2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS Complaints

I HAVE BEEN HAVING INTERMITTENT PROBLEMS WITH THE ABS BRAKE SYSTEM WHEREBY WHEN I APPLY THE BRAKES AT A SLOW SPEED OF ABOUT 5-MPH THE VEHICLE FEELS LIKE I AM STOPPING ON A GRAVEL ROAD WHEN I AM DRIVING ON CLEAN DRY PAVEMENT, ALSO WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE VEHICLE DOESN'T STOP LIKE IT SHOULD AND IT SLIDES TO A HALT. ALSO SOMETIMES WHEN YOU APPLY THE BRAKES WHILE DRIVING UNDER 35 MPH AND APPLY THE BRAKES THE VEHICLE SHUTTERS AND DOESN'T STOP PROPERLY. I SOMETIMES GET THE ANTI-LOCK INDICATOR LIGHT AND SOMETIMES I DON'T. I ALSO WILL GET A WARNING LIGHT THAT STATES; "SERVICE TRACTION SYSTEM". I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE IN TO HAVE IT SERVICED AND I AM TOLD THAT THEY CAN NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND THAT THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT COULD BE CAUSING IT. THEY SAID TO CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE AND AS FAR AS THEY CAN TELL IT IS SAFE TO DRIVE. THE MILEAGE ON THE ODOMETER WAS APPROXIMATELY 85,000 MILES. *TR

WE HAVE A BUICK RENDEZVOUS. THE CAR'S INTERIOR LIGHTS GO OFF WITHOUT WARNING, AND IT BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE DASHBOARD LIGHTS, INCLUDING SPEEDOMETER, AT NIGHT. OTHER TIMES, HORN WILL START BLARING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES WITH NO WARNING...ALMOST CAUSED AN ACCIDENT YESTERDAY...IT STARTLES ANYONE AROUND. NOW, WHEN WE TURN OFF THE CAR, THE HEADLIGHTS WON'T GO OFF AT ALL, NO MATTER WHAT WE TRY. WILL HAVE A DEAD BATTERY NEXT TIME WE GO TO DRIVE THE CAR (TOMORROW MORNING). *TR

AIR CONDITIONER CONDENSER REPLACED ON A 2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS. COST $1200. I WILL NEVER BUY AN AMERICAN CAR AGAIN AND I WILL TALK TO MY FRIENDS TO BUY OTHER THAN BUICK PRODUCT. *TR

WE HAVE A 2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS AND HAD TO REPLACE THE WHEEL BEARINGS AT ONLY 86K MILES AND NOW THE AIR CONDITIONING CONDENSER HAS FAILED. THESE ARE EXPENSIVE REPAIRS AND THERE SEEM TO BE MANY OF THE SAME COMPLAINTS ON THIS VEHICLE ... BUICK SHOULD FIX THESE AS THEY ARE A COMMON OCCURRENCE! *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN OVERHEATING. SHE ALSO NOTICED SOMETHING IN HER DRIVEWAY AND COULD SMELL GASOLINE FUMES INTERMITTENTLY. A LOCAL MECHANIC INSPECTED THE VEHICLE AND STATED THAT THERE MAY BE A RECALL RELATED TO THE FAILURES. THROUGH ONLINE RESEARCH, THE CONTACT LOCATED A TSB RELATING TO THE FAILURE; HOWEVER, THE DEALER STATED THAT NO RECALLS WERE AVAILABLE. SHE THEN PROVIDED THE DEALER WITH THE INFORMATION FOR TSB NUMBER 07203A AND THEY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN. THE DEALER STATED THAT IF THEY COULD NOT LOCATE A LEAK IN THE FUEL TANK, THEY WOULD NOT MAKE ANY REPAIRS TO THE VEHICLE. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 48,500.

WAS INFORMED BY A FRIEND OF AN NTMVSA-RELATED RECALL (NUMBER 07273) ON THEIR 2003 PONTIAC VIBE FOR A PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING ON BOTH OF OUR 2002 AND 2003 BUICK RENDEZVOUS. WINDOW HARDWARE DETERIORATES, RESULTING IN THE SNAPPING OF WINDOW SUPPORT HARDWARE. IN MOST CASES WINDOW GLASS DROPS TOTALLY INSIDE THE DOOR AND IS IRRETRIEVABLE UNLESS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO CHARGES FOR A REPAIR. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE ABOUT A WEEK APART IN OUR 2002 RENDEZVOUS. ALSO, THE CHARACTERISTIC "POPPING OR CLICKING SOUND" LISTED IN THE RECALL IS HAPPENING ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW IN BOTH OUR 2002 AND 2003 MODEL RENDEZVOUS, SIGNALING THAT THE WINDOW HARDWARE IS FAILING AGAIN. THIS RESULTS IN A HAZARD SITUATION IN EITHER EXTREMELY HOT OR EXTREMELY COLD WEATHER, REGARDLESS OF GLASS BREAKAGE (WHICH DIDN'T HAPPEN IN OUR CASE). SINCE I DO NOT HAVE A GM FACTORY CUSTOM WARRANTY ON MY 2002 RENDEZVOUS, REPAIRS HAVE COST ME APPROXIMATELY $250 DOLLARS OUT-OF-POCKET. I WAS ABLE TO SECURE A COVERAGE LETTER FROM GM IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN, BUT I AM READING MANY ACCOUNTS OF A SIMILAR FAILURE FROM MANY RENDEZVOUS OWNERS ON THE INTERNET. *TR

ALARM GOES OFF ANY TIME YOU LOCK DOORS, CAN'T OPEN LOCKS WITHOUT USING KEYS SO CAN'T OPEN REAR DOORS TO GET MY KIDS OUT. LIGHT WILL NOT SHUT OFF, EXTERIOR THERMOSTAT IS INACCURATE, A/C DOES NOT WORK AT ALL TIMES. DOOR UNLOCK BUTTONS DO NOT WORK ALL THE TIME. CAR GOES INTO SECURITY MODE, SO NO A/C, NO CLOCK, NO STEREO. TRUNK POPS OPEN BY ITSELF. THE INTERIOR DOOR ALARM WON'T GO OFF EVEN WHEN DOOR IS CLOSED. NEED TO DISCONNECT BATTERIES AT TIMES TO SHUT OFF LIGHTS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS. ON AT LEAST 50 OCCASIONS, THE VEHICLE JUST COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN AND LOST POWER WITHOUT WARNING. WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE VEHICLE WOULD "BUCK" AND STALL AS IF IT WERE OUT OF GAS. WITHIN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT START FOR APPROXIMATELY THIRTY MINUTES, EVEN AFTER REFUELING. WHEN THE VEHICLE WOULD COMPLETELY SHUT OFF, THE CONTACT WOULD HAVE TO WAIT BETWEEN THIRTY MINUTES AND TWO HOURS BEFORE IT WOULD RESTART. HE ALSO NOTICED THAT THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT WOULD TAKE THE VEHICLE TO RESTART WOULD COINCIDE WITH HOW HOT IT WAS OUTSIDE. MANY TIMES WHEN THE VEHICLE SHUT OFF, THE AIR CONDITIONING WAS ACTIVATED. BOTH THE DEALER AND A LOCAL GARAGE WERE UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 150,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 90,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY AT NIGHT, ALL OF THE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD STARTED FLICKERING. SUDDENLY, ALL OF THE WARNING LIGHTS, HEADLIGHTS AND SPEED ODOMETER SHUT OFF. SHE EXPERIENCED DIFFICULTY DRIVING WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS AND WAS UNAWARE OF THE SPEED. THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS CONTINUED TO FLICKER ON AND OFF. THE FOLLOWING DAY, AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THE BODY CONTROL MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE COST OF REPAIRS WERE $926.00. THE MANUFACTURER REIMBURSED HER FOR $383.56 SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED AT AN AUTHORIZED DEALER. SHE WAS UNABLE TO AFFORD THE COST TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE AT THE DEALER. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 54,000. UPDATED 06/25/08. *LJ THE CONSUMER STATED THE PROBLEM HAS RETURNED. UPDATED

2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS ALL THE LIGHTS TURN OFF AND TURN BACK ON- THERE IS NOT A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. THIS HAS HAPPENED OVER 50-60 TIMES IN THE LAST YEAR. LOST COUNT ON THE PREVIOUS YEARS BEFORE THAT. WE'VE BEEN TO THE DEALER TWICE AND THEY STATE THEY CAN NOT GET THE PROBLEM TO HAPPEN (WHILE IN THE SHOP), AND WITHOUT IT HAPPENING AT THE PRECISE TIME, THEY CAN NOT FIX THE ISSUE. IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL SOMETHING REALLY BAD HAPPENS. WE WANT TO SELL THIS VEHICLE, BUT I CAN'T SELL IT MYSELF KNOWING THIS WILL HAPPEN TO THE BUYER. DEALER WILL NOT GIVE US EVEN CLOSE TO A TRADE IN VALUE (PRICING OBTAINED FROM THREE SEPARATE SOURCES) STATING THE VEHICLE IS PLAGUED WITH ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. *TR