2011 Buick LUCERNE - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2011 Buick Lucerne has an overall safety rating of 3 out of 5. It received high scores in front crash ratings with a 5 for both the driver and passenger sides, indicating good protection in frontal collisions. However, its side crash ratings are lower with a 2 for both driver and passenger sides, suggesting a potential risk in side impacts. The car has stability control as a standard feature, which enhances its ability to maintain control during sudden maneuvers. Unfortunately, it does not come with forward collision warning, but it does offer lane departure warning as an optional feature.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the Buick Lucerne has had 43 complaints reported, indicating some potential issues that have been raised by owners. Additionally, there have been 2 recalls on this model, which suggests that there have been identified safety concerns that needed to be addressed by the manufacturer. Overall, while the Buick Lucerne has some solid safety features like stability control, there are areas for improvement in side crash protection and additional safety technologies like forward collision warning.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

43

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

3/5

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Safety Features

2011 Buick Lucerne 4 DR FWD Early Release Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2011 Buick Lucerne 4 DR FWD Early Release

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2011 Buick Lucerne 4 DR FWD Early Release Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2011 Buick Lucerne 4 DR FWD Early Release Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2006 Score 2011 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2006 Score 2011 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 2
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 4 1
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 2
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 1
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 2
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 2

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2006 Score 2011 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 2

Complaints for the 2011 Buick LUCERNE

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. the contact stated that after several attempts the vehicle failed to start-up without warning. upon investigation, the contact linked the failure to the circuit board which was in the rear back seat. the contact stated that the rear seat latches had rubbed against the circuit box, causing the circuit to overheat. the circuit board was replaced. the contact then stated that upon entering his vehicle while in a parking lot, blueish colored smoke was coming from the vehicle. the contact removed the back seat and saw that the circuit board had started melting. the police were first called to the scene and the fire department then arrived and was able to extinguish the smoke before the circuit board caught on fire. neither a police report nor a fire report was filed. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where it remained. the manufacturer was also notified of the failure and a case was filed. the vehicle had yet to be repaired. the failure mileage was 198,000."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2023-01-10
Complaint:
"engine stopped running with no warning. it was repaired by the dealer at no cost under technical service bulletin (tsb) 15-na-051. in addition to the repairs specified in the tsb, the dealer had to replace the rear fuse box and repair the wire to the fuel pump because they were both damaged due to overheating. this is a fire hazard which should have been made a recall instead of an extended warranty."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2020-09-01
Complaint:
"the fuse box that is under the back seat keeps shorting out the relay for my fuel pump. sometimes my car starts sometimes it doesn't."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2018-09-08
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. the contact stated that the vehicle would not start and the key fob did not work. when the contact attempted to unlock the vehicle with the key fob, she became locked inside the vehicle. the contact had to manually unlock the door on the passenger side to exit the vehicle. in addition, the electrical system did not work and the contact smelled a burning odor. also, the vehicle made grinding and clicking sounds even with it being off. the contact received a letter from the manufacturer that described the failures. the contact called coggin buick gmc in jacksonville (7245 blanding blvd, jacksonville, fl 32244, (904) 638-1115) and was informed to have the vehicle towed. the manufacturer was not notified. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was 112,000."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2019-12-02
Complaint:
"on 9/1/18 i drove my car all morning late that night when i went to drive again it wouldn't start and i could smell a little burning. checked the fuse box and it had blew out a couple of fuses so we changed them. 3days later it did the same thing we changed the fuses again and once again the blew now when we changed them it won't start at all. i had to keep changing the fuel pump fuse and a dealer said it was because of the metal of the seat touching the box ."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2018-01-09
Complaint:
"car was stationary, and attempted to start. engine was not getting gas. dealer identified rear fuse box/fuel pump relay was shorted out. he stated this could happen at any time- stationary or going highway speeds. short in fuse box could result in fire. short was probably caused by rear seat bracket rubbing on fuse box, as evidenced by markings on fuse box. there are many similar complaints on this same issue on internet sites. why has this not been investigated?"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2019-11-06
Complaint:
"a manufacturer defect exists in the area of the rear fuse box located under the rear seat on the left side. the seat bracket applies pressure to the fuse box cover deflecting it from its standard position. this deflection puts lateral pressure on the fuel pump relay. this lateral force cause an weaked contact between the relay and the fuse box connectors. increased electrical resistance causes the relay to overheat and melt its base and fuse box. the heat is intense enough to case the contact pins of the relay, and socket of the fuse box and softens the metal further degrading the continuity and increasing resistance. this mandates a replacement of the fuse box since simply replacing the relay after the heat damage may not be sufficient to remedy the defect. a manufacturer tsb exhists however, this component is more likely to fail on a longer high speed drive. if it fails at speed, vehicle control issues may arise among with driver panic when the engine stalls at highway speeds."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2019-12-04
Complaint:
"i was driving on a highway and stopped at a stop sign--when i accelerated to continue driving the car shifted into the gear for driving in the snow. the gear shift still was in drive. in the snow drive gear you get a bumpy ride and can only go 30 mph. i had on star at that time and they told me to turn the ignition off and it would get me out of that gear. i did that twice and it worked. i brought the car to a dealer in florida and they said it was caused by a faulty fuse--which they replaced. this same thing happened to me again this week; i now have 34,000 miles on the odometer. turning the car off also worked. i will bring the car into buick to have it checked. my concern is that the car will slip into the slow gear while i'm driving. has anyone else reported this problem. *tr"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2012-03-12
Complaint:
"background - i just went through the ignition recall on my 2007 chevrolet cobalt. the ignition switch was replaced and i am comfortable driving the car now. then i received recall 14299 on my 2011 buick lucerne (nhtsa campaign id 14v355) involving a similar ignition issue. it also mentioned the weight issue of items hanging on the key causing loss of engine power, braking, etc. the recall provided the same interim instructions as the cobalt, remove everything from the key including the fob. i took my buick lucerne in for the recall and found out all it involved was adding two key rings and an insert in the key. after the recall is performed it is supposed to be safe to add previously removed items back on your key ring. i do not understand how adding two key rings and an insert can correct a weight issue on the key. i haven't had the recall performed yet because i didn't have both keys with me when i went to the dealership. i am trying to understand if i am wasting my time driving 40 miles for what appears to be a general motors sham. has the national highway traffic safety administration evaluated and approved this fix? *tr"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2015-04-10
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2011 buick lucerne. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 14v355000 (electrical system). the contact stated that the part to do the repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount if time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. the contact had not experienced a failure. the vin was not available...updated 09-24-14 *bf"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2015-04-08

Recalls for the 2011 Buick LUCERNE

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"this defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. the key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring. general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 buick lacrosse, 2006-2011 buick lucerne, 2000-2005 cadillac deville, 2006-2011 cadillac dts, 2006-2014 chevrolet impala, and 2006-2007 chevrolet monte carlo vehicles. in the affected vehicles, the weight on the key ring and road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine."
Consequence:
If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Additionally, a key knocked out of the run position will cause loss of engine power, power steering, and power braking, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will install two key rings and an insert in the key slot or a cover over the key head on all ignition keys, free of charge. The recall began on September 23, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-8006 (Cadillac), and 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet). GM's number for this recall is 14299.

Component(s) Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM > IGNITION
Date of incident: 2014-06-23

BUICK Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

BUICK ranks 20 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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