1996 BUICK REGAL — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-21 204 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (35 complaints · 17.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 14
  • Fires 16
  • Injuries 21
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
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 35 of 204 owner complaints (17.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 35 complaints, 17.2% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 35 · 17.2% · 3 crash reports ENGINE: 31 complaints, 15.2% of reports ENGINE 31 · 15.2% · 4 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 24 complaints, 11.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 24 · 11.8% · 7 fire reports AIR BAGS: 19 complaints, 9.3% of reports AIR BAGS 19 · 9.3% · 5 crash reports STEERING: 18 complaints, 8.8% of reports STEERING 18 · 8.8% · 2 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 15 complaints, 7.4% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 15 · 7.4% · 5 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 8 complaints, 3.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 8 · 3.9% SEAT BELTS: 8 complaints, 3.9% of reports SEAT BELTS 8 · 3.9% · 2 crash reports STRUCTURE: 8 complaints, 3.9% of reports STRUCTURE 8 · 3.9% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 155 complaints, 76.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 155 · 76.0% · 11 crash reports 7 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 35 17.2% 3 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 31 15.2% 0 crashes · 4 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 24 11.8% 0 crashes · 7 fires
AIR BAGS 19 9.3% 5 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 18 8.8% 2 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 15 7.4% 0 crashes · 5 fires
POWER TRAIN 8 3.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 8 3.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 8 3.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 155 76.0% 11 crashes · 7 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 1995. 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 1998-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1998-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1999-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2000-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2004-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2004-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2005-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1995 Oct 2019 Investigation EA96023 ● Investigation EA96023 Investigation EA99026 ● Investigation EA99026 Investigation PE02050 ● Investigation PE02050 Investigation EA02030 ● Investigation EA02030 Investigation RQ03001 ● Investigation RQ03001 Investigation EA03019 ● Investigation EA03019
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1996-Q1 Owner reports 2
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 4
1996-Q4 Owner reports 4
1997-Q1 Owner reports 6
1997-Q2 Owner reports 9
1997-Q3 Owner reports 9
1997-Q4 Owner reports 8
1998-Q1 Owner reports 4
1998-Q2 Owner reports 2
1998-Q3 Owner reports 9
1998-Q4 Owner reports 6
1999-Q1 Owner reports 5
1999-Q2 Owner reports 5
1999-Q3 Owner reports 9
1999-Q4 Owner reports 3
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 8
2000-Q4 Owner reports 5
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q3 Owner reports 4
2001-Q4 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 4
2002-Q2 Owner reports 5
2002-Q3 Owner reports 4
2002-Q4 Owner reports 3
2003-Q1 Owner reports 6
2003-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 6
2004-Q1 Owner reports 14
2004-Q2 Owner reports 2
2004-Q3 Owner reports 5
2004-Q4 Owner reports 6
2005-Q1 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 3
2006-Q2 Owner reports 2
2006-Q4 Owner reports 2
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q4 Owner reports 2
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 2
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q1 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA96023
Defect investigation 1 EA99026
Defect investigation 1 PE02050
Defect investigation 1 EA02030
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 204 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