Other wheel or tire problem on the 2001 Buick Lesabre
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other wheel or tire problem gets reported
There are 6 reports of other wheel or tire problem on the 2001 Buick Lesabre, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 60,000 miles. It is the 19th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 34,075 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 $200–$1,500 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 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2004, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 1997 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 29; the 2001 has 6. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 buick lesabre. The contact stated that the center of the wheels had a tight fit over the center axle and if the wheels were not taken off frequently, rust would form. He stated that the wheels had to be forced off of the vehicle since there was not enough "free play" to separate the tire from the wheel. He was concerned that if he had a flat tire, he would not be able to remove the wheel to install the spare tire. The contact called the manufacturer but was offered no assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired when the complaint was filed. The VIN was unavailable. The current mileage is approximately 137,000. The failure mileage was approximately 28,000. Updated 9/13/10 *cn updated 09/15/10
I have been trying to contact your department since nov. Of last year via the us mail system. Each time my letter has been returned. First reason was "not at DOT headquarters", the second reason given was "insufficient information"..the address I have been given by folks answering your phone number was "national highway traffic safety administration 400-7th street washington, dc 20590" after the second return I visited my post office to inquire about the return of undelivered mail. The answer given, to my surprise, was that the us postal department does not have a listing for you at that address. In their eyes, you are not there. Got to be a problem somewhere. So I ask again, what is your official mailing address? My event is too long to be fully described in this format as there is as much as 10 incidents relating to single topic. The incident listed below on 8/19/05 was the next to last and caused property damage. The information being given is also referenced to the 8/19/05 incident only. Four of the incidents are the failures of the four original tires that came factory equipped with the vehicle. *nm
Also reported on the 2001 Buick Lesabre
Other visibility problem
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Alternator or charging system failure
Window regulator or power window failure
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 6 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 6 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 other wheel or tire problem happen on the 2001 Buick Lesabre?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 35,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other wheel or tire problem on the 2001 Buick Lesabre?
6 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 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