2016 Buick Lacrosse problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Steering (10) · Vehicle Speed Control (6) · Power Train (4)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Buick Lacrosse model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
25 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (2)
Seat Belts:pretensioner 2017-07-10 · campaign 17V437000 · 40,683 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Trax, Suburban and Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles, and 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 2500 and 3500 vehicles. While being previously remedied for recall 16V-651, the affected vehicles may
Risk: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17287.
Seat Belts:pretensioner 2016-09-08 · campaign 16V651000 · 3,640,162 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing
Risk: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
Service bulletins (1,241)
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 2026-09-26 · PIT5698F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi provides diagnostics tips on how the lin bus works and how to diagnosis it.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-04 · PIP4902W · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-21 · PIT5099J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
pi to help diagnose a/c concern
Unknown Or Other 2026-05-19 · PIP6113 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this document provides the technician with a diagnostic tip if the vehicle stalls and set diagnostic trouble code p0191 and may also set p0172. the diagnostic tip has the technician inspect the high pressure fuel pump body markings to confirm it is an original manufacture part. if it is not an origi
Unknown Or Other 2026-04-01 · PIT3271Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates information about how to determine if a wheel and tires size change is available.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP6104 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates the steps on how to save a gds2 session log and upload to a technical assistance case in cx connect.
Showing the 6 most recent of 1,241 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-08-24 · Seat Belts · 💥 crash“i was in a front end collision where the damages were over $20,000.00 and the air bags did not deploy. …”
2026-08-19 · Electrical System“the volt meter on the dashboard keeps dropping below 14 volts and 13.5 volts. the car has been checked by buick and my mechanic no issues found. buick has no idea why it keeps doing it neither does my mechanic. the problem is if there is a voltage drop, the computer will shut down the engine because of the low voltage. this could happen while driv…”
2026-06-22 · Seat Belts · 💥 crash“on june 22,2026, i was involved in a frontal impact collision while traveling at approximately 35 mph. the vehicle suffered a catastrophic failure of the entire occupant restraint system. despite a severe, high-speed frontal impact, the frontal airbags failed to physically deploy, and the seatbelt pretensioners failed to tighten, leaving the seatbe…”
2026-05-10 · Steering“while driving down the road goin around 45 mph all of a sudden my steering wheel got so stiff i could hardly steer the car off the road and out of traffic. i didn't hit anything, my power steering just stopped. i put the car into park and turned off the ignition after a few minutes i started it back up and my steering was back to normal. this has h…”
2026-02-26 · Power Train · 99,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 buick lacrosse. the contact stated that the fuel pump was previously replaced due to the vehicle stalling while driving. the contact stated that the tailgate unintendedly opened while the vehicle was parked and turned off. additionally, the vehicle jerked while driving from a complete stop, and the vehicle hesitated and shud…”
2025-11-26 · Unknown Or Other“trunk lid latch disintegrated, and lid flipped open without warning. driver vision immediately obscured, leaving trunk contents to be easily dislodged and become hazardous to other motorists; will not secure.…”
2025-04-29 · Power Train“cars shudders 20-30 mph. started last year, i needed to get my wife for cancer treatments. basically, shifted the car manually.…”
2025-04-10 · Steering · 81,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 buick lacrosse. the contact stated that occasionally while his wife was driving in rainy or snowy conditions, the check power steering warning light illuminated. the contact stated that after it had stopped raining or snowing, the vehicle regained power steering functionality. the contact stated that the failure had occurred…”
2025-01-23 · Air Bags · 98,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 buick lacrosse. the contact stated that occasionally while driving at undisclosed speeds, the air bag warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the driver’s side air bag needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired due to the parts not being available…”
2025-01-20 · Engine“diagnostic trouble code p0442. evaporative emission system leak detected indicated by check engine light on. …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.