Owners have filed 972 complaints on the Buick Rendezvous, covering 2001–2007. The system named most often is Electrical System (170 reports). Worst years by volume: 2002, 2003, 2004; cleanest: 2001, 2007, 2006. 48 reports describe a crash, 20 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 6.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick Rendezvous
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 972 Rendezvous complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 170 Read
A few months ago my car stalled at the bus stop and shut down. It would not restart. The car needed to be jumped. The warranty was going to be up soon so we took the vehicle to rice buick in knoxville, tn to get looked at. They hooked it up to the machine and it didn't do it so they determined that it must have been…
The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the keys were left in the ignition. The contact's two and a half year old child turned the keys to the accessory position. Once the key was turned, the child was able to take the vehicle out of the park position and place the gear shifter into reverse without depressing…
Electrical fire started causing vehicle to be totalled
Engine And Engine Cooling 131 Read
The contact owns a 2003 buick rendezvous. The contact started the vehicle and the heater was activated with a burning odor. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. The failure was contributed to a melted cable connected to the heater and the air conditioner. The technician replaced the heater module and cable.…
Head gasket blew. Was fixed for $2000 then next day after I picked it up from the shop the engine caught on fire, they said brake lines leaked on manifold
The contact owns a 2007 buick rendezvous. While driving 10 mph, the instrument panel lights illuminated. When the contact depressed the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated and then accelerated. She stated that the vehicle felt as if it would stall when the accelerator pedal was depressed. When she removes her…
Fuel System 115 Read
Over the past year I have been contacting buick and delphi about the recall on the fuel system in my 2005 buick rendezvous. I recently slightly passed out and crashed in the car due to being overcome by the intensive raw gas fumes. I recently contacted both again and I was told that there is a recall on certain…
The contact owns a 2007 buick rendezvous. The contact stated while traveling approximately 50 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact had adjusted a wire in the electrical box and was able restart the vehicle. The contact was not been able to start the vehicle without adjusting a wire in the fuze box…
I read the article about gm's possible faulty fuel gauge issue in the 4/30/2011 newspaper. I have a 2007 buick rendezvous cxl purchased as a gm certified used car from a local gm dealer. The fuel gauge wanders by 1/4 of a tank. While under warranty, I have been to several dealers about this problem about 5-or 6 times…
Fuel/propulsion System 92 Read
The contact owned a 2005 buick rendezvous. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle caught fire near the rear passenger side. The driver was alerted by another motorist that the vehicle was on fire. It was determined that the fire was due to a fuel leak from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed. A…
No notice from gm on recall dated 08/08/2007 fuel tank defect. Fuel leaking from fuel tank at this specific location. Dealers will not repair this defect. I am the orig. Owner
Fuel leak and fuel filler neck on 2007 gas would not go into gas tank and gas leaking out
Suspension 69 Read
I have had ongoing electrical problems with my vehicle for about a year now. It keeps blowing the number 40 fuse which causes the vehicle to lose its turn signals, break lights, and emergency flashers. The dealer has attempted to fix the problem 3 times since june of 2005. The fourth time this happened a wiring…
Received a letter from buick that my 2003 rendezvous has had problems with premature wear of the wheel bearings. I took my car in to be checked by the place I purchased it (quality auto of warsaw in) a week before receiving the letter because I heard a loud humm. Was told to bring it in on 9-8-06 for wheel bearing…
- the contact owns a 2003 buick rendezvous cx/csl. The contact was driving at 5-10 mph in bumper to bumper traffic. She applied the brakes and the car started shaking from side to side and then it flipped over three times, landing in an embankment. The contact stated that it had rained earlier that day, but that this…
Steering 67 Read
2005 buick rendezvous rolled from park with keys out of the ignition injuring consumers wife. *kb the consumer had other problems with the vehicle such as the power steering becoming hard . The dealer replaced the pump and the power steering rack. The ABS, and brake light illuminated, then the AWD disable light came…
This SUV was purchased at the end of august 2016 and once in the car and driving down the road we realized the vehicle power steering was hard to turn and the brakes were going all the way down. We also had a car accident, because it was very hard to turn and once in the parking space the brakes went completely out…
The contact owns a 2004 buick rendezvous. The contact stated that while driving 5 mph, the steering wheel seized and the contact crashed into an embankment. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuries. The front passenger sustained injuries to the shoulders and the chest due to the seat…
Service Brakes 65 Read
The contact stated that the vehicle's ABS system failed on 07/15/06 resulting in a collision. The vehicle was traveling at 25 mph when traffic forced emergency braking causing the vehicle to nose dive but continued to roll forward. The wheels did not lock up and the ABS system did not engage. There was no warning…
Brakes failed on 2004 buick rendezvous
We drove 6.4 miles from our relatives house to a restaurant. When I parked, my wife noticed smoke coming out from the front of the vehicle on the passangers side. I told her to exit the vehicle and I released the hood latch. When I opened the hood the flames were visible. I called 911, prior to fd arrival the flames…
Power Train 56 Read
On june 12, 2006 I was leaving my work place with both of my children. I was in the process of strapping my daughter's seat belt on her (age 5) when my 2 year old son jumped up into the driver seat and pulled the vehicle out of park. The car immediately started to roll backwards, as it was parked on a gradual slope. I…
While driving instruction panel lights go out, loses all power in vehicle. When system is out it is easy for vehicle to shift into neutral gear without applying brakes. Lost control, and vehicle went over hill
Car would not shift from reverse to the park position. The car's shift cable had broken leaving the car in an unsafe reverse position. Turned off the car, set the parking brake and called to have the car towed to a repair shop. The repair shop replaced the shifter cable and stated this is a common problem with this gm…
Rendezvous 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 10 | 1 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 9 | 11 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 14 | 7 | |
| 2001 | Electrical System | 1 | — |
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 | 171 |
| Average complaints per series | 5.7 |
| Worst single series | 28 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.0 years |
A model average of 5.7 hides a worst series at 28. 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 Rendezvous?
By complaint volume, 2002, 2003, 2004 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 Rendezvous years are the cleanest?
2001, 2007, 2006 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick Rendezvous have?
972 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2001–2007. Of those, 48 describe a crash and 20 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.