Faults:

Needed minor trans work at 120,000, sway bar bushings at 100,000. And nothing else!!!!!

General Comments:

Car has exceeded all expectations for reliability, comfort, performance and cost.

No engine components have failed, not one, in over 178k miles.

Have been rear-ended several times, car has been extremely durable while cars that hit did not fair well. Protected passengers and was reasonable cost to repair. Very well designed for absorbing impact.

Faults:

Well, this car has had a lot of problems since I bought it. Let's start with the alignment. The steering wheel has consistently been cocked to the left -- whether or not there is a crown in the road. I took it to the dealer for an alignment, but the problem persisted. I took it back and described the problem. They realigned it, but the problem persists, so I give up.

The power windows failed at 60,000 miles.

Transmission has a lot of problems. In fact, now that I've searched the Internet, I've found the exact same comments. Soon after I bought the car it began shifting harshly, so I took it to the dealer, and they reported that it had a bad PC Solenoid valve. I had it replaced to the tune of $615.00. But the problems persist -- harsh shifting and shuddering.

Soon after the above mentioned "repair" the car broke down in a disturbing manner. It began vibrating and grinding. I pressed the brakes, but they did not work, nor did the power steering. It finally stopped, and remained stalled. The dealer refused to repair the car because it did not throw any codes.

The car now has 62,000 miles.

General Comments:

First off, let me say that I did buy this car used with 52,000 miles on it. For example, I knew the alignment was off when I bought it, however I also expected that when I paid $82.00 for a realignment the problem would be solved -- it is not. I did not buy it expecting it to be cherry, but these problems are just intolerable. I've now read at least a dozen comments of Century 2000 owners who report the exact same transmission problems. I can't believe any car made post-1980s would have these problems.

My previous car was a 1995 Dodge Intrepid -- what a dream. Lasted for 177,301 miles, and did not have problems until 135,000 miles. I regret my switch to a General Motors product.

On an up note -- the seats are very comfortable.

The ride is smooth.

Very ergonomically laid out with a lot of features.

I like the styling, smooth and stately.

Faults:

The car has had a few glaring faults. When the car was one year old, I noticed surface rust on the bottom of the two front doors. The rust was sanded down and the doors were repainted by the dealer. The next year the rust was back so the dealer replaced the doors. The following year I noticed surface rust on the bottom of one of the rear doors. The door was replaced by the dealer. Now the car is out of warranty (4yrs old, 40,000miles) and there is rust on one of the front doors again. Buick will not cover it since the car is out of warranty even though the door is only 2 years old.

I also experienced problems with excessive engine noise when the car was started. There is a known problem with the pistons in this engine and Buick offered to replace the pistons and it cost me $200. It turned out that this was an extreme case and the entire engine was replaced because of damage to the cylinder walls.

General Comments:

The car gets very good gas mileage for a car this size. On numerous occasions I have gotten better than 32mpg.

It is a very comfortable car to drive in for long distances.

If it were not for the extreme examples of poor engineering and workmanship that I have listed above, I would be very happy with this car. Unfortunately I have lost all confidence in the quality of a Buick and cannot afford to own another one.