What is the best year for the Buick Regal?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Buick Regal
which year?
Compare every Buick Regal model year the EPA recorded, 1984 to 2020. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Buick Regal year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Buick Regal years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect1998
302 indexed complaint reports; steering is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1998 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect2011279 indexed complaint reports; engine is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2011 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect1999246 indexed complaint reports; engine is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1999 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Buick Regal model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2019 Buick Regal
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 18
- Combined EPA economy
- 22–26 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 4
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,800–3,150
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline · Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelselectrical system 6power train 6engine 3
Open the 2019 evidence dossier →2020 Buick Regal
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 2
- Combined EPA economy
- 22–26 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 4
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,800–3,150
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline · Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelselectrical system 2tires 1
Open the 2020 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2020 has 16 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2019.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Buick Regal by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | electrical system 2tires 1 | 22–26 | 4 | $2,800–3,150 | Dossier → |
| 2019 | 18 | electrical system 6power train 6engine 3 | 22–26 | 4 | $2,800–3,150 | Dossier → |
| 2018 | 19 | service brakes 7engine 5unknown or other 4 | 22–26 | 4 | $2,800–3,150 | Dossier → |
| 2017 | 20 | service brakes, hydraulic 7service brakes 5unknown or other 4 | 22–24 | 3 | $2,650–3,450 | Dossier → |
| 2016 | 41 | steering 10electrical system 6exterior lighting 6 | 22–28 | 5 | $2,200–2,800 | Dossier → |
| 2015 | 33 | engine 9exterior lighting 8electrical system 5 | 22–28 | 5 | $2,200–2,800 | Dossier → |
| 2014 | 38 | engine 9unknown or other 7electrical system 6 | 22–28 | 5 | $2,200–2,800 | Dossier → |
| 2013 | 91 | exterior lighting 37electrical system 36engine 9 | 22–29 | 8 | $2,100–2,800 | Dossier → |
| 2012 | 92 | exterior lighting 34engine 21electrical system 18 | 22–28 | 8 | $2,200–2,800 | Dossier → |
| 2011 | 279 | engine 108electrical system 76power train 39 | 21–24 | 3 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2004 | 66 | electrical system 36engine 18engine and engine cooling 8 | 20–21 | 2 | $2,950–3,800 | Dossier → |
| 2003 | 101 | electrical system 37engine 26engine and engine cooling 11 | 19–20 | 2 | $3,100–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2002 | 117 | electrical system 40engine 33engine and engine cooling 17 | 19–20 | 2 | $3,100–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2001 | 187 | engine 52engine and engine cooling 34electrical system 33 | 20–21 | 2 | $2,950–3,800 | Dossier → |
| 2000 | 184 | electrical system 44engine and engine cooling 35steering 32 | 19–21 | 2 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1999 | 246 | engine 49engine and engine cooling 45electrical system 42 | 19–21 | 2 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1998 | 302 | steering 78engine and engine cooling 55electrical system 51 | 19–21 | 2 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1997 | 136 | steering 40engine and engine cooling 30electrical system 18 | 19–21 | 3 | $2,950–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1996 | 204 | service brakes, hydraulic 47engine and engine cooling 39electrical system 27 | 21 | 2 | $2,950 | Dossier → |
| 1995 | 173 | air bags 52service brakes, hydraulic 45engine and engine cooling 19 | 20 | 3 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 1994 | 110 | service brakes, hydraulic 26electrical system 22visibility 15 | 20 | 2 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 1993 | 85 | service brakes, hydraulic 56engine and engine cooling 10electrical system 8 | 20 | 3 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 1992 | 144 | service brakes, hydraulic 69seat belts 31power train 19 | 19–20 | 3 | $3,100–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1991 | 200 | service brakes, hydraulic 153structure 20engine and engine cooling 18 | 20 | 2 | $3,100 | Dossier → |
| 1990 | 77 | service brakes, hydraulic 57engine and engine cooling 6structure 6 | 19–20 | 2 | $3,100–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 1989 | 106 | service brakes, hydraulic 67electrical system 16structure 15 | 20–21 | 2 | $2,950–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 1988 | 123 | service brakes, hydraulic 90structure 18power train 11 | 21 | 1 | $2,950 | Dossier → |
| 1987 | 25 | service brakes, hydraulic 16seat belts 4engine and engine cooling 2 | 18–19 | 4 | $3,250–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1986 | 12 | vehicle speed control 4service brakes, hydraulic 3engine and engine cooling 2 | 17–19 | 4 | $3,250–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1985 | 9 | engine and engine cooling 3service brakes, hydraulic 3vehicle speed control 2 | 18–23 | 8 | $3,250–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1984 | 6 | electrical system 1engine and engine cooling 1latches/locks/linkages 1 | 16–23 | 9 | $3,250–3,850 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.