Total Complaints
9 filings
BUICK CENTURY · model year
9 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1985BUICKCENTURY carries 9 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 2 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1985 CENTURY is electrical system with 1 filings, followed by engine and engine cooling:cooling system (1) and steering:rack and pinion (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 1 investigation file overlapping the 1985 CENTURY. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
9 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM | 1 |
| STEERING:RACK AND PINION | 1 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DRUM | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPER | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE | 1 |
| STEERING:HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | 1 |
ITIS VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN STEERING WHEEL. DEALER REPAIRED POWER STEERING ONCE UNDER A RECALL. CONSUMER STATED PROBLEM HAS REOCCURRED. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK
ENGINE MOTOR BLOCK CRACKED.
WHILE DRIVING THE REAR RIGHT BRAKE CALIPER BROKE AND WAS DIFFICULT TO STOP. PRIOR TO THIS, THE LEFT SIDE HAD BRAKE FLUID LEAKAGE. *AK
WHEN APPLYING THE HYDRAULIC BRAKES IN A SUDDEN STOP SITUATION, THE VEHICLE'S RIGHT REAR BRAKES LOCKED UP, LOST CONTROL OF VEHICLE. *AK
CONSUMER WAS PARKING AND OVERHEATED CAR CAUGHT ON FIRE . TT
COOLANT LEAK.
COLD POWER STEERING. *AK
CRUISE CONTROL ACCELERATES ON ITS OWN.
VEHICLE FIRE IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT, ORIGINATING IN VICINITY OF BATTERY, OHIO STATE POLICE REPORT. *TW
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.