1997 Buick Lesabre problems
Owners have filed 514 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Buick Lesabre. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 24% of complaints. Next are fuel system (9%) and electrical system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 514 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 30 and 49
- Injuries and deaths
- 26 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 96,000 miles 134 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 | 8 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 23 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 15 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 22 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 14 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 14 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 16 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 10 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 134 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 96,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 96,000 miles (40 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 30 complaints mention a crash; 49 complaints mention a fire; 26 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 16 model years of the Buick Lesabre with enough data (249 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.
Consumer was traveling 30MPH on road and another vehicle stalled in the middle of the road. Consumer was trying to avoid hitting the stalled vehicle. But, hit the other vehicle. Upon impact, airbags did not deploy, there was 1 injury and one fatality.
While driving consumer's vehicle was hit on the passenger's side and the front air bags inadvertently deployed. Driver's side air bag caught on fire after the driver was evacuated. The interior of the vehicle was consumed by the fire. Driver sustained minor injuries, and was transported to the hospital. Fire department confirmed that the fire started from driver's side air bag.
The engine was shut off and parked for about five minutes. Consumer noticed smoke coming from the hood. The consumer was unable to extinguish the fire. By the time the fire department arrived, the vehicle was totally engulfed in flames. When the vehicle caught fire, it also damaged another vehicle that was parked beside it.
While driving down the highway doing 75, my car made a loud pop sound and when I looked in my rearview mirror, there was a trail of smoke. All of a sudden my car spun out of control and ran off the highway. The back tire had caught fire and spun me out of control there were 170,000 on my 1987 buick lesabre. I also hit a car and some trees.
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 buick lesabre. While starting the vehicle, it suddenly backfired and would not start. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The contact called the dealer and referenced recall 96v116000 (fuel system, gasoline:fuel injection system) but was told that there was no record of the recall. The manufacturer also stated there was no recall. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 146,874.