2009 Buick Lacrosse
This year drew an ordinary 106 complaints for a Buick Lacrosse — the model's median is 189. What they were about is the unusual part: 26.4% of them mention headlights, against 8.7% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 106 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 189 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 20 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- headlights — 26.4% of this year's complaints, against 8.7% across the model's other years (3×). Owners wrote it as: headlights, beam headlights, night, high beam.
- part needed — 9.4% of this year's complaints, against 3.7% across the model's other years (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: part needed, switch.
- relay — 6.6% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the model's other years (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: relay, car off, burnt.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT, THE HEADLIGHTS FAILED. IN ORDER TO CONTINUE DRIVING, THE CONTACT HAD TO USE THE HIGH BEAM LIGHTS TO DRIVE HOME. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE RELAY SWITCH WAS REPLACED; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE CON…
WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AT 9:33PM I NOTICED MY AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHTS HAD SWITCHED OFF, AFTER NOTICING OTHER DRIVERS FLASHING THEIR HEADLIGHTS TO WARN ME, I HAD TO USE MY HIGH BEAMS TO DRIVE.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 15V519000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 14V355000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Buick Lacrosse was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Buick Lacrosse? What happened to yours?
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