Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | |||
| 10/26/2010 | 80000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2002 buick century. while traveling 50 mph the contact noticed that the high beams had suddenly shut off without warning, seconds later the contact noticed that the regular headlights had began to operate normally. the vehicle was taken to the dealership where the light switch was replaced. there were no prior warnings. the current mileage was 111000 and the failure mileage was 80000. bml | |||
| 11/21/2005 | 82000 | 1 | 10/01/2002 |
| Dt: the contact stated while driving at night he switched the low beam headlights to high beam headlights, resulting in total loss of exterior lighting. he swerved to miss oncoming traffic. after several attempts of turning the dimmer switch on and off the lights came back on without any further problems. he has not taken the vehicle to a dealer for inspection. no repairs have been made at this time. *ak | |||
| 09/01/2001 | |||
| The reverse lights and tag light stopped working due to fraying of wires near trunk hinge. fraying also cased the trunk/door light to illuminate on dash until repaired. cheap plastic covering did nothing to prevent fraying from contact with trunk hinge. at 3000 miles, had to go to dealer three times to have steering column replaced due to loud noise when wheel was turned. sun visors are hard to use, they hit rearview mirror when adjusted. inadequate even when used. very loud popping sound on driver's side at times under brake pedal. good car otherwise. | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - BACK UP LIGHTS | |||
| 09/01/2001 | |||
| The reverse lights and tag light stopped working due to fraying of wires near trunk hinge. fraying also cased the trunk/door light to illuminate on dash until repaired. cheap plastic covering did nothing to prevent fraying from contact with trunk hinge. at 3000 miles, had to go to dealer three times to have steering column replaced due to loud noise when wheel was turned. sun visors are hard to use, they hit rearview mirror when adjusted. inadequate even when used. very loud popping sound on driver's side at times under brake pedal. good car otherwise. | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - HAZARD FLASHING WARNING LIGHTS - SWITCH | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 38000 | 1 | |
| 2002 buick century with several problems. consumer states that the electric window controls had to be replaced due to failure. headlights started working intermittently. multi-function switch needs replacement. *kb the consumer stated using the turn signal indicator or the high beams, apparently triggered all the lights to go out. the heater controls did not function properly. *jb | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - HEADLIGHTS | |||
| 12/12/2007 | 65532 | 4 | 08/17/2007 |
| Headlights on my 65,000mi 2002 buick century just quit and then come back on. this problem has occurred 4 four times. the other times it appeared as though i misclicked, but the last time i had to pull over and click the dimmer switch 30+ times. this is a real safety issue and i barely was able to stop in time from 55 mph. the outer headlights are only on in low beam and the inner only on high beam. there are 4 headlights this can't be right all 4 should be on in high beam setting on. need to check on this headlight operation issue, but felt i should pass this on that these gm models do this. *tr | |||
| 07/26/2007 | 55000 | 6 | 03/07/2003 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2002 buick century. while driving 65 mph, the headlights on the vehicle shut off. the lights remained off for two hours before illuminating again. the dealer was unable to determine the cause of failure. the current mileage was 57,000 and failure mileage was 55,000. the consumer stated the lights malfunctioned 4 times at night and the dealer does not know what is the problem. updated 09/05/07 *tr | |||
| 11/01/2005 | 30000 | 1 | 05/01/2002 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the headlights occasionally failed to remain illuminated, leaving the contact stranded without light while traveling at night. this has occurred at least six times in the last year, currently happening about every other week. the service dealer could not identify the problem. | |||
| 11/01/2005 | 2 | 03/31/2002 | |
| Dt: the contact stated the headlights turned off without warning. when this happened the contact was able to turn them on with the manual switch. the vehicle was taken to the dealership, but they were unable to diagnose the problem. the lights went out while at the dealership. they suggested the multi-function switch should be replaced, although they were not sure this will correct the problem. *ak | |||
| 08/02/2005 | 1 | 01/18/2002 | |
| Dt: contact stated when turning bright lights they will be on bright for a while , then the headlights will go off and vehicle will be in total darkness until she clicing back to the regular headlights. this happened just about every time she put on bright lights. she has been having this problem over a year and she had complained to the dealer and because it was not under warranty it would cost $118.00 an hour to diagnose the problem. *ak | |||
| 12/06/2004 | 4000 | 1 | |
| While driving at any speed headlights shut off intemittently. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak | |||
| 04/22/2004 | 33918 | 4 | 04/12/2004 |
| At a stop on a hill when depressing the brakes there was a minor vehicle roll back once the foot was off the brake pedal to depress the accelerator pedal. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak the vehicle was having problems with excessive rollback while the vehicle was in drive. when the vehicle was tested it rolled back a distance of 15 feet at a speed of 15mph. the vehicle stalled disabling brakes and power steering. the headlights on low beam do not merge. they act as two separate spotlights and distance appears to be limited. the consumer stated that eventually general motors repurchased the vehicle. *tc | |||
| 08/18/2004 | 56000 | 12 | 08/20/2003 |
| I have a 2002 buick century custom. the multifunction light, wiper, cruise switch intermittently fails and i lose my headlights. i was driving on a mountain road the first time it happened and i had to turn on my hazards and find a place to stop with a lot of traffic behind me. on two other occassions i had other motorists flash me to let me know to turn on my lights. the failure has happened a lot since and i have to jiggle the switch to get it to work. this failure is extremely dangerous and has put me at serious risk. i have now figured out that jiggling the switch will bring the lights back on but that is no help if i don't know when they are out. i went to the buick dealer and they want nearly $500.00 to fix this. i don't have the money to fix it and i will have to park the car for a few of weeks until i can afford to fix it. my real concern is that this could cause a serious accident because you don't know when it will happen. please feel free to have buick contact me.*ak | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - HEADLIGHTS - HIGH/LOW BEAM DIMMER SWITCH | |||
| 02/02/2007 | 35000 | 100 | 07/06/2004 |
| Tl*- the contact stated that while driving the 2002 buick century at any speed on the road at night the headlights go off without any warning under all road conditions. occasionally, the contact would turn on the high beam and toggle to regular beams so that the lights would turn on. the failure happened intermittently every evening. the body control module was replaced, but the lights still turn on and off. the contact was refereed to eq muffler to find the problem. the vehicle still had not been repaired. *ak updated 02/27/07. *jb | |||
| 09/26/2006 | 150000 | 1 | 07/02/2003 |
| Dt*: the contact stated while driving 65 mph on the highway and using the dimmer switch the headlights shut off. there were no warning signals prior to the incident. the vehicle was taken to the dealership, who determined that the headlight switch, the high beam and low beam switch needed to be replaced. updated 10/17/2006 - this problem occurred intermittently. *nm | |||
| 11/20/2005 | 1 | 03/01/2003 | |
| Dt: the contact stated the high beams did not work on the first attempt. he had to switch back to low beams and then the high beams worked when switching back. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic, who determine d the electrical dimmer switch and relay was defective. the mechanic stated the part could be burning up and should be replaced because all of the lights could go out in the future. the vehicle has not been repaired at this time. *ak | |||
| 11/21/2005 | 82000 | 1 | 10/01/2002 |
| Dt: the contact stated while driving at night he switched the low beam headlights to high beam headlights, resulting in total loss of exterior lighting. he swerved to miss oncoming traffic. after several attempts of turning the dimmer switch on and off the lights came back on without any further problems. he has not taken the vehicle to a dealer for inspection. no repairs have been made at this time. *ak | |||
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING - HEADLIGHTS - SWITCH | |||
| 10/01/2008 | 67000 | 1 | 07/26/2002 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2002 buick century. while driving 50-55 mph at night, the headlights automatically illuminated. when the contact activated the high beams, the headlights went out completely. she had to activate the headlight switch again in order for them to operate. occasionally, the high beams will turn on, but other times, they will not. the dealer stated that the entire multi-function switch needed to be replaced. the switch was replaced, but the contact believes that a recall should be issued. the failure mileage was 67,000 and current mileage was 72,000. updated 05/08/09 *bf updated 05/12/09.*jb updated 06/09/09.*jb | |||
| 09/01/2005 | 74000 | 1 | 01/04/2003 |
| Dt: the contact stated that while driving the headlights failed. the vehicle was taken to the dealership. they could not be repaired because the dealership could not duplicate the problem. the contact has been having problems with the headlights for about a month. when driving the vehicle at night the headlights go off, some times if he wiggled the switch the lights would come back on. he contacted the manufacturer, and they said there was no data of this occurring on other vehicles.*ak updated 11/29/05. *jb | |||