Buick Riviera Reliability by Year
Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
437 NHTSA complaints (1982–1999).Complaint rate: 5141.2 per 1,000 vehicles.
Should I buy a Buick Riviera?
Quick answer from 437 NHTSA complaints · 1982–1999
Buick Riviera shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 6.9% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.
Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.
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 1995–1998 Buick Riviera. The 1993 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/traction Control/electronic Limited Slip.
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 Riviera Problems
Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.
Show full table
| Component | Complaints | Crash % |
|---|---|---|
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip | 27 | 3.7% |
| Automatic Transmission | 18 | 5.6% |
| Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine:Gasoline | 17 | 0.0% |
| Seat Belts:Front:Retractor | 16 | 0.0% |
| Electrical System:Horn | 13 | 0.0% |
| Electrical Faults | 13 | 0.0% |
| Engine & Cooling | 12 | 0.0% |
| Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine | 12 | 0.0% |
| Air Bags:Frontal | 12 | 75.0% |
| Steering Defects | 11 | 9.1% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985NO DATA | — | 7 | 0 | 7 | View → |
| 1986NO DATA | — | 2 | 0 | — | View → |
| 1987NO DATA | — | 8 | 0 | — | View → |
| 1989NO DATA | — | 10 | 0 | — | View → |
| 1990NO DATA | — | 16 | 1 | — | View → |
| 1991NO DATA | — | 16 | 4 | — | View → |
| 1992NO DATA | — | 17 | 3 | 1 | View → |
| 1993NO DATA | — | 9 | 4 | — | View → |
| 1995AVOID | — | 177 | 8 | 6 | View → |
| 1996AVOID | — | 69 | 0 | 1 | View → |
| 1997AVOID | — | 48 | 3 | 5 | View → |
| 1998AVOID | — | 43 | 3 | 2 | View → |
| 1999 | — | 12 | 3 | — | 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 (437 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 Rivieraaccident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.
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