Owners have filed 824 complaints on the Buick Lucerne, covering 2006–2011. The system named most often is Electrical System (314 reports). Worst years by volume: 2006, 2008, 2007; cleanest: 2010, 2011, 2009. 65 reports describe a crash, 48 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 6.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick Lucerne
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 824 Lucerne complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 314 Read
The contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start and an electrical burning odor was present inside the cabin. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the fuel pump relay had overheated and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The…
The buick lucerne 2011 we own had the battery explode upon turning the key. I am wife/caregiver to 100% disabled veteran and his service dog. Normally I would have put them both in the car before turning the key but luckily on this day I did not or we all would have been killed. The car was in the driveway when this…
The contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start and the key fob did not work. When the contact attempted to unlock the vehicle with the key fob, she became locked inside the vehicle. The contact had to manually unlock the door on the passenger side to exit the vehicle. In…
Steering 74 Read
I was driving east bound on interstate 20 approximately 7 miles west of sweetwater texas on july 11, 2014, when I was struck from behind by another vehicle (that left the scene.) the jarring caused me to lose power so I was unable to steer or to brake, which sent my car crashing into a guardrail; furthermore, the…
2008 buick lucerne. Consumer writes in regards to power steering and brake failure, that was a constant issue. *tgw the consumer was involved in an accident, where the steering and brakes failed
The contact owned a 2007 buick lucerne. While driving 55 mph, the power steering failed and the vehicle stalled. As a result, the contact crashed the vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. One injury was sustained, which required medical attention. The vehicle was destroyed. The…
Structure 62 Read
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…
The contact owns a 2006 buick lucerne. The contact struck a deer and the roof was partially removed from the vehicle. Per the state farm insurance and the center line car star collision center the failure was caused because the wells did not hold, and the bonding adhesive did not bond properly. The contact filed a…
The contact owns a 2011 Buick Lucerne. The contact stated that while using the front driver's side interior door handle to exit the vehicle, there was an abnormal cracking sound coming from the door. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent…
Air Bags 53 Read
The contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 mph, the vehicle accelerated unintentionally without warning. As a result, the contact crashed the vehicle into a wall. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained chest injuries that required medical attention. In…
The contact owns a 2009 buick lucerne. While parking the vehicle with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle surged forward and damaged the front end when it crashed. The air bags failed to deploy, but there were no injuries. The contact refuses to drive the vehicle in this condition. He took the vehicle to the dealer…
The contact owns a 2009 buick lucerne. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph in inclement weather, the vehicle traveled over a sheet of ice on an incline and the contact suddenly lost control of the vehicle. The contact spun out of control until the vehicle crashed into a guard rail. The air bags failed to…
Engine 39 Read
The contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start without warning. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The contact researched the failure online and found complaints relating to the fuel pump relay being burnt. The…
The contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle stalled with no warning. The vehicle was unable to restart and towed to a truck stop. The contact stated that upon investigating the failure, discovered that the fuel pump relay was melted and burnt. The contact…
The contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. The contact stated that while the vehicle was being inspected, it was found that there was a severe oil leak due to the failure of the pan gasket. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 15,000.…
Fuel/propulsion System 26 Read
The contact owns a 2009 buick lucerne. While driving approximately 10 mph, a burning fuel odor was detected from the front passenger side of the vehicle. There was no warning indicator illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed…
The contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. On several occasions, the fuel pump relay became overheated and melted. The contact was concerned that a fire could occur due to the placement of the relay. The contact was able to remove and replace the fuel pump relay; however, the failure recurred. An unknown dealer was…
The car would not start when I attempted to start it to go to work and had to be towed in for repairs. The fuel pump was found to need to be replaced. One week later the car again would not start and had to be towed for repairs. The problem this time was the rear fuse box that was shorted out due to the bracket…
Fuel System 26 Read
The contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact started the ignition and a few moments later the engine stalled. The contact was a certified mechanic, who replaced the burned fuel pump relay switch. The failure recurred twice and the vehicle was repaired each time. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect.…
The contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the vehicle was at stand still at a hospital parking lot, when he entered the vehicle and detected plastic burning odor as the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was not drivable and towed to his residence. The contact called an independent mechanic and…
The contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the fuel pump failed. The contact replaced the fuel pump and fuel pump relay himself. Upon further inspection, the contact noticed that there was excessive heat near the lower part of the driver's seat by the seat bracket and fuse box. The contact was…
Service Brakes 24 Read
The contact owns a 2007 buick lucerne. While driving downhill at 10 mph, the contact firmly depressed the brake pedal and the brakes locked. The contact skidded into a snow bank. The road conditions were slippery. The vehicle was pushed out of the snow bank and driven home. The vehicle was not inspected by a dealer.…
The contact leased a 2007 gm buick lucerne. While driving approximately 25 mph and applying pressure to the brake pedal the engine started racing. The driver was unable to slow down. The contact swayed to the right to avoid crashing into the vehicle in front of him. He crashed into a telephone pole and the front air…
2006 buick lucerne anti-lock brake safety problem. Customer states that he was trying to park when the ABS engaged. He stated he pressed harder on the brake but the car did not stop and the ABS continued to pump the brakes and the stopping distance was greatly extended. *kb the consumer was unable to stop the vehicle…
Lucerne 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Air Bags,vehicle Speed Control | 3 | 3 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags,seat Belts | 1 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 6 | 17 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 11 | 24 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 17 | — | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 27 | 2 |
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 | 228 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.6 |
| Worst single series | 20 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.4 years |
A model average of 3.6 hides a worst series at 20. 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
- No ads, on every page
- 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 Lucerne?
By complaint volume, 2006, 2008, 2007 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 Lucerne years are the cleanest?
2010, 2011, 2009 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick Lucerne have?
824 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2006–2011. Of those, 65 describe a crash and 48 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.