1998 BUICK CENTURY — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-21 212 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (23 complaints · 10.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 8
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 9
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1997 →
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 SERVICE BRAKES appears in 23 of 212 owner complaints (10.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 23 complaints, 10.9% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 23 · 10.9% · 1 crash reports VISIBILITY: 23 complaints, 10.9% of reports VISIBILITY 23 · 10.9% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 21 complaints, 9.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 21 · 9.9% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 21 complaints, 9.9% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 21 · 9.9% STEERING: 20 complaints, 9.4% of reports STEERING 20 · 9.4% · 3 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 19 complaints, 9.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 19 · 9.0% ENGINE: 16 complaints, 7.6% of reports ENGINE 16 · 7.6% · 1 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 10 complaints, 4.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 10 · 4.7% AIR BAGS: 9 complaints, 4.3% of reports AIR BAGS 9 · 4.3% · 3 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 172 complaints, 81.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 172 · 81.1% · 5 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)
SERVICE BRAKES 23 10.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 23 10.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 21 9.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 21 9.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 20 9.4% 3 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 19 9.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 16 7.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 10 4.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 9 4.3% 3 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 172 81.1% 5 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, none on file, and NHTSA Defect Investigations 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.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 1997. 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 1998-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1998-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q1: 18 owner reports 18 1999-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 1999-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 1999-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2000-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2003-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2004-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1997 Oct 2020 Investigation PE99028 ● Investigation PE99028 Investigation EA99024 ● Investigation EA99024 Investigation RQ03001 ● Investigation RQ03001 Investigation EA03019 ● Investigation EA03019
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1998-Q1 Owner reports 4
1998-Q2 Owner reports 11
1998-Q3 Owner reports 9
1998-Q4 Owner reports 10
1999-Q1 Owner reports 18
1999-Q2 Owner reports 7
1999-Q3 Owner reports 14
1999-Q4 Owner reports 7
2000-Q1 Owner reports 10
2000-Q2 Owner reports 6
2000-Q3 Owner reports 10
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 4
2001-Q2 Owner reports 4
2001-Q3 Owner reports 3
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 5
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2002-Q4 Owner reports 5
2003-Q1 Owner reports 2
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 7
2003-Q4 Owner reports 6
2004-Q1 Owner reports 10
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q3 Owner reports 5
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2005-Q1 Owner reports 2
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 3
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 2
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 3
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 2
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 2
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE99028
Defect investigation 1 EA99024
Defect investigation 1 RQ03001
Defect investigation 1 EA03019

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 212 complaints · page 1 of 9

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 Aug 21, 2026
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