KnownCarProblems2008 Buick Lucerne Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 218 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Buick Lucerne, most often about the electrical (56% of complaints, typically around 77,500 miles). It is the 2nd most complained-about Lucerne model year since 2000 and has 3 recalls.
Most common 2008 Buick Lucerne problems
Electrical
121 complaints · 56%Half of these problems showed up before 77,500 miles. Parts named most often: instrument cluster/panel, wiring, 12v/24v/48v battery, ignition.
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. While driving at an unknown speed, the engine stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the fuse block was defective and caused the fuel pump module to fail. The vehicle was repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate…
I have a 2008 Buick Lucerne. I had approximately 78,200 miles on the car. In december 2013 I was playing music in my vehicle with out the car being on. The car battery was drained but, what surprising to me was the fact that I couldn't get the key to move (up or down/ in or out ) the ignition . After waiting 45…
Fuel system
62 complaints · 28%Half of these problems showed up before 85,500 miles. Parts named most often: delivery.
The car was parked and would not start had it towed to a repair shop. The repair shop found the fuel relay had over heated and melted the fuse panel under the back seat. I did some research online and found on repair pal that 105 other people had the same problems. Ebay seller has sold 1264 fuse boxes like this…
Purchased vehicle 4/2/12. 6/30/12 car would not start. Full power and crank but would not engage. Car towed and diagnosed as fuel pump/relay. The relay was melted. Repaired without incident. July 23,2012 car repeated. No start. Car towed again and relay is melted again. Researching it seems to be a common event…
Engine
28 complaints · 13%Half of these problems showed up before 60,000 miles. Parts named most often: cooling system.
The front engine mount has broken and been replaced two times in under 100k miles. Loud clunk is present on take off, shaking and vibration when accelerating is present too. The first time was just outside of warranty at 60k miles.
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle made a loud abnormal noise and stalled. The vehicle was able to restart but the contact was unable to drive. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The…
Body and structure
14 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 26,000 miles. Parts named most often: body.
I was getting back into my car and went to open the driver's side door, when the door handle mechanism pulled out of the door. I was shocked....never experience this in 41years of driving.
Sometime between 1998 and 2008 the Buick line, and almost all other lines, enlarged the size of the columns supporting the roof, modified the front side windows to add a small triangle of material at the front of the windows, and raised the height of the side mirrors and raised the height of the "dash" above the…
Air bags
11 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 65,000 miles.
A warning message came on to say service air bag. When I took it in for the recall repair, I asked the service department to check for the warning message on the air bag. I was told I would have to have my air bag module replace. My car is only 6 years old. Why would an air bag module need to be replaced on such a new…
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, another vehicle crashed into the contact's vehicle when it failed to yield the right-of-way. The front fender and ball joint were damaged. Additionally, the driver's side front and side air bags failed to deploy. The…
Brakes
10 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 18,500 miles. Parts named most often: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, foundation components.
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. The contact was driving approximately 30 MPH and applying the brakes when the vehicle exhibited an abnormal thumping noise. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer advised the contact that the rear rotors would need replacing. The vehicle was repaired. The failure…
While driving at 55 m.p.h. Going downhill at a 6% grade vehicle's front end and steering column started vibrating violently. Pulled over and let car sit for 30-45 minutes, then traveled on. Took car to Buick dealer and found rotors severely warped. Rotors were turned(machined) and car brakes were ok for next 2-3000…
Visibility and wipers
10 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 18,500 miles. Parts named most often: rear window wiper/washer, power window devices and controls, windshield wiper/washer, defroster/defogger/hvac system.
Defroster vents improperly positioned to keep front windshield clear in near zero conditions. Window wiper blades park in an area below the heated portion of the windshield. Wipers froze to the window, during the delay in the interrupted operation, while driving in a snow storm at 3 deg. Temp. Window actually became…
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. The contact stated when refueling the vehicle, gasoline would spew back out from the filler tube and onto the contact. The dealer advised that the vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. In addition, the front driver window was abnormally slow in opening and would squeak.…
Steering
9 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 39,000 miles.
Clunk in steering when turning steering wheel when parked or moving. Can also hear the clunk noise when driving on rough roads. This is a problem that does not go away.
Tl contact owns a 2008 Buick Lucerne. The contact was driving approximately 35 MPH in severe rainy weather conditions. Suddenly, the steering wheel locked without warning. The driver exerted greater effort to turn the steering wheel. The speed was reduced and the vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road with…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2008 Buick Lucerne recalls
Electrical: ignition
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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.
Full defect summary
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.
Electrical: electrical system
Risk: It is possible for the heated washer module to ignite and a fire may occur.
Fix: Dealers will permanently disable and remove the heated washer fluid module. An updated page for the owner manual will be provided and inserted in the owner manual to document that the feature has been permanently disabled and removed from the vehicle. The safety recall began on june 11, 2010. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080, cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, saturn at 1-800-972-8876, gmc at 1-866-996-9463 and hummer at 1-800-732-5493 or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com.
Full defect summary
Gm is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 buick, lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; model year 2008-2009 buick enclave; cadillac cts; model year 2007-2009 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl; saturn outlook; and model year 2009 chevrolet traverse vehicles equipped with a heated washer fluid system (hwfs). A recall was implemented in 2008 to add a fuse to the control circuit harness to address the potential consequences of a printed circuit board (pcb) electrical short. However, there have been new reports of thermal incidents on hwfs modules after this improvement was installed. These incidents resulted from a new failure mode attributed to the device's thermal protection feature. The significance varies from minor distortion to considerable melting of the plastic around the hwfs fluid chamb
Electrical: electrical system
Risk: This may cause other electrical features to malfunction, create an odor, or cause smoke increasing the risk of a fire.
Fix: Dealers will install a wire harness with an in-line fuse free of charge. The recall began on september 12, 2008. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080; cadillac at 1-800-982-2339 or http://www.cadillac.com; chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438; saturn at 1-800-972-8876 or http://www.saturn.com, gmc at 1-866-996-9436; or hummer at 1-800-732-5493; or through their website at <a href=http://www.gmownercenter.com>http://www.gmownercenter.com</a> .
Full defect summary
Gm is recalling 857,735 my 2006-2008 buick lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; my 2007-2008 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl, saturn outlook; and my 2008 buick enclave vehicles equipped with a heated wiper washer fluid system. A short circuit on the printed circuit board for the washer fluid heater may overheat the control-circuit ground wire.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Non-crash engine compartment fires
Summary
In a letter dated august 27, 2008, general motors corp. (gm) notified NHTSA that it will conduct a safety recall (NHTSA recall number 08v-441) to address a safety relateddefect that can result in engine compartment fire in approximately 850,000 vehicles equipped with a heated windshield washer fluid option.the subject vehicles of this investigation comprise over three-quarters of the recall population. According to gm, a short circuit on the printed circuit board for the windshield washer fluid heater module may overheat the control-circuit ground wire. This may cause other electrical features to malfunction, create an odor or cause smoke and in rare cases it may cause a fire.as a remedy, gm
Questions about the 2008 Buick Lucerne
- What are the most common problems with the 2008 Buick Lucerne?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: electrical (121 complaints, typically around 77,500 miles); fuel system (62 complaints, typically around 85,500 miles); engine (28 complaints, typically around 60,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2008 Buick Lucerne have?
- 3 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from June 23, 2014 (electrical). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2008 a bad year for the Buick Lucerne?
- It is the 2nd most complained-about Lucerne model year since 2000, with 218 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.