10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 43,018 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.
Automatic door locks on various doors have failed repeatedly. This problem has required entire replacement of the door lock/latch assembly's which is quite expensive. Failure of door locks is sometimes not immediately noticeable since it is intermittent at first, until it does not work at all. Children or persons could fall out of car as result of failed locks that you think are locked but they are not. You rely on the door locks to keep everyone safe from accidentally opening the doors.
- West Covina, CA, USA
Door latch issue on car the same as Ford door latch recall. Have four door vehicle and both back doors will not open due to malfunctioning door latches. Rear passenger side stop working 2 years ago and now drivers side passenger door has failed.
- Flint, MI, USA
Sometime between 1998 and 2008 the Buick line, and almost all other lines, enlarged the size of the columns supporting the roof, modified the front side windows to add a small triangle of material at the front of the windows, and raised the height of the side mirrors and raised the height of the "dash" above the instrument cluster. I am in excess of 6 ft tall and this had little impact on my field of vision. My wife is less than 5 ft and age is taking a toll on both of us and this has a severe impact on her field of vision, even with the use of booster pillows. The current models have the same design flaw, except for the Honda civic and the Ford Fusion. I have personally "tested" this condition by locating myself at an intersection where several crashes, some fatal, and "scrooching" down as best I could to simulate a 5 ft person with the seat at its max height, and there is a critical loss of visibility, particularly to the right. There were three crashes, all involved seniors, that were in a collision because they proceeding, after stopping, to cross the intersection in front of oncoming traffic. I heartily support your proposal to develop some type of recommendations, or "rating", for vehicles that are the most appropriate for seniors. Thank you.
- Jefferson City, MO, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. The contact stated that while entering the vehicle, the driver's side door handle detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000.
- Fort Wayne , IN, USA
When my wife was parking the car in a shopping center parking lot, the engine roared (even though she had her foot on the brake) and the vehicle jumped over the curb and struck small bushes and trees in the median between the stein mart and home dept parking lots causing damage to the front grill and driver side front fender. My wife was not injured luckily. Had this event occurred under normal driving conditions somebody could have been seriously injured and or killed depending upon the circumstances. I had a similiar instance about a year ago when the car surged forward while I was stopped at a intersection. My foot was on the brake and I got the car stopped. I continued to drive the car and did not experience any further problems. I thought it might have been a stuck accelerator linkage that cleared. I've since learned the newer vehicles are drive by wire controlled. Their is no direct throttle linkage from the gas pedal. The vehicle is currently at a Buick dealers body shop being repaired.. their service manager stated they would read the computer codes and use a scan tool to determine what caused the accident. An accident report was recorded by the local police department.
- Indian Trail, NC, USA
Outside driver's chrome door handle pulls off when opening the door. Took it to a GM repair facility (dealer) who replaced it, but same problem returned with the new handle. Was told by an employee at a GM dealer that they are aware of the problem with the chrome door handle. Hazard: If a thief pulls on the handle while car is in a parking lot, or when car is stopped at a traffic light, the handle would come off and expose the inner workings of the lock, possibly allowing the door to be opened.
- Tallahassee, FL, USA
Inside center pillar (column between front and rear) trims had gaps where trims didn't cover the opening. Took car to a GM repair facility (dealer) 4 times. They installed clips but still there is a gap on one.
- Tallahassee, FL, USA
Horizontal exterior chrome door trims loose at the ends at time of purchase and have worsened. Took car in to GM repair facility (dealer) 3 times who replaced them, but condition always returned. Was told that if I brought it in again for replacement, it would happen again. Cannot have car washed by a facility that uses rotating brushes since the brushes would probably tear off the door trims and damage the exterior paint with them. Have to wash car by hand.
- Tallahassee, FL, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. The vehicle was purchased new with excessive scratches on the exterior paint. The scratches covered the entire body of the vehicle. The sales representative observed the defects during the new vehicle inspection. Immediately, the authorized dealer collision center inspected the vehicle and stated that the scratches were due to faulty paint workmanship. The manufacturer was notified of the defective exterior paint and refused to repair the vehicle. The contact was displeased to know that there was no remedy for the defect once it was reported to the dealer at the time of sale. The failure mileage was 456 and current mileage was 4,000.
- Wilbraham, MA, USA
- Holt, MI, USA