2000 Buick Century 3.1 from North America


I like the care


MY 2000 Buick Century shifts hard also. It also has a high pitch whining sound every now and then. I put some Lucas transmission treatment in it and it seemed to gradually go away. I also have problems with the windows going up and down. I'm currently having problems with it starting sometimes. Got a new battery but problem still occurs. I'm going to try the starter next.

General Comments:

Overall the car keeps me going from point A to B.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 16th November, 2008

2000 Buick Century 4D Sedan V6 from North America




Eight window regulators- two on each door.

Broken buttons (radio).

Climate controls quit working.

Three interior door handles.

Horn would sound on its own, but never when I honked it.

Faulty gas gauge.

Burned oil.

Blown taillight fuse (left).

Turn signals had a mind of their own.

Kept going out of alignment.

Blue and black smoke came out of the tailpipe like water from a hose.

Had trouble going into reverse, drive, park, and neutral since day one. The demo version was fine.

Head gasket.

Only got 11 miles per gallon. I drove like a granny!

Brakes failed countless times, leaving me stranded at least 4 times.

General Comments:

I bought this car to have a second car. I used the Century for comfort and long drives. I used my Geo for for efficiency.

I wish I hadn't bought the Century.

The transmission literally blew up. I had it fixed, but it wasn't much better. I couldn't get it into reverse, drive, park, nor neutral (since day one).

I rear-ended someone at 5 miles per hour (after the brakes failed). This was at 75K (like at 74,985 miles). I was actually heading to my Buick dealer to get the oil changed. I got there, and my odometer said 74,998. I bought the extended warranty (from 3/36 to 5/75), but it was not honored due to a 'lack of maintenance'. It really angered me (and because a regular oil change took 6 hours and labor was insane!). That's why I gave the dealer a 1/10. I was quoted $4000 for the transmission, and another $2000 (!) for the head gasket. I wanted to sue the dealer. So, I locked the doors, closed the windows, took my keys, and called for a ride home.

I came back the next day and showed it to another person at the service desk. He said to give him the keys, and he looked at the odometer. He said there was nothing he could do. So I ponied up the $6K and left. No rental.

Since then, the car was crap. Until the trans going out, it was a decent car.


I can't begin to count the times the brakes went out.

The car leaked oil from day one.

I only got 11 MPG. My bud's Ford F-350 got at least 13.

I will not buy another GM in my life (except for the 'old' Geos).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th October, 2008

27th Oct 2008, 18:10

You couldn't get it into drive, reverse, park or neutral from day one? How exactly did you drive it? If you were truly getting 11 mpg with a Buick Century, then you should have known something was terribly wrong. A 1976 Century didn't even get that low of fuel economy.

31st Oct 2008, 14:50

When I say old Geos - I mean the Metros and Prizms. I get your point.

As far as the transmission, I meant that I couldn't get it into gear easily.

2000 Buick Century from North America


Love the car, hate the repair bill!


Torque converter and transmission just repaired, due to high pitch whine and hard shifting. $2800.00. I wished I had looked at the blue book, as I would have never had it fixed!!! 62K miles.

Great gas mileage, about 30 mpg but the repair is outrageous! Where's the recall? How many people have to report the problem?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th September, 2008

31st May 2009, 21:04

I agree! My 2000 Buick whines and shifts hard too. Spent over $500 and no one can figure out what's wrong with it. It only seems to happen in stop and go driving- especially when it's hot outside.

14th Jun 2013, 11:59

The hard shift is caused by the tranny's computer going into some default mode or other (max adapt?), which is in turn caused by a line pressure range being exceeded. It's not fatal. My Regal has had this for 100,000km or so. It typically happens after a good amount of town driving. The computer hits some number of shifts (e.g. 127), then goes into this mode.

Of course it's fairly unpleasant, but I can live with it given the type of driving I do. If things get really bad, I pull her over and let her cool down for a couple of minutes (reboots the computer and resets the 127 count).

I've heard that something called "Seafoam", when added to the tranny fluid, helps, and there are kits you can get with uprated components that cure the issue altogether. Depends on what you want. My car is 13 years old with 400,000km on it, so I'm going to leave it.