BUICK Complaints

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1994 BUICK REGAL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS DO NOT WORK. THE WASHER/WIPER SWITCH POWER FEED WIRE CAUSES THE WIPERS TO WORK INTERMITTENTLY AND BECOME INOPERATIVE. THE FAILURE HAS OCCURRED IN RAINY CONDITIONS. BUICK STATED THAT THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 97V017000 (VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:SWITCH/WIRING). THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 47,000. UPDATED 12/10/08 *CN THE DEALER SHOWED THE CONSUMER THE TWO WIRES THAT WER BROKEN ON THE WINDSHIELD WIPER SWITCH. UPDATED 12/16/08. *JB

WHEEL BEARINGS ON A 3 YEAR OLD VEHICLE FAILED ON THE RIGHT SIDE. AFTER A $300+ REPAIR BILL, NOW THE LEFT SIDE HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. A PRETTY NEW VEHICLE IS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE. *TR

I OWN A 2001 BUICK LESABRE. THE WINDOW REGULATOR JUST WENT OUT. I HAD IT REPAIRED AT THE DEALERSHIP COSTING 450. I THEN DID RESEARCH ONLINE AND FOUND THAT THIS WAS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. HAVING TO REPLACE THE REGULATOR AT 50,000 IS RIDICULOUS. IT IS A VERY EXPENSIVE REPAIR WHEN I SHOULD EXPECT TO REPLACE ALL 4 AT 450 EACH FOR A TOTAL OF 1800 DOLLARS. *TR

PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD FAILURE OCCURRED ON 1999 BUICK PARK AVENUE WITH APPROXIMATELY 45,000 MILES. COOLANT LEAKED INTO THE ENGINE AND RESULTED IN A MISFIRE CODE IN MULTIPLE CYLINDERS. SYMPTOMS EXPERIENCED BY THE DRIVER WERE A ROUGH IDLE AT START FOR 30 SECONDS, AND THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT WOULD COME ON, SOMETIMES STAYING ON AND SOMETIMES EXTINGUISHING AFTER 15 SECONDS. THE CAR WAS IMMEDIATELY DRIVEN FOR SERVICE. THE DEALER INITIALLY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS A COMBINATION OF DIRTY FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM (CLEANED REGULARLY, BUT STILL NEEDED TO BE CLEANED AGAIN TO CONVINCE DEALER TO RULE OUT THIS PROBLEM). WHEN PROBLEM PERSISTED IN CYLINDER #6, THE PROBLEM WAS THEN DIAGNOSED AS A FAULTY FUEL INJECTOR WHICH WAS REPLACED. WHEN THE PROBLEM PERSISTED, IT WAS NOTICED THAT COOLANT HAD GOTTEN INTO CYLINDER #6 IN SMALL AMOUNTS AND CAUSE A MISFIRE. DEALER THEN DIAGNOSED PROBLEM AS THE PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD. WEB SEARCHING REVEALS THAT THIS IS A CHRONIC PROBLEM AS THE DESIGN WAS CHANGED FROM METAL TO PLASTIC. HOWEVER, THERE ARE NO CURRENT RECALLS ON THIS ISSUE. COST TO REPAIR IS APPROXIMATELY $1,700. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 BUICK LESABRE. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW FELL DOWN INTO THE DOOR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE WINDOW REGULATOR FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 43,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 36,000.

HAD TO REPLACE FRONT LEFT WHEEL BEARING ON 2003 BUICK RENDEZVOUS CZ (AWD) AT ABOUT 65,000 MILES. NOW THE RIGHT FRONT WHEEL BEARING IS BEING REPLACED AT 70,000 MILES. THIS IS A COMMON DEFECT IN THIS BUICK PRODUCT AND A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED. *TR

THIS CONCERNS A DEFECTIVE DESIGN OF THE INTAKE MANIFOLD USED BY GM ON 1998, 1999, 2000, AND SOME 2001 BUICK LESABRE'S EQUIPPED WITH THE 3800 SERIES II V6 ENGINE. FOLLOWING THE FAILURE AND RESULTANT HYDRAULIC ENGINE LOCK OF A NEIGHBOR'S 1999 BUICK LESABRE WITH APPROXIMATELY 80,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER, I VISITED OUR LOCAL BUICK DEALER (LEE CHEVORLET/BUICK - WASHINGTON, NC) TO DISCUSS WHAT APPEARS FROM RESEARCH DONE VIA THE INTERNET TO BE A FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTERED PROBLEM ON THESE VEHICLES SO EQUIPPED. IT SEEMS THAT A FAILURE OF THE INTAKE MANIFOLD IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM ON VEHICLES WITH ABOUT 80K MILES ON THEM, MY WIFE DRIVES SUCH A VEHICLE - A BUICK LESABRE LIMITED PURCHASED FROM LEE CHEVORLET, WASHINGTON, NC ON 2/24/99 IT CURRENTLY HAS 78,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. THE DEALERSHIP OWNER, AND THE SERVICE MANAGER FREELY REVEALED THAT THIS IS A SERIOUS AND CHRONIC PROBLEM WITH THESE VEHICLES AND IS THE DIRECT RESULT OF A POORLY DESIGNED PART USED ON THEM. THEY ARE PRONE TO FAILURE AT ABOUT THE 80K MILE POINT WHICH RESULTS FROM AN INTERNAL (NOT APPARENT) FAILURE DUE TO MATERIALS DEGRADATION. THE RESULT IS VERY FREQUENTLY THE DISCHARGE OF ENGINE COOLANT INTO THE CYLINDER(S) RESULTING IN A HYDRAULIC LOCK UP WITH FREQUENTLY DISASTROUS RESULTS INVOLVING NOT ONLY AN ENGINE SEIZURE WHILE IN OPERATION BUT ALSO ASSOCIATED SIGNIFICANT ENGINE PARTS DAMAGE. THEIR RECOMMENDATION FOR A REMEDY TO HANDLE THIS DANGEROUS SITUATION IS TO HAVE THE INVOLVED PARTS (TOP AND BOTTOM INTAKE MANIFOLDS) REPLACED WITH "THE GM REPLACEMENT DESIGN RESULTING FROM THE PROBLEM. THESE VEHICLES ARE ALL +/- 10 YEARS OLD AND HAVE OUTLIVED THEIR ORIGINAL 3YR/36,000 MILE WARRANTY. THEY INDICATED THAT THE ONLY WAY TO PERHAPS GET GM TO PARTICIPATE IN A REMEDIATION OF THIS PROBLEM IS TO SPEAK WITH THE CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE GROUP WHICH I DID YESTERDAY. THEY DENY EXISTENCE OF THE PROBLEM AND WILL PROVIDE NO ASSISTANCE IN THE $800-900 REPAIR. FAILURE OF THIS PART IN OPERATION COULD BE FATAL. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 BUICK RENDEZVOUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SIDE VIEW MIRRORS ON HIS VEHICLE WERE TOO LARGE AND TOO HIGH. IF THERE WAS ANY VEHICLE WITHIN A 12 INCH RADIUS, HE WOULD NOT SEE IT WHEN LOOKING OUT OF THE PASSENGER SIDE VIEW MIRROR. THE FAILURE ALMOST CAUSED TWO CRASHES. HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, BUT THEY HAD NO REPLACEMENT MIRRORS IN ANOTHER SIZE. THE MANUFACTURER OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. THE CONTACT ALSO ATTEMPTED TO FIND AFTERMARKET MIRROS OF A DIFFERENT SIZE, BUT WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WERE NONE. HE HAD TO CONFORM TO FMVSS REGARDING REPLACEMENT MIRRORS AND THE PROPER SIZE OF THE MIRRORS. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 41,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 2,000.

I BOUGHT A 2002 BUICK LESABRE LIMITED EARLY IN 2007, BY SUMMERTIME THE PASSENGER WINDOW, AND BOTH REAR WINDOWS FELL WITHOUT BEING USED, I BOUGHT A REPLACEMENT WINDOW MOTOR AND NOW THEY ARE WORKING OK, THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE WINDOW HAS DIFFICULTY GOING UP AND DOWN, I REPLACED THE WINDOW MOTOR AND IT IS STILL HAVING DIFFICULTY, THOUGH THIS TIME IT IS DUE TO THE WINDOW TRACK BEING DRY. THIS WINDOW PROBLEM SHOULD BE RECALLED, MANY OTHER LESABRE OWNERS EXPERIENCE THE SAME PROBLEM. ALL 4 WINDOW MOTORS HAVE BEEN REPLACED IN 2008 AND FOR OVER A YEAR I WAS DRIVING A CAR WITH NO WORKING WINDOWS, THIS MAY NOT APPEAR LIKE A PROBLEM THAT WOULD LEAD TO DEATH OR INJURY, BUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF SOMEHOW THERE IS A FIRE IN THE CAR AND YOU NEED TO PULL DOWN YOUR WINDOWS, OR DURING THE WINTER YOUR WINDOW GETS FOGGY AND YOU NEED TO PULL IT DOWN TO BE ABLE TO SEE, WHILE I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CAN WARM UP THE CAR BEFORE DRIVING, A WINDOW CAN GET FOGGY VERY QUICKLY WHEN THE TEMPERATURE IS BELOW 40 DEGREES AND PULLING DOWN A WINDOW TO BE ABLE TO SEE TO MAKE A TURN SAFELY COULD BE A LIFE SAVING EVENT. *TR

IN JUNE OF 2007 THE RIGHT REAR MOTOR FOR ELECTRIC WINDOWS STOPPED WORKING. THEN IN SEPTEMBER OF 2007 THE LEFT REAR MOTOR FOR ELECTRIC WINDOWS STOPPED WORKING. THESE WERE BOTH REPLACED IN EARLY 2008. SHORTLY AFTER REPLACEMENT OF THESE MOTORS THE FRONT DRIVERS WINDOW MOTOR STOPPED WORKING. *TR