT OF PLACE, AND CAUSING A FUEL LEAK AND POSSIBLE FIRE.

00V117000 2000-04-18

Seat belts:front:webbing

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. SOME OF THESE VEHICLES HAVE FRONT SEAT SHOULDER BELTS THAT MAY TWIST, ALLOWING THE WEBBING TO BECOME JAMMED IN THE RETRACTOR.

WHEN THE SHOULDER BELT WEBBING BECOMES JAMMED IN THE RETRACTOR, THE BELT MAY BE UNUSABLE.

In owners’ own words

Electrical system mileage not reported 1.3 yr in service

WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 25-35MPH VEHICLE WOULD STALL OUT. WOULD HAVE NO PRIOR WARNING. NEARLY REARENDED. NEED TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL TO RESTART. AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM. TOOK TO DEALERSHIP & MECHANIC PLACED A MONITOR ON VEHICLE. NOTHING HAPPENED. WAS ROAD TESTED & BATTERY DIED. FOUND A SHORT IN BATTERY & IT WAS CHANGED. THE VEHICLE FINALLY STALLED AGAIN WHILE AT STOP LIGHT.*AK

Electrical system mileage not reported 2.5 yr in service

WHILE DRIVING AT 60 MPH, DRIVER JUST BARELY TOUCHED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND VEHICLE WENT DEAD. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. DEALER STATED THAT A FAULTY CELL IN THE BATTERY CAUSED THE PROBLEM. *AK *ML

Electrical system mileage not reported 2.6 yr in service

WHEN APPLYING BRAKES ENTIRE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SHUT OFF. THERE WAS NO STEERING OR BRAKES, ETC. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALERSHIP TWICE FOR THIS PROBLEM. DEALERSHIP WAS NOT ABLE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. MANUFACTURER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. *AK *ML

Engine cooling mileage not reported 1.0 yr in service

SERPENTINE BELT BROKE, CAUSING LOSS OF POWER STEERING, WHICH COULD HAVE RESULTED IN AN ACCIDENT. DEALER HAS REPLACED BELT TWICE. *AK

Other Park Avenue model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

1998 Buick Park Avenue

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Park Avenue model years

How to read this