2004 Buick Century problems
The 2004 Buick Century has 51 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (22%) concerns lighting. After that come air bags (12%) and fuel system (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 51 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Lighting 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 4 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 90,000 miles 45 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 4 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 8 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 7 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 9 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 45 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 90,000 miles. For lighting specifically, the median reported mileage is about 69,000 miles (10 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 4 complaints mention a crash; 5 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 15th most-complained-about out of 16 model years of the Buick Century with enough data (19 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My parent's vehicle, a 2004 buick century, collided with a guard rail on an entrance ramp to I-81 in christiansburg, va. They were wearing seat belts/shoulder harness. Main impact was front left bumper, which was pushed in ~ 3 feet in a narrow indentation; hood was crumpled. There was damage to left side of vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. Both passengers sustained injuries and were taken to local hospital's emergency room. I suspect their injuries would have been less sever had the air bags deployed.
While driving 45 MPH consumer's vehicle was involved in a head on collision. Upon impact, dual air bags did not deploy. Driver sustained bruises on her chest area.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 buick century. The contact stated that while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle became involved in a crash and the air bags failed to deploy. The contact mentioned that no warning lights illuminated. A police report was filed. The contact sustained laceration to the to face and mouth which required medical attention. The vehicle was towed to a lot where it was deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.
While in motion the high beam will go out and low beam with it - no lights at all. You must push or pull the turn signal lever to turn the lights on again.
The multi function switch does not work properly. When going around curves and corners you can't dim the headlights. Because the steering wheel doesn't allow the lever to go far enough to catch. Now my headlights will not turn on when the they are suppose to. My cruise control doesn't work. My A/C stops cooling when the speed reaches 60 MPH but if I move the m.f.s. (aka turn signal) it gets cool again for a few minutes. The other night my lights went off when I was meeting a car with its headlights on bright.