Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue
When steering rack, gear or tie rod failure gets reported
Owners of the 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue report steering rack, gear or tie rod failure at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles, from 18 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 47,165 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
11% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42,275 miles | 57,500 miles | 68,324 miles | 81,240 miles | 89,440 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 $700–$2,600 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 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 25,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 80,000 miles.
By volume the 1998 carries the most reports, with 130; the 1999 has 39. 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 consumer states that the steering wheel feels very loose. The vehicle had been taken to the dealer and they replaced the steering shaft, problem reoccurred and it was replaced again. The consumer feels that the part was poorly designed. *mr * scc *nlm
While initiating a left turn in my 1999 oldsmobile intrigue the steering suddenly locked making it almost impossible to turn the wheel. There were no prior indications that a problem existed with the steering. The dealer has informed me that the steering gear (rack and pinion) needs to be replaced. With only 52,000 miles of mostly highway driving I logged onto the NHTSA web site to see if this is a common complaint among intrigue owners. It appears it is. In calling to solicit reduced prices for this $1200+ bill a number of dealers admitted that this was not an uncommon problem with intrigues and that it most often affected left turns. A safe steering mechanism is not something that should wear out with only 52,000 miles and the sudden nature of the failure, also a common complaint in your web site, is very concerning. *nlm
I have a serious problem when I turn left! Sometimes it will and most of the time I have to break a sweat. I had the power steering pump replaced and the problem still is there. I have found several different complaints and recalls of gm vehicles that have rack and pinion deficiencies. To get my rack and pinion replace it will cost me $600 for the part and ten hours of labor. Due to the fact that they have to remove the engine just to get to it. Now, I m a sergeant in the us army and I am stationed in germany. The closest thing I have to gm is an opel dealer. I spoke to oldsmobile and they say that they do not have any recalls or complaints about the rack and pinion on file. This is bs. Look at the NHTSA web site and you will find hundreds of them. Or just search for olds intrigue steering problems. I take care of my car and I keep up the services. I even had it sponsored by audiobahn doing car shows. I just want the right answers. Is this my problem or is it the manufactures? *nlm
Also reported on the 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Other steering problem
Oil leak
No-start or intermittent start failure
Alternator or charging system failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 39 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 steering rack, gear or tie rod failure happen on the 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue?
Across 18 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue?
39 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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