Buick top rated GM brand in dependability!

[buickguy]

Buick is GM's top rated brand in dependability

Problems per 100 Vehicles

Lexus 136

Mercury 151

Buick 153

Cadillac 163

Toyota 179

Acura 184

Honda 194

Jaguar 210

BMW 212

Infiniti 215

Lincoln 220

Ford 224

Oldsmobile 224

Industry Average 227

Chrysler 232

Pontiac 232

Subaru 232

GMC 239

Mercedes-Benz 240

Chevrolet 241

Nissan 242

Mazda 243

Porsche 248

Hyundai 253

Dodge 258

Mitsubishi 260

Jeep 264

Volvo 272

Audi 279

MINI 280

Isuzu 283

Saturn 289

Volkswagen 299

HUMMER 307

Kia 310

Suzuki 318

Saab 326

Land Rover 438

[wildcat]

Some additional information should be provided, for this to be as meaningful as possible. First, this is a J.D. Power survey, a long-term study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of 3-year-old (2003 model-year) vehicles.

buickguy: Why did you also post it in "General Motors News"? One or the other, please.

Edited August 10, 2006 by wildcat

[trinacriabob]

Buick really needs to disseminate this information AND freshen up some of their vehicles (Lucerne is a step in the right direction) to jack up sales.

This info is not surprising as my Buick nears 227,000 trouble free miles on its powertrain.

(I've seen this before, it's a little dated as one sees Oldsmobile on the list, and sadly, Pontiac is at the bottom of the GM brands)

[Delta Force79]

Buick really needs to disseminate this information AND freshen up some of their vehicles (Lucerne is a step in the right direction) to jack up sales. 

This info is not surprising as my Buick nears 227,000 trouble free miles on its powertrain.

(I've seen this before, it's a little dated as one sees Oldsmobile on the list, and sadly, Pontiac is at the bottom of the GM brands)

178236[/snapback]

Actually Chevy rated lower than Pontiac

[trinacriabob]

Actually Chevy rated lower than Pontiac

178308[/snapback]

Right. I must have been reading too fast.

Good going, Buick.

[Mike The Canadian]

I wholeheartedly disagree with buicks placement.

A great deal of the cars sold were cars like the Century.

EVERY SINGLE ONE before my 2004 has or will develop intake manifold gasket leaks.

[wildcat]

According to this J.D. Power study, the Buick Century was the top midsize car and the Buick Regal was #2 midsize car in long-term dependability.

[buickguy]

I know quite a few Century owners including one with 200K miles on a 2001 and never have a heard a gasket complaint. My brother-in-law (with the 200k) uses his for sales and is trading it in for a LaCrosse this fall.

Consistently they rank high in reliability.

[ponchoman49]

I know quite a few Century owners including one with 200K miles on a 2001 and never have a heard a gasket complaint.  My brother-in-law (with the 200k) uses his for sales and is trading it in for a LaCrosse this fall. 

Consistently they rank high in reliability.

178419[/snapback]

All W-bodies are on the list from 1996-2004 for intermediate steering shaft failure and intake manifold failures plus issues with dex cool. The 2004 Grand Prix and 2005 LaCrosse with the series III 3800 have a composite steel intake manifold that doesn't suffer the same issues as it's plastic manifold 3800 series II predecessor. The 3100 and 3400 engines from 1996-2003 are notorious for early manifold failures. Everytime I go to my local Pontiac/Buick dealer they are replacing the intakes on either a 3100 car or 3400 minivan guarenteed. If a few slip past 100K without failure, they are the lucky few. My mechanic has given me several lists of car affected with these TSB's and recalls and it seems the 1997-2004 W-bodies and 1995-2003 G-bodies are the worst.

[Mike The Canadian]

All W-bodies are on the list from 1996-2004 for intermediate steering shaft failure and intake manifold failures plus issues with dex cool. The 2004 Grand Prix and 2005 LaCrosse with the series III 3800 have a composite steel intake manifold that doesn't suffer the same issues as it's plastic manifold 3800 series II predecessor. The 3100 and 3400 engines from 1996-2003 are notorious for early manifold failures. Everytime I go to my local Pontiac/Buick dealer they are replacing the intakes on either a 3100 car or 3400 minivan guarenteed. If a few slip past 100K without failure, they are the lucky few. My mechanic has given me several lists of car affected with these TSB's and recalls and it seems the 1997-2004 W-bodies and 1995-2003 G-bodies are the worst.

178477[/snapback]

yup, the gaskets up until 2003 were rubber, after that gm finally changed to steel I think...

The car IS high quality, and I absolutely love it! It's just a few things that piss me off. (horrible piston slap and the gasket)

I'm waiting for piston slap to take longer than 5 mins to go away so we can get em to fix it (Theres a tsb on it, just havent seen it in a long time)..

i'm also waiting for the gasket to finally go, though i'm sure our nice and brown dexcool will do the job.

Otherwise, I love the car.

[razoredge]

Yes these problems do exist with the Series II naturally asperated 3800 (L36)

I cant speak for the 3100 & 3400 but I do know they have a problem too.

THis was and is a serious problem and damn sad being how otherwize the 3800 was and is a bullet proof engine.

GM engines are not the only engines to suffer head gasket failure. Many of the greatest engines made suffered headgasket failure............sound strange doesnt it?

In the same breath there are many L36 3800's that never fail, then there are some that have been repaired more than once. Today the replacement manifold has fixed the problem but that was too little too late.

All that said does not mean that single failure would place them lower on the list. This pole is the amount of complaints per 100 vehicals, if this was it and all one hundred intakes failed they would have the highest/lowest score of 100.

Being how this problem was fixed in 03 or whenever, I once knew but am currently drawing blanks. Being how this problem was fixed in 3800 and its for 03 vehicals I'd say this problem is not one of the complaints in vehicals equiped with the 3800.

[network engineer]

Cadillac is rated fourth, but we should be careful who we compare with. Cadillac has 19% more problems than Lexus. That is something that Caddy has to fix. Buick has 12% more problems that Lexus. Let me be clear, I'm thrilled that Buick placed so highly and Cadillac placed right behind them. GM should be careful about claiming that buick is 3rd best in quality, because people are going to ask who is number 1 and 2.

[wjfox]

I find it intriguing that Buick could place so high and Pontiac and GMC so low when they share a lot of platforms. I wouldn't expect quality performance between platform mates to be that different. We have to remember that JD Power measure all complaints or "problems". I have a hypothesis that Ponitac (and maybe GMC) owners are more demanding of their cars since they are sort of BMW wannbes. Buick and Cadillac drivers might be more content just having attained the brand name.

The one that really disappointed me was Saturn. They were supposed to be a different kind of car, but not worse than average in quality.

[frogger]

I find it intriguing that Buick could place so high and Pontiac and GMC so low when they share a lot of platforms.  I wouldn't expect quality performance between platform mates to be that different.  We have to remember that JD Power measure all complaints or "problems". I have a hypothesis that Ponitac (and maybe GMC) owners are more demanding of their cars since they are sort of BMW wannbes.  Buick and Cadillac drivers might be more content just having attained the brand name.

179069[/snapback]

I agree with your hypothesis. Really is a Century owner going to complain about cupholders, performance or refinement when they bought a car that is so dated in just about all aspects?