Buick Electra Problems by Model Year
NHTSA recorded 22 consumer complaints across the 3 model years of the Buick Electra (1986–1990) that have at least 5 complaints. 1986 has the most, with 12. Across all years, the part named most often is brakes (9 mentions). Pick a model year below to see its parts, mileage, recalls and service bulletins.
All Electra model years
Years with fewer than 5 complaints are not listed. The score compares years of the same model, allowing for the era and for how long each year has collected complaints: 50 is a typical year, lower means fewer complaints. It is not adjusted for sales volume.
| Year | Complaints | Median mi | Recalls | TSBs | Score (50 = typical) | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 5 | 90,000 | 1 | 0 | — | Not enough data |
| 1988 | 5 | 75,256 | 0 | 0 | — | Not enough data |
| 1986 | 12 | — | 3 | 0 | — | Not enough data |
Parts named most often, all years
Counts add up complaint mentions across the listed years. A complaint can name several parts.
- Brakes9 31%
- Steering5 17%
- Vehicle speed control4 14%
- Engine cooling3 10%
- Electrical system3 10%
- Transmission and drivetrain2 6.9%
- Other or unknown2 6.9%
- Tires1 3.4%
Example complaints
One per model year, chosen for length and detail. Personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
1990: “Because of the dark blue primer used that year on all buicks my car looks like it is starting to melt, I have trouble selling the car because of this, there is no rust or any other problem with the car. If there was a recall on this make/model I didn't know about it. Getting a whole new paint job will cost money I don't have.no safety defect listed in the summary.”
NHTSA complaint #724257, filed 2000-061988: “The contact owns a 1988 Buick Electra park avenue. The vehicle has firestone fr480 tires, size p205/75/r14. Within a 2-3 week time period, three of the four tires formed bubbles and then blew out. The contact noticed the bubbles on one of the tires prior to the blowout. Both rear tires and the front passenger side tire blew out, but no crash occurred. The latest failure occurred while driving approximately 15 MPH. There are currently no recalls on the tires. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The DOT number was unknown. The current mileage was 75,431 and failure mileage was 75,256. …”
NHTSA complaint #10270063, filed 2009-05, 75,256 miles1986: “The crank sensor-which controls engine timing-the bracket its housed in can work loose during normal driving causing the sensor to move away from the magnet causing the engine to stall w/no warning. It happened first laste year in july-99 had it replaced by dealer using oe part. Worked loose this year oct-00, causing vehicle to stall on busy street and barely made it to the side. Contact dealer-would not replace part-made us buy another....”
NHTSA complaint #734703, filed 2000-10Other Buick models
3,720 complaintsBuick Regal
3,247 complaintsBuick Enclave
2,507 complaintsBuick Lacrosse
2,124 complaintsBuick Century
1,812 complaintsBuick Park Avenue
1,366 complaintsBuick Rendezvous
1,237 complaintsBuick Lucerne
943 complaints
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate. Methodology