2009 BUICK LUCERNE — Complaint #1687694
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:FUSES, RELAYS, CONTACTS, AND SHUNTS filed August 27, 2020
NHTSA complaint #1687694 (ODI reference 11351529) concerns a 2009 BUICK LUCERNE and was filed on August 27, 2020. The owner reports the failure occurred on August 3, 2020. The vehicle had 149,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Indiana based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as electrical system:propulsion system:fuses, relays, contacts, and shunts, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same BUICK LUCERNE cohort independently describe similar electrical system:propulsion system:fuses, relays, contacts, and shunts failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2009 BUICK LUCERNE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 BUICK LUCERNE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 75 MPH, THE VEHICLE LOSS POWER AS A SMOKE ODOR WAS DETECTED IN THE CABIN OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT EXITED THE HIGHWAY AND WENT TO A LOCAL AUTO STORE. WHILE PARKED, HE INSPECTED THE VEHICLE, OPENING THE REAR PASSENGER DOOR AND FOUND THAT THE PLASTIC BURNING ODOR WAS COMING FROM THE UNDERNEATH THE SEAT. THE CONTACT LIFTED THE REAR SEAT AND DISCOVERED THAT THE FUSE BOX WAS EXTREMELY HOT TO TOUCH. UPON OPENING THE BOX SMOKE AND A BURNT FUSE RELAY WAS SEEN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT HE PURCHASED AND REPLACED THE BURNT FUSE. THE CONTACT DROVE THE VEHICLE TO HIS RESIDENCE, WHERE IT WAS LATER TOWED FROM TO THE DEALER THOMAS CHEVROLET-BUICK INC. (2128 S BYRON BUTLER PKWY, PERRY, FL 32348) WHO INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT NO RECALL WERE UNDER THE VIN. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED AND DETERMINED THAT THE FUEL RELAY
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1687694 |
| ODI Number | 11351529 |
| Date Filed | August 27, 2020 |
| Failure Date | August 3, 2020 |
| VIN | 1G4HD57MX9U |
Similar ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:FUSES, RELAYS, CONTACTS, AND SHUNTS Complaints for 2009 BUICK LUCERNE
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.