2004 Buick Century from North America - All Comments

Nothing in 3-days!

Interior was very basic, reasonable workmanship.

I rented this car for 3 days, did a bit of driving in all conditions - warm and cold, as well as city and highway.

It was a typical American sedan - great ride, excellent handling and very powerful.

ABS braking came in handy on some slippery cobbled streets.

Considering the state of many roads in Quebec, this car was quiet! It had excellent suspension - not only over cobbled streets, but also over the many potholes on Quebec streets and highways.

The split bench seats were just OK - found the center armrest was a little high.

Terrific engine performance on the highway, notably in overtaking situations. Just a gentle touch on the accelerator, and you're off!

Controls were easy to use, though just a little out of reach on the center console.

Centuries are very nice sedans, but you should try out an Accord or Camry. They are much better all the way around.

To whoever wrote the comment above this one; Which automotive magazine do you work for?

I have driven both a Camry and an Accord and was disappointed in both. It sounds like you are riding in a tank. The road noise is terrible and the engine roar is not much better.

I bought a 99 accord brand new and have 58,000 miles on it. It is excellent for reliability, but not a good highway car. It is underpowered and after 2 hours my and my wifes backs are hurting. I am looking at taking it for a work car and getting something for our highway driver. I am looking at the Buick Century or a Chevy Impala.

I owned a Buick Century about 15 years ago and just loved it. I have a 1997 Lumina now and just love it, but I have to replace it and they have stopped making the Lumina so I have begun the search for a decent used car. I drove a Concorde, nice ride, bad seat comfort. I drove a Sebring, nothing thrilled me with that, bad seat once again. Then I decided to try another Buick and drove a 2004 Century. Ahhhh, a very comfortable seat, nice ride, quiet, etc. I don't know why I even thought about other brands, they don't even compare to the Buick's comfort. I will probably end up with some type of Buick.

I agree with the 3rd commenter and disagree with the first commenter. I am glad that you are not one of the people who are prejudiced against gm. But where is your proof? The 2004 Buick Century got the jd power award for Highest Ranked Premium Midsize Car in Initial Quality. Which means it is going to hold up better than any Honda or Toyota. I did a bit of research and found something QUITE surprising. On msn autos, experts gave the 2003 Accord a 8 out of 10 overall rating. The Century got an 8.7 out of 10 overall rating. The camry got an 8.8 out of 10 overall rating, but WITH SEVERE ENGINE PROBLEMS!!! You can read them below...

Occasional problems on this vehicle are failures of the Intake Manifold, 2AZ-FE engine only, and the Evaporative Canister Closed Valve. Failure of the Intake Manifold can cause a rattling noise in the engine at idle or light acceleration. Failure of the Evaporative Canister Closed Valve will cause the check engine light to illuminate. The cost to replace the Intake Manifold is estimated at $377.20 for parts and $136.50 for labor. The cost to repair the Evaporative Canister Closed Valve is estimated at $44.71 for parts and $39.00 for labor. All prices are estimates based on $65 per flat rate hour and do not include diagnostic time or any applicable sales tax.

PRETTY INTENSE HUH!!! YOU DECIDE honda, toyota or BUICK!!!

I second that. And third it as well, if that's an option. Finding someone who actually agrees with my point of view regarding an American car is like SETI getting a signal back. It's possible, but I never expect it.

I've read the magazine reviews (online versions, anyway). I quickly learned to avoid Motor Trend, C&D, and Road & Track. Honda has them in their collective back pocket, so their reviews are no good. There's edmunds.com, which always praises GM's engines and transmissions for their absolute sturdiness, but then proceeds to complain about the interior. After reading their reviews, you might think a Buick accelerates smoothly, but it's hard to see past the rags hanging from the roof, and the doors might fall off. My grandmother would have a word for that: NITPICKING. That would be in addition to my own summary: exaggeration. So Edmunds is slightly better than the others, but not much. Then there's Consumer Reports. I favor them over the others because of the "no advertising dollars" thing. To me, that means the purely factual test data (acceleration, etc.) is reliable. As far as the other stuff, like interior, seats, and all that, however, they also tend to nitpick. The only opinion you should consider about stuff like that is your own.

In my opinion, the Accord and Camry are excellent cars, but there's no way they compare to riding in a Century, or any other Buick or Olds (now long gone, sigh). In anticipation of any comments by Accord drivers, I will reiterate: I like the Accord very much. But when I get in my 2003 Century, it just has that "feel." The feel of a large, comfortable, competent AMERICAN sedan. Yeah, yeah, I know, American car companies can't do anything right. To some, that thought is absolutely ingrained, to the point that American cars are all tiny and underpowered, breaking down before they leave the dealer. How about putting down the biased magazine and test-driving one before you form an unfounded opinion.

I like Honda reliability and all, but what if I want more comfort, and vastly reduced road noise, so I can carry on a conversation at 70mph without yelling? I'm no huge fan of Fords, but I'm damn sure going to get a Crown Vic or whatever before an Accord. Those of us who own American don't bash imports, yet here on a Buick page, some arrogant fool decides to post that first ridiculous comment.

The second comment at first made me laugh, but my laughter turned somewhat sour as I realized the truth it evinced. If you read the mags, you'll miss out on an American car, and that's your problem. I don't care. No hard feelings, but it's pretty dang foolish to fail to weigh all options when you're going to spend 20 grand. But, whatever. Your car is good and all, but to me, capitalist pig that I am, my Buick is a damn sight better.

I see the collision test of Buick Century is really bad (at least much worse than I expected). For a solid car like this, how come the safety is just so-so? This is my only concern to owning one.

To the pro-American car posters I have to ask this question:

If Americans cars are sooooo great and have always been soooooo great how in the world did the imports gain such marketshare?

I can tell you from my personal experience. My parents' 1980 Buick Skylark had to have virtually all major components replaced before they traded it in on a Camry. A teacher I knew in graduate school was so horrified by her Century's reliability she couldn't wait to get an Accord. My friend's Ford Focus had 20 recalls and was in the shop endless times. His mother now drives one of the last Oldsmobile minivans. It feels like it was put together by a child using parts found in the trash.

I'm as American as the next guy, but that doesn't mean I have to support American mechanics, and that's exactly what you end up doing.

Maybe cars like the Pontiac Solstice will turn things around, but given that American manufacturers prefer mediocrity over quality I truly doubt it.

You can't base your opinion about a whole industry on simple anecdotal evidence. For every "my college roommate's uncle's friend's 1971 Pontiac was junk" story, there is another "my friend's cousin's nephew's Honda was junk" story.

Look at the facts. In the most recent Initial Quality survey by JD Power, Buick ranked 3rd, behind only Jaguar and Lexus - cars costing significantly more. As a matter of fact, Buick has ranked in the Top 10 in both initial quality AND long-term reliability for most of the last 2 decades. Consumer Reports has consistently rated the LeSabre as one of the best used cars money can buy.

"Import" brands gained market share because of a few bad American products in the 1970's, and the personal biases of a large group of self-hating Americans who are all to ready to believe the worst about themselves. Check the facts. Buicks are great cars, always have been, and ONE bad experience by ONE person 26 years ago doesn't change that.

Keep in mind that the Ford Focus is not an American vehicle, it is an exact copy from the German Ford Factory and here in Europe we have more problems with the Focus than overmileaged Thunderbirds.

As to the comment: "How did the imports gain such marketshare"

Well, specificly the Japanese gained such marketshare because of dumping back in the days, which our government did nothing against, unlike the European countries.

Go to Germany, how many Toyotas and Hondas do you see there?

Not many compared to all the VW's, Audis, BMW's and Mercedes, not to mention Opel's, Citroen, Fiats etc...

Honda and Toyota started out as junk, unreliable, cheap junk.

But americans kept buying them because they were CHEAP.

Much like Americans are now buying Kia's and Hyundai's because they are cheap, even though not too long ago Kia's and Hyundai's were totally unreliable too.

As to Buick's, they make good, long lasting cars, I can attest to that, and they are so comfortable.

I don't know about Buick being good cars. They're NOT good.

I have a co worker who has one. He has a number of problems with his Century! And very costly repairs at that!

I'm surprised that anyone says they are good when they're not. I'm talking about reliability - not comfort. He had to fix the intake manifold at 75k, the electronic odometer gives up. It'll cost him $600 if he wants to fix.

And a number of other annoying quality issues that land his Buick in the shop endless number of times! All that happens by 133k miles.

I will NEVER buy American. I drive 200 to 250 miles a day. Low quality cars like these are the LAST thing I need. I cannot have a car that is unreliable. I don't need a car that will do nothing but ruin my days! NOT TO MENTION tons of $$$ that should NOT need to be spent!!

My coworker drives roughly 100 miles a day. He's having more problems with his 2000s Buick Century than my 1985 Mazda 626. My 85 is all Japanese. My '85 has 160k miles and I never had any of these annoying quality issues, my Jap car just does what it supposed to do: Just run and run and run!! My 85 Mazda is actually MORE reliable than some new American cars of today!!!

So you're comparing your 626 to the 15 buick centuries all your friends own and saying your car is more reliable? Its 2006 buddy and your friends don't exist and niether should your paranoid thoughts on american autos. You do your research and know your stuff, you won't buy a crappy car, whatever make it is. If you don't do anything, you get a crappy car.

I had a friend with a Century and it had over 300,000 on it and it ran just fine until some idiot in a Honda slammed into her at about 50. and I have a Neon and it has over 235,000 and still going strong. American cars rock!...

I also agree with the comment about how the Japanese used to be cheap and such and that's why people got them and to the same with Hyundai and Kia.