1996 Buick Lesabre at 89,493 miles
You did not give a mileage, so this uses 89,493 — the median reported failure mileage for this model year, which is a rough stand-in for “a typical example of this car”. Put your real reading in the box below for an answer about your car.
At 89,493 miles on this car
At 89,493 miles on a 1996 Buick Lesabre, 9 of the failure modes other owners have reported already have their median report at or below your reading, and 0 more fall inside the window where they are usually reported. The heaviest of the ones already due is other electrical problem.
Already past the median 9
Half of all reports of these failures came in at or below where your car is now.
- Other electrical problem 35k
- Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure 85k
- Other speed control problem 22k
- Fuel pump failure 57k
- Other engine problem 80k
- Other fuel system problem 49k
- Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure 49k
- DPF, EGR or DEF system failure 48k
- Loss of braking 60k
You are in the window 0
Your reading falls inside the middle half of reports for these.
Nothing here.
Typically later 10
Reported further down the road than where you are.
- Other body or interior problem 94k
- Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin 98k
- Rust or structural corrosion 102k
- ABS module or sensor failure 104k
- Other lighting problem 108k
- Other brake problem 114k
- No-start or intermittent start failure 116k
- Oil leak 119k
- Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure 145k
- Overheating 227k
Timing unknown 12
Reported, but too few owners gave an odometer reading to place them.
- Other suspension problem 5×
- Other wheel or tire problem 4×
- Other visibility problem 3×
- Complete transmission failure 2×
- Premature brake pad or rotor wear 2×
- Other powertrain problem 2×
- Other seat belt problem 2×
- Complete engine failure or seizure 1×
- Transmission will not engage a gear 1×
- Differential or transfer case failure 1×
- Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault 1×
- Tire blowout or tread separation 1×
Why the list is generic until you type a number
Every figure below is a comparison against your odometer, so with no reading given the page has to pick one: 89,493 miles, roughly what a 1996 car covers at 12,000 miles a year. A reading 30,000 miles either side of that moves failures between the columns, which is the difference between a useful list and a generic one.
Already inside the reported range
9 failure modes on the 1996 Buick Lesabre have a median reported mileage at or below 89,493: other electrical problem (median 35,000 miles, 11 reports), steering rack, gear or tie rod failure (median 85,000 miles, 6 reports), other speed control problem (median 20,000 miles, 6 reports), fuel pump failure (median 55,000 miles, 5 reports), other engine problem (median 80,000 miles, 5 reports) and other fuel system problem (median 50,000 miles, 5 reports).
These are the ones worth mentioning to a mechanic by name at the next service. Being past a median is not being overdue — it means the reports cluster below where you are now, so if the failure was going to be typical, it would already have happened.
Still ahead of you
10 further modes sit above your reading, the nearest being other body or interior problem at a median of 95,000 miles. On a car you intend to keep, these are the ones that decide whether it is worth keeping.
What this list is not
It is a reading of what owners of other 1996 Buick Lesabres reported, and at what odometer reading they reported it. It is not a maintenance schedule, not a diagnosis, and not a prediction about this car: two identical cars with different service histories are not the same car.
Complaints are filed voluntarily, mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers, and a failure mode with few reports has a wide window even when the median looks precise. Modes with fewer than 8 dated reports are shown without percentiles for that reason.
Where 89,493 miles falls on the curve
The three columns above sort the failure modes one by one. This is the same evidence in aggregate: every dated report on this model year, stacked up in the order the odometer readings arrived. The dashed line marked you is where your car sits. How much of the line is to the left of that mark is how much of this model year's reported trouble is, on the evidence, already behind you.
About 47% of the dated reports on this model year had already been filed by 89,493 miles. That is the share of the problems that show up in this record, not of the problems this car will have. A further 1 report came in above the top of the scale, which is why the line stops short of the top.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the mileages called out above
A steep early climb means a car whose reports cluster young, which is the pattern of a defect rather than of wear. A line that only gets going past six figures is the opposite. Neither shape says anything about the specific car in your driveway, and a curve built from a few dozen readings can be moved by one owner with a talkative afternoon.
Full report for the 1996 Buick Lesabre Compare with another car
Questions this page answers
What should I expect at 89,493 miles on a 1996 Buick Lesabre?
9 of the failure modes owners have reported on the 1996 Buick Lesabre have a median report at or below 89,493 miles, and 0 more fall inside the mileage window where they are usually reported. That is a watch list drawn from other owners, not a prediction about this car.
How to use the three columns. The left column is the list to hand a mechanic before you buy, and to check the service history for if you already own the car. The middle column is what to budget for this year. The right column is not a reprieve — it is a reminder that a used car has a bill schedule, and this is roughly where it falls. All of it is drawn from 121 owner complaints about this exact model year, not from a maintenance manual. How the percentiles are computed.
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