Problems with 2008 Buick LaCrosse ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Wednesday morning, i had an appointment, then stopped at the store, came home pulled into the garage, came in the house, my husband was outside, & smelled rubber burning, he went out front to check, i had left the garage door open, he turned around & looked in the garage, smoke was coming from under the hood of the car. the whole relay switch box was melting & the smoke was very bad, he got the battery cables off. i took an extra warranty on the car when i bought it, but am told it does not cover electrical fires, what a rip off, i traded an 2001 buick limited on this 2008 buick lacrosse, on 07/17/2013. i am really upset about this, & with the dealer ship, & general motors. i am told there are no recalls for this problem, & it is very rare for this to happen, but this is not what see on the web. *tr

The ignition control module (not the ignition switch) failed suddenly while driving on the highway, causing the engine to shut off suddenly and without warning. the car was traveling downhill, so the initial indication was loss of power steering. i was able to pull onto the shoulder and then realized that the engine had died and would not restart. while no crash or injury occurred, the potential for a serious crash was quite high. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lacrosse. the contact stated that the key fob failed to operate the door locks. the vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed that all door locks and the keyless entry module needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 117,000. the vin was not available.

Car is stationary. at approximately 50000 mi. (and 6 yrs of age) all four door locks started randomly and intermittently sticking. symptom is that, once inside the car and doors are locked, doors will not unlock and handles do do not open the doors from the inside. solution was to open the window and attempt to open from outside which sometimes worked. this is a safety issue. if there is an accident or passengers are otherwise in distress, cannot exit the car. have seen repeated reports of this issue with this car. should be investigated. safety issue.

Three of the four doors are refusing to lock or unlock with either the key fob or the switch on the two front doors creating a safety issue in the event of a wreck or fire. there are numerous complaints on a website that addresses this issue. the repair costs are obscene. please give this your immediate consideration. ....updated 12/10/15 *bf

Driving along when all of a sudden warning came on, and car slowed almost to a stop, got message on dash that traction stability was a problem. problem went away and several months later, car slowed down on the garden state parkway, had to leave the road , the problem became more of a problem as the months went by, took to the dealer had to replace the sensor, it may have been related to the key problem, which was corrected by the dealer so far so good. now the door locks are failing, rear passenger was the first to go, now front locks not working properly, what is wrong with this buick i only have a little over 50,0000 miles on the car. *tr

Automatic door locks sometimes lock sometimes they do not lock when i put car into drive the doors do not lock have to manually lock them the fob will not lock them either then days weeks later they work! this started with 40k miles i now have 56k miles on the car! car is put into storage each winter never driven in winter months i have read many complaints of this problem on your sight this is very upsetting nothing being done how come? being an electrician for over 30yrs. i am not letting a service man experiment on what could be! can not recall last time auto locks have been this bad! grandchildren ride in a car that does not lock! what is being done? weather stationary or in motion no matter what there is a problem.

The power door locks do not work either with door switches or the remote fab. only way to lock or unlock doors is to manually lock or unlock doors, except one door which will lock and unlock with key. remote start doesn't work because door can't be locked with fab. took to dealer and was told that 3 doors needed to have the actuators replaced. priced over $750.00. dealer, emerson chevy-buick offered no assistance. it seems to me that there are problems with the control unit that sends signals to actuators, both by door switches and the fab. based on the complaints filed i am not alone. this very expensive problem, but a severe safety issue as driver's door does not unlock when key removed after stopping.-[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

The door locks do not work at all, or sometimes they work, and if they work it is only one door, and if you put the car in park and take the keys out, the doors will not unlock. they do not work with the key fob either. also when driving the dashboard goes black, and so does the radio, can not see anything on the dashboard, and then it will turn on, it goes in and out randomly, not all the time. also when driving the a/c will go real low when it is on high, and then it will return to high again it does this as i am driving and while i am at a stop light. *tr

Underhood fuse block caught on fire from the headlamp driver module micro-relay #35 melting down. headlights went off and the battery started draining. pulled over, turned off the car, and opened the hood to discover that the #35 micro-relay was arcing and had melted itself to micro-relays #44 windshield wipers and #38 air conditioning compressor. both windshield wipers and air conditioner was off at the time. even though the engine was off the relay continued to arc and was melting the underhood fuse block. grabbed an insulated set of pliers and pulled the #35 micro-relay (the #44 and #38 relay came out at the same time). arcing stopped with the micro-relays removed. i have filed a previous report on the #35 headlamp driver module micro-relay, because it had turned off the low-beam headlights while i was driving, at night, on the highway. turning the light switch to manual-on did not turn the low-beam headlights back on. i had the #35 headlamp driver module micro-relay replaced and it too proved to be defective. after just a few months, it started turning on the headlights about 10 minutes after the vehicle was turned-off. had to have my vehicle jump started, replaced the battery, and replaced the #35 headlamp driver module micro-relay, yet again. the 3rd #35 headlamp driver module micro-relay, caused an electrical fire, costing me over $700 to repair. apparently there is no fuse to prevent the melt-down of the micro-relays. there is no caution, and no warning in the owners manual, to advise the user about what to do in the case of the low-beam headlights suddenly going off. there is no protection against an electrical fire being caused by the #35 headlamp driver module micro-relay, or any other relay from starting an electrical fire. *tr

Experiencing problems with the automatic door locks. sometimes they work & sometimes they don't! sometimes when i hit the unlock button only the driver side unlocks. when i hit the lock button i have to manually lock all passengers doors. also having problems with the instrument panel lights intermittently will fail causing limited visualization of the gauges. also have a clunking noise on the right side. *tr

Electric door locks work intermittently

2008 buick lacrosse. consumer writes in regards to gm recall# 14299.* ld the consumer stated while driving, the engine suddenly stopped and there was no power steering or brakes. the vehicle was towed to a local repair shop, where the ignition coil and control module were replaced. *jb

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lacrosse. while driving approximately 40 mph, the engine stalled. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the coil and mother board needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was repaired, but the repairs were unknown. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 136,000. the vin was not available. updated 11/09/15*lj the consumer stated at the time of the first coil replacement, he asked the dealer if it was a common problem and the dealer stated it was not. after the first incident in 2012, in which the coil and mother board were replaced, the exact failure occurred in 2015. the consumer was informed the coil and mother board need to be replaced at a cost of $700. during both incidents, the vehicle shut down while in the midst of driving. updated 01/05/16. *jb

We have a problem with our automatic power door locks and the remote start feature. they don't work, either by key fob or the power door lock buttons in the car. the only way we can lock our doors is manually. we took to the dealer believing it to be just the drivers door but they told us all our door lock actuators needed to be replaced, close to $1000.00 repair with no guarantee that the actuators are the true problem. after going on the nhtsa site i see that we are not alone with these problem. i can understand a actuator going bad, but not all of them at one time. i am a former dealership gsm and very aware of "normal wear and tear" and "defects". i've never in my 35 years in the business seen this with door locks. i was insulted by their offer to repair them. *tr

The power door locks do not work either with door switches or the remote fab. only way to lock or unlock doors is to manually lock or unlock doors, except drivers door which will lock and unlock with key. remote start doesn't work because door can't be locked with fab. took to dealer and was told that all 4 doors needed to have the actuators replaced. priced over $1000.00. they offered to pay $350.00. it seems to me that there are problems with the control unit that sends signals to actuators, both by door switches and the fab. based on the complaints filed i am not alone with, not only, this very expensive problem, but a severe safety issue. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lacrosse. the contact stated that the lights con the instrument panel would fail sporadically, causing limited visualization of the gauges when driving at night. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer but the dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 47,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lacrosse. the contact stated that the pts warning indicator illuminated and the seats overheated. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was confirmed that the seat sensor and the pts module needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. the contact mentioned that the pts module was replaced on two other occasions. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 70,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lacrosse. while driving approximately 65 mph, the contact noticed that the fuel gauge displayed an incorrect fuel level even though fuel was in the fuel tank. then, the engine stalled without warning. the vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an authorized dealer where they advised that the fuel tank was empty. the technician dispensed one gallon of fuel into the fuel tank and was unable to detect a problem. the failure had not yet recurred. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 35,000. updated 07/08/11*lj updated 07/18/11

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 buick lacrosse. while driving an unknown speed, the contact stated that the lights on the instrument panel suddenly began to dim before they eventually shut off. the lights turned back on. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but the failure could not be diagnosed. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure mileage was 30,400 and the current mileage was 30,500.

Air bag passenger seat light shows off even with a passenger seated. passenger is well above 80lbs. indicator light on dic shows seat belt not being worn even when a passenger has one on. *tr

While driving at 55mph i ran over a road bump and my 2008 buick lacrosse super shut off(stalled). i coasted to the burm, hit brakes to a stop. the car started on the first try. continued my trip with no incidences. took to dealer and no codes showed in their computer. called gm customer assistance and they gave me a case number. no bulletins. scary to drive. traffic was light this time but may not be the next time. *tr

The fuel level sensor located in the gas tank has failed three times in the past three years. each time the dealer has replaced the fuel level sensor. this has occurred first in dec. 2008 (7574 miles), then nov. 2009 (21145 miles), and now dec. 2010 (37344 miles). the service tech at the dealership informed me that this problem is fairly common (in fact, when i took the car in for repair this time, there was a pontiac aztec with the same problem being repaired). the tech also told me that the cause is sulfur in the gas causing the small wires in the sensor to corrode and eventually break. the module error code error is p0463.

Remote, remote starter (rke) fob for car stopped working properly. replaced batteries even though dic did not show batteries needed changing. this maybe a problem also. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. worked perfectly fine, then problems started. 99% of the time it will not start the car. 50% of the time it will or will not, lock or unlock car. i have tried resetting and/or personalizing keys & fob through dic center. car will sound horn to show it has been reset properly, but isn't. still does not work properly also when using rke, the door lock knob will not come up all the way and the door is not unlocked. also, the door lick know will not go down all the way if i use the rke fob. if i use the key to unlock the door, the door knob will come up all the way and the door will unlock. if i use the rke fob to lock the door, the door knob will not go down all the way and the door will not be locked. i have tried using the fob away from all possible interference which i do not think is the problems, it still only works sometimes. *tr

Instrument panel lights and radio display lights go dim, very hard to read. does not correct if car is turned off then back on. does not correct if battery is disconnected then re-connected. does not happen at any certain time, just happens. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lacrosse. during the daytime, the instrument panel lighting was very dim, which made it difficult to view the gauges. the dealer stated that the vehicle was working up to standard and that the design of the vehicle could not be altered. the manufacturer was not notified. the approximate failure mileage was 5. updated 10/03/14*lj updated 3/10/2015 *js

Instrument panel will not light up when turned on. cannot read speed and other gauges during daytime. this is the third buick of mine so afflicted. *tr

2008 buick lacrosse. dash light problems *gr the consumer stated he has driven as far as 125 miles in the early morning with no dash lights. the only thing that could be seen, was the odometer and trip mileage. the consumer stated the dash lights worked sometimes. *jb