Buick problems by model
Owners have filed 22,877 complaints with NHTSA about the 17 Buick models with enough data to profile here, covering 96 model years from 1990 through 2020. The LeSabre draws the most at 4,498, 19.7% of the make's total.
Complaint volume tracks how many cars a make sold as much as how they held up, and NHTSA complaints are unverified owner reports rather than confirmed defects. Nothing on this page compares Buick against another manufacturer. Use it to find the model, then the model year, then read what owners of that year actually filed.
Every Buick model
| Model | Model years | Complaints | Most-reported year | Top system that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeSabre | 13 1992–2004 | 4,498 | 2000 851 | Visibility (29.0%) |
| Regal | 17 1990–2013 | 3,700 | 2011 442 | Engine (24.4%) |
| Enclave | 10 2008–2017 | 2,933 | 2008 779 | Power train (18.1%) |
| Lacrosse | 9 2005–2013 | 2,645 | 2005 415 | Electrical system (20.2%) |
| Century | 10 1994–2003 | 1,891 | 1999 287 | Engine and engine cooling (20.2%) |
| Rendezvous | 5 2002–2006 | 1,724 | 2002 690 | Engine and engine cooling (16.8%) |
| Park Avenue | 8 1991–2000 | 1,464 | 1997 355 | Engine and engine cooling (16.6%) |
| Lucerne | 4 2006–2009 | 1,189 | 2006 456 | Electrical system (22.1%) |
| Encore | 5 2015–2019 | 693 | 2015 193 | Electrical system (15.5%) |
| Rainier | 3 2004–2006 | 480 | 2004 205 | Electrical system (41.0%) |
| Verano | 3 2012–2014 | 472 | 2014 169 | Electrical system (24.9%) |
| Skylark | 3 1995–1997 | 346 | 1995 119 | Electrical system (29.4%) |
| Roadmaster | 2 1992–1994 | 237 | 1994 132 | Electrical system (16.7%) |
| Terraza | 1 2005–2005 | 195 | 2005 195 | Electrical system (21.5%) |
| Riviera | 1 1995–1995 | 177 | 1995 177 | Engine and engine cooling (13.6%) |
| Encore GX | 1 2020–2020 | 117 | 2020 117 | Service brakes (16.2%) |
| Envision | 1 2017–2017 | 116 | 2017 116 | Electrical system (21.6%) |
Model years shown are those with at least 100 complaints on file, the gate every page on this site has to clear.
Reading the numbers
Across every Buick model year on the site, electrical system is the system named most often: 3,222 complaints, 18.6% of those filed under a named system. Individual model years diverge from that sharply, which is the reason to read the year rather than the badge.
The three most-reported Buick models (LeSabre, Regal and Enclave) account for 48.7% of the make's complaint volume. The rest is spread across the other 14 models. Bear in mind that a nameplate selling in the millions will out-file a niche one whatever its record.
Of the 22,877 complaints, 1,285 describe a crash, 1,085 describe a fire and 23 report a death.
Most-reported Buick model years
The single heaviest model year of each Buick nameplate, 1990–2020. Heaviest is not worst. Read it alongside the model page.