Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure on the 1998 Buick Regal
When ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure gets reported
Owners of the 1998 Buick Regal report ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure at a median of 60,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 30,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 95,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 64,055 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
25% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28,615 miles | 45,750 miles | 62,000 miles | 69,525 miles | 92,670 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2011, at a median of 40,000 miles, and latest on the 1997 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2004 carries the most reports, with 35; the 1998 has 8. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
The air conditioner blower and the headlights did not work properly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they replaced the ignition switch, the air conditioner blower switch and the resistor. *ak while traveling on the highway at 45 MPH with the blower on at a low speed, without warning it would shut off along with the headlights. This problem repeated. The consumers daughter had the same vehicle and experienced the same problem. Gm stated that there were no other instances reported. *scc the circuit board for the blower resistor burned up, which caused other componets to fail. *jb
Intermittently while driving and turning to the right or left vehicle stalled. Vehicle was taken to dealer, and dealer could not duplicate or correct the problem. Independent repair shop replaced the ignition switch, and vehicle was working fine. *ak vehicle also stalls when slowing down for a complete stop. Consumer has to shift vehicle to neutral in order vehicle to restart.
While driving at 25 MPH the vehicle stalled when the left turn signal was engaged. The vehicle was restarted, but lost power brakes and steering within 5 seconds. The consumer was able to pull to the side of the road and engage the emergency brakes. Following this, the consumer restarted the vehicle and drove home. The vehicle stalled again while the consumer was pulling into the driveway. The vehicle was then towed to a dealership, who indicated that this failure was caused by a bad ignition switch. The ignition switch was replaced. *ak *sc *jb
Also reported on the 1998 Buick Regal
Other engine problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other steering problem
Tail light, brake light or signal failure
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure happen on the 1998 Buick Regal?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure on the 1998 Buick Regal?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed