1996 BUICK ROADMASTER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 50 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: STEERING (6 complaints · 12.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 3
  • 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 STEERING appears in 6 of 50 owner complaints (12.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. STEERING: 6 complaints, 12.0% of reports STEERING 6 · 12.0% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 5 complaints, 10.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 · 10.0% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 5 complaints, 10.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 5 · 10.0% SUSPENSION: 5 complaints, 10.0% of reports SUSPENSION 5 · 10.0% ENGINE: 4 complaints, 8.0% of reports ENGINE 4 · 8.0% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 4 complaints, 8.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 · 8.0% · 1 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 6.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 3 · 6.0% VISIBILITY: 3 complaints, 6.0% of reports VISIBILITY 3 · 6.0% POWER TRAIN: 2 complaints, 4.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 2 · 4.0% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 42 complaints, 84.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 42 · 84.0% · 3 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)
STEERING 6 12.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 10.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 5 10.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 5 10.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 4 8.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 8.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 3 6.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 3 6.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 2 4.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 42 84.0% 3 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 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Nov 1995. 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Nov 1995 Jul 2021 Recall campaign 95V215000 ◆ Recall campaign 95V215000 Recall campaign 96V245000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V245000 Investigation EA96007 ● Investigation EA96007
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q1 Owner reports 5
1997-Q2 Owner reports 5
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q1 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 3
2000-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 4
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 95V215000
Recall campaign 1 96V245000
Defect investigation 1 EA96007
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 95V215000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    CONSEQUENCE OF NON-COMPLIANCE: OPERATORS COULD FAIL TO NOTICE AND HEED THE WARNING LABELS.
    Remedy:
    A NEW ROOF RACK CAUTION LABEL, WITH INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS, WILL BE SENT DIRECTLY TO OWNERS. OWNERS WILL INSTALL THE LABEL OR HAVE THEIR DEALER INSTALL THE LABEL FOR THEM.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96V245000

    Report date
    Component:
    WHEELS
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION COULD RESULT IN A FRACTURE OF THE WHEEL STUDS CAUSING THE WHEEL TO SEPARATE FROM THE VEHICLE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL TIGHTEN THE VEHICLE'S WHEEL LUG NUTS TO THE PROPER SPECIFICATION.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
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 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 50 complaints · page 1 of 2

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 2026-08-21
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