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Buick Century

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#204 of 454 Buick Century by joe237 Jun 18, 2001 (2:59 pm)
Hi! I bought a 1996 Buick Century awhile back. Had 77,000 miles on it when I purchased it. Has a 3.1L V6 in it, and it's got most all the options you could get (less leather seats/cd player/aluminum wheels) This being the first front wheel drive, fuel injected car I've ever owned, I'm very pleased with this car. It rides good, handles well and that V6 churns out more ponies than the 2barrelled V8 I had in my first buick century (vintage 1973) Have had no problems with it whatsoever. Was much cheaper than most of hte cars I was looking at and was more economical. And given Buick's reputation as a reliable car and it being of quality, I bought it. So anyone who challenges the quality/reliability/reputation of a Buick, they obviously haven't owned one or driven one before. They're great cars!
#205 of 454 1996 CENTURY ROUGH IDLING by lmtodd Jun 24, 2001 (7:06 pm)
I have a 1996 Century that idles very eratic for the first 30 to sixty seconds. The car has 72,000 miles on it. The idle speed varies from very fast to very slow. After about a minute it smooths out. Can anyone give me advice as to what the problem might be? Other than the poor idling, I like the car very much. It is a car that we inherited from my wife's aunt so I don't know much about the maintenance history of the car. The car rides great and the seats are very comfortable to my back. Can anyone also tell me what the horsepower rating is for the 3.1 liter V6 in the 1996 model year? Thanks!
#206 of 454 98 Century, problems with power windows by redly_one Jul 20, 2001 (8:31 pm)
Has anyone experienced problems with the power windows in the current generation Buick Century? My parents own a 98 Century w/38K miles on it, and they are having problems with the power windows rolling down, but not coming back up. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes for them to start working again, sometimes hours, one time it took 5 days.   Anyone know a solution for this?   I have a 99 Olds Intrigue that has had the same intermitent problem before, but it hasn't happened for at least a 3-4 months.
#207 of 454 Help with value? by p41457 Jul 25, 2001 (6:54 am)
Could anyone suggest a place for past pricing info? My mother passed away & for taxes I need to know the PAST value of her 1998 Buick Century 4 door custom sedan (condition is clean) with 33,000 miles, back on the date of November 6, 2000. I would appreciate any help at all. thank you
#208 of 454 RE help with value... by redly_one Jul 31, 2001 (9:02 pm)
You might check with your local libraries to see if they keep old issues of the NADA automotive value books.   If you are not familiar with them, it is a small golden booklet that comes out monthly and is also regional. It is the "blue book", for lack of a better term, that every bank I've ever dealt with has used to determine the value of an auto. NADA is also online, at http://www2.nadaguides.com/ ,you might see if you can get any information from them.   Good luck!
#209 of 454 Car for mom and pop by lormar Aug 05, 2001 (4:06 pm)
My 70 something parents have always driven Ford Crown Vic's but need to downsize and economize. We aren't too sure about a Taurus but have been looking at possibly a '99 Buick Century; for the price. Any thoughts or comments? Reliable? Comfortable for long trips?
#210 of 454 Buick Century Bump Steering to the Extreme by brucec3 Nov 26, 2001 (11:43 am)
I rented a 2001 Buick Century and drove it the 140-mile round trip between Tulsa and Stillwater OK on the 75mph Cimerron Turnpike. It’s been a while since I have driven a mid-size GM. I could not believe the amount of bump-steer this vehicle exhibited. For those who have never heard of this phenomena, bump-steer is the tendency of a car to change direction after encountering any bump in the road that causes the suspension to deflect. Typically, it occurs because the car frame itself is temporarily twisted or deflected by the forces encountered in the road bump or dip. This deflection points the wheels in a new direction and the car takes off on a new course. You must immediately correct with steering wheel input to keep the car on the desired track.   The problem with bump-steer is that it is tremendously fatiguing. It requires much more effort, concentration and work to keep the car between the white lines. The higher the speed, the more effort. On long trips, it will wear you down and make you much less effective and safe driver. On my 140-mile trip I found myself exhausted with all the effort I had to use to keep the car on track at 75mph. If you have never driven a car without bump steer, then this all seems normal, but believe me, there is a much better driving experience out there folks. All American cars used to exhibit some amount of bump-steer, but as auto makers improved the stiffness of car bodies, many of today’s American cars are much better in this regard. When you hear a manufacturer say something like “greater rigidity” or “greater frame integrity”, they are referring to the bump-steer problem. So it came as a great surprise to drive the Buick Century which exhibited the most bump-steer I have ever encountered. Even the large cars of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s didn’t have this much bump-steer, maybe because they were made with full steel frame.   To test your car for bump-steer, just try holding the steering wheel perfectly steady on a straight road when encountering dips or mild bumps and see if it maintains the original track before and after the dip. Of course if the crown or grade of the road changes, the car will tend to follow the new “fall line”, requiring a new hold on the steering wheel, but modern cars should not change direction when encountering mild bumps.   This bump-steer phenomena is so pervasive that most drivers are unaware of it. As they drive down the road, they are constantly making small steering wheel adjustments to maintain track with out thinking about it. When put into a car with very low or no bump-steer, they continue with this steering wheel adjustment each time they feel the car dip. This starts rocking their passengers back and forth unnecessarily and can even cause carsickness. They are totally unaware they are doing it. It took me a year to break my wife of the habit when we started owning well-engineered cars that exhibited no bump-steer. Our driving conversations would go something like this; “Why did you just move the steering wheel honey? Okay, now at this next bump, try holding the steering wheel perfectly steady and see what happens. There see, the car is still going straight, so you don’t need to move the wheel each time you feel a bump.” That was the nice approach. After a while it would sometimes go like this; “Would you please stop rocking the G.D. steering wheel or let me drive, your making me sick!” Once you have some miles in a car with out the bump-steer, and learn not to rock that steering wheel, you will suddenly find that you can drive much further with out feeling tired. You will never again accept a car with any bump-steer. If you have never experienced it, then you simply don’t know any better and GM can continue to dump flawed cars on an unsophisticated public.   Anyone considering a new Buick Century or one of its similar cousins should seriously think again if they plan to use it for long trips. You will not be happy unless you rarely drive more than 45mph. It’s unbelievable to me that General Motors would be producing new cars with this much bump-steer. But, most of the customers don’t know any better, they are use to it, and have never driven a car without excessive bump-steer. You see them every day weaving back and forth and drifting out of their lanes when slightly distracted. I hope that by making a few of you aware of the problem it will start to bug you enough not spend your hard-earned money on this junk put out by GM. Quality in design and engineering does not have to equal higher prices for production and sale.
#211 of 454 by teo Nov 26, 2001 (2:49 pm)
"Anyone considering a new Buick Century or one of its similar cousins should seriously think again if they plan to use it for long trips. You will not be happy unless you rarely drive more than 45mph. It’s unbelievable to me that General Motors would be producing new cars with this much bump-steer."   Well, I own a 2001 Chevy Impala LS (W-Body cousing to the Regal/Century) and the car is an absolute pleasure to drive in the highway, even at 110MPH...just point and shoot, plus at high speeds it feels like it is on rails.   I think it is a blanket statement to say that all GM midsize cars do have a built in problem of Bumper Steer based on a test drive of a RENTED Buick Century. I think the problem you encountered with that car was on that car alone (Perhaps it has frame damage or some other related suspension/front end damage), but I can assure you that in my W-body experiences, I have never encountered the Bumper Steer condition you are referring to.   Sorry to burst your bubble, but GM midsize sedans do not exhibit this condition contrary to what you claim. I will suggest for you to test drive a new GM Midsize sedan, whether it is Impala, Grand Prix, Regal or Intrigue and you won't experience the Bumper Steer condition on those cars, at all.   Finally if you are implying that GM buyers/owners are a bunch of retarded, unrefined people that don't know any better, again you are wrong. I think you are trying way too hard to prove your points while pushing your agenda of "Look how sophisticated I am, I only drive Mercedes Benz while you lowly idiots drive GMs). So spare your insulting, deceiving and ellitist comments with your MB buddies. While your explanation of what Bumper steer is appreciated, your side, flamming comments are not.
#212 of 454 Century is a great car by jpelder Nov 26, 2001 (6:59 pm)
I was very interested in reading about the Bump Steer. Indeed, I will monitor my driving habits to see if I am one of the mind-numbed.   I remember this condition with old cars I used to drive, but don't seem to notice it in my recent cars. I have driven a century on long trips and thought it to be an exceptional car. Unlike my German co-workers, I prefer a large car ride for long trips. To me, soft and quiet is the definition of luxury. To boot, the century has good power and great fuel economy.
#213 of 454 brucec3 by yurakm Nov 27, 2001 (12:29 pm)
I have a 2000 Buick Regal. Practically the same body as Century.   Made several longer trips from my home in South-Central Connecticut, including:   - To Rochester and Niagara Falls, NY, about 400-450 miles each way. Three days trip: Friday evening to Rochester, Saturday in Niagara Falls, Sunday back to home.   - To White Mountains in NH. Pleasure trips, optimized for sightseeing, not the shortest distance. First day I-91 through CT, MA, VT, than rural NH roads through Dartmouth College, route 118 across the Western White Mountains, and I-93 to North. One day driving around White Mountains, including Mount Washington, and return by route 112 and I-93 to North. The last day by I-93 across White Mountains to South, than across the Lake Region of NH to the border of Maine, by NH state highways along the border to the South, by I-95 across the NH shoreline to MA, I-495 to I-90, I-90, I-84, I-91 to home.   - A one-day trip to Cape Cod, MA - to a sand beach somewhere after Truro. This is about 250 miles each way through Newport, RI. Returned the same evening, get home deep in night.   I do not know, if my car does not manifest the "bump steering", or if its comfortable seats and smouth ride are compensating the problem, but I was not tired substantially by driving the distances.

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