2004 BUICK RAINIER Complaints

I JUST BOUGHT A BUICK RAINIER 2004. I WAS DRIVING IT AND STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT AND THE SPEEDOMETER NEVER WENT BACK TO 0.TOOK IT TO A SHOP AND THEY TRIED TO RESET IT . NO LUCK . THE SHOP TOLD ME THAT THEY HAVE GOTTEN A LOT OF THEM WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. MUST HAVE IT TAKEN OUT AND SENT TO BE FIXED. I THINK THIS IS A SAFETY PROBLEM IT ITS HAPPENING TO A LOT OF CARS AND SUVS.IS THEIR ANY RECALL ON THIS .WILL THEIR BE ANY RECALLS ON THIS .I WENT ON LINE AND READ A LOT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM I AM HAVING . CAN YOU ADVISE ME WHAT TO DO .THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. *TR

THE GAUGE CLUSTER WORKS SOMETIME. THE ONLY GAUGE THAT WORKS PROPERLY IS THE SPEED. THERE SEEMS TO BE A SHORT. TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SEEM TO THINK THE CLUSTER IS BAD BUT AREN'T 100% SURE SENSE IT WORKS SOMETIME. THERE HAS BEEN A COUPLE OF TIMES THAT I HAVE BEEN DRIVING AND HAVE LOST ALL ELEC COMPONENTS (NO RADIO, NO POWER WINDOWS LOCKS, OR ANY OF THE GAUGES) AFTER READING IM NOT THE ONLY ONE HAVING THE SAME KIND OF PROBLEMS. *TR

THIS IS MY SECOND COMPLAINT RISING FROM THE SAME ISSUE, I OWN TWO 2004 BUICK RAINIER'S AND THEY BOTH HAVE HAD AN ISSUE WITH THE LOW BEAM HEADLAMP BULB AND CONNECTOR BEING MELTED DUE TO POOR CONNECTION. THIS IS A COSTLY REPAIR SINCE THE GM PARTS CATALOG DOES NOT LIST A REPLACEMENT CONNECTOR, THEY WOULD RATHER SELL THE ENTIRE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY. THE FIRST COMPLAINT OCCURRED ON MY OTHER RAINIER NOW THIS ONE. NO HEADLAMP IS A SAFETY CONCERN, AND DUE TO THE WIRING OVERHEATING AND MELTING COULD BE A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD.*TR

I OWN TWO 2004 BUICK RAINIER'S AND HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE WITH BOTH, ALSO HAVE TALKED TO MANY FRIENDS THAT HAD THE SAME ISSUE. THE ISSUE IS THAT THE HEADLAMP BULB CONNECTORS ARE MELTING WHERE THEY PLUG INTO THE BULB, CAUSING INTERMITTENT OR NO FUNCTION AT ALL OF THE HEADLAMP. WHEN TRYING TO FIND A NEW CONNECTOR FOR THE BULB I WAS TOLD I WOULD HAVE TO BUY THE ENTIRE HEADLAMP HOUSING ASSEMBLY, WHICH IS QUITE EXPENSIVE. I KNOW THERE ARE MORE CASES OUT THERE WITH THIS AS AN ISSUE, AS GM USES THESE TYPE OF CONNECTORS ON THE CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER, GMC ENVOY, OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA, AND THE BUICK RAINIER. I THINK THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED BECAUSE IT IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE MATERIALS. *TR

WHILE I WAS DRIVING DOWN A RURAL ROAD DOING ABOUT 35 TO 40 MPH THE SPEED SUDDENLY FROZE AT 40 AND IT NO LONGER MOVES. I'M CURRENTLY A DRIVER FOR THE CITY AND THIS IS A COMPLETE HAZARD WHEN DRIVING AND CAN'T DETERMINE YOUR SPEED. I WAS VERY AFRAID DUE TO THE FACT I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS HAPPEN TO ME WHICH OCCURRED IN THE PROCESS OF ACCELERATION . WHEN I FINALLY LOOKED DOWN MY SPEED SAID 90 WHICH I KNEW FOR A FACT I WASN'T GOING THAT FAST AT ALL ONCE THE VEHICLE GOT STUCK ON 40 IT NEVER CAME BACK DOWN. SOMEONE REALLY NEEDS TO REVISE THIS SITUATION WITH THIS VEHICLE SINCE THIS PROBLEM IS VERY COMMON WHERE'S THE RECALL ON THIS. *TR

THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT I'VE RESEARCHED EXTENSIVELY ON LINE AND THROUGH PARTS REPLACEMENT . I BOUGHT THE SUV AT THE END OF 2012 AND IT STARTED DOING THIS A COUPLE OF WEEKS AFTER PURCHASED.WHEN SLOWING TO TURN WHILE BREAKING IT HAS A REAL BAD CLUNK AND IT WON'T TURN IT CAUSED ME TO ALMOST RUN INTO THE DITCH .I HAVE REPLACED THE CHAIN IN THE TRANSFER CASE AND ALSO BOTH WHEEL BEARINGS AND SPEED SENSORS AND REPLACED THE FLUID SEVERAL TIMES . FROM WHAT I READ ONLINE THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM , WHICH I THINK IS VERY DANGEROUS AND COULD VERY EASILY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT OR DEATH IF SOMETHING ISN'T DONE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. IT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ONLY HIGH MILEAGE VEHICLES THAT ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM AND IT SHOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF BY THE MANUFACTURER GM. I CAN'T AFFORD TO KEEP PUMPING MONEY INTO THIS YARD ORNAMENT.! COME ON GM STEP UP AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT OR KILLED. *TR

DRIVING ON A CITY STREET- SPEED LIMIT OF 35 MPH MY METER READ 75 MPH. I PUT MY GPS SYSTEM ON TO MONITOR MY MPH. AT TRAFFIC LIGHT WHILE IDLING THE METER READ 45 MPH. 2004 BUICK RAINIER HAD BEEN SITTING OUTSIDE FOR 3 DAYS WITH THE TEMPERATURE IN THE 20'S AND THIS WAS THE 1ST TIME I HAD DRIVEN IT. TRIED ACCELERATING AND STOPPING A LITTLE SUDDENLY HOPING TO JOLT THE METER BACK TO NORMAL. NO RESULTS. PARKED FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES, STARTED THE CAR AND IT BEGAN TO REGISTER AT 65 MPH WHEN DRIVING 35 MPH PER GPS. IDLING READ 25 MPH. AFTER MORE STOPS AND RESTARTS THE IDLE SPEED WOULD READ JUST BELOW 20 MPH. CALLED ONSTAR FOR A DIAGNOSTIC AND THEY CONNECTED ME WITH GMC TECH. THEY WERE GOING TO TRY AND RESET THE SPEEDOMETER BUT FOUND OUT IT COULD NOT BE DONE AND WANTED ME TO GO TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP. I WAS 400 MILES FROM HOME AND INSTEAD CONTACTED MY DEALERSHIP AT HOME. I WAS INFORMED THAT THIS IS AN ONGOING COMPLAINT ABOUT 2004 RAINIERS AND THAT I SHOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE TRAVELING HOME IN 2 DAYS AND THAT MY SPEED CONTROL SHOULD WORK FINE. I AM VERY DISPLEASED THAT THE GMC TECH DID NOT CONVEY THIS INFORMATION TO ME KNOWING THAT I WAS TRAVELING AND WAS CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY. THE NEXT DAY I DROVE ABOUT 30 MINUTES PARKED THE CAR FOR 1 1/2 HOURS AND WHEN I STARTED DRIVING THEN THE SPEEDOMETER WAS BACK TO NORMAL. GOOGLED THIS PROBLEM AND FOUND MANY COMPLAINTS AND STORIES JUST AS MINE AND FOUND OUT THE THERE HAS BEEN NO RECALL BECAUSE THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE PROBLEM. SHAME SHAME SHAME ON BUICK!!! I HAVE SINCE VISITED MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND WILL BE HAVING A CLUSTER REPLACED NEXT WEEK. S. SO CONSIDER THIS A COMPLAINT ABOUT 2004 BUICK RAINIER AND A COMPLAINT ABOUT GMC TECH HANDLING OF WHAT I CONSIDER A SAFETY ISSUE. I INTEND TO TRADE IN A YEAR OR TWO - BUT AT THAT TIME I WILL CERTAINLY RECONSIDER PURCHASING A GMC AND/OR BUICK. *TR

IT IS A KNOWN FACT BY BUICK/GM THAT THERE IS A MAJOR ISSUE WITH THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/ELECTRICAL MAKE UP OF THIS VEHICLE. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING OF ELECTRICAL ISSUES WITH THEIR VEHICLE, FIRST AND FOREMOST IS THE FAILURE OF THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. FROM WHAT WE HAVE DEDUCTED SO FAR, THIS IS AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE STEMMING FROM A GROUND SHORT NEAR THE RADIO. WE JUST CAN'T PINPOINT IT YET. SOME DAYS THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WORKS, SOME NOT. USUALLY STARTS WORKING ON A WET DAY - INDICATING THE GROUND SHORT. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT RECALLING THIS, OTHER THAN THEY REALIZE HOW MANY WOULD BE INVOLVED. I SPENT THOUSANDS ON THIS VEHICLE AND NOW GM WILL NOT BACK THEIR PRODUCT. THE PROBLEM DIDN'T START UNTIL AFTER THE WARRANTY WAS PAST, SURPRISE SURPRISE. I HAVE TO USE A GPS SYSTEM WITH A SPEEDOMETER TO AVOID SPEEDING/GETTING FINED. ALL THE DEALERSHIPS AGREE - THE HOURS OF LABOR TO RESOLVE THIS ARE BEYOND MY POCKETBOOK. STEP UP AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR FAULT IN THIS, GM. NOW. *TR

AFTER DRIVING FOR A APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR AT 65-70 MPH ON THE INTERSTATE THE SPEEDOMETER READING DROPS OFF FROM 70 EVENTUALLY DOWN TO 0 MPH. UPON STOPPING AND RESTARTING THE ENGINE AT A REST STOP THE SPEEDOMETER RETURNS TO AN ACCURATE READING FOR A SHORT WHILE. I RELIED ON MY GARMIN GPS TO GIVE ME A SPEED APPROXIMATION WHEN THE SPEEDOMETER WENT OUT COMPLETELY. RELYING ON A ACCURATE SPEEDOMETER IS A CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUE ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT. WITHOUT THE GPS GIVING ME A SPEED READING IT WOULD BE NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO JUDGE A SAFE SPEED IN THE DARKNESS ON A ROAD ILLUMINATED ONLY BY MY HEADLIGHTS. THIS DEFECT MUST BE SIMILAR TO OTHER MODELS IN THE GM FAMILY, TRAILBLAZER AND ENVOY. IF ONE PERSON WERE TO RELY ON THIS FAULTY SPEEDOMETER THEY MIGHT THINK THEY WERE DRIVING 40 WHEN IN ACTUALITY THEY COULD BE DRIVING IN EXCESS OF 70. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK RAINER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER TURNING THE VEHICLE OFF AND REMOVING THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION, THE ENGINE BLOWER CONTINUED RUNNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE WIRES FOR THE HEATER BLOWER WERE BURNED OUT. THE MECHANIC ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT THE FAILURE COULD HAVE CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO CATCH ON FIRE. THE CONTACT THEN SPOKE TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS FOR THE ISSUE. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 105,000.