Owners have filed 19 complaints on the Buick Electra, covering 1983–1988. The system named most often is Service Brakes (7 reports). Worst years by volume: 1986, 1988, 1987; cleanest: 1983, 1984, 1987. 2 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 11.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick Electra
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 19 Electra complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 7 Read
Brake sensor repaired under recall work done, however new sensor was defective causing brake pump to fail
Received recall notice 87V613000, ABS brakes. Took vehicle for repairs. Work was done. Problem still exists. Took vehicle back. Mechanic said switch was defective. Ordered another from manufacturer. Replaced switch again, was also defective. Replaced old switch that worked w/switch that didn't. Then replaced new w/old…
Driving at approximately 65 mph power assist within brake system failed without warning, causing the consumer to pull emergency brake in order to avoid accident. Dealer had replaced brake sysytem, but defect has reoccurred within 150 miles
Vehicle Speed Control 3 Read
Consumer while parked with car running. Put foot on brake and started to put car in drive, when wheels started spinning, engine was revving. Consumer had both feet on brakes, and vehcile took off, flying into the other vehicle in front, pushing that vehicle into another vehicle. Consumer could not turn off engine,…
While applying the accelerator pedal, the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably. However, the driver was able to maintain control of the vehicle and pulled over. The vehicle was taken to a garage for inspection. The mechanic informed the driver that the throttle cable needed to be replaced and replaced it. A few weeks…
Anti-lock brakes failed, also brake light came on intermittently prior to recall (87V-093)
Engine And Engine Cooling 3 Read
While the consumer was driving, the vehicle caught on fire in the engine compartment. (ohio traffic crash report)
Timing chain broke, resulting in steering ability lost, replaced timing belt. Ttwhile at a stop light, engine shut down and failed to restart, vehicle was towed to dealer and consumer was advised that this was a common problem, consumer contacted manufacturer and was told there is no defect in the part
The crank sensor-which controls engine timing-the bracket its housed in can work loose during normal driving causing the sensor to move away from the magnet causing the engine to stall w/no warning. It happened first laste year in july-99 had it replaced by dealer using oe part. Worked loose this year oct-00, causing…
Wheels 1 Read
Lug nuts broke, causing right rear tire to come off, vehicle lost control/spun, resulting in an accident (new nersey state police accident report)
Tires 1 Read
The contact owns a 1988 buick electra park avenue. The vehicle has firestone fr480 tires, size p205/75/r14. Within a 2-3 week time period, three of the four tires formed bubbles and then blew out. The contact noticed the bubbles on one of the tires prior to the blowout. Both rear tires and the front passenger side…
Steering 1 Read
During morning start up you can not manipulate the steering. Tt
Seat Belts 1 Read
Retractor on seat belt does not retract by itself back in. *ak
Power Train 1 Read
Transmission failure, twice
Electra 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Steering | 1 | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1984 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 | |
| 1983 | Exterior Lighting | — | — |
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 | 15 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 11.4 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 3. 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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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 Electra?
By complaint volume, 1986, 1988, 1987 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 Electra years are the cleanest?
1983, 1984, 1987 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick Electra have?
19 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1983–1988. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 1 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.