How many miles will a Buick Regal last?
Half of the 841 NHTSA owner complaints on the 1986–2004 Buick Regal that list mileage came after 90,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 161,000 miles. They cover the 1986–2004 model years in NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, and each records the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the car lasted.
Buying a high-mileage Regal? Check its VIN.
Complaint mileages describe the model, not one car. Decode its VIN free, then decide whether to buy the odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file.
Title brands · Odometer records · Auction history, where reported
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 841 complaints on the 1986–2004 Buick Regal that list mileage, the middle half came between 58,000 and 130,000 miles; 40% came after 100,000 miles, 14% after 150,000 and 2% after 200,000.
NHTSA also files the 2011–2019 model years under this name, a separate stretch after a gap of three or more model years: half of their 433 complaints listing mileage came after 57,000 miles.
Check the odometer record before you buy
VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage Regal.
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For $14.99, VIN Lookup delivers an original ClearVIN vehicle-history PDF for the Buick Regal VIN you enter: title brands, odometer readings, accident and auction records on file. ClearVIN is on the U.S. Department of Justice’s list of approved NMVTIS data providers; VIN Lookup sells that original report. The records returned vary by VIN.
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How many miles is too much for a used Regal?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when a Regal wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure.
Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 58,000 and 130,000 miles, and 14% came after 150,000 miles (118 of 841).
Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Regal years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
Buick Regal mileage at failure by model year
Each row is a Regal model year with 10 or more NHTSA complaints that list a mileage, with the median of those mileages: half of the year’s complaints came at or above it. Years with fewer are left out. Medians rise with a year’s age, so the table does not rank the years. A linked year opens that model year’s own page: its problems by component and its recall campaigns.
| Model year | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage at failure |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 Regal | 12 | 86,419 |
| 1994 Regal | 14 | 92,945 |
| 1995 Regal | 17 | 89,659 |
| 1996 Regal | 56 | 87,000 |
| 1997 Regal | 59 | 105,771 |
| 1998 Regal | 133 | 92,000 |
| 1999 Regal | 116 | 89,000 |
| 2000 Regal | 104 | 94,608 |
| 2001 Regal | 112 | 91,000 |
| 2002 Regal | 81 | 85,000 |
| 2003 Regal | 68 | 94,528 |
| 2004 Regal | 45 | 90,963 |
| 2011 Regal | 205 | 66,900 |
| 2012 Regal | 63 | 59,527 |
| 2013 Regal | 62 | 58,000 |
| 2014 Regal | 26 | 47,000 |
| 2015 Regal | 22 | 25,000 |
| 2016 Regal | 21 | 27,000 |
| 2017 Regal | 14 | 70,509 |
| 2018 Regal | 11 | 22,000 |
Buick Regal problems by component, with typical mileage
The five NHTSA component categories named most often in the 1986–2004 Regal complaints that list a mileage, with the median mileage of each. A complaint can name more than one component. Owners named the electrical system most often: 225 complaints, half of them after 93,000 miles.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 225 | 94,000 |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 152 | 95,359 |
| Steering | 145 | 74,000 |
| Engine | 138 | 133,000 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 47 | 45,700 |
What these mileages can and cannot tell you
- They are self-reported. The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only cars whose owners reported a problem; a Regal that ran without one never appears in it, so these figures do not say how long a typical Regal lasts.
- Young model years pull the figures down: a car a few years old cannot have reached high mileage when its owner complained.
- A complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding, and the count rises with how many cars were sold.
- 1,958 of the Buick Regal complaints in these model years give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every figure.
- NHTSA also holds 29 complaints for 1982–1985, 2005, 2008–2010 and 2020, fewer than 10 a year under a name whose typical year draws 40 or more; those stray filings are left out.
- NHTSA names counted: REGAL.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the mileage on its first row; a page is published only when its model holds 100 or more complaints that list a mileage. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-mileage.mjs.
Buick Regal mileage questions
How many miles will a Buick Regal last?
Half of the 841 NHTSA owner complaints on the 1986–2004 Buick Regal that list mileage came after 90,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 161,000 miles. Of the 841 complaints on the 1986–2004 Buick Regal that list mileage, the middle half came between 58,000 and 130,000 miles; 40% came after 100,000 miles, 14% after 150,000 and 2% after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no Regal that never had one.
How many miles is too much for a used Regal?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when a Regal wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure. Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 58,000 and 130,000 miles, and 14% came after 150,000 miles (118 of 841). Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Regal years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
How do I check the mileage of a used Regal?
Compare the odometer with the readings on file for its VIN: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. A reading lower than an earlier one, or a long gap, is worth asking about. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage Regal.