1997 BUICK LESABRE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 389 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (102 complaints · 26.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 25
  • Fires 31
  • Injuries 22
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1996 →
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 102 of 389 owner complaints (26.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 102 complaints, 26.2% of reports ENGINE 102 · 26.2% · 1 crash reports 17 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 34 complaints, 8.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 34 · 8.7% · 8 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 32 complaints, 8.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 32 · 8.2% · 2 fire reports AIR BAGS: 31 complaints, 8.0% of reports AIR BAGS 31 · 8.0% · 16 crash reports 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 29 complaints, 7.5% of reports POWER TRAIN 29 · 7.5% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports VISIBILITY: 25 complaints, 6.4% of reports VISIBILITY 25 · 6.4% · 2 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 23 complaints, 5.9% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 23 · 5.9% · 2 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 20 complaints, 5.1% of reports SEAT BELTS 20 · 5.1% · 2 crash reports SUSPENSION: 14 complaints, 3.6% of reports SUSPENSION 14 · 3.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 278 complaints, 71.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 278 · 71.5% · 19 crash reports 25 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 102 26.2% 1 crashes · 17 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 34 8.7% 0 crashes · 8 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 32 8.2% 0 crashes · 2 fires
AIR BAGS 31 8.0% 16 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 29 7.5% 1 crashes · 1 fires
VISIBILITY 25 6.4% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 23 5.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 20 5.1% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 14 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 278 71.5% 19 crashes · 25 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 1996. 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1996-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1997-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 1997-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 1998-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 1998-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q1: 37 owner reports 37 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2000-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2000-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2000-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2001-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2001-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2001-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2002-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2002-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2002-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2003-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2003-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2003-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2005-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2005-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2006-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2009-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1996 Jan 2024 Investigation PE02050 ● Investigation PE02050 Investigation EA02030 ● Investigation EA02030
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 7
1996-Q4 Owner reports 7
1997-Q1 Owner reports 9
1997-Q2 Owner reports 8
1997-Q3 Owner reports 17
1997-Q4 Owner reports 14
1998-Q1 Owner reports 3
1998-Q2 Owner reports 14
1998-Q3 Owner reports 4
1998-Q4 Owner reports 10
1999-Q1 Owner reports 37
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 10
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 10
2000-Q2 Owner reports 14
2000-Q3 Owner reports 8
2000-Q4 Owner reports 6
2001-Q1 Owner reports 11
2001-Q2 Owner reports 3
2001-Q3 Owner reports 7
2001-Q4 Owner reports 4
2002-Q1 Owner reports 15
2002-Q2 Owner reports 8
2002-Q3 Owner reports 8
2002-Q4 Owner reports 9
2003-Q1 Owner reports 11
2003-Q2 Owner reports 10
2003-Q3 Owner reports 4
2003-Q4 Owner reports 4
2004-Q1 Owner reports 10
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2004-Q4 Owner reports 7
2005-Q1 Owner reports 3
2005-Q2 Owner reports 3
2005-Q3 Owner reports 4
2005-Q4 Owner reports 5
2006-Q1 Owner reports 3
2006-Q2 Owner reports 3
2006-Q4 Owner reports 4
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 3
2008-Q4 Owner reports 2
2009-Q1 Owner reports 4
2009-Q2 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 2
2009-Q4 Owner reports 3
2010-Q1 Owner reports 2
2010-Q2 Owner reports 3
2010-Q3 Owner reports 3
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2013-Q1 Owner reports 2
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 3
2015-Q1 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 2
2015-Q4 Owner reports 3
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 2
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
2024-Q1 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE02050
Defect investigation 1 EA02030
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

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 389 complaints · page 1 of 16

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