Owners have filed 2,949 complaints on the Buick LeSabre, covering 1984–2005. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (499 reports). Worst years by volume: 2000, 1997, 1998; cleanest: 1984, 1985, 1986. 165 reports describe a crash, 195 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 5.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick LeSabre
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 2,949 LeSabre complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 499 Read
Simple facts when rear ended the seats on 1999 buick lesabre broke back sending in back seat,seat belt nearly killed me , and the jack placed on the right wing flew in the front seat...... Then in 2002 the car caused a major explosion nearly killing me with a flying buick sign caught on fire the tires .....etc problem…
Owner purchased a 2004 buick lesabre, VIN [xxx] (?buick?), which was manufactured by general motors. On october 14, 2010, owner drove the buick from the grocery store, returned to her home, and parked the buick in the attached garage of her home and proceeded to retrieve her groceries from the trunk of the buick.…
Parked car, turned off engine and locked car. Smoke started coming from under the hood, then a small explosion and a raging fire. Car was totaled in 5-8 minutes. Fire engines called and put out fire
Visibility 359 Read
Vehicle was involved in a lateral collision; upon impact, side air bags did not deploy. *ak three people were injured in the accident. The windshield was not properly installed at the time the consumer purchased the vehicle. All four doors were leaking and were repaired three times
While driving the vehicles tread separated from the right rear tire which caused the vehicle to veer into a guard rail. Other problems are as followed: drivers side and rear windows are inoperative, cruise control switch is inoperative and after it rains there is a water puddle on the driver side floor. *scc
On september 21, 2000 I had my buick lesabre to the dealer because the rear window defroster did not work. They replaced the module. The defroster than worked. On december 8, 2000, I was on my way home from work. I had my rear window defroster on, but it had shut off. I noticed an awful smell. As I was stopped at a…
Electrical System 309 Read
The contact owns a 2005 buick lesabre. While driving approximately 15 mph, all of the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument control panel. The contact also smelled a burning odor and noticed flames erupting from the trunk of the vehicle. The flames spread to the entire vehicle. All of the locks melted,…
The contact owns a 2005 buick lesabre. The contact stated that while driving 25 mph, smoke was emitting from under the rear seat. The contact was able to pull over to further assess the failure. The contact diagnosed that the electrical chords were overheated and the medal had become unbearably hot. The vehicle was…
The contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. While attempting to start the vehicle he heard a noise. After he opened the hood and saw smoke, but within minutes the vehicle was on fire. The fire department report number was not available. The fire dept stated that the fire was initiated by electrical failure. The…
Service Brakes 283 Read
The contact stated while driving 50 mph down a steep hill under normal road conditions, the hydraulic brakes failed and the vehicle crashed into a lake. There was no warning prior to the incident. The contact and a passenger sustained minor injuries. The vehicle was towed to the insurance company, who could not find…
While the driver either attempted to stop at a light or stop sigh the brake pedal would almost touch the floor. This problem started about two weeks after the vehicle was purchased. The vehicle was involved in two accidents because of this problem. *ak *ph
While driving, the consumer applied the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. This caused lost of braking power. The consumer placed both feet on the brake pedal but the vehicle did not stop. Consequently the vehicle collided with another vehicle. Upon impact, both air bags did not deploy. No injuries were reported.…
Air Bags 193 Read
While driving consumer's vehicle was hit on the passenger's side and the front air bags inadvertently deployed. Driver's side air bag caught on fire after the driver was evacuated. The interior of the vehicle was consumed by the fire. Driver sustained minor injuries, and was transported to the hospital. Fire…
Not my vehicle. Vehicle was involved in a traffic collision and the driver's airbag deployed. A fire broke out in the steering column after deployment. There was no apparent damage to the passenger section of the vehicle from the mild to moderate crash. Driver escaped apparent injury. This is the first fire resulting…
Passenger side airbag exploded upon impact; driver severely burned; both airbags deployed. Tt
Structure 174 Read
On 06/08/14 brake pedal of my car went to floor while I was driving it at low speeds to escape collision with car in front of me, which stopped on red light, I directed my car to pole of subway. It damaged frontal right side of my car my car was towed to geico direct shop quentin auto center, inc on 06/10/14 I was…
Was driving and as I pulled to redlight vehicle smelled of gas but burst into flames from the motor
The contact owns a 1996 buick lesabre. While driving 25 mph, the contact struck a pothole and lost control of the vehicle. He noticed that the four rear washers were rusted, which caused the engine and transaxle frame to detach from the vehicle. As of october 24, 2007, the dealer had not inspected the vehicle. The…
Steering 174 Read
The contact owns a 2003 buick lesabre. The contact drove over a pot hold and the swerved off the road as it became difficult to control the vehicle. On one occasion, the vehicle went off the road and crashed into a mailbox. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but the failure could not…
Loss of steering control ability resulting in accident,during impact no deployment of both driver and passenger airbags. Yh
Re: accident may, 27, 2014, ncic 9245, officer id 17604 the above accident was caused by a mechanical failure of the buick le sabre, 1999, license # [xxx]. Not driver error. Leaving highway 193 turning onto hwy 49, (going toward auburn) being a 2 lane narrow winding road, the engine of the above vehicle died, locked…
Fuel System 173 Read
I was driving and proceeded to slow down as I did I heard a loud noise I continued driving about 3 miles when I smelled something burning. I stopped for a red light and noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood on the driver side. I pulled into a parking lot where the car proceeded to ignite on fire and burned…
I think this is an ongoing safety issue that has appeared in previous model years (gm recall no. 03054b. See campaign 03V-473). This recall addresses the exact problem that has occurred with my 2001 buick lesabre. I called gm to see if there was coverage for it and they told me not at this time. This is a real safety…
The contact owns a 2001 buick lesabre. The contact stated that a fire ignited without warning under the hood after the driver exited the vehicle. When the hood was opened, the contact noticed that the engine cover for the engine assembly and fuel system had flown off. The fire extinguished on its own. The vehicle…
LeSabre 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 | 5 | 3 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 3 | 5 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 7 | 3 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 14 | 11 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 9 | 19 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 21 | 25 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 9 | 18 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 10 | 38 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 20 | 29 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 6 | — | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 9 | 2 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 16 | 3 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 9 | 18 | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 15 | 19 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 7 | — | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1988 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | 3 | — | |
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1985 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1984 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — |
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 | 713 |
| Average complaints per series | 4.1 |
| Worst single series | 32 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.9 years |
A model average of 4.1 hides a worst series at 32. 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 LeSabre?
By complaint volume, 2000, 1997, 1998 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 LeSabre years are the cleanest?
1984, 1985, 1986 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick LeSabre have?
2,949 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1984–2005. Of those, 165 describe a crash and 195 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.