Buick Rendezvous fire or smoke problems

Filed Oct 7, 2025 · Steering · WA

My kids and I were driving down the road all of a sudden I heard this loud sound and then my car wouldn't turn left or right the steering wheel turned but not the car thank God I wasn't goin very fast I was able to slowly pull to the side of the rd then it started smoking like it was on fire my kids and I had to hurry and jump out an the carlot I got it from is picking it up to be looked at.

Filed Sep 3, 2016 · Brakes, Engine · 165,000 miles · NE · fire

The vehicle was running for 45 minutes on two-lane paved country roads. I drove the first 15 minutes, with one of my sons driving the other 30 minutes while I was a front seat passenger. We pulled into a parking lot and switched drivers so another son could begin a driving lesson with me. When he began to back out of the parking space he said that the brakes did not feel right and noticed what I thought was steam coming from under the hood. I told him to pull back into the parking space and release the hood so I could check for an overheating engine, even though there were no warning lights on the dashboard and the temperature gauge was in the center of the visible range. When I opened the hood I saw a six-inch wide area of flames to the right of the alternator. I told my sons to get out of the vehicle and asked one of them to call 911 on his cellphone and the other to go to the nearest building, about 75 yards away, and look for a fire extinguisher. In the meantime, I opened the rear vehicle hatch to look for something I could use to put out the fire. Finding nothing useful, I ran to the building my first son had approached for a fire extinguisher and found him inside the outer door of a locked lobby area. We both ran to the next building about 100 yards away where we located a fire extinguisher and returned to the vehicle. I estimate this took less than five minutes. When we returned to the vehicle the flames were about twelve inches wide, still only to the right of the alternator. I was able to quickly put out the fire, but had to aim much deeper into the engine compartment than the visible flame area to stop all flames. When the dealer later checked the vehicle I was told it appeared that a ruptured brake line had sprayed brake fluid on the exhaust manifold and started the fire. There had been no prior leaks or brake issues observed.

Filed Aug 1, 2016 · Brakes, Electrical · 15,500 miles · CT · fire

When driving the buick rendezvous 2002 home the brakes began to not respond. After arriving home and driving down our driveway, the SUV had smoke coming out of the engine. The buick rendezvous was turned off but continued to expelled large amounts of smoke under the engine area. Within 5 minutes the engine area caught on fire. The bozrah fire department was called and by the time they arrived within 15 minutes or so the entire vehicle was on fire.

Filed Jun 29, 2016 · Electrical, Visibility · 200,000 miles · VA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 buick rendezvous. While driving approximately 25 to 30 MPH, the vehicle filled with smoke from the front interior vents. The contact immediately turned the ignition off and vacated the vehicle. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic shop where it was diagnosed that the windshield wiper motor caught fire. The wire harness from the fuse box to the firewall was replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that there was a recall, but the VIN was excluded. The details of the recall were not provided. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

Filed Jan 12, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · TX

One day I was on my way to drop of the kids at daycare when the care suddenly turns off, I was going at least 60 MPH;I was on the highway. Thank god nothing happened , I was able to pull over safely I waited for a while then maybe 15 min later it turns back on.I started to notice that the car started smelling, like gas, I took it to the mechanic,several times but they never could figure out what it was. After that incident it went down hill it started to heat up on me, wasted more gas, would turn off on me a lot and air/heat stopped working. I replaced the transmission because it started to slip, thinking that it will fix the problem and boy was I wrong. It was still doing the same, the smell was getting worse, I took it back to my mechanic. He told me that the head gasket needed to be replaced, I didn't have more money. He did't let me drive home, he was very worried because the smell of gas was so bad, he said that I should risk my kids and myself, the care can catch on fire. He had the truck towed to my house didn't charge me for it and I haven't moved it since then..ive put so much money in that truck, I kept up with the maintenance like clock work. I was just lucky that we never crashed we got close and we didn't blow up. I don't know weather I should take it in to a gm dealer to have them evaluate the truck to see if it is part of the recall.

Filed Sep 21, 2015 · Electrical, Visibility · 130,000 miles · NY

When driving on the highway, white/terrible smelling smoke came rolling out of the vents inside my vehicle. It was so bad that I had to pull over, as it was burning my throat/nose/eyes and made me dizzy- this was in a matter of just a few short minutes. No dashboard lights or other signs of vehicle malfunction occurred at that time; however, this was a very alarming safety situation for my children, who were also in the vehicle...! The fire department was called, along with the police and a tow truck; as I obviously was not willing to drive the vehicle any further! Disturbingly, my insurance company (ge*co) has been very unwilling to assist me through this dangerous occurrence; needless to say, I will no longer be a customer of ge*co's ever again- and I will never stop warning my family/friends/the community about the dangers of this type of situation, along with highly advising them to not put their lives at risk by having ge*co as an insurance company!!!!!!

Filed Jun 29, 2015 · Fuel system · 163,258 miles · NY

Fuel lines were rusted, noticed and smelled gasoline. Was afraid that the car could catch on fire due the fact that the gas was leaking steadily. Had to change all 3 fuel lines from the fuel filter to the firewall, which my brother-in-law worked on it. He then noticed that the brake lines were rusty and requested that I have them checked out.

Filed Jun 29, 2015 · Fuel system · 196,000 miles · TX · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2005 buick rendezvous. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle caught fire near the rear passenger side. The driver was alerted by another motorist that the vehicle was on fire. It was determined that the fire was due to a fuel leak from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 196,000.

Filed May 27, 2015 · Electrical · 98,000 miles · PA · fire

Valet person was parking my rendezvous in dec 2012 and said as he applied the brakes to stop he noticed flames coming from hood. 2,000 in damages. My biggest complaintis that I have had to replace the head gaskets twice in the past six years. I keep being told there should have been a recall because gm has been aware of this problem. I cannot afford to purchase a new car now with all the repairs ive put into this, and its probably not worth much. We have always bought gm vehicles but we may think long and hard because once their off the lot it seems no one cares and no one wants to back up their product.

Filed Mar 8, 2013 · Fuel system · 84,584 miles · MD

Inlet check valve iicv) on the fuel storage tank is cracked and is leaking fuel onto the fuel tank and onto the ground, this is the same problem listed in the federal safety agency campaign # 07v349000 and buick's, safety product bulletin 06230. On 12/04/2007 a recall was issued for replacement of the tank on the buick rendezvous, 2002 on only certain vehicles. When I called gm they said my vehicle was not covered under the recall, as they have done with numerous other owners who have to bear the cost of from $1,000.00 to $1,400.00 my estimate to replace the tank. First why isn't my vehicle part of the recall and second who decides what vehicles are eligible. This default is prevalent in all 2002 rendezvous and there should be no time limit restriction on failure of the fuel tank. This is a major fire safety hazard and needs to be corrected by gm. I never received the notice of the defect so I could have been driving the vehicle and it could have caught fire and who know what would have happened. A recall notice should be issued on all 2002 rendezvous before someone is seriously injured or their house burns down from the fumes be ignited by an ignition source where they park the vehicle. *tr ## VIN failed ##