10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 53,423 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lacrosse. While driving approximately 50 mph, the accelerator pedal depressed independently and the vehicle accelerated without warning. The brake pedal had to be depressed with extreme force in order for the vehicle to stop. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body failed and needed to be replaced and the ECU needed to be reprogrammed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
- Marshall, MI, USA
While driving, the engine light came on, followed shortly thereafter by the traction control light.then the engine began to lose power and the accelerator pedal did not work. A notice appeared on the dash control: "engine power reduced" and "service traction control". if I held the accelerator pedal down all the way to the floor, after about 5 seconds the car began to accelerate quickly. I could then maintain speed by alternately stepping on and releasing the accelerator pedal quickly. Accelerating from a stoplight is a very slow and disruptive (to traffic) process. This has happened multiple times and has failed several attempts at repair. On some occasions, the car has begun to accelerate on its own during this period of malfunction, such that I have had to ride the brake pedal. On some occasions this problem has remedied itself after a couple of days, with turning the engine on and off to reboot. The problem can last for days at a time. I have replaced the throttle body sensor to no avail. Interestingly, I also owned (until last week) a 2007 Lacrosse which does the exact same thing, and has also had the throttle body sensor replaced with no luck. I have seen multiple descriptions of this by people online, describing exactly the same conditions and warnings. This is a significant safety issue when it happens, as I cannot safely accelerate in busy traffic, and the car slows down to speeds unsafe for the conditions. I find it difficult to believe GM does not know about this, in that I have had the same problem with 2 Lacrosses. Thank you.
- Burr Ridge, IL, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lacrosse. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate over 10 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. In addition, the contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 31,000.
- Dearbourne Heights, MI, USA
The vehicle start making a funny noise and it kept getting louder and louder, then all of a sudden it cuts off. I was able to restart the vehicle after I sat for a while but it is still making a funny noise. I have been told by a mechanic today that it is the power steering. That will have to be fixed. I am sure that it will cost a lot of money.
- Little Rock, AR, USA
While driving at 35 mph or 50 mph car slow down to 10 mphstops and won't accelerate(gas pedal is hard won't give gas). Engine light comes on and chimes saying reduce engine power and traction is off (service traction). When try to steer of the road steering wheel is hard to turn. I have had the throttle body clean and it's still doing the same thing. Very dangerous when driving at night. GM needs to fix all problem won't drive to dangerous. Can you please help me purchase car March 2012.
- West Palm Beach , FL, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lacrosse. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle suddenly became unresponsive and failed to accelerate when pressing on the accelerator pedal. The contact indicated that after releasing the accelerator pedal the vehicle suddenly accelerated at a very high rate of speed. The contact indicated that the defect had occurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the throttle body was defective. The vehicle was repaired but the defect had reoccurred. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 130,000.
- Detroit, MI, USA
I turned right onto a very steeply graded rural road. The road has 3 service ramps to a major highway, rt 28N. It also has 1 road that allows a R/L access to burton and a cross traffic access to 28N. I had just started the descent down burton when I noticed the car began to accelerate. I applied the brake twice to reduce speed; it was non-responsive. The car continue to speed down the hill for approximately 3/4 mile. The car began to slow down about 1/2 mile beyond the access road to 28 N. when I tried to pull over to a gravel/weed "shoulder" I found that the power steering was also out. I could not pull completely off the road, thus creating a danger to any car on burton road. When I tried to restart the car the engine would not start. The car was totally inoperable. It had to be towed 20 miles to the dealership late at night. The car had just passed the 50K mile Buick inspection. On three prior occasions, though, there were problems with a window malfunction, and two doors latches on the driver's side. The service report states that the entire ignition coil and module assembly was replaced along with the ignition module. I was told that the same assembly design was used in the Buick Lesabre, the Chevy Impala, and one other Buick model. Buick apologized for the failure of these components and for putting me and my passengers into what was a life threatening situation. I was told by the service department of baierl Chevrolet (a quality dealership and service organization) that this problem has occurred with other owners, but none had been in the situation I was in. I wanted to report this because I found no indications on the Buick website that such failures were possible. Having lost total confidence in the car and its design, that I traded it in for another car and took on expenses that I had not budgeted for.
- Allison Park, PA, USA
While traveling at approx 20 mph, the cruise control activated automatically while turning into a parking lot. The vehicle speed up in a matter of 2 seconds and was at much higher speed when she veered off into a bush. The quick speed acceleration of the vehicle without out any activation by driver is of great concern. Driver was startled by sudden speed up of vehicle. Feels the cruise control activated on its own. She did not touch the cruise control buttons on steering wheel at any time. Owners do not feel the location of the cruise control buttons are located in good spot. The cruise control has activated on its own several times over the past 4 yrs. Owners have had dealerships look at issues. They have been unsuccessful in duplicating or resolving this issue. Complaint has also been filed with General Motors in 2011 case # [xxx]. information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
- New Brighton, PA, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lacrosse. The contact stated that when driving uphill with the cruise control activated, the vehicle would begin to accelerate at a fast rate. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership where the contact was told there were no problems with the cruise control. The failure mileage was 25. The current mileage was approximately 20,000. Updated 08/03/10. Updated 09/21/10
- Millers, MD, USA
- Phoenix, AZ, USA