Buick Century

Which Buick Century years should you avoid?

Going by 1,691 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Buick Century years to avoid are 1994, 1993, 1999 and 1998.

• 19943.2× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (4 fires, 24 crashes, 1 death).
• 19933.0× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (3 fires, 17 crashes).
• 1999235 complaints, 2.2× a typical Century year, most often about the engine.
• 1998218 complaints, 2.1× a typical Century year, most often about the brakes.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →