1998 BUICK REGAL Complaints

MY SISTER BOUGHT NEW THE 1998 BUICK REGAL; IN 2002 SHE DIED AND WILLED HER CAR TO ME. IT HAS BEEN A GREAT CAR EXCEPT: IN SEPT. 2007, AFTER A SHORT DRIVE, I PARKED THE CAR IN OPEN DRIVEWAY, AND WALKED TO HOUSE; MINUTES LATER MY HUSBAND, NEARBY, SAW SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. HE OPENED IT AND POURED WATER TO EXTINGUISH THE VISIBLE FIRE ON THE MANIFOLD. IT TOOK OVER A MONTH FOR THE NEAREST MECHANIC - WE LIVE IN A RURAL AREA AN HOUR FROM THE NEAREST REPUTABLE BUICK DEALER - TO REPAIR. HE HAD TO TRY EVERYTHING BECAUSE IT WAS NOT APPARENT WHY THE FIRE STARTED (REPLACED SPARK PLUGS AND WIRES THAT WERE BURNED, CHANGED COOLANT JUST IN CASE, CHECKED EVERYTHING, ETC). THEN IN APRIL I RECEIVED THE RECALL NOTICE FROM BUICK STATING EXACTLY THIS PROBLEM. I DID WHAT THEY SAID: SENT IN ALL RECEIPTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT, ASKING FOR THE COST OF REPAIRS ONLY TOTALING $677. MEANWHILE, I ALSO WENT TO THE DEALER 1 HOUR AWAY AND THEY REPLACED THE FAULTY GASKET. NOW THEY SAY THEY WILL GIVE ME $300 MAX (SAYING THAT SOME STATUE OF LIMITATIONS HAS RUN OUT AND THEY ARE ONLY DOING THIS AS A COURTESY, NOT AN OBLIGATION). I AM WONDERING IF I HAVE ANY OTHER RECOURSE TO GETTING THE FULL COMPENSATION, AS THEY HAD PROMISED IN THE RECALL NOTICE. AS I SEE FROM OTHERS ON YOUR WEBSITE, THE FIRE COULD HAVE BEEN FAR WORSE, AND IT ALSO COULD HAVE HAPPENED AGAIN. DOESN'T GM TAKE A LITTLE MORE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENDANGERING PEOPLE'S LIVES, THAN A MERE $300? AWAITING YOUR REPLY. GLORIA MCLEAN, ANDES, NY. *TR

VEHICLE GOING DEAD, WOULD INITIALLY (THIS STARTED ABOUT A MONTH AGO) RESTART AND RUN FINE UNTIL IT WENT DEAD AGAIN. SPEED DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A FACTOR, GOES DEAD AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND WHEN BRAKING TO STOP AT INTERSECTIONS. THIS IS UNBELIEVABLY DANGEROUS. SOMETIMES THE GAUGES AND DASH LIGHTS WILL MOVE ON THEIR OWN, SOMETIMES NOT. FOUR DAYS AGO, AT A LOCAL GARAGE, THE CAR WOULD NOT RE-START. TODAY IT STARTED AND THEN WENT DEAD (I MAY BE MISTAKEN ON THIS, BUT THE KEY ACTUALLY FELT LIKE IT WAS HEATING UP) ON THE WAY TO YET ANOTHER GARAGE, WOULD NOT RE-START AND HAD TO BE TOWED. SO FAR NO-ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO FIND A PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN ON A DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER TWICE, BOTH TIMES IT SHOWED NO HISTORY AND NO PROBLEM. *TR

MY CAR IS CURRENTLY EXHIBITING THE EXACT SAME FAILURES THAT ARE ALREADY LISTED ON NHTSA FOR MY MAKE, MODEL & YEAR. HOWEVER, THEY SAY MY VIN# IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL.....EVEN THOUGH I AM EXPERIENCING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM LISTED! IT IS ACTION #EA03019 CAMPAIGN# 03V527000. PLEASE I NEED HELP BEFORE I HAVE A CRASH.....*TR

I WAS DRIVING I SMELLED SMOKE THEN I SEEN SMOKE I GOT OUT THE CAR SEEN SMALL FIRE UNDER THE CAR THEN IT EXPLODED INTO A BALL OF FIRE. *TR

MY VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE IN NOVEMBER 2007, THE FIRE WAS STARTED IN THE ENGINE ON THE MANIFOLD. THE FIRE DEPT RESPONDED TO THE FIRE AND CALLED THE VEHICLE A TOTAL LOSS. A FIRE REPORT WAS WRITTEN AT THAT TIME AS TO THE EVENTS LEADING TO THE FIRE ETC. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL SALVAGE YARD AND SCRAPED FOR METAL. I ONLY HAD LIABILITY INSURANCE SO THE VEHICLE WAS NOT COVERED. THE VEHICLE WAS BURNT SO BADLY THAT I HAD TO GET IT OFF THE STREET DIRECTLY AFTER THAT,MARCH 2008 I RECEIVED A SAFETY RECALL STATING IF I HAD 98 BUICK REGAL GS THAT IT WASN'T SAFE TO DRIVE BECAUSE THE ENGINES WERE CATCHING FIRE DUE TO FAULTY GASKETS ON THE MANIFOLD. I CALLED GM AND TOLD THEM THAT HAD HAPPENED TO MY VEHICLE AND ASKED IF THEY WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE? GM TOLD ME TO SEND THEM THE FIRE REPORT AND A LETTER STATING WHO TOWED THE BURNT CAR AND WHERE IT WENT SO I DID WHAT THEY ASKED. ONCE GM GOT THE FIRE REPORT PROVING THAT IS WHERE THE FIRE STARTED THEN THEY TOLD ME THEY NEEDED PICS OF THE BURNT ENGINE WHICH THEY KNEW I COULDN'T PROVIDE BECAUSE I NO LONGER HAVE THE CAR AND AT THE TIME IT BURNT I WASN'T AWARE OF THE RECALL SO I DIDN'T TAKE PICS OR SAVE THE CAR FOR VIEWING. GM ISN'T GOING TO COMPENSATE ME FOR MY LOSS AND ITS THEIR FAULT. THE FIRE REPORT PROVES THEIR RECALL IS WHY I NO LONGER HAVE A CAR. PLEASE HELP ME! *TR

1998 BUICK REGAL SAFETY RECALL THAT COULD RESULT IN A FIRE. CONSUMER STATES THAT SHE WOULD LIKE REIMBURSEMENT FOR RENTING A CAR TO GO ON VACATION, WHILE HER CAR WAS IN THE SHOP FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. *KB THE DEALER DID NOT HAVE THE PARTS AVAILABLE. *JB

THIS CAR HAS HAD NUMEROUS PROBLEMS, NOTED BY MANY OWNERS. RUSTED PAINT OVER REAR WHEEL WELLS. I CANNOT COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES I HAVE HAD TO GET THE TURN SIGNALS FIXED. I HAD TO REPLACE THE ABS SYSTEM THIS SPRING. NOW I AM TOLD I HAVE A CRACKED MANIFOLD. THE HEATING DISPLAY ON THE DASHBOARD HAS NOT WORKED FOR THREE YEARS: WE MANIPULATE THE HEAT/ AIR BY TRIAL AND ERROR. I HAD A "CHECK ENGINE SOON" LIGHT PROBLEM THAT REQUIRED NUMEROUS COMPUTER SCANS, AND WOULD ONLY BE FIXED FOR A MONTH OR TWO AT A TIME. THE WINDOW BUTTONS ARE FAILING. THE CAR DRIVES WELL, BUT HOW MUCH MORE MONEY IS IT REASONABLE TO PUT INTO? IT HAS 138, 00 MILES, AND HAS BEEN SERVICED EVERY 3000 MILES. IT SHOULD BE GOOD FOR ANOTHER 60, 000 MILES. AFTER READING THE COMPLAINTS, IT SEEMS I WILL ONLY BE WASHING MY MONEY. IS THE CRACKED MANIFOLD RELATED TO THE REPORTED FIRES?

I JUST REVIEW YOUR "COMPLAINT" SEGMENT. I FOUND NO FEWER THAN 8 COMPLAINTS RELATIVE TO OWNERS OF 1998 BUICK REGALS EXPERIENCING THE VERY SAME AND DANGEROUS PROBLEM WITH THEIR VEHICLES. I.E. THE CAR DYING WHEN THE TURN SIGNAL STICK IS ACTUATED. WHY IS THERE NO RECALL SINCE THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION? THERE WERE OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS VEHICLE DYING WHILE IN MOTION. IF ONE OF YOUR STAFF MEMBERS WERE INJURED OR KILLED, WOULD THIS BE A BETTER REASON TO NUDGE GM TO DO A VOLUNTARY RECALL FOR THOSE AFFECTED WITH THIS PROBLEM? I JUST WANT TO BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE CARES. SINCERELY. JOSEPH WOJCIECHOWSKI *TR

1998 BUICK REGAL GS, PROBLEM EVIDENT FOR THE LAST 10, 000 MILES. WHEN USING THE TURN SIGNAL STICK, CAR EXPERIENCES A "DEAD SHORT" AND ENGINE SHUTS DOWN WHILE CAR IS ROLLING. CAR BECOMES WORSE AS CAR IS DRIVEN FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. DEALER SAID HE COULD NOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. IT IS INTERMITTENT, BUT EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. ON MY LAST RIDE(4/21/2008), THE VEHICLE CONSISTENTLY EXPERIENCED A CUT OFF OF POWER AND IF I HAD NOT MOVED THE TURN SIGNAL STALK TO ITS NEUTRAL POSITION, I AM SURE THE CAR WOULD HAVE STALLED WHILE STILL IN MOTION, REDUCING AND/OR ELIMINATING POWER STEERING AND BRAKE FUNCTIONS. THE PROBLEM STARTED AT ABOUT 75,000 MILES. HAVE THERE BEEN OTHER COMPLAINTS? *TR

1998 BUICK REGAL LS (3.8 NON-SUPERCHARGED) WAS DRIVEN ABOUT 5-10 MILES FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY. CAR WAS THEN PARKED, DRIVER ENTERED DESTINATION ESTABLISHMENT, THEN QUESTIONED IF CAR WAS THEIRS, AND WITHIN 10 MINUTES OF CAR BEING SHUT OFF, A FIRE ENGULFED THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. FIRE WAS PUT OUT BY LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. NO INJURIES AND NO OTHER BY STANDING VEHICLE DAMAGE. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THIS IS RELATED TO THE 3.8 SUPERCHARGED GRAND PRIX & REGAL RECALL THAT IS ONLINE AT NHTSA (08V-118). VEHICLE IS NOT REPAIRABLE. VEHICLE HAD 166,000 MILES AND 1500 SINCE LAST OIL CHANGE. RECALL SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE NON-SUPERCHARGED 3.8L ENGINES OF SAME TYPE. *TR