Total Complaints
3 filings
CHEVROLET CHEVROLET · model year
3 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1988CHEVROLETCHEVROLET carries 3 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1988 CHEVROLET is tires with 1 filings, followed by suspension:front (1) and electrical system:ignition:anti-theft:control module (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 49 investigation files overlapping the 1988 CHEVROLET, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
3 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| TIRES | 1 |
| SUSPENSION:FRONT | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:CONTROL MODULE | 1 |
I HAVE A 1997 MALIBU THAT THE THEFT SYSTEM COMES ON AT LEAST 3 TIMES A WEEK. THE DEALER WANTS $350.00 TO FIX IT. TODAY IT WENT OUT 2 TIMES IN A ROW. *TR
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
FRONT TIRE FELL OFF, CAUSING DAMAGE TO VEHICLE. (NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE REPORT)*SD
Loss of Motive Power due to the Battery Energy Control Module
Electric Vehicle Battery Fires
Outboard Front Seat Belt Anchor Cable Failure
Fuel Line Leak
Momentary Increased Steering Effort
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.