Owners have filed 265 complaints on the Buick Roadmaster, covering 1991–1996. The system named most often is Service Brakes (40 reports). Worst years by volume: 1992, 1994, 1993; cleanest: 1991, 1995, 1996. 41 reports describe a crash, 7 a fire. On average the car was 4.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick Roadmaster
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 265 Roadmaster complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 40 Read
When applying the ABS brakes in normal braking conditions the right rear brake intermittently locks up. Brake problem repaired by dealer. Also, the fuse box under the hood shorted out and caused a small fire. *ak
ABS braking system malfunctioned, caused no braking capabilities, which resulted in a crash. Please provide further information
Complete, total brake failure. The only wat to stop was a light pole. Afterwards the varkes worked again. Contacted buick the answer there is no warranty left on ther brake shoes! Buick dealer must look at it. Buick dealer nothing wrong, car sent back. I took it for state inspection, total brake failure while…
Suspension 27 Read
Electrical short in the door panel, causing an electircal malfunction in the vehicle.*ak dealer found 7 wires burnt in door panel and 20 wires burnt under seat, causing several electrical components to fail. Vehicle experienced brake problems. Vehicle experienced alignment problems
While driving on highway at 40-45 mph at the end of a rain shower, driving straight way with no warning, the rear end of the vehicle began to slide to the right, the vehicle went completely out of control, crossed three lanes of traffic and collided with a van. Vehicle was totalled. Dealer not aware of the problem. No…
Buick roadmaster sedan traveling at 30 mph on a clear dry day on a paved smooth road around a curve, the lower ball joint severed causing the vehicle to veer off the road into a large yard. The ball joint was from a foreign manufacturer. As a result, all four ball joints were replaced with high quality parts at an…
Air Bags 23 Read
Consumer was driving at approx 35 mph, heading north, middle lane, another driver in a truck was in right lane made a u-turn in front of consumer's vehicle, causing consumer to hit truck on left driver's side head-on, airbag did not deploy, caused a series of injuries
Consumer was involved in a crash and the passenger's side air bag deployed. Also, the cover over the dashboard detached from the dashboard, causing the passenger to sustain chest injuries
The consumer was in an accident and the driver and passenger side air bags did not deploy and the passenger side seat belt came out the buckle
Electrical System 23 Read
96 buick roadmaster wagon driver's side door catches fire and destroys car! Internal door fire
Electrical fire
No summary
Engine And Engine Cooling 23 Read
Engine compartment fire
Vehicle stalls after going through a puddle of water. It would lose power
Coolant leaks from the bottom of the water pump onto vibration damper and power steering belt, causing loss of control. Please give any further details
Vehicle Speed Control 18 Read
While driving accelerator cable rubbed up against the wiring harness due to cable being incorrectly routed by buick, causing an electrical short, resulting in a fire
The fuel throttle was stuck and was unable to stop the vehicle. Tt
Sudden unintended acceleration, unknown source of problem. Tt
Seat Belts 17 Read
Upon frontal collision, drivers air bag failed to deploy. Tt
Seat belts are turning in lock position
Shoulder belt on the passenger's side is hanging out of the retractor. The dealer and manufacturer are aware of the problem. The problem has not been corrected. This is the second time for the same problem
Power Train 15 Read
Vehicle was left in idle position with engine running, jumped out of park into drive, impact 12:00 position
Transmission dipstick not seated right, allowing fluid to leak out, starting fire
Vehicle was left unattended in park gear and running, gear jumped out of park and into reverse resulting in collision with fence and damage to vehicle
Roadmaster 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 1995 | Electrical System | 3 | 1 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 10 | 4 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 9 | 1 | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 14 | — | |
| 1991 | Air Bags | 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 | 157 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.7 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.5 years |
A model average of 1.7 hides a worst series at 7. 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 Roadmaster?
By complaint volume, 1992, 1994, 1993 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 Roadmaster years are the cleanest?
1991, 1995, 1996 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick Roadmaster have?
265 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1991–1996. Of those, 41 describe a crash and 7 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.