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Used 2017 Buick Regal Should Be Avoided, Says Consumer Reports

The 2017 Buick Regal served as the final model year of the Tri-Shield brand’s fifth-generation midsize sedan. While final model-year vehicles are generally perceived to have the least amount of issues, Consumer Reports doesn’t seem to concur, and has suggested prospective customers avoid the 2017 Regal.

According to the report, the 2017 Buick Regal scored poorly in reliability rankings, while CR gave the midsize sedan a one out of five, placing the Regal dead last when compared to its competition. The publication noted that while owners thought very highly of their cars’ driving dynamics, transmission and engine cooling issues plague the overall reliability factor of the midsize sedan.

2016 Buick Regal GS.

Speaking of its performance chops, the 2017 Regal was quite notable for its road test results. The Tri-Shield sedan received a four out of five score for acceleration and emergency handling, and a five out of five score for transmission and braking. Comfort and convenience was another segment that the Regal performed well in, with a three out of five score in rear seat comfort and cargo area, along with a four out of five score in ride, noise, front seat comfort, and interior fit and finish.

Owners also give the 2017 Regal a decent value ranking of 59 out of 100. One owner notes that the Regal boasts a good price for the relatively upscale interior, while another appreciates the value the AWD system brings to the midsizer.

It’s worth noting that while CR doesn’t suggest the 2017 Regal to new buyers, the midsize sedan still received a three out of five for owner satisfaction, mostly due to the highly rated performance and comfort ratings. In fact, 61 percent of owners say they would purchase the Regal again. This places the Tri-Shield sedan mid-pack, and ahead of the likes of the Volvo S60 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

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As a typical Florida Man, Trey is a certified GM nutjob who's obsessed with anything and everything Corvette-related.

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Comments

  1. The prices for used TourX are crazy!

    Reply
    1. TourX and wagons in general have a niche following. Not many Tour X copies were made keeping prices high. There aren’t many Buick Opel fans out there.
      I want one but will not pay $24,000 for a used vehicle. It is beautiful though.

      Reply
  2. I leased a Regal GS and really enjoyed it. Nice styling and great looking wheels. It handled great and had strong acceleration.
    Never had an issue during the 3 years of driving it.

    Reply
  3. Had a 2017 Regal that I liked for all the reasons mentioned in the article but the transmission had to be completely replaced at about 25,000 miles. Thankfully it was still under warranty.

    Reply
  4. The 2.0T and 2.4 base engine were well sorted out by 2017 along with the FWD based 6 speed automatic in just about every other application so this is very suspect of the usual CR bias.

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    1. No, owners don’t just make things up about transmission and engine cooling problems. It’s not an opinion, it exists or it doesn’t. GM has low CR reliability ratings because GM is not concerned with out-of-warranty failures. There is no one at GM who is responsible for post warranty issues unless they are safety related.

      Reply
      1. They do when they try to scam the warranty, why wouldn’t they do the same in CR?

        Reply
        1. I don’t understand? If their transmission or cooling system isn’t broken, are customers taking their vehicles in and having a working transmission or cooling system replaced under warranty? Seems like a lot of time and effort to gain nothing.

          Reply
    2. Grifter Trump has a new line of cartoon pictures he wants to sell you for $99. Keep watching Fox News too, Carlson and Hannity would never lie to you. They just proved that in court. It only cost them $787,000,000. Can I get an amen?

      Reply
      1. It will be appealed. Fox won’t pay a dime. If they do, I’ll switch to CNN before I watch another second of a coward network.

        Reply
        1. Fox settled out of court for that amount. You don’t appeal an out of court settlement. You seem to have a stupid opinion on just about everything.

          Reply
  5. Not a big fan of Consumer Reports car reviews. I would do my due diligence elsewhere when buying a car, new or used.

    Reply
  6. I still own a 17 GS AWD, tranny went at 58K but covered under powertrain warranty. That said, otherwise trouble free and still drum tight at 75K…probably the most well rounded car I’ve ever owned.

    Reply
  7. I would not trust CR at all ! I bought a 94 chevy s10 that CR reported it was to new to test and gave it a poor rating regardless ! Well almost 30 years later and 651,000 miles on original unrebuilt eng. trans and rear axle still runs and drives like new ! Very reliable and parts are still available and low cost

    Reply
  8. Seems like CR has had a long-term bias against GM vehicles for some reason.

    Reply
    1. No payola from GM.

      Reply
  9. One of the nicest sedan designs done by GM. It looks premium, Volvo did something similar, and it only needed updated front and rear. The second gen Insignia/Regal was far too ordinary for my tastes, except for TourX.
    I’m one of the few people missing Buick’s Opel imports. Currently looking for a used vehicle & want a Regal or Civic

    Reply
  10. Granted mine is a 2013, but my Regal GS that I have owned for 10 years since new has been problem free.

    Reply
  11. when are consumers going to ignore anything CR reports ,,they will Never give a good report on American products ..

    Reply
    1. AMEN !!

      Reply
  12. if GM made a ball peen hammer consumer distorts would find several things wrong with it Can i get an AMEN!!! ?

    Reply
  13. CR need to stick to Proper & Gamble products

    Reply
  14. I don’t believe anything that CR says.

    Reply
  15. Consumer Reports really missed the boat on this one. It’s really pretty much all GM vehicles should be avoided. Poor quality materials, not the leader of assemble quality (look at the orange peel type paint quality as compared to the perfect sheen of Toyota paint and panel gaps).
    PS…A friend thought the Northstar engine was great until in less than 100K miles it wasn’t.

    Reply
    1. How about all the 10 yr old Toyotas running around with peeling clear-coat? That’s not perfection!

      Reply
  16. Buicks have always been very good cars. In fact, Fidel Castro was known to say that owning a new Buick was top on his bucket list.

    Reply
  17. This is a fairly strange post. I have a 16 GS that I love, and a 14 that I put 180k on before that. Never had a single issue other than the rims being too open for the snowy season and a weirdly reflective piece of trim around the shifter. My experience has been positive all around. I’m reluctant to get rid of the car even today with high miles because I enjoy how it drives. People making blanket statements about GM cars sound like they haven’t driven anything but their tin box editions. In my immediate household I maintain 2 VW, a Subaru and a KIA all under warranty and all around 30K miles. I pay more to maintain those low mileage cars and suv than my high mileage Buick, and would prefer to drive the regal GS for anything that doesn’t require cargo space. I’d be interested to see the CR data source. The NHSTA has very few complaints about this car.

    Reply
  18. I bought a 2017 Regal GS with 12,000 miles. It was a factory company car. I did have transmission issues. It didn’t shift properly. It was fixed under warranty. I now have 80.000 on it and it had been trouble free. Just love the car. Looks good, drives good and gets decent decent mileage along with great performance. I’d buy another if they still imported them.

    Reply
  19. My wife’s 2017 Regal Sport Touring has gone 50,000 trouble free miles. It looks premium, drives premium and is a comfortable, quiet road car with a handling dynamic that provides a sense of security whenever we take it anywhere, city or highway. Thanks to the desperate efforts of Consumer Reports and others in the press to manufacture controvery and sell magazines by telling anyone who would read their drivel that Buicks just aren’t hip or happening anymore; it was a great buy when we purchased it used with a little over 12,000 miles on it a couple of years ago. The fit and finish are first rate, by the way. No orange peel in the ruby red tricoat on our car. All the panels line up just fine, thank you. Hey CR, stick to rating toasters, weed whackers and disposable diapers. When I buy a car I don’t ask the guy at Home Depot what he thinks about it.

    Reply
  20. My Russelheim assembled ’11 Regal turbo runs beautifully, but the paint looks bad. Were they applying water based paint in2010? My only complaint

    Reply

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