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 OK, maybe it's not the world's most exciting car but the Buick is a stylish, safe, reliable family car, right?
Perhaps, but those we hear from are upset about such shortcomings as engine problems, peeling paint, faulty window motors and all kinds of other shortcomings you'd never expect to find.
Jacob of Mcgregor TX (06/21/08)
Traction control Stability sytem fails. I have a 2005 Buick Terraza with 44000 miles while driving down the road the traction control kicks in and the van will slam on its brakes by itself. I took it to a local shop that charged me to look at then said he could not fix it i would have to take it to buick he also said this is common in this van. I looked up on the internet and found out lots of people have the same problem so I called buick they said there is no recall I told them they can look on the internet out of all the people haveing this problem. They told me to take it to a dealership I told him I do not have a 100.00 dollars to spend to have it just looked at I was told there is nothing they can do. SO I am stuck with a van that should be recalled because I am not the only one haveing this problem. BUICK SHOULD BE LIABLE FOR THIS . It could Kill someone thats must be what buick wants till they admit they made a mistake when they built these vans.
George of Urbana OH (05/04/08)
I called to complain that my 2007 Buick Lucerne after only 45000 miles had all four brake rotors warped. I felt that for the top of the line car the Lucerne is and for the high cost of the car, this was poor design that for such low mileage these would warp. I felt that they should replace my rotors under the 50000 mile warranty, in spite of the normal wear and tear clause.
Jeffrey of Cookeville TN (04/29/08)
97 buick park avenue stalled. Had towed to shop. Mechanic informed that intake gasket had failed and needed to be replaced. Cost to me was over $800.
over $800. Indepent mechanic later informed me that gm recommended engine/cooling system flush and replacing dexcool with traditional antifreeze. In April 2008 had to have radiator repair at a cost of over $230. Radiator repair technician informed me of class action lawsuit against GM due to use of dexcool coolant and design flaw in cooling system (overflow tank being located lower than intake, resulting in intake failure).
Judith of Independence MO (04/28/08)
I purchased a used 1999 Buick Century in 2000. Since that time I had to replace melted gaskets at over $400, the car continued to overheat and I continued to have it serviced although nothing could be found. Finally 2 1/2 years ago, I had to have the cylinders in the engine resurfaced to the tune of $1500 because of the overheating. I now own a 2005 LaSabre and pray it will not have the same problems. My son purchased the 1999 Buick Century from me and continues to have major overheating problems with it as well as radiator problems. I would very much like to be involved in any class action suit and so would my son. I have a friend who does to. Hopefully I will be contacted.
Ethel of Jersey City NJ (04/24/08)
I am financing a 2004 Buick Rendevenous, navigation systems, onstar, fully loaded that i purchased from Walsh Dodge, in Jersey City, NJ. My problem, 2 weeks since I purchase the suv, the check engine light came on. I have been to service for over 5 times. i was going at least every 2-3 weeks since september. i have not been since the end of januuary. They replace the gas cap, fixed a pin hole at buick service center. did this and did that, the light would stay off for a week or two and come back on. the light is still on right now. there may not be any major problem with the car, but i'm not sure. i asked for an equal trade the answer was no, i would have to pay the off the car and than refinance another car. the suv is nice, i like it but what about the check engine light, i don't know what to do. my family has brought over 5 cars from walsh dodge even when the company was daewoo we purchased cars, that how long it has been.
Bernie of Middleville MI (04/23/08)
ok I bought a used 1998 buick regal gs last summer 2007, I had it less then a month and had to replace the ignition switch, Christmas 2007 wife was shopping and had a pulley freeze up and took out four pulleys and two belts, new alternator, the wiper stop in the upright position, GM had same problem on the 1997 Buicks. Just had a recall on a intake manifold issue. and this morning, 4-23-08 water pump. so far in less then a years time I have put $1300.00 dollars into this car, I love the ride and preformance, but I feel GM knew about some of these issues and have ignored them. And they wonder why we Americans are buying cars the Japanese. I have many more issues with the car but I am just blowing off steam, I am sure nothing will every come of this. I just wish GM would fess up and help pay for things they screwed up.
Robert of Flushing MI (04/12/08)
Illuminated display showing the odometer, trip odometer, outside temperature and direction of travel is readable only part of the time. I have written to you twice plus had the service department at the Buick dealership attempt to make correction without correting the problem. A more complete explanation will come to you by U.S. mail. The vehicle is a 2007 Buick LaCrosse leased February 2007.
Carol of Yucaipa CA (04/11/08)
I have had to replace two windo motors on my buick regal, 2002, at 400.00 per window and now anotherone has gone out in the same year.dealer refuses to replace it at no charge this is defenatly a defect
Michael of Avon OH (04/07/08)
I have two GM vehicles. One is a 2002 Buick Century which cost me about 1000.00 to repair the intake gaskets that where damaged by the coolant. My other is a 2002 Express Van which is currently waiting for intake repairs from the coolant which rotted the gaskets
Reba of Carlsbad CA (04/06/08)
I have had to replace the intake manifold, because of loss of coolent, on my 1999 Buick century car and now I will have to replace again because the coolent has started leaking again. The odor inside and out side of the car is very strong. I did not buy extra insurance and in 2003 I was told by the Buick Dealer that I would be resposible for the repair, which I did have the small piece changed. I am a senior citizen and to have to keep paying thousands of dollars for this repair is very damaging to me.
Jackie of Grand Junction CO (04/04/08)
I bought my 2002 Buick Century in 2003. We have had to have the radiator flushed several times because of the gunk. Recently, the coolant light came on and my husband took the car in to have the radiator flushed again. The gentleman said he couldn't do it and that the car had an intake manifold leak. He said that GM cars have a problem with that due to the Dex product and that if we didn't address it immediately it would ruin the engine.
Florence of Belleville, Canada (04/04/08)
I have a 1998 Buick Century. I have paid $900 so far to fix the cooling system, manifold gaskets etc. It has been back two more times with leaks. It's in the shop right now. Dexcool sucks!!
Maxine of New Concord KY (04/03/08)
I bought my 2003 Buick in 2004, it had 14,000 miles on it. At 14,800 I had to have new rotors put on the front, dealer said it wasn't covered because someone rode the brakes and gas pedal at the same time, I have never done that. At 58,000 had to have gas tank fixed, it kept leaking. Since 58,000 my tail lights have not worked properly. I turn my left blinker on and the hazards come on, use my right blinker and brake light doesn't work. I just quit using my blikers. Now at 65,000 I just spent over $1000.00 getting a new manifold and gaskets put in. I will NEVER but another GM product!
David of Irwin PA (04/01/08)
I own a 2003 Buick Rendezvous and had the intake manifold gasket replaced and now have a blown head gasket. The vehicle has 77k miles on it! Dex Cool is the problem and the Dex Cool warranty listed in GM's manufacturer's booklet is false. I have filed a complaint with the PA Attorney General.
Connie of Pearl MS (03/29/08)
Got the letter about the upcomming recall cocerning the fire hazard on my Buck Regal about 10 days ago. Today my son drove my 1999 Buick Regal to school. After he tured the car off and went into the school it caught fire. Luckily, none of the students were hurt not any other structure, but my car is gone. Reported to Buick and waiting on a return call to be advised what to do.
Terry of Indianapolis IN (03/26/08)
The white paint on my 1997 Buick Century is peeling off, leaving huge grey circles. It looks terrible. Checking online, I see this is a fairly common problem with many Buicks of certain years. My family has always sworn by these cars. My mother drives a park avenue. But I'll think twice before ever buying another Buick.
Aleesha of Tallahassee FL (03/26/08)
i own a 2002 buick rendevous. because of dex cool my intake manifold gasket needs replacing. this is a $800-$1000 job. I am a auto parts delivery driver. every other day i pull into different shops and what do i see in the air, a buick. A buick rendevous is always in a shop. I ask why, they say intake manifold is leaking due to dex cool.
Richard of Wytheville VA (03/25/08)
My 1995 Buick Park Avenue upon starting with a loud explosion under the hood caught on fire immediately on the left side. The plastic manifold had exploded from a backfire. The car was in very good mechanical running condition and have not experience a backfire previously. This set the gas line on fire which is plastic going under the cowl over the heater spreading very rapidly. Also checking with a repair garage nearby, they had similiar problem a GM 3800 plastic manifold exploding ,only the holddown bolts was left. Also almost all of the GM 3800 engines have coolant leakage through the plastic manifold. There is several instances listed on NHTSA site.
Paul of Dighton MA (03/16/08)
Not only have I had the problem with the leaking oil situation in my 1998 Buick Regal GS, which could lead to a fire, but my Drivers Information Center (which tells you crucial information regarding the car) totally went out. I was told that this is a common thing to happen with a Buick Regal with either the center totally going out or dimming from time to time.
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Edward of Villa Park IL (03/15/08)
My car is leaking oil on the hot muffler but it is not the years for this recent recall 97-2007. Maybe it goes back to earlier models?
Michael of Burlington NC (03/05/08)
I do not feel that this 97 buick regal was right from the beginning when we bought it new from Galloway Buick In Greensboro NC mainly with the transmission but two years ago I had to have it rebuilt it was only 7-8 years old at a $2300.00 cost and just two years later it was back in the shop slipping again so the man kept it for two weeks and it is still picking up a p1870 code (tran. slipping) I have also had to replace my cat converter and after just 8 months it is having to be replaced again and the man says that if it has to be replaced again that it will be on me that he has had trouble with these 3.8 GM cars before my question is should not GM have to be responsable for these problems? from what I see on the computer others are having the same problems. waiting to hear back from you.
Edward of Dothan AL (02/27/08)
I own A 1998 Buick Park Avenue white in color and paint started pealing went by the dealership and spoke with assistant body shop mgr. who looked at the car and even took pictures and said that it was a factory defect due to improper prep. he emailed the pictures, I forwarded to buick who said that the car is too old for them to do anything. but GM has had a white paint problem for years its not just my car I have found and seen countless cars like mine with the same problem and in the same places (where the paint is pealing) GM should issue a recall. I got an est. to repaint which was $3000.00-$5000.00
Amy of Easton PA (02/18/08)
GM dealer in New Jersey sold us this car as GM CERTIFIED which we found is a trick by them.. Nothing is certified. The solenoid was bad, wipers didn't work (front and back), air conditioning didn't work, transmission problems.. (all this with 60,000 miles).. tricked us into buying a warranty that never covered anything.. now, it's the BCM.. we are getting stuck all the time.. , the radio goes on even when we don't put it on, there's a moan/groan in the front and rear when going 5 to 20 miles per hour, then we had to pay $1,000 for a head gasket..... etc... we often try to get GM to cover things, but they always refuse.. now we have gotten a recall letter re: fuel leak.. car has to be towed tomorrow to dealer. now it's 500 for the BCM , but who knows if that's really the problem.
Terry of Hemet CA (02/04/08)
I had warranty work done four to five times for the same thing and they say its fix but I always have to take it back.My warranty is almost up and I am tired of taking it back for the same problem.
Larry of Brush Prairie WA (10/10/07)
I drove my 2000 Buick Regal GSE to P.O. Box, UPS, and Lunch. Returned home after driving approx. 50 miles, parked car in front of garage at 3:45 PM. I began checking E-mail on computer. about 10 minutes after arriving home I heard an unusual noise outside. Went to door and saw smoke rolling under eaves and thought we had fire in garage. Checked garage and found no fire so went outside to find fire coming out grille of car and flames reflecting under car. Grabbed garden hose and started spraying thru grille and around hood. It continued to get worse and my wife brought a 10 lb. ABC fire extinguisher from the garage and I used it until empty. It did not stop fire but slowed damage until Firemen arrived ten -fifteen minutes later. They put foam on car and cut hood in half to access fire to put it out. I have no idea how fire started, as the car was running perfectly up until it burned. I checked on internet and found this engine package is under investigation in Pontiacs. It is the 3800 V6 with Supercharger. If the car would have been unoticed or parked in garage the damage would have been tremendous and could have led to loss of life. The fire makes the car not moveable because you can't get it out of park because wiring is shorted. The motor mounts, radiator, wiring, hoses, battery, grille, plastic, rubber, and aluminum parts are melted. Fenders, hood, are damaged, windsheild cracked. Because I heard the noise, we were handy and quickly called firemen, had large fire extinguisher handy, water hose available we avoided disaster. But the car is a total wreck. I will not be looking for another Buick even though I have bought several before for my business and personal use. Since GM uses this Engine package on several Cars, Chevy, Buick, and Pontiac I may not want a GM car again.
Engined fire destroyed car and estimate value at $8,000.00. It could have been easily $500,000 if it had destroyed our house and more if you value my wife and my life. I do value my family first and that is something should be done about these GM engines.
Patricia of Los Angeles CA (09/20/07)
I owned a 2004 Buick Raineer, my son was in accident while driving my car and the air bags did not deploy. My main concern is that why are this air bags installed in vehicles if they are not reliable.
Linda of Plantsville CT (03/27/07)
In August of 2005, my husband and I purchased a 2002 Buick Rendevous from this dealer. In Juky of 2006 the head gasket went leaving me to pay $1500 for repair and labor. This should not of happened on a 2002 car with only 42,000 miles. Just yesterday, march 26, I noticed quite a bit of anti freeze leaking from the passenger side under the car. Trying to nip this problem in the bud I brought car to closer Buick dealer, who said its my head gasket. I was shocked. ITs only been 7000 miles 8months since I sprang for the head gasket. Its now at the original dealer at Crowley. Its truly not their fault but they need to look into why this is happening on lots and lots of 2002 rendevous. I am guessing I will get this fixed at no cost to me. I hope so.
Economically Im out the original $1500 it cost to fix in first place when it should not have happened in first place, not to mention aggrevation in not having my car to drive, and having to go back and forth.
Paul of Shawnee KS (02/26/07)
In January 2002 I bought a new 2002 Buick Century with a 3.1 liter engine. I started seeing drips of radiator fliud on the garage floor at approx. 46,500 miles. It turned out to be the intake manifold gasket leaking in the back mostly. My mechanic said that he has seen many like that and was always surprised that GM did not issue a bulletin and have them replaced.
He said they were plastic and he did not think they were suitable for the temperature. The new replacements they sell now are of much better quality. I decided to have the gaskets replaced and when the intake manifold was removed they found that the aluminium heater tubing, that runs within the manifold and is pressed into the housing where it comes through and connects to the area near the thermostat, was also leaking. There was no way to fix this leak, so I had to purchase a new manifold. They also found that the water pump was leaking and needed to be replaced.
This, in my opinion, should not have happened at such low mileage. I then contacted the Buick divison customer service department. The lady answering took all the information and had me hold while she contacted a service technician. When he came online I relayed all this information to him. He said he was sorry for all the problems and asked what I expected GM to do about it since I was out of warranty.
I told him I was very disappointed to have this much repair costs at such a low mileage and I thought GM should bear some of the cost due to to what appeared to be poor quality parts on that engine.
David of Macomb MI (01/02/07)
Plastic Intact Manifold leaking on two Buick Century vehicles - 2000 Model Year with 45,000 miles each.
$600+ cost and time spent for repairs
Nicholas of Carrollton TX (12/15/06)
The 2002 Buick Rendevous is probably the worse vehicle anyone has ever built. I has had problems with the cluster several times, the tires only lasted for 18,000 miles (40,000 mile tires), the heater coil is leaking,the condensor is cracked (AC), the electric windows keep going out,only has 65,000 miles and it always needs repairs. A real piece of sh--.
Michael of Urbana IN (10/06/06)
Have had headlight problems, transmission problems, a/c problems, cd/dvd player problems, and now the windshield keeps chipping. We have had the vehicle in 7-8 times in the last year and they still haven't repaired the headlights. The auto turn on sometimes doesn't work, and when you manually turn on the headlights-the dash lights go out.
By having it in the shop so many times, we have had to borrow vehicles. The uncertainty of when the headlights are going to go out, and when they do, the dash lights don't work so you can't tell how fast you are going or anything.
Jesse of Winner SD (09/27/06)
I have a 97 Buick Riviera. It is supposed to be one of their greatest cars produced but with a huge flaw, in my case anyway. The car was awesome looking when I first bought it but about a year ago the paint started to have a white flakey taint underneath the black gloss. Its everywhere. This year however it completely took over my car. Im embarrassed to drive it. Its a sound, safe and fast car but it looks like i just purchased it off the reservation. I asked a paint shop what they thought and said the primer was bad and that they've had plenty of people with the same problem from GM. Buick wont even acknowledge my car has a problem. Thanks for your service GM. Im switching to Ford....
Don of Palos Verdes CA (05/17/05)
1999 Buick Park Avenue - Beware of plastic parts on engines! The PLASTIC intake manifold failed while traveling at high speed. The cost to replace the manifold at the Los Angeles dealer is 1405.00. I was unawre that Buick used plastic parts in a critical area. This is the standard 3.8 litre engine that is used in thousands of GM cars. The Buick dealer stated that about 1 manifold a month is replaced at his shop.
Marney of Ellisville MO (01/25/05)
I was rearended while stopped at a red light. I was then pushed into the car in front of me. Both the lady in the car in front of me and myself had to be transported to the emergency room.
The safety belt on my 1997 Buick LeSabre Ltd did not hold me back during the collision and I was thrown face first into my steering wheel. This resulted in a badly broken nose, severe facial contusions and bruises.
I am told by Buick dealer repair personnel that one must be traveling 25 miles per hour in order for seat belts to lock and hold the driver back. The seat belts on both the driver and the passenger side of my car pull out and can almost reach to the windshield when the car is not being driven and while driving it.
I have also discussed this accident with others who have been involved in a similar accident in other auto makes. They stated that their seat belts did hold them back and that they did not sustain injuries.
I feel that the safety belts on the 1997 Buick LeSabre are defective and that they should be recalled and properly reinstalled.
My automobile was repaired, but I am reluctant to drive it because of the issue with the safety belt not working.
I have had one surgery on my nose, and another forthcoming in February to attempt to straighten my nose and return its function (breathing) The initial injury as well as the surgeries are very painful. I will be unable to resume my normal activities for about 3 - 4 months after the accident. This could have been prevented had the safety belt not been defective.
Sharon of Palatine IL (06/09/03)
A plastic part in my 1998 Buick LeSabre engine has been warping due to heat from the engine. Coolant leaks through the warped part into the gas line and has caused major damage to my engine. My mechanic got this information from a contact at General Motors who said this is a common problem with Buick and GM is not making it known.
The engine needs major repairs (estimated$1500.00) and could have caused me grave danger because the car stalls when in motion.
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