How many miles will a 1998 Buick LeSabre last?
NHTSA holds 29 owner complaints on the 1998 Buick LeSabre that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 4 past 150,000 and 1 past 200,000. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 400 complaints on this model year, 173 of them with a mileage, and half of those mileages are at or under 69,100 miles; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 173 complaints on the 1998 Buick LeSabre that list mileage, the middle half came between 52,000 and 89,000 miles; 29 (17%) came after 100,000 miles, 4 (2%) after 150,000 and 1 (1%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 1998 LeSabre last?
The 173 mileages owners gave run from 10 to 231,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 52,980 miles, half at or under 69,100, three quarters at or under 88,400 and nine in ten at or under 112,529; 29 (17%) came after 100,000 miles, 4 (2%) after 150,000 and 1 (1%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 1998 LeSabre wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Most of these reports came early in the vehicle's life: 144 of the 173 came at or under 100,000 miles. The 29 past that mark show the 1998 LeSabre still being driven at those mileages, not how many reach them: NHTSA's file counts complaints, not the vehicles on the road.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 10 miles |
| 25th percentile | 52,980 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 69,100 miles |
| 75th percentile | 88,400 miles |
| 90th percentile | 112,529 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 231,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 29 (17%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 4 (2%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 1 (1%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 1,539 NHTSA owner complaints on the Buick LeSabre that list mileage came after 64,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Buick LeSabre last? →
Common problems with the 1998 LeSabre
NHTSA's file holds 400 owner complaints on the 1998 Buick LeSabre. Owners named engine cooling most often: 196 complaints, and half of the 104 that list a mileage came after 66,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 196 | 104 | 66,728 |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 70 | 30 | 69,269 |
| Electrical System | 50 | 15 | 83,000 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 23 | 8 | 61,000 |
| Power Train | 20 | 3 | Under 5 mileages |
Of the 400 complaints, 15 report a crash, 43 report a fire and 7 report an injury (9 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 1998 LeSabre a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1998 is a good or a bad LeSabre: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1998 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 400 complaints, the 1998 ranks 2nd of the 20 Buick LeSabre model years from 1986 to 2005 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2000 (669). The fewest: the 1986 (16).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 LeSabre | 16 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1987 LeSabre | 40 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1988 LeSabre | 21 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1989 LeSabre | 27 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1990 LeSabre | 46 | 5 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1991 LeSabre | 30 | 4 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1992 LeSabre | 189 | 13 | 130,000 |
| 1993 LeSabre | 194 | 13 | 109,714 |
| 1994 LeSabre | 158 | 14 | 98,000 |
| 1995 LeSabre | 178 | 27 | 100,000 |
| 1996 LeSabre | 98 | 30 | 90,000 |
| 1997 LeSabre | 393 | 105 | 97,000 |
| 1998 (this page) | 400 | 173 | 69,100 |
| 1999 LeSabre | 209 | 80 | 70,706 |
| 2000 LeSabre | 669 | 348 | 59,515 |
| 2001 LeSabre | 328 | 201 | 61,000 |
| 2002 LeSabre | 310 | 218 | 60,000 |
| 2003 LeSabre | 164 | 119 | 50,000 |
| 2004 LeSabre | 162 | 126 | 63,000 |
| 2005 LeSabre | 77 | 59 | 52,000 |
1998 Buick LeSabre recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 1 recall campaign that names the 1998 Buick LeSabre. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 04V090000 | Feb 24, 2004 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 1998 LeSabre lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 1998 LeSabre.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 227 of the 400 complaints on the 1998 Buick LeSabre give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: LESABRE. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: LESABRE.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
1998 Buick LeSabre questions
How many miles will a 1998 Buick LeSabre last?
NHTSA holds 29 owner complaints on the 1998 Buick LeSabre that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 4 past 150,000 and 1 past 200,000. Of the 173 complaints on the 1998 Buick LeSabre that list mileage, the middle half came between 52,000 and 89,000 miles; 29 (17%) came after 100,000 miles, 4 (2%) after 150,000 and 1 (1%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 1998 LeSabre that never had one.
What are the most common 1998 Buick LeSabre problems?
NHTSA's file holds 400 owner complaints on the 1998 Buick LeSabre. Owners named engine cooling most often: 196 complaints, and half of the 104 that list a mileage came after 66,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 400 complaints, 15 report a crash, 43 report a fire and 7 report an injury (9 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 1998 Buick LeSabre a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1998 is a good or a bad LeSabre: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1998 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 400 complaints, the 1998 ranks 2nd of the 20 Buick LeSabre model years from 1986 to 2005 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2000 (669). The fewest: the 1986 (16).
How many recalls does the 1998 Buick LeSabre have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 1 recall campaign that names the 1998 Buick LeSabre. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 1998 Buick LeSabre before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 1998 Buick LeSabre.