Owners have filed 1,348 complaints on the Buick Century, covering 1981–2005. The system named most often is Service Brakes (160 reports). Worst years by volume: 1998, 1999, 2000; cleanest: 1981, 1982, 1985. 107 reports describe a crash, 27 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 5.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick Century
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,348 Century complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 160 Read
Consumer was at a intersection and was approaching a stop lightapplied brakes and hit the vehicle in front of him. Pedal went all the way down to the floor
The contact owns a 2001 buck century. The contact stated that while traveling 25 mph, the driver depressed the brakes and smoke started to emit from the vehicle. The contact mentioned that the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who stated that the brake lines failed and needed to be replaced…
The contact owns a 2000 buick century. While driving 40 mph the contact applied the brakes and heard a grinding metal sound coming from the brakes. The brakes failed to engage properly causing the contact to crash into a vehicle. There were no injuries. A police report was written for the incident. The vehicle was…
Engine And Engine Cooling 158 Read
The contact owned a 2003 buick century. An hour and fifteen minutes after parking the vehicle at his residence, the contact was informed that it was on fire. He noticed flames coming from the engine compartment. The fire department was called and a report was filed. The fire quickly spread throughout the contact's…
I currently have a 2002 buick century custom with 107000 miles on it. I had a starter catch fire cause of a large buildup of oil coming from either the head gasket or the manifold gasket. This issue needs to be addressed. Driving at high engine temperature with cause a major safety issue for anyone driving short or…
After getting off work consumer went to turn vehicle on and engine caught on fire. There was no prior warning to incident occurring. Consumer contacted dealer, and dealer could not figure out what problem was. Said that they were going to call manufacturer for the consumer.*ak referenced in ea02-030
Steering 124 Read
The contact owns a 2004 buick century. While driving 50 mph and merging to the left, the vehicle veered to the right and crashed into a wall. The mechanic stated that the front passenger side tie rod failed. The dealer stated that the contact may have driven over something to cause the failure. As of october 23, 2007,…
Driving thur ohio from mich ,hit large pot hole, did over one thousand dollars damage to the steering, could have been a lot worse, car must not be made properly to withstand hitting pot holes, this should be a safety issue there are hundreds of pot holes in all states . The state of ohio does not responsibility for…
The contact owns 2000 buick century. The contact stated that the service engine warning light illuminated intermittently. Additionally, the vehicle was shaking violently and became extremely difficult to steer. The failure would occur while the contact was in drive, park or reverse. The contact also stated that there…
Electrical System 124 Read
I had driven my 2003 buick century at least halfway into a parking space in a parking lot when it suddenly lurched forward like a bat out of hell, leaping up over a curb on an upward slope, swiping a cement lightpost on the left, crashing into another car across its left front, bumping down over a curb, then crashing…
The vehicle caught on fire, which was caused by the electrical wiring under the air bag
Wiring under fuse panel caught on fire and melted wires in fuse box. No fuses blew to protect wiring
Power Train 113 Read
I pulled into a parking space on a slight incline and was just releasing the brake pedal to move forward when the car lunged violently forward as if the gas pedal was to the floor. There was not enough time to do any thing expect a reflex to turn the wheel to avoid hitting the building head-on. The car scraped the…
Rear axle broke while driving at approx. 30 mph, causing vehicle to hit guardrai.; no injury received. Dealer notified and informed consumer that no recall on vehicle. Can NHTSA help in this matter
Consumer placed vehicle in park, and it jumped out of gear and into reverse. A 90 year old passenger was attempting to exit vehicle as it jumped out of gear, and was dragged 36 feet, causing severe injuries with stitches on eyebrow and fingers on left side. Vehicle then moved another 86 feet, and hit a tree to stop
Exterior Lighting 109 Read
The contact owns a 2005 buick century. The headlights have been shutting off during the night. The failure has occurred four times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that a new dimmer switch was needed. The manufacturer stated that the dealer would cover half of the repair costs. The contact feels…
Headlights turned off while driving. No headlights or brights only available
A few times in the last 2 years the headlights have turned off while driving for no reason. Once while I was in the car with a friend who also owns a buick the issue occurred and he told me his car had been recalled for the same issue. I contacted buick, who denied any knowledge of the issue, they referred me to my…
Visibility 98 Read
Consumer states that while driving the vehicle in the rain windshield wipers would work intermittently. Dealer notified is a defective visibility and gmc said it was nothing they could do. *ak
The contact owns a 2003 buick century. The contact stated that when using the windshield wipers in inclement weather they would not operate properly and would remain on one side. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who informed him that he would need to have them tightened. The windshield wipers were repaired but…
The complete window control switch unit had to be replaced in 2005 at the dealers, I think that was the year. Now the rear window switch for the rear window had to be replaced in may 2011. This time I took it to my local body shop, he had informed me that the buick century custom switches are going up very fast. Also…
Vehicle Speed Control 76 Read
The contact owns a 2003 buick century. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration when shifted. As a result, the contact crashed into a curb and continued down a lawn. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the front axel and the muffler fractured. In…
While backing into a parking space and without any indication vehicle accelerated, causing consumer to hit a tree. *ak
Whenever starting vehicle and shifting into gear vehicle would jerk forward or backwards suddenly, even with foot on brake. Due to this sudden acceleration, vehicle was involved in an accident. *ak one person was injured
Century years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 4 | 2 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 5 | 4 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 15 | 4 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 8 | — | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 7 | — | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 19 | 4 | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 7 | 1 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 4 | 2 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 1 | 2 | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | 6 | — | |
| 1988 | Seat Belts | — | — | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | 1 | 2 | |
| 1986 | Electrical System | 1 | 2 | |
| 1985 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1984 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1982 | Steering | — | — | |
| 1981 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 494 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.7 |
| Worst single series | 18 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.4 years |
A model average of 2.7 hides a worst series at 18. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Century?
By complaint volume, 1998, 1999, 2000 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Century years are the cleanest?
1981, 1982, 1985 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick Century have?
1,348 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1981–2005. Of those, 107 describe a crash and 27 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.