2008 Buick Lucerne problems
NHTSA has received 321 complaints about the 2008 Buick Lucerne, and 39% of them involve electrical system. Next are fuel system (20%) and engine (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 321 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 39% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 19 and 44
- Injuries and deaths
- 10 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 236 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 | 43 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 18 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 36 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 47 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 32 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 21 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 26 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Of the 236 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 70,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 78,000 miles (80 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 19 complaints mention a crash; 44 complaints mention a fire; 10 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 82% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Buick Lucerne with enough data (94 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
-The electrical system failed, causing the fuel pump to not work properly due to design flaw in the backseat putting pressure on the fuse box which is located under the backseat. The spot where contact is made to the fuse box, is where the fuel pump relay is. Pressure from the seat bracket (with or without a passenger in the seat) causes the pump replay to not make proper contact with the terminal, therefore causing the power to arc and get so hot that the relay starts smoking, melting the relay, fuse box and…
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact stated that after exiting the vehicle, she manually locked the passenger and the rear doors. When the contact returned to the vehicle, the doors were unlocked. The vehicle was taken to taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The contact was advised that the latch lock assemblies were faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the incident. The approximate failure mileage was 56000.
Within the last month, my car has burned though 3 fuel pump relays. One connection is bubbling up in a certain spot. The fuse box is hot to the touch, and a glove was needed to pull the fuel relay out and the bubbling is now apparent on the fuse box itself. I had just finished a 260 mile round trip with my sister and when we stopped for food, the car would crank but not start.