2003 Buick Park Avenue problems
Owners have filed 38 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Buick Park Avenue. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 32% of complaints. After that come electrical system (13%) and tires (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 38 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 32% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 53,000 miles 26 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 | 3 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 26 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 52,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 88% 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 2003 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Buick Park Avenue with enough data (20 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
I was driving home from work. Suddenly lights started going off on my dashboard indicating that my ABS, traction control, and satiability control were out. Not being able to stop on the highway or contact someone to give me a lift home I proceeded to the nearest buick dealership to see what the issue was. During the journey the lights turned off, but thinking it was an electrical problem I still headed towards the dealership. The car was looked at by a service tech.
Took car in for allignment and was informed that front outer tie rod ends which are supposed to be lifetime lubricated had failed. Had noticed some small problems with steering which is why I took it to dealer. Learned that they have had other cars with same problem. A steering defect is serious to me and I believe someone should look in to this and see how many cars like mine may have the same problem and you don't know about it unless you take it in for an allignment.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 buick park avenue. The contact is experiencing failure with the retractor in the front passenger seat lap belts. The seat belt must be isolated in order to be released. The retractor was replaced under warranty in august of 2006, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and they diagnosed the failure as mechanical. The manufacturer stated that the seat belt could be replaced; however, the vehicle was no longer under warranty.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 buick park avenue. The chrome on the rims is peeling off all four tires which has also caused the tires to lose air continuously. The tires and rims were replaced. The dealer and manufacturer have not been notified. The failure mileage was 80,000.