2011 Buick Regal
Complaints about this year name stalled far more often than the model's other years — 10% of them, about 26× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 279 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 19 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 7 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- timing — 14.7% of this year's complaints, against 3% across the model's other years (4.8×). Owners wrote it as: timing, chain, timing chain, tensioner.
- stalled — 14% of this year's complaints, against 4.9% across the model's other years (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: stalled, car stalled, vehicle stalled, mentioned.
- without warning — 8.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the model's other years (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: without warning, warning vehicle, seized.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- timing chain — 10% of complaints, 25× usual
- under — 10% of complaints, 24× usual
- before — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, THE VEHICLE HESITATED AND STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT THE TIMING CHAIN NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 85,000. THE VIN…
TIMING CHAIN LOOSENED DUE TO TENSIONER BREAKING DUE TO THE BOLT HOLDING IT IN PLACE WIDENING THE HOLE IT WAS IN OVER TIME CAUSING THE CAR TO JUMP TIME AND POSSIBLY BENDING ALL THE VALVES IN THE MOTOR. CAR WAS BEING DRIVEN ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN IT STALLED AND SHU…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V502000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 16V517000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V447000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 12V484000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Buick Regal was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2011 Buick Regal? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…