2003 Buick Regal problems
NHTSA has received 139 complaints about the 2003 Buick Regal, and 27% of them involve electrical system. Next are engine (26%) and brakes (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 139 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 27% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 18
- Injuries and deaths
- 10 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 98,000 miles 95 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 | 9 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 9 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 15 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 12 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 9 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 11 |
| 200k+ miles | 8 |
What the data shows
Of the 95 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 98,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 98,000 miles (33 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 18 complaints mention a fire; 10 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 84% 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 20th most-complained-about out of 24 model years of the Buick Regal with enough data (30 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.
While traveling at 25 MPH in traffic driver applied the brakes and the brake pedal was very hard. As a result, the driver hit another vehicle. The air bag failed to deploy during the accident. The vehicle sustained $9700 damage but the other vehicle sustained no damage.
This car was totalled in an accident with another vehicle. Please remove notices of recall 09047 updated 08/31/11
Engine died while signaling a left turn going about 45 MPH. Almost rear ended. Changed ignition switch module. No repeat recurrence.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 buick regal. While driving 20 MPH, the vehicle accelerated independently when the accelerator pedal was not depressed. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power train control module failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,000.