Buick Lesabre Reliability by Year
Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
4,860 NHTSA complaints (1982–2006).Complaint rate: 3449.3 per 1,000 vehicles.
Should I buy a Buick Lesabre?
Quick answer from 4,860 NHTSA complaints · 1982–2006
Buick Lesabre shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 5.7% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to visibility:power window devices and controls. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.
- 2000 Buick Lesabre· 849 complaints
Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.
Why these years are worse
The most common issues driving the complaint spikes:
- visibility:power window devices and controls — 385 complaints (0.3% involved a crash)
- engine and engine cooling:engine:gasoline — 253 complaints (1.2% involved a crash)
- electrical faults — 186 complaints (1.1% involved a crash)
- service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip — 183 complaints (13.7% involved a crash)
- airbags — 153 complaints (19.6% involved a crash)
Which Years to Buy & Avoid
Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.
Rankings based on raw NHTSA complaint counts. Sales volume data not yet available for this model.
Bottom line: Avoid the 2000–2002 Buick Lesabre (63 crash-related complaints). The 2005–2006 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls.
Avoid These Years
Average
Better Years
A model's reputation is just the start.
Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $4.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).
Complaints by Model Year
NHTSA complaint count per model year
Common Buick Lesabre Problems
Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.
Show full table
| Component | Complaints | Crash % |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility:Power Window Devices And Controls | 385 | 0.3% |
| Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine:Gasoline | 253 | 1.2% |
| Electrical Faults | 186 | 1.1% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip | 183 | 13.7% |
| Airbags | 153 | 19.6% |
| Structural Problems | 144 | 1.4% |
| Automatic Transmission | 139 | 1.4% |
| Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine | 137 | 0.7% |
| Engine & Cooling | 119 | 0.8% |
| Air Bags:Frontal | 111 | 70.3% |
When Each Problem Spiked
Year × component heatmap. Darker cells = more complaints that year. Reveals which model years a specific defect concentrated in — useful for spotting redesign-cycle quality dips.
Year-by-Year Breakdown
NHTSA complaint count per model year — click any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
| Year | Generation | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984NO DATA | — | 7 | 0 | 4 | View → |
| 1985NO DATA | — | 6 | 0 | — | View → |
| 1986NO DATA | — | 20 | 1 | — | View → |
| 1987NO DATA | — | 53 | 4 | 2 | View → |
| 1988NO DATA | — | 22 | 0 | — | View → |
| 1989NO DATA | — | 35 | 2 | 2 | View → |
| 1990NO DATA | — | 75 | 8 | — | View → |
| 1991NO DATA | — | 46 | 1 | 3 | View → |
| 1992NO DATA | — | 245 | 18 | 26 | View → |
| 1993NO DATA | — | 264 | 14 | 27 | View → |
| 1994NO DATA | — | 220 | 38 | 6 | View → |
| 1995 | — | 235 | 18 | 3 | View → |
| 1996GOOD | — | 121 | 10 | — | View → |
| 1997AVOID | — | 514 | 30 | 49 | View → |
| 1998AVOID | — | 518 | 20 | 64 | View → |
| 1999 | — | 268 | 26 | 36 | View → |
| 2000AVOID | — | 849 | 33 | 43 | View → |
| 2001AVOID | — | 460 | 13 | 25 | View → |
| 2002AVOID | — | 380 | 17 | 16 | View → |
| 2003 | — | 209 | 12 | 5 | View → |
| 2004 | — | 212 | 4 | 6 | View → |
| 2005GOOD | — | 95 | 9 | 3 | View → |
| 2006NO DATA | — | 4 | 0 | — | View → |
Year-by-Year Breakdown
Tap any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
Data Sources & Methodology
Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (4,860 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.
Sales data: Not yet available for this model. Complaint counts are shown as raw numbers.
Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.
Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint count. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).
See also: Buick Lesabreaccident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.
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