1996 BUICK SKYLARK — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 84 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (17 complaints · 20.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 7
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 9
  • 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 AIR BAGS appears in 17 of 84 owner complaints (20.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 17 complaints, 20.2% of reports AIR BAGS 17 · 20.2% · 4 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 11 complaints, 13.1% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 · 13.1% ENGINE: 11 complaints, 13.1% of reports ENGINE 11 · 13.1% SERVICE BRAKES: 10 complaints, 11.9% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 10 · 11.9% · 1 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 7 complaints, 8.3% of reports SEAT BELTS 7 · 8.3% VISIBILITY: 4 complaints, 4.8% of reports VISIBILITY 4 · 4.8% STEERING: 3 complaints, 3.6% of reports STEERING 3 · 3.6% · 1 crash reports WHEELS: 3 complaints, 3.6% of reports WHEELS 3 · 3.6% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 2 complaints, 2.4% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 · 2.4% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 66 complaints, 78.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 66 · 78.6% · 6 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)
AIR BAGS 17 20.2% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 13.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 11 13.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 10 11.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 7 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 4 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 3.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
WHEELS 3 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 2.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 66 78.6% 6 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 Apr 1996. 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1999-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1996 Jul 2016
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 4
1997-Q1 Owner reports 3
1997-Q2 Owner reports 4
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 5
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 4
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 1
1999-Q3 Owner reports 4
1999-Q4 Owner reports 3
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 4
2000-Q3 Owner reports 4
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 2
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 7
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 2
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 3
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 3
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2014-Q2 Owner reports 2
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
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 84 complaints · page 1 of 4

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