SPEEDOMETER STOPS WORKING ON MY 2004 BUICK. IT CAN STOP AT ANY GIVEN TIME AN CAN CAUSE SPEEDING BY NOT KNOWING HOW FAST I AM RUNNING. ALSO SPEEDING IS THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF DEATHS. *TR
2004 Buick Lesabre
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Lesabre years
Owner complaints for the 2004 Buick Lesabre are substantially higher than the model-year median of 24.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Lesabre years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
126 reports with mileage · 36 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Electrical System. Review the 66 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Structure. Review the 19 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Air Bags. Review the 14 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Electrical System complaints
66 reportsTL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO START THE VEHICLE HE HEARD A NOISE. AFTER HE OPENED THE HOOD AND SAW SMOKE, BUT WITHIN MINUTES THE VEHICLE WAS ON FIRE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT NUMBER WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FIRE DEPT STATED THAT THE FIRE WAS INITIATED BY ELECTRICAL FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER TOOK …
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO START THE VEHICLE HE HEARD A NOISE. AFTER HE OPENED THE HOOD AND SAW SMOKE, BUT WITHIN MINUTES THE VEHICLE WAS ON FIRE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT NUMBER WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FIRE DEPT STATED THAT THE FIRE WAS INITIATED BY ELECTRICAL FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER TOOK A REPORT NUMBER 71-787679701. THE MANUFACTURE STATED THE VEHICLE DID NOT HAVE OPEN RECALLS AND HE WILL RECEIVED A CALL BACK. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 150,000.
I NOTICED MY CAR SEEMED TO BE TRAVELING SLOWER THAN MOST TRAFFIC WHEN TRAVELING AT POSTED SPEED LIMITS. EVENTUALLY WHILE DRIVING AT A REASONABLE SPEED NOTICED SPEEDOMETER READ 95MPH, NEEDLE STARTED JUMPING AHEAD TO HIGHER SPEEDS WHILE MAINTAINING NORMAL SPEED. ONCE I STOPPED THE CAR THE NEEDLE DIDN'T RETURN TO THE ZERO POSITION,…
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I NOTICED MY CAR SEEMED TO BE TRAVELING SLOWER THAN MOST TRAFFIC WHEN TRAVELING AT POSTED SPEED LIMITS. EVENTUALLY WHILE DRIVING AT A REASONABLE SPEED NOTICED SPEEDOMETER READ 95MPH, NEEDLE STARTED JUMPING AHEAD TO HIGHER SPEEDS WHILE MAINTAINING NORMAL SPEED. ONCE I STOPPED THE CAR THE NEEDLE DIDN'T RETURN TO THE ZERO POSITION, BUT STAYED A 80MPH. STARTING THE CAR WOULD RESET THE NEEDLE BACKWARD 10MPH BUT IT WOULDN'T RETURN TO ZERO. I RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM AND DISCOVERED THE SAME PROBLEM WAS OCCURRING IN SIMILAR MODEL YEAR GM PICK-UPS RESULTING IN A CLASS ACTION SUIT. SHORTLY AFTER SPEEDOMETER FAILURE THE FUEL GAUGE FAILED JUMPING FORWARD AND BACKWARD. I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP BECAUSE THE CAR WAS APPROACHING 80,000 MILES WHICH WAS THE LIMIT FOR COVERAGE IN THE FULL SIZE TRUCK CLASS ACTION SUIT. THE DEALER REPLACED THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AT A COST OF AROUND $400, IT TOOK ABOUT A WEEK FOR THE DEALER TO OBTAIN THE PART. I SENT GM THE FORM FOR INSTRUMENT CLUSTER FAILURE CLASS ACTION SUIT AND WAS CALLED BY GM AND SENT A LETTER TELLING ME THAT THE BUICK LESABRE IS NOT COVERED UNDER THIS PROGRAM. I HAVE ALSO DISCOVERED MY MOTHERS 2004 BUICK LESABRE WITH SIMILAR MILEAGE HAS THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. *TR
INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER COMPONENTS (SPEEDOMETER AND FUEL GAGE) ARE INOPERATIVE. SPEEDOMETER SOMETIMES WORKS, AND SOMETIME SHOWS VERY HIGH SPEEDS. MOST OF THE TIME IT SITS ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT (ON ZERO) OR ALL THE WAY ON THE RIGHT (PAST 120). MOST OF THE TIME I HAVE NO IDEA HOW FAST I AM GOING. THE FUEL GAGE IS COMPLETELY …
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INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER COMPONENTS (SPEEDOMETER AND FUEL GAGE) ARE INOPERATIVE. SPEEDOMETER SOMETIMES WORKS, AND SOMETIME SHOWS VERY HIGH SPEEDS. MOST OF THE TIME IT SITS ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT (ON ZERO) OR ALL THE WAY ON THE RIGHT (PAST 120). MOST OF THE TIME I HAVE NO IDEA HOW FAST I AM GOING. THE FUEL GAGE IS COMPLETELY INOPERATIVE. I USE THE DIGITAL INFO DISPLAY TO THE LEFT TO SHOW HOW MANY MILES I HAVE BEFORE I RUN OUT OF FUEL TO TELL ME IF I NEED GAS. SO FAR I HAVE NOT RUN OUT OF GAS. TACHOMETER AND WATER TEMP GAUGES WORK FINE. THIS HAS GONE ON FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS. *TR
SPEEDOMETER AND GAS GAUGE STOPPED WORKING AT 32,000. SPEEDOMETER WORKS SOMETIMES. GAS GAUGE REGISTERS PASSED FULL , AND IN THE 7 O'CLOCK POSITION. I NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF MY MILEAGE PER TANK FULL AT - TO NOT GO BEYOND 300 MILE RANGE BEFORE I NEED TO FILL UP THE TANK. *TR
CLUSTER INOPERATIVE. NO SPEEDOMETER AND OTHER GAUGES. *TR
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FAILED AND THE SPEEDOMETER DIAL DID NOT MOVE AT ALL. PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE SPEEDOMETER WOULD INDICATE HIGHER SPEEDS THAN WHAT WERE ACTUALLY BEING DRIVEN. THE ODOMETER WAS THE ONLY GAUGE THAT OPERATED PROPERLY. HE TOOK HIS VEHICLE TO TH…
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TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FAILED AND THE SPEEDOMETER DIAL DID NOT MOVE AT ALL. PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE SPEEDOMETER WOULD INDICATE HIGHER SPEEDS THAN WHAT WERE ACTUALLY BEING DRIVEN. THE ODOMETER WAS THE ONLY GAUGE THAT OPERATED PROPERLY. HE TOOK HIS VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, BUT WAS TURNED AWAY BECAUSE THE WARRANTY DID NOT COVER HIS MODEL VEHICLE. THE CONTACT WENT TO TWO OTHER DEALERS AND THEY AGREED THAT THEY COULD NOT REPAIR THE FAILURE UNDER WARRANTY. HE DISCOVERED THAT OTHER MODELS WITH THE SAME INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WERE INCLUDED IN A RECALL, EXCEPT FOR HIS VEHICLE. HE SPOKE WITH THE MANUFACTURER, BUT THEY COULD NOT ASSIST. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 30,610 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 25,000.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTING AND TAIL LIGHTS FAIL CONSTANTLY. AS A RESULT, VISIBILITY IS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED. THE DEALER STATED THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AT THE COST OF $369. AS OF MARCH 20, 2009, THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED…
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TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTING AND TAIL LIGHTS FAIL CONSTANTLY. AS A RESULT, VISIBILITY IS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED. THE DEALER STATED THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AT THE COST OF $369. AS OF MARCH 20, 2009, THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER DID NOT ASSIST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 44,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 51,000. UPDATED 12/8/09 *CN UPDATED 12/09/09
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER WAS INOPERATIVE. SHE WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE EXACT SPEED THAT SHE WAS TRAVELING. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AT THE COST OF $500. THE VEHI…
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TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER WAS INOPERATIVE. SHE WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE EXACT SPEED THAT SHE WAS TRAVELING. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AT THE COST OF $500. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 30,000.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE FUEL GAUGE AND TACHOMETER DIAL STOPPED WORKING. THE ENTIRE INSTRUMENT PANEL FAILED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE COULD STILL BE DRIVEN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT IT WAS A SAFETY HAZARD NOT KNOWING HOW MUCH FUEL IS IN THE VEHICLE …
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TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 BUICK LESABRE. WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE FUEL GAUGE AND TACHOMETER DIAL STOPPED WORKING. THE ENTIRE INSTRUMENT PANEL FAILED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE COULD STILL BE DRIVEN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT IT WAS A SAFETY HAZARD NOT KNOWING HOW MUCH FUEL IS IN THE VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 42,000. UPDATED 02/05/09 *BF UPDATED 02/09/09. *JB
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
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