Recall Register

1981 Buick Century: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 3 recall campaigns for the 1981 Buick Century. The newest campaign is 81V036000. NHTSA received the report on 23 Mar 1981. The NHTSA record gives the component Wheels / Hubcap/Cover. NHTSA has 1 complaint on file for this model year. 2 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 81V036000, in the NHTSA record

The defective wheels will be replaced without charge.
NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

3 campaigns, newest first. 5,827,867 units in total.

  1. 81V036000Received . 6,690 units.

    Wheels / Hubcap/Cover

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    "tx" heavy duty wheels may have been manufactured with laminated steel. The wheel disc may fracture and the wheel and tire could partially or completely separate from the vehicle.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    The defective wheels will be replaced without charge.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  2. 81V025000Received . 5,821,160 units.

    Suspension / Rear

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The bolts that attach the lower rear control arm to the frame may fracture. The rear control arm supports and positions the rear axle. Fracture of the bolts would allow the control arm to drop free.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Both rear control arm attachment bolts will be replaced without charge.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  3. 81V009000Received . 17 units.

    Wheels

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The steel used in some compact spare wheels is too thin. While in service the wheel may fracture, resulting in a partial or complete separation of the wheel and tire from the vehicle.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Spare wheels will be replaced without charge to owners within 60 days of recall notification.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP..

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

1 complaint, 1 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. This model year has fewer than 50 component mentions, so the table shows the number of mentions only.

1981 Buick Century: component mentions in complaints
ComponentMentions
Service Brakes, Hydraulic1
Complaints that report a crash
0
Complaints that report a fire
0
Injuries in the complaints
0
Deaths in the complaints
0
Date of the newest complaint
21 Apr 1998

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 1981 Buick Century, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1998, with 1 complaint.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1981 Buick Century
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
DP86018Defect petitionPOWER STEERING FAILUREUnknown or Other5 Sep 198619 Dec 1986
EA86006Engineering analysisBRAKE BACKING PLATEService Brakes, Hydraulic27 Nov 198528 Nov 1988

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

  1. 19733
  2. 19742
  3. 19752
  4. 19762
  5. 19773
  6. 19786
  7. 19795
  8. 19805
  9. 19813
  10. 19822
  11. 19831
  12. 19843
  13. 19850
  14. 19862
  15. 19870
  16. 19883
  17. 19891
  18. 19902
  19. 19912
  20. 19923
  21. 19932
  22. 19946
  23. 19951
  24. 19961
  25. 19972
  26. 19982
  27. 19993
  28. 20005
  29. 20013
  30. 20020
  31. 20030
  32. 20040
  33. 20050

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 1981 Buick Century: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/buick/century/1981/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
29 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
15 May 2019
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 1981 Buick Century?
5,827,867 units in 3 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Buick Century have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 55 recall campaigns for the Buick Century, model years 1973 to 2005. 3 of them name the 1981 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1981 Buick Century name most often?
Service Brakes, Hydraulic: 1 of 1 component mention.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1981 Buick Century open?
No. Each of the 2 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.