Comments: 1-15, 16-29
I own a 2001 Buick Century. Today I replaced the forth window regulator/motor. Now both front doors and rear doors have been replaced. The cost for the part was $500 and the labor cost was $161. I do not have the skills to do this myself.
The service people showed me the little plastic pulley wheel that failed, and said they could not replace the plastic wheel, but that I needed a new regulator/motor. The cable that raises the window goes through the plastic wheel. I asked if this replacement regulator/motor was from GM and they said yes, but had no answer as to whether this new part has the same problem as the old part.
The failure was not from usage, but from poor product design and usage of inferior materials. I have resisted for a long time, but like many others, I will move to the more reliable foreign car manufacturers and not purchase from GM again.
Do you own a Buick Century or LeSabre? I was not aware that the window regulator issue was a problem on other Buick models besides the LeSabre. By the way, the imports have their problems too with far less comfort and style than a Buick. I would advise not buying into the theory that Toyota and Honda are the be all to end all, you might be very disappointed.
2001 Buick Century, 66K miles: had window regular replaced on driver's side by aftermarket person (approx $225), guaranteed 1 yr P & L; before the year over, replaced again, within few months needed #3, the repair person was kind enough to refund money since it was not worth his while to keep fixing; went to Buick dealer cost $500, has 1 yr P&L; within a month the passenger front window regulator broke, went to local repair shop for $250 with same 1 yr P&L--why spend at the dealer for same guarantee. Within few months rear passenger regulator went--the hell with it--got window up, jammed some rubber sheeting to keep it from slipping down, covered the button --not going to waste time & $--rarely open windows in SW Florida. Now how bout the ac control knobs--I am on #3 at 20/each--the interesting thing is that the knob is rarely moved from MAX. How about the ashtray--need to use outlet for cell charger--pull out charger, and whole sliding ashtray compartment comes out and is almost impossible to slide back on the slots.
Shall we talk about the engine work because of a coolant leak-had to replace manifold intake gasket, manifold set, o rings, etc. I got this car from my dad before he died--he truly loved Buicks--luckily he is dead as he would have died if he had to pay out all this money.
The fact that the same window regulator failed 3 times within a year means it was either abused or not correctly installed. How does the first one last several years and then decide to fail every few months? I won't argue that these regulators are shoddy, but to replace so many in a short time is very unusual even for this unit. The fact that you have broken multiple AC knobs also astounds me. I have driven several late model Centuries with this set-up and they seem hard to break unless you try to break them. I personally own a Buick with over 130,000 miles and I have had none of these failures that you report. I can understand why your father loved Buicks, what I can't understand is why your car breaks all the time.
I own a Buick Century 2001, and reading the comments about this car others wrote is shocking. I strongly disagree. I love the Buick Century; I own one and have very few problems and it's 7 years old. The ONLY thing that just recently stopped working was the gas gauge. Other than that, no more problems; it's very reliable, a nice ride and goes very fast. I take extremely good care of my car and I have no complaints about it.
Have always had GM vehicles, but this 2001 Buick Custom has me a little disgusted. I have replaced both front wheel bearings, one back bearing, both front springs, all brake shoes and rotors, sending unit for the gas tank is not working, ABS brake light is on, so no ABS braking, which also makes the traction control non function, and to top it all off it has such a loud knock that is either a wristpin knock or lifter knock that I am embarrassed to start it with people around.
Bought it with 80,000 kms, and has only 160,000 now. It's just too much maintenance.
I own a 2001 Buick Century with 104,000kms. (64,000 miles) which I purchased new. Three times in the last nine months the "Service Vehicle Soon", "ABS" AND "Trac Off" lights have come on and the engine has lost power. The last time the temperature light also came on and the gauge needle was over as far to the H as it would go and after a bit of time it became very erratic bouncing back and forth between normal and high. It eventually settled in the normal range and all during this period the engine was never overheated.
It has been checked out by the dealership, where it is regularly serviced, on the computer, both in the shop and during road testing and no reason can be found to cause this.
If you have had a similar problem would you please comment as I will check this site daily.
Thank you.
We own a 2000 century. It has had a new tranny (less than a year old at time) a new power drivers seat motor. And in the last three years we have had to replace the driver and passenger front window regulators, the rear window imploded last winter and just yesterday the rear passenger window regulator broke. If this is Buicks idea of quality I will never buy one again! I can't afford to buy the same car several times. I expect much better! I have never had this much trouble with any vehicle I have owned and I've always been a GM owner, just this was the first Buick. Won't make that mistake again.
I own a 2001 buick century custom and have had many problems as well. 1st was having to replace the catalytic converter at around 700$. I have also replaced all four window regulators and the passenger side front has just broken again and have also had to replace an air conditioning knob. Despite what the previous commenter said they have not failed do to misuse or poor installation they broke because they are junk and poorly designed. Also I have a manifold leak just like another previous commenter. Also recently my odometer light just ceased working. All other instrument panel lights work but the odometer light and "gear lights?" don't work.
Car is good otherwise but just many annoyances.
I have Buick Century 2001. One day the engine service soon light pop up. I go to the dealership and he checked the vehicle and told me everything fine here. I ask him to fix this light. He took my vehicle and gave it to me next day. He charged around 400 $ for it. The light was gone.
But after few hours the light blow up again 'Engine Service Soon". I was surprised. This maintenance done by GM and I paid around 400 $. Then I wrote it online on GM website, and after two days when I get their email go to the GM dealership. Now it is working fine.
In winter I installed the winter tires and all the time ABS light blow up. To fix this light is around 500$. But I not do anything. Now in summer when I installed the all season tires, the light gone automatically. Just wondering what is going on?
I own a 2001 Buick Century. I paid $500 to the dealer I bought it from to fix the window regulator in the front passenger door. Within a year both rear windows slid down. Not being able to afford $1000 for both of them to be repaired, I paid $100 in labor to have them wired shut.
Now my driver's side window has slid down and I know it will be another $500 to repair it. The car only has 25000 miles on it and this has been a major design flaw. I would not buy another Buick because of this.
I owned a 1999 Century for years and had to do almost no work to it until at 110K miles; however, the motor on the rear driver window did go out and I had to prop that window. The remaining windows will go down, but it can take a while of trying to get them back up again so I just blocked the buttons and never put them down. The wheel bearing also appears to be a common issue, the cars feel like they are vibrating but mechanics just keep telling you there is nothing wrong until it gets so bad other parts have been affected as well.
When I decided the 1999 was getting too many miles and taking too much time for repairs (due to age), I found a low-mile 2002 Century. I have been VERY disappointed with this later model. I don't know what changed in manufacturing between the 99 & 02, but it is far inferior in quality even though it is the exact same model. So far, I know the previous owner replaced at least one of the window motors as well as a manifold leak (at under 50K miles). I have issues with the power motor for the drivers seat working intermittently, the coolant light was coming on due to faulty regulators, and the AC control knob just broke off (and I did nothing to try to break it, simply turned it).
Plus, I get regular noise from the driver wheel area (not brake related) accompanied by shaking, which mechanics cannot diagnose (again) and I suspect is a wheel bearing issue. It also tinks like it is really hot outside every time I stop no matter the length of the trip. Mechanics say this is the exhaust pipe getting too hot.
So very disappointed in the later models. Ready to dump this one and either fix the 99 or get something different.
Have been reading through the comments and can relate to many of the same problems.
48,000 miles - replaced front wheel bearing. $500.00
51,1000 miles - replaced front passenger window regulator. $120.00
52,000 miles - replaced rear window regulator. $80.00
55,000 miles - replaced manifold intake gasket. $1200.00
58,000 miles - replaced air conditioning knob.
59,000 miles - gas gauge has stopped working. Have not yet repaired.
I replaced the window regulators myself by purchasing online, which included instructions on how to do it. I'm not quite as hard on GM as some other reviews I have seen. I have a foreign (Japanese) company vehicle which has had a few problems as well but certainly not as many as the Buick. Will continue to buy GM products.
Hi, I just wondered how hard it was to repair the rear window regulator. My great grandma has a 2003 with about 36,000 miles and her rear driver side window is no longer operable. I have seen these listed on eBay for about $40-$50 but didn't know if I could do it myself.
-Thanks.
Wow..took me a while to go through ALL the mishaps fellow Buick owners were experiencing, but in the end, we are all alike
Here's a summary: Driver side window regulator broken; 90 bucks on the part and 30 minutes later, good as new...um..almost, and a big almost, a year later, window stuck with 2 inches to go to be fully up. With that, the other windows don't work unless the driver side puts them down. Might be because the window lock button decided to stay stuck on Lock and then break off with the awesome power of my pointer finger.
Odometer tried and tried but just couldn't stay on. Then the gas gauge started to act funny. going from Full to Empty and back to Full... now it slowly goes to Empty until it hits the 3/8 mark where it starts its "gas empty beeping" w/o the light even going on.
Finally, while trying to move the knob from A/C to DEF, the knob simply came off with ease. Oh yeah, good luck charging anything too, the cigarette lighter is out too.
Now I'm stuck not knowing how much gas I really have, how many miles until my next oil change, if I'm on Overdrive or 3.
If the a/c is on, it's on MAX A/C, with the a/c being let out because of an open driver's window. Passengers can't open their window unless I do it for them, and nobody can hook up their phone or other electronic device to charge.
I agree, the 2001 Buick Century I have is junk. With only 48,000 miles, I have replaced the drivers front wheel bearing twice, and now the passenger bearing is going out. I have also had to replace the brakes at about 24,000 miles due to so much noise could not stand it.
Had to replace the radiator at about 46,000 because it could not be repaired. At least I got the advice to change the coolant before it caused damage because GM used defective, junk coolant.
I keep getting offers from GM, but would not buy another GM car for any reason. It might be good for it to go bankrupt, re-organize and maybe get itself better.