2010 Buick Lucerne: won't start

Filed Aug 14, 2025 · Electrical, Fuel system · MI

We have a Buick Lucerne 2010. We went out it would not start. Tow it to dealership they replace the fuel pump. We did. Get it home next day it will not start again. Tow it to dealership again. This time they find melted wire connectors. Under back seat and on a fuse box.They replace them it starts and melt them again. This time they call to junk yards to get a used fuse box and connectors. Because of cost. The junk yards did tell them it's a known problem with these cars and they sell these fuse boxes and connectors sell as fast as they get them. We said no used parts on this car. Come to find out that GM now's about this problem. And has not done anything about it. They meaning GM. Has even put out papers on the internet as how to try and fix it. Such as cut the insulation around the fuse box.And even cutting the seat belt bracket. My wife drives this car everyday. Now she is afraid of it. Because if it happened once could it happen again. I don't now. I have drove GM's all my life but am not happy about this. What do I do. Please help. I am a retired firefighter and I do not want her to drive this car if it could catch fire.

Filed Nov 26, 2020 · Electrical, Seats · 105,000 miles · WA

Initial incident happened while driving on a street. Door locks power cycled lock/unlock and then the car would cut off. No warning, no time to move to out of traffic or turn on hazzard. I use this vehicle to commute to and from work/childcare etc. I also travel of the freeway alot. That was the previous incident. The most recent incident occurred when the car would not turn over and upon doing research we found that it may be related to. Relay issue due to the fuze box being underneath the rear seat. Gm claims that because a bracket used to fasten the seat in place interferes with the fuze box and presses down on the fuze pump relay and causes it to burn out. After switching out the relays with the suggested lower profile relay, the car drove for a few hours and then when we parked we couldn't remove the key from the ignition. Upon lifting the back seat to disconnect the battery we smelled and heard the fuel pump relay burning and sizzling. Since the car was "serviced" by a buick dealer in june I'm assuming that it wasn't actually serviced the relay was just replaced and maybe a few other tweaks here and there but the issue was not resolved. I am very concerned about the reliability of this car. I have children that ride in the back seat. I am fearful that the car will catch fire or spark.

Filed Nov 7, 2019 · Fuel system · 115,000 miles · IA

Car would not start while out of town. Had car towed to mechanic I trusted (not a certified buick dealer). Replaced fuel pump but after car was running a few minutes fuse box overheated and caused fuel relay to fail. He called buick and was told how to fix. He was also told that in order for fuse box and relay to be reimbursed buick dealer needed to submit claim. Submitted claim and got reimbursed for fuse box and relay but not pump. After 3-4 months of fighting buick to get fuel pump reimbursed, the denied appeal. Was told by agent of buick that fuel pump was warranted to 120,000 miles but only if taken to buick dealer. I don't trust the buick dealership in the town I was in when the car wouldn't start, which is why I took to mechanic I trusted. Communication with buick has been horrible...they don't even bother to respond unless you get contacting them. We have a 2006 buick lucerne with 205,000 miles and it still has original fuel pump. Car complaints.com has many instances of this problem in 2009 and 2010 lucerne but buick won't stand behind them!

Filed Oct 28, 2019 · Electrical, Fuel system · 60,000 miles · TX

2010 buick lucerne had been driven home and was cooling in driveway. After two hours, starter would turn over but engine would not start. Began to smell burning plastic inside vehicle. Found symptoms of problem described in gm service bulletin 15-na-051. After removing back passenger seat bottom cushion, checked inside rear fuse box and found that fuel pump relay had shorted and melted the relay and damaged adjacent fuses with burn marks across surface of fuse box. Waiting for vehicle to be towed to mechanic for fuse box replacement and to diagnose other potential damage caused by relay failure. Mileage at time of failure was 60,000. According to the bulletin, bracket on bottom of seat cushion pushes against the fuse box lid, which pushes against the fuel pump relay causing damage to the relay and fuse box. Why has there been no recall to repair this dangerous design flaw?

Filed Oct 2, 2019 · Electrical · 145,000 miles · IN

Car would not start. Noticed a burning smell. While researching problems found a thread on common issues with this car. Turns out the is an issue with the fuel relay. Checked the box sure enough the relay melted. This was under my sons car seat!!!! If this is a known issue why was this not reviewed and recalled. Does someone have to be injured or even die? How horrible is it that a known issue is not addressed. After the relay was discovered I also discover the fuse box has some indentations. These are from the seat clamp.

Filed Jun 25, 2016 · Fuel system · 77,000 miles · WA

The car cranks but does not start. I have had the car into the dealer 3 times and purchased spare relays and spare fuse box . Car became very unreliable...never knew when it was going to start. I replaced fuel pump relays 8 times until my third (and hope final) visit to dealer . Total bill so far about us$1700. 1st visit (sep 15 2015)- they replaced fuel pump and relay. Car ran until..... 2nd visit (dec 01 2015) - they replaced fuse box with used because gm did not have any new ones at any warehouse!!! They read bulletin 15-na-051 that referred to fuel pump relay problems due to rear seat clip and modified seat clip so it no longer protruded into fuse box cover. After this visit relay was fried upon starting about 5 times until..... Jun 22 2016 - visited dealer (after phone calls not answered) to discuss repeated problem and possible causes with service manager - found a deep mark in fuse box cover - indicated that used fuse box I had been in contact with av seat clip ... 3rd visit ( jun 23 2016) - they checked wiring between fuse box and fuel pump carefully at my request and replaced the used fuse box with new one. So far after 10 starts it still works and I am a little bit more confident that we have found the problem (damaged fuse box terminal due to seat clip?), but only time will tell. Gm's lack of interest in this problem is disgusting...I have read over 60 complaints for this car from 2006-2011 models and no doubt this is a small sample. It is the most common complaint for the lucerne on complaint websites. The bulletin re the seat clip (an easy diy fix) is not available publicly . This would save much frustration and dollars. -- despite the fact that this was a common and serious problem with this car, gm did not stock new replacement fuse boxes.

Filed Sep 13, 2015 · Fuel system · 62,000 miles · MI

When to start vehicle on the above date and it would not turn over, the day before while I was driving I smell something burning and today it does not start. Reading about problem and complaint on the internet I realize that this is a common problem with the vehicle years 2006 until 2011. It seems there needs to be a recall on these vehicle, because a fire hazard could happen and the vehicle can catch fire while driving or stopped.

Filed Feb 3, 2015 · Electrical · 55,000 miles · TX

No warning car would not crank. Turn over but not crank. After about a hour car cranked. 1 week later car would not crank. But still would turn over. Found a burned fuel pump relay. Changed it out. 30 miles later. Car killed luckily come to a red light. Check relay , it was extremely hot. Located under the back seat where my kids ride. Only vehicle. Is there a recall. As dangerous as ignition problem.

Filed Dec 23, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 47,948 miles · GA

Had car towed to dealership on 12/17/14. Car not starting and stalling. Had battery replaced and next day car would not start again. Stalled and making noise under hood and in rear by battery. Took back to dealership and they stated could not replicate problem therefore no solution to be found. Told car was ready after waiting approx. 4 hrs. For them to try and replicate car shutting down. It just kept turning over. Car once again shut off and would not start. Left car and they told me fuel pump module was melted and needed replacement. Also rear fuse block was melted and terminals in fuse block connectors overheated/spread apart. Replaced fuel pump module and rear fuse block and repaired wiring in fuse block connector. This is a rather serious problem on a 2010 with approx. 47,800 miles. Very dangerous for it could have caused a crash or fire in the car.