1989 BUICK CENTURY — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 39 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: SEAT BELTS (7 complaints · 18.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 8
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 14
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1988 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 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 SEAT BELTS appears in 7 of 39 owner complaints (18.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. SEAT BELTS: 7 complaints, 18.0% of reports SEAT BELTS 7 · 18.0% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 6 complaints, 15.4% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 · 15.4% · 4 crash reports STRUCTURE: 5 complaints, 12.8% of reports STRUCTURE 5 · 12.8% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 7.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 7.7% · 1 crash reports ENGINE: 3 complaints, 7.7% of reports ENGINE 3 · 7.7% FUEL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 5.1% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 2 · 5.1% SUSPENSION: 2 complaints, 5.1% of reports SUSPENSION 2 · 5.1% TIRES: 2 complaints, 5.1% of reports TIRES 2 · 5.1% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 1 complaints, 2.6% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 1 · 2.6% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 29 complaints, 74.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 29 · 74.4% · 4 crash 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)
SEAT BELTS 7 18.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 15.4% 4 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 5 12.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 7.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 3 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 2 5.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 2 5.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 2 5.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 1 2.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 29 74.4% 4 crashes · 0 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 Sep 1995. 1995-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1995-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1995-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jun 1992 Jan 2004 Recall campaign 95V173000 ◆ Recall campaign 95V173000 Investigation EA92024 ● Investigation EA92024
  • Campaign 95V173000 was reported 205 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 1
1995-Q2 Owner reports 4
1995-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 4
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 1
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 3
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q1 Owner reports 2
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 2
Recall campaign 1 95V173000
Defect investigation 1 EA92024
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 95V173000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEAT BELTS
    Consequence:
    CONSEQUENCE OF NON-COMPLIANCE: IN A COLLISON, STRESS CAN CAUSE THE ATTACHMENT METAL TO TEAR AND ALLOW THE ANCHORAGE TO SEPARATE FROM THE BODY OF THE VEHICLE. THE SAFETY BELT MAY NOT PROTECT AN OCCUPANT IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE EXISTING ANCHOR BOLTS WITH A NEW SHOULDER BOLT AND THREAD LOCKING ADHESIVE. ADDITIONALLY, NOISE CONTROL PATCHES WILL BE APPLIED AT EACH ANCHORAGE.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 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 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 39 complaints · page 1 of 2

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 2026-08-21 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: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources