Window regulator or power window failure on the 2000 Buick Lesabre
When window regulator or power window failure gets reported
Owners of the 2000 Buick Lesabre report window regulator or power window failure at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 67,500 miles, from 43 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 17,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 71,892 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
28% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17,608 miles | 34,500 miles | 43,787 miles | 66,682 miles | 89,500 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$900 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 4 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2000, at a median of 45,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 57,500 miles.
By volume the 2000 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Power windows will not operate. This is the forth power window regulator replacement in three separate windows that I have had to have fixed. Two of these regulators broke in one weekend. I believe general motors is aware of a problem with the number of complaints and with the service bulletin 9908110008 issued on sep. 1,1999 stating that the upper reg. Attaching bolt may be too far foward and needs bolt hole elongated so window glass does not bind when rolling up window. This failure record is costing me and other consumers costly. *jb
I am writing you because I do not know where to turn to. I purchased a 2000 buick lasabre from brown pontiac in amarillo texas at the end of 2000. All 4 windows have stopped working, because of one little plastic part that has broken on the window regulator, rendering them useless, and poses a problem in case of carbon monoxide poisoning, or other emergency situation where the windows needed to be operable. It is clearly a defect in material used, which is a little plastic ball, which holds the electric wire in place through a tension system. The only way to fix the problem as it is, is to purchase and replace the entire window regulator and motor, which is about $300 each, and still the same potential problem exists. According to used parts places around the country, that have told me this is a frequent problem with this vehicle. When my two rear windows stopped, I took it back to the dealer, and because I had not purchased an extended warrant on the vehicle, they essentially laughed at me. I just had my mechanic in pampa texas fix them so they would at least stay up, and so my children would not get hurt on them, or anyone else…
The consumer heard a loud popping noise and discovered the rear driver's side window had fell down inside the door panel. *ak the mechanic stated the window regulator was made of plastic. *jb
Also reported on the 2000 Buick Lesabre
Other visibility problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 57 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does window regulator or power window failure happen on the 2000 Buick Lesabre?
Across 43 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 67,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is window regulator or power window failure on the 2000 Buick Lesabre?
57 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.9 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed