1999 BUICK CENTURY — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-21 229 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (53 complaints · 23.1%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 18
  • Fires 4
  • Injuries 18
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1998 →
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 ENGINE appears in 53 of 229 owner complaints (23.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 53 complaints, 23.1% of reports ENGINE 53 · 23.1% · 2 fire reports VISIBILITY: 28 complaints, 12.2% of reports VISIBILITY 28 · 12.2% SERVICE BRAKES: 25 complaints, 10.9% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 25 · 10.9% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 22 complaints, 9.6% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 22 · 9.6% AIR BAGS: 14 complaints, 6.1% of reports AIR BAGS 14 · 6.1% · 10 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 12 complaints, 5.2% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 · 5.2% · 4 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 10 complaints, 4.4% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 · 4.4% · 1 fire reports STEERING: 10 complaints, 4.4% of reports STEERING 10 · 4.4% FUEL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 3.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 9 · 3.9% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 161 complaints, 70.3% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 161 · 70.3% · 10 crash reports 2 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 53 23.1% 0 crashes · 2 fires
VISIBILITY 28 12.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 25 10.9% 2 crashes · 1 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 22 9.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 14 6.1% 10 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 5.2% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 4.4% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 10 4.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 9 3.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 161 70.3% 10 crashes · 2 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 Jan 1999. 1999-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 1999-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2000-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2000-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2001-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2003-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2003-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2003-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2004-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2004-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2004-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2005-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2006-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2007-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1999 Jan 2018
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1999-Q1 Owner reports 6
1999-Q2 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 17
1999-Q4 Owner reports 8
2000-Q1 Owner reports 14
2000-Q2 Owner reports 7
2000-Q3 Owner reports 6
2000-Q4 Owner reports 4
2001-Q1 Owner reports 7
2001-Q2 Owner reports 4
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q4 Owner reports 4
2002-Q1 Owner reports 4
2002-Q2 Owner reports 7
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 9
2003-Q1 Owner reports 8
2003-Q2 Owner reports 3
2003-Q3 Owner reports 11
2003-Q4 Owner reports 8
2004-Q1 Owner reports 11
2004-Q2 Owner reports 6
2004-Q3 Owner reports 6
2004-Q4 Owner reports 8
2005-Q1 Owner reports 2
2005-Q2 Owner reports 4
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 4
2006-Q2 Owner reports 4
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 4
2007-Q1 Owner reports 3
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q2 Owner reports 2
2008-Q3 Owner reports 3
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q1 Owner reports 2
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 2
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q1 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 2
2015-Q3 Owner reports 2
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 3
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1

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 229 complaints · page 1 of 10

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