Complete transmission failure on the 2001 Buick Lesabre
When complete transmission failure gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Buick Lesabre report complete transmission failure at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 25,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 60,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 34,218 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
25% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25,782 miles | 38,127 miles | 56,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 60,000 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 $2,800–$8,000 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2001, at a median of 55,000 miles, and latest on the 1998 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 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.
2/9/2001 purchased buick lesabre 1/19/2003 transmission shifted itself from reverse to drive when exiting owners garage. 34,000 miles on car 1/27/2003 advised by buick dealer that transmission had been replaced with a new transmission. Returned to owner at this time. 1/28/2003 "new" transmission self destructed at 25 MPH. Buick dealer advised that a foreign object had caused damage. 1/31/2003 car with third transmission returned this date. We're seriously concerned about driving this vehicle given these circumstances. *jb
On my 2001 buick lesabre, the transmission went out. Since we had an extended warranty, they are replacing it with a used transmission, which is a concern since I do not know how many miles it will have on it. In any event, I do not think a transmission should go out at 50,000 miles, and since it had other problems which caused it to end up at the dealership, I am concerned taking it any distance. The reason I purchased a buick was reliability, but it has been the most unreliable car I have owned (I am 53), and I have never had a transmission go out and have owned cars since I was 18. *jb
Automatic transmission failed at 65000 miles after having already been repaired once. Initially extended warranty company tried to blame me for the failure but after dealer disassembled transmission for inspection it was covered. Also, have had numerous problems with lights on the dashboard, radio and steering wheel constantly failing, 2 windows have failed in the open position, the drivers side heated seat stopped working at 50,000 miles. The only thing that has not been fixed is the heated seat. Dealer says it costs too much to fix. I bought the best extended warranty the dealer offered and still have to fight to get things fixed. This is the last time I buy american. *jb
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
Complaints are voluntary, so 13 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 complete transmission failure happen on the 2001 Buick Lesabre?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is complete transmission failure on the 2001 Buick Lesabre?
13 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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