general problems of the 1998 Buick Lesabre

I was driving into drive way and heard a loud thud then noticed my steering wheel was off center. I put the car up on ramps and all four rear sub frame bushings where missing. This component holds the engine, transmission, and steering to the car. !!!! being a technician ,I looked on line to see if this was a common problem and found it is very common . If I had continued to drive I would have lost control. Thankfully I was doing 10 mph many on line complaints talk about people loosing control. Or the front end dropping fenders on to tires. This is a major safety. Issue and I have found it spans 1992 to 1999. Gm models. This is just as dangerous as the ignition problem possibly worse since there is no warning before it happens. . Read more...

The contact owns a 1998 Buick Lesabre. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, there was a loud clunking sound coming from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was diagnosed that the lower crossarm and four cradle bolts and bushings needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 120,000. The VIN was not available.

Was returning from charleston, SC to columbia, SC Sunday 7/28/02 about 7:00 pm after a hot day on interstate 26. After about an hours travelling time, in which the car felt out of alignment or tires out of balance due to bad roads in charleston, there was a loud bang, the car pulled or fishtailed in heavy bumper to bumper traffic. I compensated steering and was able to slow and pull to the side of the interstate. The other vehicles surrounding me moved and/or slowed to give a wide berth. I had thought that perhaps an axle or cv joint had broken, but upon walking and looking around the car I found all tires fully inflated, but then noticed that the rear tire behind the driver's seat had about two thirds of it's tread layer missing and bare steel wires were exposed. I went online and looked up general tires, read about stress cracks appearing where the treads met the sidewalls, then inspect the only other general tire left on the vehicle- it had continuous small cracks there. I called the manufacturer, who would only participate partically in the tire replacement cost if I used their tires again- I refused their brands and bought goodyears instead. We were fortunate to have lived through the tread coming off, and I'm not sure that anyone else that may have driven the car would have!.

Strut has been weak and noisy for quite a while. If there are problems with the struts like the web site suggests I feel the manufacturer should repair it at no charge.

While driving about 50 mph driver could lose control of vehicle due to vibration and jerking.

While driving beyond 50 mph the vehicle shakes or vibrates violently cause unknown. Dealer cannot identify the problem. Please give any further details.