2011 Buick Regal

MIL Lamp is illuminated and cannot be turned off or reset. The code displayed on the scanner is for P2138 "Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor/Switch D/E Voltage Correlation." There is also a "Reduced Engine Power" message on the dashboard. Available for inspection upon request. My safety was put at risk before the vehicle was serviced because the car shut down in the middle of the street with cars behind me. I called a certified mechanic to successfully service the vehicle and he cleared the code. My safety was put at risk again after the car was serviced because the code came back on as I was driving on the highway. Car lost power and speed and as I tried to get the car pulled over with emergency lights on, I was almost hit from behind by 2 other drivers. Problem can be reproduced within 10 minutes. Per the mechanic's request, I am taking my car to a Buick Century GMC dealership on 7/16 @ 12 PM to be serviced. Warning symptoms before code came on happened especially during times of rainfall. Car hesitated to pick up speed. Overconsumption of gas resulting in decreased mileage.

ISSUE: BRAKE PEDAL WILL STIFFEN AND SLOW THE CAR DOWN. THE STEERING WHEEL COLUMN WILL VIOLENTLY SHAKE, AS IF THE CALIPERS ARE STUCK. ONCE PARKED, WHEELS ARE HOT AND OMITS A BURNING SMELL. NARRATIVE: After the car is sitting in the sun, while driving in slow traffic the car is running rough, steering wheel starts shaking back and forth, the brakes start making noise when you stop. When accelerated there is grinding noise and dash light comes on. I pulled to the side of the road and turned off the car for five minutes, I start the car and it runs as normal. This was happening for a few weeks. I had the brakes replaced on 05/19/21 (I paid $737.66 for the brake job). I drove the car for a couple of weeks and brakes seized. I had to have the car towed back to shop (costing me $135.63) and the shop quoted brake pedal replacement. At that point I took the car to the Everett, WA, Clyde Revord Buick Dealership and they replaced the modular for the brake (part # 22997391) and it was expenive because it required removing the dash board and a lot of labor time (costing me another $1347.31). I feel this is a safety hazaard as my brakes could have seized or a fire could have broke out while I was driving on the freeway. Fortunately, the brakes seized in a parking lot. I did some research on this topic and see that it is a common flaw for this make and model and should be covered by the manufacturer as a recall before someone gets killed.

THE CAR STALLS WHEN SHIFTING GEARS. AT FIRST, IT WAS ONLY WHEN I WAS STOPPED THEN BEGAN TO DRIVE AND THE CAR WAS SHIFTING INTO FIRST GEAR. HOWEVER, IT RECENTLY GOT WORSE. I WAS RECENTLY ON THE FREEWAY AND WHEN I REACHED 60 MPH, IT STALLED, BEGAN TO SHAKE, AND DECREASE IN SPEED. IT WOULDN'T LET ME ACCELERATE. ONCE I GOT OFF THE FREEWAY AND REACHED UNDER 10 MPH, IT BEGAN TO WORK AGAIN BUT STILL STALLED EVERY TIME IT SHIFTED GEARS. I'VE TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY SAY THEY CAN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT.

VEHICLE HAD RECALL 12212"A" PERFORMED IN OCT OF 2014 AT DELARSHIP, THIS RESULTS IN SOMETIMES IF NOT EVERY TIME OF A MIS-CALIBRATED BRAKE POSITION SENSOR. THE MIS-CALIBRATION RESULTS IN MY VEHICLE REQUIRING THE BRAKE PEDAL TO BE DEPRESSED ALMOST TO THE FLOOR BEFORE THE PARK POSITION DISENGAGEMENT SENSOR IS ACTIVATED. IT IS AT THIS POINT WHEN THE BRAKE LIGHTS ARE ACTIVATED. THIS EXTRA PEDAL TRAVEL RESULTS IN ME BEING ABLE TO COME TO A RAPID STOP FROM 85 MILES AN HOUR ON THE FREEWAY WITHOUT ANY REAR BRAKE LIGHTS ACTIVATING. THE BRAKE LIGHTS ARE NOT INTERMITTENT, THEY ACTIVATE EVERY TIME THE PEDAL IS PRESSED FAR ENOUGH, WHILE DRIVING THIS IS ONLY AT THE POINT WHEN ABS WOULD BE ACTIVATED UNDER EMERGENCY BRAKING. BUICK/GMC IS AWARE THIS IS THE CASE AND ISSUED RECALL 12212"B" ON OCT 11, 2016 WHICH READS: "THIS BULLITEN HAS BEEN REVISED TO INCLUDE A NOTE BEFORE STEP 4 OF THE SERVICE PROCEDURE. PLEASE DISCARD ALL COPIES OF BULLITEN 12212A." THE NOTE STATES: "THE BRAKE PEDAL POSITION SENSOR CALIBRATION MUST BE PERFORMED AFTER THE BRAKE PEDAL POSITION SENSOR,BCM,ECM, OR HPCM HAVE BEEN SERVICED." BUICK/GMC HAS NOT INFORMED DRIVERS UNDER THE ORIGINAL 12212A RECALL THAT THEIR BRAKE LIGHTS WILL NOT ACTIVATE BECAUSE OF THIS RECALL SERVICE AND HAVE REFUSED TO HONOR THIS NEWLY UPDATED PROCEDURE ON MY VEHICLE AND SHOWS AS "COMPLETE" ON NTHTSA WEBSITE. BOTTOM LINE THE ORIGINAL BOTCHED 12212A RESULTS IN BRAKE LIGHTS NOT ACTIVATING AND ANYONE THAT HAD 12212A DONE SHOULD GET 12212B NOTIFICATION AND RECALL COVERAGE.

I'M WRITING ABOUT A CONCERN I HAVE REGARDING THE TRANSMISSION DESIGN FOR THE 2011 BUICK REGAL. I PURCHASED MY CAR FROM A REPUTABLE DEALER WITH A CLEAN CAR FAX IN 2014. THE CAR HAD ROUGHLY 45,000 MILES ON IT, AND EVERY BIT OF MAINTENANCE HAS BEEN PERFORMED AT THE APPROPRIATE INTERVALS SINCE I PURCHASED IT 3.5 YEARS AGO. DURING THE TIME THAT I'VE OWNED MY CAR, I HAVE PUT AN ADDITIONAL 30,000 MILES ON IT TOTAL. I HAVEN'T DRIVEN IT ON THE HIGHWAY SINCE JULY OF 2015, AND MY TRIPS ARE SHORTER THAN 4 MILES ONE WAY. ON MY WAY TO WORK A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, MY TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. I WAS ALMOST BROADSIDED TWICE, TURNING LEFT AROUND A ROUNDABOUT. I WAS DRIVING ROUGHLY 30MPH, AND WITHOUT WARNING IT LOST POWER. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT FLASHED, AND THE CAR STALLED TRYING TO SWITCH GEARS AS I ACCELERATED. WHEN I WENT TO PUT IT IN PARK, IT WILL SLIDE INTO REVERSE BUT DOESN'T MOVE IN ANY DIRECTION. I WAS FORCED TO PUSH IT UPHILL IN A PARKING GARAGE, SO MY TOW TRUCK DRIVER COULD COME AND TOW IT TO MY MECHANIC. I HAD IT TOWED TO MY MECHANIC, WHO INFORMED ME THAT THIS DESIGN HAS A FATAL DESIGN FLAW CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION TO FAIL. THE ENCLAVE HAS BEEN RECALLED AS WELL FOR EXACT SAME FAILURE. I THEN GOT A SECOND OPINION FROM HIS TRANSMISSION EXPERT, WHO WAS DUMBFOUNDED I WAS NEEDING TO REPLACE A TRANSMISSION IN A CAR THAT HAS ACCUMULATED 30,000 MILES TOTAL IN 4 YEARS TIME. BOTH MY MECHANIC AND MY TRANSMISSION EXPERT INFORMED ME THAT THE ENCLAVE HAD BEEN RECALLED FOR THE EXACT SAME FAILURE, AND THEY PERSONALLY KNEW OF BUICK REGAL OWNERS WHO HAD THEIR TRANSMISSIONS FAIL WITHOUT WARNING. IF I HAD BEEN GOING FASTER THAN 30MPH, OR BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY, IT COULD HAVE BEEN FATAL! I SPOKE WITH MY ATTORNEY, WHO ADVISED ME TO FILE COMPLAINTS WITH BUICK, THE FTC, AND THE NHTSA.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BUICK REGAL. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE ENGINE LOST POWER, STALLED, AND THE STEERING SEIZED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO RESTART. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE CAMSHAFT FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE THROTTLE BODY FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED AND THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 72,000. ..UPDATED 08/23/16 *BF

MY CRUISE CONTROL AND BRAKE LIGHTS STOPPED WORKING AFTER HAVING A RECALL FIXED ON MY 2011 BUICK REGAL. THE RECALLS THAT WERE FIXED WERE AN OIL LIFE MONITOR CONTROL MODULE AND A TURN SIGNAL CONTROL MODULE. AFTER HAVING THIS FIXED, MY CRUISE CONTROL AND BRAKE LIGHTS NO LONGER ARE WORKING. I WAS PULLED OVER BY A POLICEMAN, OTHERWISE I DID NOT KNOW THEY WERE NOT WORKING WHILE I WAS DRIVING. THE BRAKES WILL COME ON ONCE I DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR OF THE CAR, BUT NOT WHILE DRIVING IN NORMAL CONDITIONS. I COULD HAVE BEEN REAR ENDED SEVERAL TIMES, AS THERE WAS NO INDICATION THAT THE LIGHTS WERE NOT WORKING. *TR

PURCHASED CAR IN SUMMER OF 2011. DURING THE FIRST COLD WEATHER CAR WOULD GIVE A WARNING TO SERVICE STABILITI TRAC AND THAT THE ENGINE POWER HAD BEEN REDUCED. I DECIDED TO PULL OVER AND RESTART THE VEHICLE AND IT WOULD RESET THE COMPUTER AND THE WARNING LIGHTS WOULD TURN OFF. I TOOK THIS TO THE DEALER AND THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE ISSUE. I STARTED TO LET THE CAR WARM UP IN THE WINTER AND THIS SEEMED TO HELP UNTIL RECENTLY. WITHIN THE LAST FEW WEEKS I HAVE BEEN HAVING SIMILAR PROBLEMS EVEN AFTER LETTING THE CAR WARM UP. THE CAR WILL AUTOMATICALLY REDUCE ENGINE POWER EVEN WHILE ON THE HIGHWAY MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF TRAFFIC. AFTER THESE INCIDENTS THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WILL COME ON BUT WILL GO OFF AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTING. I HAVE CONTACTED ONSTAR AND THEY TELL ME THE SAME THING THAT THE WARNING LIGHTS DO. I HAVE ALSO HAD ISSUES WITH THE CAR TRYING TO ACCELERATE ON ITS OWN WHILE AT A STOPLIGHT. AFTER GOING TO THE DEALER AND HAVING THEM NOT ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM OR TRY TO REPAIR IT AND NOT FIX THE ISSUES, I FEEL AT A LOSS OF WHAT TO DO AT THIS POINT. I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME OR MONEY TO KEEP GOING TO THE DEALER ONLY TO LEAVE WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS. I WOULD THINK THAT THE MANUFACTURER WOULD BE MORE INCLINED TO FIX THESE ISSUE BEFORE PEOPLE ARE INJURED OR ANY FATALITIES OCCUR DUE TO THEIR NEGLIGENCE. I FEEL THAT AFTER READING ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S SIMILAR ISSUES THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD CALL FOR A RECALL. *TR

WHILE STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT, THE AFFECTED VEHICLE'S THROTTLE BODY FAILED, CAUSING SEVER SHAKING, REVVING OF THE ENGINE TO APPROXIMATELY 1500 RPM, AND EVENTUALLY CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO DRIVE ITSELF FORWARD WHILE MY FOOT WAS FIRMLY DEPRESSING THE BRAKE. IT PROPELLED, OUT OF MY CONTROL, APPROXIMATELY 3 FEET FORWARD. HAD I NOT PUT THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY INTO NEUTRAL WHILE THIS WAS OCCURRING, THE VEHICLE WOULD HAVE TRAVEL FURTHER, OUT OF MY CONTROL. HAD SOMEONE BEEN IN FRONT OF ME AT THE INTERSECTION, OR IF I HAD NOT PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL, PREVENTING THE VEHICLE FROM ENTERING THE INTERSECTION, A VEHICULAR COLLISION WOULD HAVE OCCURRED. THE EXACT CAUSE OF THE FAILURE, PER THE DEALERSHIP WORK ORDER, WAS "THROTTLE BODY INTERNAL INTERMITTENT SHORT." *TR