2001 BUICK REGAL Complaints

SINCE TWO OF THE FOUR TIRES HAVE NOW FAILED I WILL SUBMIT TWO COMPLAINTS, ONE FOR EACH TIRE. GOODYEAR VIVA 2 TIRES BOUGHT FROM WALMART ON MAY 31, 2011. P225/60R16 97S DOT MDX0 H6HP 1911 TIRES FOR MY 2001 BUICK REGAL. AFTER ALMOST A YEAR I NOTICED THE CAR WAS NOT RIDING SMOOTHLY SO I TOOK IT IN TO GET THE TIRES BALANCED. THE TIRE MAN SHOWED ME THAT THERE WAS A TREAD ISSUE ON A TIRE, SO ON MAY 9, 2012 I BOUGHT A REPLACEMENT VIVA 2 TIRE. THE FAILED TIRE HAD LESS THAN A YEAR AND 17,601 MILES ON IT. RECENTLY WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY ANOTHER OF THE INITIAL VIVA 2 TIRES BLEW OUT (SAME DOT CODE). THIS TIRE WAS ABOUT 26 MONTHS OLD WITH 31,440 MILES ON IT. *TR

I AM AN AUTO MECHANIC AND LATER AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER AND I ALWAYS KEEP MY TIRES PROPERLY INFLATED WITH ROUTINE BALANCING, ROTATION AND ALIGNMENTS. IN OVER 30 YEARS OF DRIVING I HAD NEVER HAD A TIRE ISSUE BEYOND THE OCCASIONAL FLAT UNTIL I BOUGHT A SET OF GOODYEAR VIVA 2 TIRES FROM WALMART ON MAY 31, 2011. P225/60R16 97S DOT MDX0 H6HP 1911 TIRES FOR MY 2001 BUICK REGAL. AFTER ALMOST A YEAR I NOTICED THE CAR WAS NOT RIDING SMOOTHLY SO I TOOK IT IN TO GET THE TIRES BALANCED. THE TIRE MAN SHOWED ME THAT THERE WAS A TREAD ISSUE ON A TIRE, SO ON MAY 9, 2012 I BOUGHT A REPLACEMENT VIVA 2 TIRE. THE FAILED TIRE HAD LESS THAN A YEAR AND 17,601 MILES ON IT. RECENTLY WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY ANOTHER OF THE INITIAL VIVA 2 TIRES BLEW OUT (SAME DOT CODE). THIS TIRE WAS ABOUT 26 MONTHS OLD WITH 31,440 MILES ON IT. I STILL HAVE THIS TIRE IF YOU WANT TO INSPECT IT. *TR

DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND IT STALLS- REPLACED THE FUEL PUMP- FUEL FILTER- SPARK PLUGS AND IT STILL STALLS- SEEMS TO BE A NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ON THIS AND NO CODES COME UP WHEN HOOKED TO A COMPUTER. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 BUICK REGAL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 35 MPH, THE ENGINE OVERHEATED. THE CONTACT STATED HE PULLED THE VEHICLE OVER, LET THE VEHICLE SIT, AND ADDED COOLANT BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE WHERE IT WAS FOUND THAT A BLOWN HEAD GASKET MAY HAVE CAUSED THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND STATED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 09V116000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING) HAD EXPIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 125,000.

AFTER RETURNING HOME FROM SHOPPING, ROUGHLY 20 MILE DRIVE, I PARKED THE CAR IN OUR ATTACHED 3 CAR GARAGE. I WENT INSIDE, VISITED BRIEFLY WITH MY HUSBAND, FIXED A SALAD AND WAS EATING WHEN I HEARD A NOISE. AS I OPENED THE DOOR FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE GARAGE, I FOUND THE GARAGE WAS FULL OF SMOKE AND CALLED 911. I ESTIMATE THE TIME FROM SHUTTING OFF THE CAR UNTIL WE CALLED 911 TO BE 10 TO 15 MINUTES. AS FAR AS I KNOW, THE VEHICLE IS NOT UNDER RECALL BASED ON THE GM WEB SITE LISTING RECALLS BY VIN; HOWEVER, OUR EXPERIENCE SURE SOUNDS VERY SIMILAR TO THE INVESTIGATIONS THAT RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT RECALLS OF SIMILAR MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR VEHICLES. THIS VEHICLE DID HAVE A SERVICE NOTICE THAT PAID FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER ROUGHLY 2 YRS AGO. THE CAR WAS RUNNING ROUGH 6 MOS PRIOR TO THE FIRE. REPAIRS WERE MADE AT THE GM DEALERSHIP WHERE WE PURCHASED THE CAR. REPAIRS SEEMED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. THE FIRE DESTROYED THE BUICK AND THE CAR PARKED NEXT TO IT. THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO THE 3RD CAR. ALL GARAGE CONTENTS WERE LOST. WE ARE OUT OF OUR HOUSE AND WILL BE LIVING IN AN APT FOR 6 MONTHS. THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO OUR HOME, $100K PLUS. OUR INSURANCE COMPANY SENT A FIRE INVESTIGATOR. GM SENT A FIRE INVESTIGATOR. WE HAVE NOT SEEN EITHER REPORT. *TR

2001 BUICK REGAL. CONSUMER STATES ODOMETER STOPS WHEN CLUSTER PANEL LIGHT GOES OUT *TGW

DURING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE DISCOVERED THAT THE FRONT RHS STEERING SPINDLE TO TIE-ROD ATTACHMENT LUG HAD CRACKED THROUGH ONE SIDE OF THE LUG. SPINDLE IS FABRICATED FROM CAST ALUMINUM. FATIGUE CRACK INITIATION FROM INCLUSION OR POTENTIAL CASTING DEFECT WAS APPARENT BEFORE FAILURE. PART NUMBER AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CRACKED SURFACE ARE AVAILABLE. *TR

I WENT ON LUNCH, ON MY FIRST DAY OF WORK NONE THE LESS, BUT I PARKED MY CAR IN THE PARKING GARAGE AFTER GOING TO THE LOCAL MCDONALDS AND WENT IN AND ATE. AND FROM WHAT I'M TOLD THE FIRE WAS NOTICED FIRST AT AROUND 1240PM AND I HAD GOTTEN BACK AT 1235 SO IT LITTERALLY HAPPENED WITH IN MINUTES OF ME GETTING BACK. BY THE TIME THE FIREFIGHTERS GOT IT OUT THE WHOLE ENGINE AND FRONT END WAS BASICALLY MELTED . *TR

TL- THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 BUICK REGAL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED UNDER NHTSA RECALL CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 09V116000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING) TO PREVENT THE ROCKER COVER GASKET FROM LEAKING OIL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT SHORTLY AFTER RECEIVING THE RECALL REPAIRS, THE VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE FROM THE ENGINE. THE CONTACT BELIEVED THAT THE RECALL REPAIR WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT ENCOUNTERED A FAILURE PRIOR TO THE RECALL REPAIRS. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGES WERE UNKNOWN. KMJ

I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL WHO IN TURN REFERRED ME TO YOU (NHTSA). HOWEVER, I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH NHTSA TWO WEEKS BEFORE I FILED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. HERE IS A COPY OF THE COMPLAINT: MY 2001 BUICK REGAL CAUGHT ON FIRE IN AUGUST 2011 AFTER A SHORT DRIVE TO THE GAS STATION. IN APRIL 2009, BUICK ISSUED A SAFETY RECALL ON MY CAR STATING THERE HAVE BEEN ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES. I WAS TOLD I WAS ENTITLED TO A "FREE" AND "EFFECTIVE" REMEDY FOR MY CAR. I TOOK MY CAR TO [XXX]TO HAVE THE "FIX" COMPLETED ON JANUARY 14, 2010. THE REPAIR WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT "EFFECTIVE" AS MY CAR STILL CAUGHT ON FIRE JUST AS DESCRIBED IN THE RECALL. I CALLED BUICK AND FILED A CLAIM WHICH WAS DENIED WITHOUT ANYONE COMING TO LOOK AT MY CAR OR ANYTHING. THE CLAIMS DEPARTMENT STATED THAT THEY WERE DENYING MY CLAIM BECAUSE THE CALIFORNIA BREACH OF WARRANTY STATUTE WAS UP AND THEY ONLY HAD TO FIX THE CAR IF IT WAS WITHIN THE FIRST FOUR YEARS FROM THE DATE THE CAR WAS ORIGINALLY PURCHASED. THIS MAKES NO SENSE AS THE SAFETY RECALL WAS ISSUED EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE CAR WAS ORIGINALLY PURCHASED. FURTHERMORE, FEDERAL LAW STATES THAT IF A SAFETY ISSUE IS DISCOVERED WITHIN TEN YEARS OF THE CAR BEING PURCHASED THE OWNER IS ENTITLED TO A FREE AND EFFECTIVE REMEDY. AGAIN, THE REMEDY FOR MY CAR WAS OBVIOUSLY "NOT EFFECTIVE!" I THEN ASKED BUICK WHAT IF I HAD BEEN IN THE CAR WITH MY KIDS WHEN IT CAUGHT ON FIRE OR WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN PARKED IN MY GARAGE AND MY HOUSE CAUGHT ON FIRE? THEIR RESPONSE WAS, "WELL, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN SO I'M NOT GOING TO DISCUSS IT." SO BASICALLY, I'M LEFT TO ASSUME THAT I WOULD HAD TO HAVE BEEN BURNED IN THAT CAR BEFORE BUICK WOULD ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ILL MANUFACTURED CAR? THAT HARDLY SEEMSRIGHT. I STILL OWE $400 ON A CAR I CAN'T DRIVE. THIS IS WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS. PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR