2001 Buick Century Limited 4 door 3.6 from North America

Summary:

Great everyday driver - 70,000 miles plus

Faults:

O2 sensor problem, replaced upstream O2, reset, kept blowing - had to go to GM and get the same O2. Later down stream O2 had to be replaced..

After replacing - started having problems with low oil pressure light - shut off the engine and restart; the light goes out, replaced the oil pressure transmitter. Still have the same problem - installed an oil pressure gauge - 40#s on start and remains the same at idle, 55 pounds at 50 MPH.

This vehicle gets serviced every 3,000 miles, runs great, everyday driver...

General Comments:

Engine oil light comes on when starting, shut it off and restart, and the light goes off.. oil level is full.. Started having this problem after replacing O2 sensors...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th September, 2010

2001 Buick Century from North America

Summary:

Never again! Ford is making a better product than GM!

Faults:

I have encountered a failed intake manifold gasket at 51,000 miles. Nice, the warranty was up at 50,000 miles. $2100.00 later.

The front wheel bearings and tie rod bushings... replaced twice and going out again!

All windows have dropped, and are currently wedged in the up position.

Replaced the EGR for smog and it passed. Check engine light came back on shortly after. I ran the code reader and it was the EGR again.

My odometer illumination is slowly going dim. I am going to try the new resistors.

Great engine, but everything else is failing around it!

90 to 100 degree weather will kill this car fast!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 2nd August, 2010

4th Aug 2010, 04:19

In fairness all cars made since the mid-nineties are excessively complicated and relatively unreliable compared to what went before. GM is not really better or worse than anyone else in this regard.

In reply to 4th Aug 2010, 04:19

23rd Mar 2015, 18:21

I'm sorry, but I must strongly disagree with you about all cars from the mid 90s being complicated & unreliable. That might be true for American cars, but I had a 95 Honda Civic in 99, & that was the best used car I've ever had - it had a good strong engine, was great on gas, no mechanical problems until the 4th year of having it, & that was just a set of CV axles (half shafts).

I bought the car from my sister, who had bought it new. So I knew the car's history. Other than the regular maintenance, it didn't need anything.

In 2004 I was looking for a new car, & the engine lost a lot of HP, so I stopped taking care of it. I drove it about 40k miles on one oil change, beat the living heck outta it, took it through corn fields at 95mph, and jumped R&R crossings at close to the same speed. The car went through hell; I don't see any car taking half of the abuse it took, & the only thing to happen to the car was in the corn field; I must've hit a big rock or small boulder, & it put a dent about 1.5" deep in the oil pan going the whole length of it, & it didn't even crack it.

And when it comes to working on Hondas that are around the years 93-96 I think it is, they couldn't get any easier to work on. Especially if you comparing them to working on a car made today. They are making them today to where you need to take it to the dealer or mechanic. Just a nightmare working on modern cars.

So now you know that not all cars from the mid 90s were unreliable, or hard or confusing to work on. If I could have that 95 Civic again, in the condition that I got it in, I wouldn't think twice about it, I'd take it. Because I know how good that car was when it was new. If you get one today, it'll probably be a piece of crap. Too old & rusted now... I had a 95 Accord 2 years ago, & it was rusted to nothing. But it worked, & when I got rid of it, it had over 700,000 miles on it, & it still ran when I got rid of it. It was a pizza delivery car for 6 years, so it had a hard life, so that shows the reliability. I never even heard of an American car getting to 500,000 miles. American cars usually die before they hit the 200k mark.

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