1996 Buick Lesabre problems
Owners have filed 121 complaints with NHTSA about the 1996 Buick Lesabre. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. Next are brakes (14%) and electrical system (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 121 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 10 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 7 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 89,000 miles 34 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 | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 11 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 34 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 89,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 98,000 miles (10 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 10 complaints mention a crash; 7 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 16 model years of the Buick Lesabre with enough data (53 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
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.
When vehicle hit a deer, the deployment of the frontal air bags injured both driver and passenger, driver received red marks, which looked like burns, on both arms, passenger legs were badly bruised, also the smell and the amount of power release from the air bags made it hard to breathe.
Hit a deer and the driver's side air bag deployed but passenger's side air bag deployed and hit passenger in the leg .
Vehicle was involved in a collision at 30 MPH, and the airbags did not deploy, resulting in minor injuries. Dealer and manufacturer have been notified.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 buick lesabre. While driving 25 MPH, the contact struck a pothole and lost control of the vehicle. He noticed that the four rear washers were rusted, which caused the engine and transaxle frame to detach from the vehicle. As of october 24, 2007, the dealer had not inspected the vehicle. The contact replaced four upper and lower washers and isolators, in addition to four bolts. The failure mileage was 70,620 and current mileage was 70,670. Updated 12/07/07
There are two recalls on your site related to my vehicle. Two dealers tell me there are no recalls on my car. Even though there is one campaign sticker located under the hood. I have a buick lasabre 1996 it back fires when starting. Can you check and see if the two you list are asssoceated with my vehicle.