Audited US model-year file

1986 BUICK Century

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

3 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 1986 BUICK Century. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2006-05-19

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

Campaign 06E043000
Summary

CERTAIN REPLACEMENT FUEL FILTERS, FRAM BRAND NAME P/N G3727, WITH DATE CODES X52911 THROUGH X60801 SEQUENTIALLY OR X600141 AND A MEXICO COUNTRY OR ORIGIN MARKING ON THE FUEL FILTER HOUSING MANUFACTURED FROM OCTOBER 18, 2005, THROUGH MARCH 21, 2006, SOLD FOR USE ON THE VEHICLES LISTED ABOVE AND ON CERTAIN SCHOOL BUSES. (TO SEE THE SCHOOL BUS ENGINE SIZES, CLICK ON "DOCUMENT SEARCH" AND THEN "BUS APPLICATIONS"). THE CONNECTOR ON THE FUEL FILTER WAS NOT MANUFACTURED TO HONEYWELL'S SPECIFICATION. AS A RESULT, THE O-RING MAY NOT SEAT CORRECTLY ON THE FUEL LINE.

Consequence

THIS CONDITION MAY CAUSE AN INADEQUATE SEAL AT THE CONNECTION, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO A FUEL LEAK. IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, A FIRE COULD OCCUR.

Remedy

HONEYWELL WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE FUEL FILTERS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 18, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FRAM CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-800-890-2075 (OPTION 1).

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 1985-10-04

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR

Campaign 85V122000
Summary

THE GENERATOR "BAT" TERMINAL LOCATED ON THE RECTIFIER END FRAME MAY CONTACT THE CARBURETOR FUEL INLET PIPE. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: THE "BAT" STUD MAY RUB THROUGH THE TERMINAL BOOT AND CONTACT THE FUEL PIPE WHICH COULD RESULT IN AN UNDERHOOD FIRE AND CAUSE BURN INJURIES TO THE OCCUPANT.

Consequence

Remedy

OBTAIN CLEARANCE BETWEEN FUEL PIPE AND GENERATOR "BAT" TERMINAL BY ROTATING THE RECTIFIER END FRAME.

03
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 1986-05-13

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING: REAR COMPARTMENT/TRUNK

Campaign 86V061000
Summary

AN INCORRECTLY INDEXED WIRING HARNESS MAY CAUSE THE CENTER HIGH MOUNTED STOP LAMP TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE HEADLIGHTS OR PARKING LAMPS ARE ON. FMVSS 108 LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT REQUIRES THAT THIS STOP LAMP BE LIGHTED ONLY WHEN THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED. ALSO, THE OPERA LAMPS MAY COME ON WHEN THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: THE CENTER HIGH MOUNTED STOP LAMP PROVIDES ADDITIONAL WARNING THAT THE VEHICLE IS SLOWING OR STOPPING. IF THIS LAMP MALFUNCTIONS, IT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO A REAR END ACCIDENT.

Consequence

Remedy

CORRECTLY INDEX WIRING HARNESS TERMINALS.

02 · Owner allegations

43 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
2
Fire mentions
2
Injuries reported
5
Most-reported component labels
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING11
STEERING8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM4
SEAT BELTS4
SERVICE BRAKES4
STRUCTURE3
Complaints across nearby Buick Century model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 81984
  2. 71985
  3. 431986
  4. 281987
  5. 161988
  6. 401989

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all Century years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

3 NHTSA ODI investigations

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

PE91120
Closed 1991-11-04 · opened 1991-08-30

FRONT BRAKE DISC/HUB SEP

NHTSA source ↗

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

EA87022
Closed 1991-11-27 · opened 1987-08-27

STALLING

NHTSA source ↗

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:LINKAGES · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

EA87006
Closed 1988-09-19 · opened 1986-12-16

POWER ST. ASSIST

NHTSA source ↗

STEERING · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
8
Combined economy
19–23 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
17–19 / 23–29 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
2.5–3.8 L
Cylinders
4–6
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
Front-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Midsize Cars · Midsize-Large Station Wagons
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$2800–3400

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

3 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

exact match

Complaints

43 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

exact match

ODI investigations

3 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/1986/buick/century
NHTSA make ID
468
NHTSA model ID
8843
Match key
1986 · BUICK · Century · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · exact match

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.