Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||||
| 08089-B | 11/01/2008 | 08089-C | 10027804 | General motors corp: special coverage adjustment; analog onstar deactivation. *pe updated 2/17/09. *pe | 02/09/2009 |
| 3015 | 01/01/2004 | 10008897 | Multiple stabilitrak/precision control codes such as c1282, c1283, c1284, c1285, c1287, and c1288 exist on delphi bosch 5.0 or 5.3 systems. *tt | 08/25/2004 | |
| 02038 | 01/01/2004 | 10006946 | Diagnostic trouble code b1000. *mr | 05/20/2004 | |
| 01592 | 01/01/2004 | 10005438 | 2003-2004 generation 5 onstar steering wheel control function explanation. sit bulletin 1416474. *tt | 02/27/2004 | |
| 01560A | 01/01/2004 | 01560B | 10005398 | Malfunction indicator lamp (mil)/diagnostic trouble code (dtc) p0445. *tt *mj | 02/24/2004 |
| 01468 | 11/18/2003 | 10004270 | The ipm cannot be located with manual hvac system. *tt | 11/24/2003 | |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - SOFTWARE | |||||
| 08089-B | 11/01/2008 | 08089-C | 10027804 | General motors corp: special coverage adjustment; analog onstar deactivation. *pe updated 2/17/09. *pe | 02/09/2009 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - INTERIOR/UNDER DASH | |||||
| 08262004 | 08/26/2004 | 10013102 | Owner may encounter an itch or ticking type noise coming from the instrument cluster area. *eh | 04/07/2005 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 03/23/2012 | 98000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. while driving approximately 30 mph, the contact noticed that the speedometer was functioning erratically. the failure recurred intermittently. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostics where the mechanic advised the contact that the instrument cluster would have to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 98,000. kmj | |||
| 03/23/2012 | 98000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. while driving at approximately 30 mph the contact noticed the speedometer began functioning erratically. the failure occurs intermittently. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic. the mechanic stated the instrument cluster would have to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 98,000. ds | |||
| 02/19/2012 | 120000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. the contact stated that while driving 50 mph, there was a burning odor in the vehicle. two hours later, the contact discovered a burned hole on the rear of the front driver's seat. the vehicle was then taken to an authorized dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed as the wires from the heated seat warmer being faulty. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 120,000. kmj | |||
| 03/13/2010 | 46000 | ||
| As we were traveling down a back road at about 35mph, i noticed that my dash speedometer was reading 85mph. it seemed like the gauge would go up, but would not come back down. luckily, i have a heads-up display that has always shown the correct speed. later, most of the rest of my dash gauges began randomly doing the same thing -- they'd go up, but not come back down. the only gauge that seemed unaffected was my fuel gauge -- until last week. it, too, is doing the same thing. i'm seeing lots of web ads to fix this problem, which means that many people are having this same problem. this can be dangerous, since, if i run out of gas on a major road during icy weather (which we have much of the year here in wisconsin), it could cause a major accident. if that many people are having the same problem, it's not a random chance failure -- it's a defect in design, materials or workmanship (which includes automated processes). please address this problem! | |||
| 05/12/2010 | 75000 | ||
| I bought this car may 2010 from gregory automotive group in new castle de. i immediately had a propblem with the speedometer the day i bought it, took it back to the dealership and was told that it wasnt a big deal, this problem was covered by by warranty and i would just need to pay a $100.00 deductible. i took it to my local buick dealership and they told me that it isn't covered under the warranty i bought from the dealer and i would have to pay out of pocket for the repairs. my next issue is the gas gauge started to mess up; wrong readings and gas levels left me out of gas and very upset. i will be taking this back to buick to see if i am at all eligible to recieve recall benefits or something because the amount to fix these issues are greater than i can afford within the year and some change of owning the veh. and i also want to say i did research and do a carfax on the car and it came back with accurate mileage, one owner and no accidents and i jumped on it, only to have a nice car without a working speedometer and gas gauge. i thought buicks were good solid cars...... | |||
| 01/05/2011 | 23565 | ||
| My 2004 buick lesabre started having speedometer trouble in jan. 2011. it started showing the car going slower then it actually is. it doesn't do it right away but after awhile on a long drive. it gets worse the longer you drive it. it can show it going up to 30 mph slower then it is. also the gas gauge started fluctuating and being eratick and now also the engine temperture gauge also shows running hot when it is not. the car presently has less then 25,000 miles since new. how safe can this be when you can't trust the speedomter. going too fast or too slow? always unsure, always looking at the gauges? second guessing your driving decisions! the gas gauge and temperature gauge give a differnt reading each time you drive it. nothing has been done as of yet. i will be stopping at the racine, wi. buick dealer where it was purchased new to see if they will warranty the problem this coming week 6/22/2011 | |||
| 06/07/2009 | 50000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 buick lasabre. the contact stated that the fuel gauge and the speedometer has failed. when he fills his tank it still reads empty and when driving, he's unable to see how fast he's going. the dealer was contacted and they advised him that he needed to replace the entire instrumental panel. the vehicle has not been repaired. the manufacturer has not been contacted. the failure mileage was approximately 50,000. tb | |||
| 02/23/2011 | 48000 | ||
| The tachometer and temperature gauges on my 2004 buick lesabre have failed. the needles have become stuck in the red zones of their respective gauges. this began approximately one year ago when my car had less than 50,000 miles on it. the speedometer has recently shown signs of sporadic sticking, so i cannot be certain my vehicle is traveling at the correct speed. based on similar postings on this site as well as numerous internet sites, it is obvious that a manufacturer defect exists, therefore buick should be ordered to make necessary repairs at their cost. a buick dealer told me this would cost over $300 to repair. | |||
| 01/01/2011 | 58500 | ||
| My 2004 buick lesabre with 58500 miles is showing initial signs of failure of the instrument cluster. this has started with the tachometer failing to register correctly and the fuel gauge pegging beyond the full position. i understand that the next component failure will likely be the speedometer. should this occur, the vehicle will not be safe to operate. this electrical system problem represents another serious safety design flaw by general motors that must be corrected by gm before it contributes to an accident. consumers should not have to incur charges to have this obvious problem corrected. the nhtsa should issue a product recall and hold gm responsible for correcting this problem at gm's expense. | |||
| 10/11/2010 | 164540 | ||
| Battery exploded when ignition was turned on. original battery when the car was bought in 2004. went back to car dealer and had it repaired. need to know why this happened. have not got a straight answer. all electical systems checked out good when the dealer replaced the battery. battery is under back seat and i'm concerned when i drive my grandchildren. do not know the make of the original battery nor the new battery that was installed. just looking for some answer as to why this has happened. | |||
| 12/29/2009 | 50000 | 1 | |
| Speedometer stops working on my 2004 buick. it can stop at any given time an can cause speeding by not knowing how fast i am running. also speeding is the number one cause of deaths. *tr | |||
| 12/17/2009 | 150000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. while attempting to start the vehicle he heard a noise. after he opened the hood and saw smoke, but within minutes the vehicle was on fire. the fire department report number was not available. the fire dept stated that the fire was initiated by electrical failure. the manufacturer took a report number 71-787679701. the manufacture stated the vehicle did not have open recalls and he will received a call back. the failure and the current mileages were 150,000. | |||
| 07/01/2007 | 90000 | 1 | |
| Instrument panel cluster components (speedometer and fuel gage) are inoperative. speedometer sometimes works, and sometime shows very high speeds. most of the time it sits all the way to the left (on zero) or all the way on the right (past 120). most of the time i have no idea how fast i am going. the fuel gage is completely inoperative. i use the digital info display to the left to show how many miles i have before i run out of fuel to tell me if i need gas. so far i have not run out of gas. tachometer and water temp gauges work fine. this has gone on for about 2 years. *tr | |||
| 02/01/2009 | 32000 | 1 | |
| Speedometer and gas gauge stopped working at 32,000. speedometer works sometimes. gas gauge registers passed full , and in the 7 o'clock position. i need to keep track of my mileage per tank full at - to not go beyond 300 mile range before i need to fill up the tank. *tr | |||
| 04/22/2004 | 25000 | 1 | |
| Cluster inoperative. no speedometer and other gauges. *tr | |||
| 04/26/2007 | 25000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. the contact stated that the instrument panel failed and the speedometer dial did not move at all. prior to the failure, the speedometer would indicate higher speeds than what were actually being driven. the odometer was the only gauge that operated properly. he took his vehicle to the dealer, but was turned away because the warranty did not cover his model vehicle. the contact went to two other dealers and they agreed that they could not repair the failure under warranty. he discovered that other models with the same instrument cluster were included in a recall, except for his vehicle. he spoke with the manufacturer, but they could not assist. the vehicle has not been repaired. the current mileage was 30,610 and failure mileage was approximately 25,000. | |||
| 06/10/2008 | 44000 | 1 | 06/01/2004 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. the contact stated that the instrument panel lighting and tail lights fail constantly. as a result, visibility is significantly reduced. the dealer stated that he would have to replace the instrument cluster at the cost of $369. as of march 20, 2009, the vehicle has not been repaired. the manufacturer did not assist. the failure mileage was 44,000 and current mileage was 51,000. updated 12/8/09 *cn updated 12/09/09 | |||
| 12/01/2008 | 30000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 buick lesabre. while driving at an unknown speed, the contact noticed that the speedometer was inoperative. she was unable to determine the exact speed that she was traveling. she took the vehicle to the dealer and they stated that the speedometer needed to be replaced at the cost of $500. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure and current mileages were 30,000. | |||
| 10/15/2008 | 59302 | 1 | |
| At 56,980 miles-driving after a stop for lunch.-all instrument panel except airbag and abs lights went off. showed 11.7 volts on display. took to dealer who said they could find no problem, it was ok next morning when they looked at it. replaced battery with a higher cca rating at 59200 miles traction off, abs and brake lights came on while driving. ok next morning. at 59,290 miles, occurred at highway speed. traction off, abs, and brake lights came on while driving. gong sounded then abs and brake lights went off but traction off stayed lighted. unable to switch traction on or off. vehicle was purchased with the primary reason to provide regular transportation to a va hospital two hours away. cannot now trust the car to make the trip. *tr | |||
| 08/08/2005 | 15390 | 10 | 05/27/2004 |
| The vehicle would not start, the theft system was replaced and battery problem still occurs. *ts the consumer experienced the following: stalling, gauges dying out, engine light and security light illuminating, hard times starting the engine, rattle in the middle vents when set on low, the gear shift indicator light had gone out, and the vehicle was out of calibration. most of the problems were intermittent occurrences and were hard to duplicate. *sc | |||
| 12/13/2004 | 352 | 1 | 10/27/2004 |
| Buick lesabre 2004, problem with dimming of the panel lights. *bf the lights would dim then after a few miles would brighten again. the vehicle was taken to the dealer but they were unable to find anything wrong. the consumer believes it's an electrical problem. *nm | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY | |||
| 08/28/2006 | 38000 | 20 | 07/01/2005 |
| This car loses all power if it sits in the driveway for more than 24 hours. we have replaced the battery twice in the past year and the dealer states they can find nothing wrong with the electrical system. we have had it towed to the dealership twice because aaa can't start it with their portable chargers. we have purchased our own charger to use on it each time it dies - which it does if you do not drive it within 24 hours of your last start. *nm | |||
| 01/28/2006 | 23000 | 1 | 01/25/2004 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the door was left open with the dome light on; this caused the battery to run down. the driver was unaware of the dead battery until after the door was closed and locked. there was not enough power to start the vehicle or open the automatic door locks. the local dealer was contacted and instructed the contact to use the manual override button inside the vehicle to open the locks. the contact was unable to charge the battery until the doors were opened because the battery is located under the passenger side back seat. | |||
| 08/21/2005 | 8500 | 1 | 08/12/2004 |
| Dt: the instrument panel cluster lights began to scatter and illuminated when the engine started, the battery and air bag light continued to stay on while driving for about a mile and a half. when consumer got home shu off aengine and then tried to restart to see if this would happen again. there was no power in the car. the vehicle would not start. called buick roadside asssitance because the car was still under warranty. a tow truck was sent. the car was towed to buick dealership. the dealership did not determine what was wrong because the vehicle was still at dealer. but consumer wisheed to file a complaint at this time.*ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - INTERIOR/UNDER DASH | |||
| 08/21/2005 | 8500 | 1 | 08/12/2004 |
| Dt: the instrument panel cluster lights began to scatter and illuminated when the engine started, the battery and air bag light continued to stay on while driving for about a mile and a half. when consumer got home shu off aengine and then tried to restart to see if this would happen again. there was no power in the car. the vehicle would not start. called buick roadside asssitance because the car was still under warranty. a tow truck was sent. the car was towed to buick dealership. the dealership did not determine what was wrong because the vehicle was still at dealer. but consumer wisheed to file a complaint at this time.*ak | |||