1988 BUICK REGAL — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 121 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (60 complaints · 49.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 10
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 7
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1987 →
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 60 of 121 owner complaints (49.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 60 complaints, 49.6% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 60 · 49.6% · 3 crash reports STRUCTURE: 14 complaints, 11.6% of reports STRUCTURE 14 · 11.6% · 2 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 7 complaints, 5.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 7 · 5.8% ENGINE: 6 complaints, 5.0% of reports ENGINE 6 · 5.0% · 1 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 3.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 · 3.3% SEAT BELTS: 4 complaints, 3.3% of reports SEAT BELTS 4 · 3.3% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 4 complaints, 3.3% of reports SUSPENSION 4 · 3.3% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 3 complaints, 2.5% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 · 2.5% FUEL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 2.5% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 3 · 2.5% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 105 complaints, 86.8% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 105 · 86.8% · 10 crash reports 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)
SERVICE BRAKES 60 49.6% 3 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 14 11.6% 2 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 7 5.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 6 5.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 4 3.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 4 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 2.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 3 2.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 105 86.8% 10 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. 1995-Q1: 27 owner reports 27 1995-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 1995-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1995-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 1996-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Mar 1989 Jan 2009 Investigation C89001 ● Investigation C89001 Investigation PE89145 ● Investigation PE89145 Investigation PE90088 ● Investigation PE90088 Investigation EA91005 ● Investigation EA91005 Investigation PE91072 ● Investigation PE91072 Investigation PE91133 ● Investigation PE91133 Investigation EA91055 ● Investigation EA91055 Investigation EA92024 ● Investigation EA92024 Investigation PE94048 ● Investigation PE94048 Investigation PE94063 ● Investigation PE94063 Investigation RQ97017 ● Investigation RQ97017 Investigation RP01001 ● Investigation RP01001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 27
1995-Q2 Owner reports 11
1995-Q3 Owner reports 9
1995-Q4 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 8
1996-Q2 Owner reports 6
1996-Q3 Owner reports 1
1996-Q4 Owner reports 4
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 5
1997-Q4 Owner reports 7
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 3
1999-Q4 Owner reports 3
2000-Q2 Owner reports 2
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 2
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 2
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 C89001
Defect investigation 1 PE89145
Defect investigation 1 PE90088
Defect investigation 1 EA91005
Defect investigation 1 PE91072
Defect investigation 1 PE91133
Defect investigation 1 EA91055
Defect investigation 1 EA92024
Defect investigation 1 PE94048
Defect investigation 1 PE94063
Defect investigation 1 RQ97017
Defect investigation 1 RP01001
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 121 complaints · page 1 of 5

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