2001 Buick Regal recalls and problems

The 2001 Buick Regal has 6 safety recalls and 187 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. Recall repairs are free at any Buick dealer.

Recalls
6
Complaints
187
Crashes / fires
5 / 48
Injuries / deaths
7 / 0

Recalls may cover only some 2001 Buick Regal vehicles. Check your VIN at NHTSA ↗ to see open recalls for your exact car.

2001 Buick Regal recalls

Recall 15V-701: Engine and Engine Cooling

Reported Oct 26, 2015 · 1,003,556 vehicles affected · General Motors LLC

Problem: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 1998-1999 Chevrolet Lumina and Oldsmobile Intrigue, 1997-2004 Buick Regal and Pontiac Grand Prix, 2000-2004 Chevrolet Impala, and 1998-2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo vehicles. The affected vehicles were previously repaired under recalls 08V-118, 09V-116, and 15V-201 to address the possibility that engine oil may drip onto the hot exhaust manifold.

Risk: Engine oil that drips onto the hot surface of the exhaust manifold may result in a fire.

Fix: The remedy applied under recalls 08V-118, 09V-116, and 15V-201 did not adequately remove the safety risk. Under the improved remedy, dealers will replace the engine’s front valve cover and gasket. Vehicles that are covered by recalls 08V-118, 09V-116, or 15V-201 that have not yet received the original remedy will instead receive the improved remedy under the original recall number. The recall began on February 19, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Oldsmobile customer service at 1-800-442-6537 and Pontiac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is 15757. Note: Until the improved remedy has been applied, owners are advised to park their vehicle outside since the fire risk exists even when the vehicle is unattended.

Recall 09V-116: Engine and Engine Cooling

Reported Apr 8, 2009 · 1,497,516 vehicles affected · GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Problem: General motors is recalling 1,497,516 my 1997-2003 buick regal, my 1998-2003 chevrolet lumina, monte carlo and impala, my 1998-1999 oldsmobile intrigue, my 1997-2003 pontiac grand prix vehicles equipped with a 3.8l v6 naturally aspirated engine. Some of these vehicles have a condition in which drops of engine oil may be deposited on the exhaust manifold through hard braking.

Risk: If the manifold is hot enough and the oil runs below the heat shield, it may ignite into a small flame and may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel and beyond increasing the risk of an engine compartment fire.

Fix: Dealers will replace the engineâ’s front valve cover and front-valve-cover gasket with new parts of an improved design and remove the engineâ’s plastic cover and plastic oil-fill-tube extension, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during may 2016. Owners may contact chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, oldsmobile at 1-800-630-6537, and pontiac at 1-800-620-7668 or http://www.pontiac.com or http:www.gmownercenter.com.

Recall 08V-118: Engine and Engine Cooling

Reported Mar 12, 2008 · 207,542 vehicles affected · GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Problem: Gm is recalling 207,542 my 1997-2003 buick regal and pontiac grand prix vehicles equipped with a 3.8l supercharged V-6 engine. These vehicles have higher front rocker cover gasket temperatures, creating the potential for earlier degradation of the front rocker cover gasket and eventual oil seepage.

Risk: Certain underhood fires may be caused by drops of engine oil, from seepage or spillage, being deposited on the exhaust manifold through hard braking. If the manifold is hot enough and the oil runs below the heat shield, it may ignite into a small flame and, in some instances, the fire may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel and beyond.

Fix: Dealers will replace the engineâ’s front valve cover and front-valve-cover gasket with new parts of an improved design and remove the engineâ’s plastic cover and plastic oil-fill-tube extension, along with the 1-3-5 spark plug wire retainers, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during may 2016. , free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during may 2016. Until the remedy is completed, GM strongly recommends that owners observe the following important precautions (1) that owners do not park their vehicle in a garage, car port, or other structure; (2) if owners notice a burning odor, they should have their dealer inspect the vehicle. The dealer will inspect the vehicle without charge; (3) use premium fuel (91 octane or higher) in the vehicle as recommended in the vehicle's owner manual. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080 or pontiac at 1-800-620-7668, or through their website at <a href=http://www.gmownercenter.com>http://www.gmownercenter.com</a> .

Recall 01V-109: Seat Belts

Reported Apr 6, 2001 · 116,007 vehicles affected · GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Problem: Vehicle description: certain passenger vehicles, equipped with sunvisor located air bag labels, fail to conform to federal motor vehicles safety standard no. 208, "occupant crash protection." these vehicles have a message area less than 30 cm which does not meet the requirements of the standard.

Risk: These vehicles do not comply with the standard.

Fix: Gm will mail a new bilingual air bag label with installation instructions. However, the customer may bring the label to their dealer for installation free of charge. Owner notification began may 4, 2001. Owners who do not receive the free label and installation instructions within a reasonable time should contact oldsmobile at 1-800-442-6537 or buick at 1-800-521-7300.

Recall 00V-371: Air Bags

Reported Nov 13, 2000 · 12 vehicles affected · GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Problem: Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. Some of these vehicles exhibit a condition in which the driver side impact air bag inflator separates from the air bag module during deployment.

Risk: If the inflator separates, the air bag will not deploy properly during a crash and occupant protection would be reduced. If is also possible that a separated inflator could be propelled downward and could result in injury to a rear seat passenger whose foot is positioned approximately under the inflator module.

Fix: Dealers will replace the side impact air bag module.

Recall 00V-228: Seat Belts

Reported Aug 7, 2000 · 156,305 vehicles affected · GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Problem: Vehicle description: passenger vehicles, light duty trucks, sport utility vehicles, and mini vans equipped with trw seat belt buckle assemblies. The buckle base of these seat belt assemblies were not properly heat treated and therefore do not pass the load bearing requirement of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, "seat belt assemblies."

Risk: In the event of a vehicle crash, the occupant may not be properly restrained.

Fix: Dealers will inspect the vehicle's safety belt buckle assembly date codes and, if necessary, will replace any safety belt buckle assembly.

2001 Buick Regal problems reported by owners

Problem areaReports
Engine52
Engine and Engine Cooling34
Electrical System33
Steering14
Vehicle Speed Control13
Power Train11
Service Brakes, Hydraulic9
Air Bags9
Unknown or Other8
Visibility7
Structure7
Exterior Lighting6

Most reported parts

  • Power Train › Automatic Transmission — 9
  • Visibility › Power Window Devices and Controls — 6
  • Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Rotor — 4
  • Vehicle Speed Control › Cruise Control — 4
  • Electrical System › Instrument Cluster/Panel — 4
  • Structure › Body — 4
  • Engine and Engine Cooling › Exhaust System — 3
  • Electrical System › Ignition — 3

Typical mileage at the time of the problem: 92,000 miles (median of owner reports).

Problems that are not covered by a recall are paid repairs; labor rates follow local mechanic pay — see what auto mechanics earn in each state.

Recent 2001 Buick Regal complaints

Owner reports filed with NHTSA, as written (personal details removed). Complaints are not verified by NHTSA.

Engine · reported Feb 1, 2024
On [XXX], my son drove the car to Wendy’s to get lunch around 12:30 pm. He returned, parked the car in the driveway. My son entered the house and while we were eating lunch the doorbell rang, it was the police informing us that my car was on fire in the driveway. The fire department was called and they eventually extinguished the fire which started under the hood of the car. The jaws of life were used to cut the hood of the car loose to fully extinguish the fire. The car is destroyed. There is no fixing it. Marion, Virginia Fire Department extinguished the fire and stated that a report could…
Unknown or Other · reported Apr 19, 2022
I have a buick.regal go 3.8 was just notified about recall for under hood fire I have not had this happen yet but I have been a mechanic for.8 years and from what I've seen with my 3.8 and others I have worked on it's not just only the front valve cover and gasket I have noticed that on mine I had oil pooling from lower intake manifold onto transmission also same thing on right hand side of engine the intake leaks oil were the factory uses the silicone form a gasket when sealant goes bad the oil pools on top of transmission and on right the oil pools on top of the timing cover /water pump…
Electrical System · reported Apr 19, 2022
The 2001 buick regal that we have has very inadequate head lights as far as im concerned it is a wiring problem dims are so dim that it's like you have no head lights at all bright are just bright enough to almost see 50 to 100 feet in front of vehicle also this buick is not the only gm vehicle I have experienced this on the 98 buick century's have same head light problem some what worse though also our 2002 chevy venture van has same extremely dim dims on all three vehicles brights are substituted for dims I have tried to rimity the problem by cleaning oxidation from lenses also replacing…
Air Bags · at 178,000 miles · reported Sep 18, 2020
Had a front tire blow out car went across the road down into small ditch and stopped to hit a mailbox resulting in the airbags deploying the passenger side airbag came out so hard that it broke the windshield driver side airbag came out and resulted in it breaking my spine I've had to have one surgery since then and maybe more
Electrical System · at 100,000 miles · reported Apr 30, 2020
The contact owned a 2001 buick regal. While the vehicle was idling flames appeared from under the hood. No injuries were reported. The cause was undetermined. The contact stated that while parked with the engine on flames were suddenly present coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. A fire department and police department reports were taken at the scene. The vehicle was destroyed. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The VIN look up indicated…

Other Buick Regal years

Compare all Buick Regal years · All Buick models

Frequently asked questions

Does the 2001 Buick Regal have any recalls?

Yes — NHTSA lists 6 recalls for the 2001 Buick Regal: 15V-701 (engine and engine cooling), 09V-116 (engine and engine cooling), 08V-118 (engine and engine cooling), 01V-109 (seat belts), 00V-371 (air bags) and more. Not every vehicle is affected, so check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

What is the most common problem with the 2001 Buick Regal?

Owners report engine problems most often (52 reports), followed by engine and engine cooling (34). The typical mileage when problems were reported is about 92,000 miles.

Are Buick recall repairs free?

Yes. Safety recall repairs are free at authorized Buick dealers, whether you are the first owner or bought the car used.