Buick unreliable trans - afterthough..

It just occured to me.
I can not even attmpt to sell this car. If you read 'preowned vehicles' ads in local papers, some owners don't forget to mention that '..Rebuild brakes, new tires etc..'
How could I use and advertize the fact that this Buick has a rebuilt transmission? !
Potential buyer would, I am sure say '..WHAT?! Car with only 54 thousand km and needed to have a transmission rebuilt? He would futher think '.. Either the seller misstreated the car, or the make, type of this car is not reliable, I can not afford to spent thousands of dollars every 50.000 km....'
My wife was informed by me about the unexpected cost and is blaming me of course for a mistake of purchasing it.
Before that I used to own Mercedes 300D. Very reliable car, BUT even though I done most of the basic maintenance myself (brake pads, oil changes etc) it was a very expensive car (spare parts). For instance, the fuel gauge in the instrument panel failed and dealer wanted 400 bucks for new. Luckily I found used one in autowreckers.
You should hear my wife than... She even hated to drive that car!
I know I have made a mistake buying a Buick. I am stuck with it. I will keep you posted here, how much more in the future this car (in repairs) will cost me, over the $ 17.000 I paid for it as used, two year old with 31.000 km on a clock.

Something some people forget is that nothing is perfect. So I know it is not easy, but take heart we have all had problems with things we bought. Just remember, it is man-made and not perfect. Best to you

Sorry, Mr. Solarik. Before I bought my Century 2000 I had read that Buicks were reliable.

I do not believe it. This car, purchased June 4, 2004, has had roughly $2,500 in repairs (not including basic maint., of course).

Tranny work for PCS valve. ($615)
New window motors ($180)
Leaking plenum gasket ($1,700)

Now I have a new tranny problem. A pressure control switch is stuck open, causing the Torque converter to lock up. Cost is $650 plus tax.

Luckily I do have an extended warranty, however despite all the work covered by the warranty, my car has problems. What happens when it runs out? I still owe on this car, I can't afford these repairs. This car has left me stranded as well.

I don't know what's worse, the fact that these cars have so many problems or that despite all the work done they still have problems.

Century 2000 you got ripped off! 1,700 dollars for gaskets is about 3 times too high, should be in the 600 dollar range at the most.

Same with your PCS that should be about 200 dollars less.


Cars are bulit on an assembly line that is designed to mass produce cars. If you want a car that never breaks down I suggest try walking since that car doesn't exsist. All models have their problems be it a dodge or GM. You may buy one Century and it is problem free yet the next one may be problem after problem condemning a whole brand is insane. You are judging a whole line of cars over your own problems with one car. I work for a mulit-line GM dealership and I can say most of the cars I work on aren't Buicks. You were overcharged by who ever worked on your car. If you think about you have had 3 problems on your used car. Three problems isn't much but I think your view on a car is that is should never break down and that is worng.

And I would bet all you do is oil changes and call the car well maintained! And I would also bet that you attempt to work on your car that has more computers in it then the space shuttle. I can't begin to tell you how many times I worked on a car after the owner tried to fix it then he took it to Joe Shmoe's garage, they tried to fix it and the first thing I have to do is fix all the mistakes to find the true problem.

Another thing that gets me going is the amount of people that buy a new or used car and think every problem on their car should be fixed for free for the life of the car. I have seen people pull up in their 10 year old car and demand it be fixed under warranty and then storm off after they are told they have to pay for it. 3 years and 36K miles isn't enough, no they want 50 years and 2 million mile warranty. But rest easy because starting with the 2006 model year Buick has increased the warranty to 4 years and 50K miles.

If you really want to complain about how much your car has cost to fix or how many problems it has had please read the following link. http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0507/17/A01-250519.htm

I'm sorry for being soo harsh but I have dealt with many whiny customers who want more out of there car then the engineers built it for. Today I have dealt with customers who expect their air conditioning to give them frostbite, I guess 42 degrees wan't cold enough for them. I have had a customer complain because they have a power loss on their 4 cylinder engine with the air conditioning on. I have dealt with people who expect their trucks to drive just like their caddy. Sometimes the owners have a higher expectation they can be given to them. I am not god and I can't perform miracles.

Buying a used or new car is like eating a box of chocolates. You never know what you'll get. If its a used car, it should be checked out thoroughly including a Carfax before purchase, otherwise all you're doing is inheriting someone elses problem. On a new car I've never had any problems with GM's initial warranty covering problems.

Yes, there are lemons out there but many of us that drive Buicks have minimal problems and well over 100K miles. If you believe that you purchased a lemon then most states have consumer protection laws under the respective Lemon Law or Deceptive Trade Practices Act of course regulated by a statute of limitations. Sometimes you have to put your foot down and protect your rights by taking legal action.