1985 BUICK CENTURY — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 7 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (2 complaints · 28.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 0
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 0
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1984 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 2 of 7 owner complaints (28.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 2 complaints, 28.6% of reports ENGINE 2 · 28.6% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 28.6% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 28.6% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 14.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 · 14.3% · 1 fire reports STEERING: 1 complaints, 14.3% of reports STEERING 1 · 14.3% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 1 complaints, 14.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 · 14.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 4 complaints, 57.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 · 57.1% · 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 2 28.6% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 28.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 14.3% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 1 14.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 14.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 57.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in May 2006. 1995-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jun 1985 May 2006 Recall campaign 06E043000 ◆ Recall campaign 06E043000 Investigation C85007 ● Investigation C85007 Investigation EA86025 ● Investigation EA86025 Investigation EA87006 ● Investigation EA87006 Investigation PE88027 ● Investigation PE88027
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 1
1995-Q3 Owner reports 1
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 06E043000
Defect investigation 1 C85007
Defect investigation 1 EA86025
Defect investigation 1 EA87006
Defect investigation 1 PE88027
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 06E043000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION MAY CAUSE AN INADEQUATE SEAL AT THE CONNECTION, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO A FUEL LEAK. IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, A FIRE COULD OCCUR.
    Remedy:
    HONEYWELL WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE FUEL FILTERS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 18, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FRAM CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-800-890-2075 (OPTION 1).
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-22
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 7 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-22.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources