2006 Buick Rainier problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Fuel System, Gasoline (23) · Exterior Lighting (10) · Electrical System (8)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Buick Rainier model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
72 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (5)
Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls 2015-09-24 · campaign 15V599000 · 9,932 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2006-2007 Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy vehicles, and 2006 GMC Envoy XL and Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT vehicles. Fluid may enter into the driver's door master power window switch module, causing corrosion that could result in a short in the circuit board, causing window switches to become inoperative. Previously, the affected vehicles may have had their master power window switch module treated with a protective coatin
Risk: The protective coating may not eliminate the risk that the circuit board could short and result in a fire, even while the vehicle is unattended.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will install a new driver's door switch module, free of charge. The recall began on November 2, 2015. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 15700.
Exterior Lighting:headlights 2015-08-14 · campaign 15V519000 · 429,170 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix, 2006-2009 Buick LaCrosse, 2006-2007 Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT, GMC Envoy XL, 2006-2008 Isuzu Ascender, and Saab 9-7x vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the headlamp driver module (HDM) may overheat and fail, causing the headlamps and daytime running lights to not illuminate.
Risk: Headlamps that do not illuminate reduce the driver's ability to see the roadway and reduce the vehicle's visibility to oncoming vehicles, both of which increase the risk of a vehicle crash.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the HDM, free of charge. The recall began on May 17, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300 or Pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. GM's number for this recall is 14291.
Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls 2014-07-02 · campaign 14V404000 · 184,611 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2005-2007 SAAB 9-7x; 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL; and 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier and Isuzu Ascender vehicles. Fluid may enter the driver's door master power window switch module, causing corrosion that could result in a short in the circuit board. A short may cause the power door lock and power window switches to function intermittently or become inoperative. The short may also cause ove
Risk: A short in the circuit board could lead to a fire, increasing the risk of personal injury. A fire could occur even while the vehicle is not in use. As a precaution, owners are advised to park outside until the remedy has been made.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the part number on the door module, and install a new door module if necessary, free of charge. Parts for the remedy are not currently available. An interim letter was mailed to owners in August 2014. A second owner letter will be mailed when parts are available. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), 1-800-462-8782 (GMC), 1-800-955-9007 (SAAB), and 1-800-255-6727 (Isuzu). GM's number for t
Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls 2013-06-13 · campaign 13V248000 · 193,652 vehicles
Defect: General Motors (GM) is recalling certain model year 2005-2007 SAAB 9-7x; 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL; and 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier and Isuzu Ascender vehicles. Fluid may enter the driver's door module, causing corrosion that could result in a short in the circuit board. A short may cause the power door lock and power window switches to function intermittently or become inoperative. The short may also cause overheating, which could melt comp
Risk: A short in the circuit board could lead to a fire, increasing the risk of personal injury. A fire could occur even while the vehicle is not in use. As a precaution, owners are advised to park outside until the remedy has been made.
Fix: Owners will be contacted and dealers will test the driver's door module. If the module is functioning properly, a protective coating will be applied. If the module is not functioning properly, it will be replaced. These repairs will be done free of charge. GM will notify Buick, Chevrolet, and GMC owners, Isuzu and Saab will contact their respective owners. The recall began on August 2, 2013. Buick owners may contact the owner center at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet owners at 1-866-694-6546, GMC
Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls 2012-08-16 · campaign 12V406000 · 278,174 vehicles
Defect: General Motors (GM) is recalling certain model year 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL and 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, SAAB 9-7x, and Isuzu Ascender vehicles, originally sold or currently registered in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Fluid m
Risk: A short in the circuit board could lead to a fire, increasing the risk of personal injury. A fire could occur even while the vehicle is not in use. As a precaution, owners are advised to park outside until the remedy has been made.
Fix: Parts for this recall are expected to available in March 2013. GM will notify Buick, Chevrolet, and GMC owners when parts are available. Buick owners may contact the owner center at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet owners at 1-866-694-6546, and GMC owners at 1-866-996-9463. Isuzu owners will be notified by Isuzu Motors when parts are available. Owners may contact Isuzu customer service at 1-800-255-6727. SAAB owners will be notified by SAAB Cars North America when parts are available and for inquir
Service bulletins (778)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2025-07-18 · PIP5601C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from tac.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-02-20 · PIP5358D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint. technician should get record a sound clip or take a video of the noise for assessment by engineering. technician will need to
Unknown Or Other 2024-12-07 · PIT5074Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads. the j-35616-64b is the latest test probe released for checking tension or probing the .64 series terminals. the test probe
Showing the 6 most recent of 778 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-12-09 · Steering“the contact owns a 2006 buick rainer. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel jerked independently without warning, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. in addition, the contact stated that there was an abnormal grinding sound coming from the brake pedal while depressing the brake pedal. the contac…”
2023-06-12 · Electrical System · 168,000 mi“the contact owns a 2006 buick rainier. the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in his driveway, the contact attempted to use the remote starter key fob to unlock the doors, but the doors failed to unlock. the contact stated that he manually unlocked the doors. the contact stated that he manually attempted to start the vehicle, but the …”
2022-07-26 · Visibility/Wiper“during periods of time with ignition switch on, the wipers will loose the ability to both regulate speed and shut off. the wiper cover ac delco/gm part number 19120931 will fail and loose control of the wipers (fail to shut off while driving). because you cannot shut off the wipers, the driver's vision is obscured, and the noise from the wipers on…”
2022-03-20 · Electrical System“low beam lights go off intermittently while driving and eventually come back on. this does not affect high beams or any other lights on the vehicle. but causes a serious danger to my needing to drive at night due to my job.…”
2022-01-26 · Fuel/Propulsion System“in driving cross country, filled up the fuel tank and resumed travel when the fuel gauge immediately went to empty (i didn’t even have time to drive up the highway ramp back onto the highway). the alerts started ringing and blinking and dash board told me there was no fuel. i went to a gravel area and inspected the engine compartment, under the c…”
2021-08-17 · Unknown Or Other“when i fill my gas up my gas gauge goes to empty, the low fuel light comes on, and my check engine light comes on. i can run out of gas and another can hit me. this is very unsafe, not just for me but others. buick needs to fix this before someone gets seriously hurt or killed. this is a law suit waiting to happen.…”
2020-10-15 · Visibility/Wiper · 49,000 mi“buick rainier 2006: windshield wipers and fluid come on by themselves. when this occurs, the on / off function does not work. they cannot be shut off by controls. they merely start and stop at random. it happens both on vehicle start up when vehicle is in park and while driving. it is very difficult to see to drive.…”
2020-05-10 · Suspension“we bought a buick rainier 2006 and it has had nothing but electrical, door problems and door handle problems. it has a faulty back window wiper. suspension issues and a voting under body carriage. i bought it from a dealer and none of these recall issues where taken care of, and these recalls date back to 2015 i bought the rainer in march 2018. *t…”
2019-10-31 · Electrical System · 120,000 mi“door locks suddenly stopped working. latches would not open, could not close doors.…”
2018-12-11 · Visibility/Wiper · 167,000 mi“my wipers come on steady and starts my windsheild washer fluid to come out. i put them in a delayed setting and they still come on full force. i cannot find the problem anywhere and have smelt like something is burning.…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.