Owners have filed 856 complaints on the Buick Park Avenue, covering 1994–2005. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (197 reports). Worst years by volume: 1998, 1997, 1999; cleanest: 2005, 2004, 2003. 26 reports describe a crash, 90 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 5.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick Park Avenue
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 856 Park Avenue complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 197 Read
Drove 2.5 miles from store,parked in driveway ,went in house, 3mins later heard explosion,car engine in flames,burned for 20 mins until fire dept extinguished
While turning the key to start vehicle caught on fire, flames and heavy smoke came under the hood. Fire department extinguished the fire. *ak insurance report indicated that fire was the result of an improper combustion within the intake manifold. This is because that the fuel vapors in this area were ignited and…
Consumer attempted to start vehicle and heard a loud pop, flames started to shoot out from under the hood, claim 13-7487-456
Seat Belts 90 Read
The contact owns a 2003 buick park avenue. The contact is experiencing failure with the retractor in the front passenger seat lap belts. The seat belt must be isolated in order to be released. The retractor was replaced under warranty in august of 2006, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the…
Drivers side and passengers side seat belts do not click for security reasons, clicking comes intermittently. *ak consumer stated there is no audible click when driver and passengeer belts are locked
Driver's seat belt locked up, consumer could not turn body, has been repaired
Electrical System 87 Read
Had the rear window defogger on while driving home at 45 mph which is just a 15 minute ride and when I pulled in my driveway, smoke was filing the cabin of the car. I popped the hood and looked for damage and did not find any. Closed the hood and notice the rear (driver side) passenger seat on fire. I ran in the house…
The afternoon of february 14 my wife and I were driving from indiana on I-70 east towards dayton, ohio. As we were driving we noticed how the snow storm we thought we were leaving behind in indiana seemed to be ever with us. About 3 p.m. In the afternoon I, the driver, smelled a faint electrical odor. Having had that…
The contact owns a 2002 buick park avenue. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the contact noticed smoke and flames coming from the rear window defroster on the driver's side. The contact stated he was driving with the defroster on for about 45 minutes when the window started to smoke. The…
Service Brakes 78 Read
While raining consumer put foot on brake and vehicle would not stop
On two occassions, one on dry pavement, one on wet, in a panic stop situation, there was little or no braking for a time. It was as if the ABS started on the wrong cycle (no braking). The stopping distance was increased significatly in both cases
ABS brakes when depressed did not stop vehicle. Pedal went to floor of vehicle resulting in consumer having an accident. Also engine check light comes on. Cause unknown
Steering 65 Read
The contact owns a 2002 buick park avenue. While driving 45 mph, the steering wheel began to move independently from left to right without warning, causing the contact to crash into a ditch. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained whiplash and bruises that did not require medical…
I was driving a buick park ave 2000. After stopping at a stop sign I made a right hand turn onto a busy 3 lane city street. When I accelerated and began changing lanes the car lunged a little and continued to accelerate on its own. I tried pressing the brake and it felt like there was a block of wood underneath it.…
Upon starting the vehicle there was a popping noise from the engine. *ak the engine caught on fire
Fuel System 62 Read
While attempting to start the car after the ignition was cranked for less than one second there was an explosion from under the hood resulting in fire. The fire was put out within a minute due to access of a nearby fire extinguisher. Upon examination of the engine compartment the entire intake manifold had exploded…
Our 2001 buick has had a engine compartment fire it is the same cause as this recall- [xxx] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -close investigation subject : engine compartment fires , 1 recall(s) date investigation opened: oct 22, 2002 date investigation closed: mar 09,…
The contact owns a 2001 Buick Park Avenue. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the hood exploded and caught on fire. The fire was extinguished with 3 buckets of water. There was no property damage. It was unknown whether warning lights illuminated after the failure. There was no injury sustained;…
Power Train 40 Read
While vehical was parked with engine running, it popped into gear and rolled away, making impact with neighbors house
Vehicle parked on incline and turned off, transmission jumped out of gear, vehicle rolled backwards, injuring driver who was between door and vehicle
The contact owns a 2003 buick park avenue. While driving 25 mph, the transmission slipped and caused the vehicle to malfunction. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000
Suspension 33 Read
High speed shake or shimmy--the tires have been replaced numerous times, one axle has been replaced, additional balancing was done, finally, we were told it could not be fixed
The contact stated while driving 30 mph, there was a wind-like noise coming from the front of the vehicle. As the vehicle speed increased, the noise became louder. There was also a tightness in the steering when turning to either side. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer who determined that the hub assembly was…
Steering wheel vibrates at idle and in gear.dealer says gmc has been notified.dealer states he can not fix. *ak problem
Park Avenue 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 | Equipment | — | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | — | 2 | |
| 2003 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 3 | 4 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 3 | 6 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 3 | 7 | |
| 1999 | Electrical System | 1 | 21 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 4 | 24 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 3 | 19 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 2 | 3 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 4 | 2 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 2 | 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 | 263 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.3 |
| Worst single series | 27 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.4 years |
A model average of 3.3 hides a worst series at 27. 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 Park Avenue?
By complaint volume, 1998, 1997, 1999 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 Park Avenue years are the cleanest?
2005, 2004, 2003 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick Park Avenue have?
856 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1994–2005. Of those, 26 describe a crash and 90 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.