2001 Buick Century Problems, Complaints & Recalls
- Compared with other Century years
- About as many complaints as other years 5th of 11 for complaints
- Safety recalls
- 3 recalls: check your VIN
- NHTSA crash rating
- Not rated
Owners have filed 145 complaints with NHTSA about the 2001 Buick Century. That ranks 5th out of 11 Century model years for complaints. The most reported problem area is engine and engine cooling (27 complaints, 19%), typically at around 57,500 miles. Complaints mention 9 crashes, 2 fires, 5 injuries. There are 3 safety recalls covering this model year.
- 145owner complaints
- 3safety recalls
- 0NHTSA investigations
- 9complaints mentioning a crash
Complaints are unverified owner reports and are not adjusted for sales volume.
Most common 2001 Buick Century problems
Complaints grouped by the part of the car owners reported, with the median mileage when the problem happened.
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median miles | Owners mention most | Typical repair cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 27 | 19% | 57,500 | — | — |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 22 | 15% | 28,499 | — | — |
| Power Train | 21 | 14% | 68,221 | — | — |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 19 | 13% | 51,000 | — | — |
| Electrical System | 17 | 12% | 103,595 | — | — |
| Visibility | 15 | 10% | 73,127 | — | — |
| Steering | 11 | 8% | 38,100 | — | — |
| Structure | 8 | 6% | 34,000 | — | — |
| Tires | 8 | 6% | 75,000 | — | — |
| Air Bags | 5 | 3% | 124,430 | — | — |
| Engine | 4 | 3% | 128,251 | — | — |
| Exterior Lighting | 4 | 3% | 130,000 | — | — |
| Service Brakes | 4 | 3% | 59,000 | — | — |
| Suspension | 4 | 3% | 48,000 | — | — |
| Seat Belts | 3 | 2% | 62,500 | — | — |
| Unknown or Other | 3 | 2% | 70,500 | — | — |
| Equipment | 2 | 1% | 78,850 | — | — |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 2 | 1% | 160,897 | — | — |
| Electronic Stability Control (esc) | 1 | 1% | 100,000 | — | — |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 1 | 1% | — | — | — |
| Interior Lighting | 1 | 1% | — | — | — |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 1 | 1% | 43,000 | — | — |
One complaint can list several problem areas, so shares can add up to more than 100%.
Complaints by year received
2001 Buick Century recalls (3)
Tap a recall to see the problem, the risk and the fix.
Seat belts
Problem: Vehicle description: certain passenger vehicles, equipped with sunvisor located air bag labels, fail to conform to federal motor vehicles safety standard no. 208, "occupant crash protection." these vehicles have a message area less than 30 cm which does not meet the requirements of the standard.
Risk: These vehicles do not comply with the standard.
Fix: Gm will mail a new bilingual air bag label with installation instructions. However, the customer may bring the label to their dealer for installation free of charge. Owner notification began may 4, 2001. Owners who do not receive the free label and installation instructions within a reasonable time should contact oldsmobile at 1-800-442-6537 or buick at 1-800-521-7300.
Air bags:side/window
Problem: Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. Some of these vehicles exhibit a condition in which the driver side impact air bag inflator separates from the air bag module during deployment.
Risk: If the inflator separates, the air bag will not deploy properly during a crash and occupant protection would be reduced. If is also possible that a separated inflator could be propelled downward and could result in injury to a rear seat passenger whose foot is positioned approximately under the inflator module.
Fix: Dealers will replace the side impact air bag module.
Seat belts
Problem: Vehicle description: passenger vehicles, light duty trucks, sport utility vehicles, and mini vans equipped with trw seat belt buckle assemblies. The buckle base of these seat belt assemblies were not properly heat treated and therefore do not pass the load bearing requirement of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, "seat belt assemblies."
Risk: In the event of a vehicle crash, the occupant may not be properly restrained.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the vehicle's safety belt buckle assembly date codes and, if necessary, will replace any safety belt buckle assembly.
To see whether a specific car still has an open recall, enter its VIN on NHTSA's official recall lookup. You can also decode a VIN here.
Recent owner reports
Short excerpts of the latest complaints filed with NHTSA, with personal details removed. Full reports can be searched on NHTSA.gov.
When I have cruise control on but not in use at that moment the car will engage cruise on its own. It does this at a high rate of acceleration with no Rhyme or Reason as to why. I have to be quick to get it to stop because of the high rate of speed. I do not use the cruise control anymore on my…
Steering locked while driving on highway. Car would speed up on its own without touching the gas peddle. This occurred as soon as the car was taken out of park.
5/15/2017, $1,197.66 repair for intake manifold gasket. On october 23, 2008, the california superior court granted final approval to the class action lawsuit, but nothing is available to those of use that did not have a problem until after that suit. Https://www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool/
For almost the entire time of 16 years of owning this car, the set cruise control often times speeds uncontrollably. Have replaced the module twice but continues to happen. Local buick dealer tells me they have not heard of this before. I firmly believe they are untruthful.
Turned on speed control while driving on interstate, pressed set button to set the speed. The cruise indicator light came on. The car accelerated on its own. My speed went from 65 mph to 80 mph in a few seconds. I depressed the set button again to decelerate, but when i released the set button, the…
Other Buick Century years
← 2000 Century · 2002 Century →
| Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 Century | 19 | 0 |
| 2004 Century | 39 | 0 |
| 2003 Century | 127 | 0 |
| 2002 Century | 154 | 0 |
| 2001 | 145 | 3 |
| 2000 Century | 193 | 5 |
| 1999 Century | 235 | 3 |
| 1998 Century | 218 | 2 |
| 1997 Century | 106 | 2 |
| 1996 Century | 80 | 1 |
| 1995 Century | 99 | 1 |
See all Buick Century problems by year, every Buick model, or the Buick VIN decoder.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the most common problems with the 2001 Buick Century?
Owners most often report engine and engine cooling, service brakes, hydraulic, power train problems. The top one, engine and engine cooling, accounts for 27 complaints.
Was there a recall on the 2001 Buick Century?
Yes, 3 safety recalls. Enter your VIN at NHTSA.gov to check whether the repairs were done on your car.
Was the 2001 Buick Century a good year?
Complaint data can't fully answer that, because counts aren't adjusted for sales. Compared with other Century model years, the 2001 has about as many complaints as a typical year. Always get a pre-purchase inspection and check the VIN for open recalls.