Buyer Research

2013 Buick Regal — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $5,500–$10,500. There are 4 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

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Kestrel Take

The last year before the mid-cycle refresh, and the year the eAssist mild hybrid became the Regal's standard powertrain with the 2.0T as the upgrade. 91 complaints, and 81% of them are two clusters that turn out to be the same complaint filed under two headings: HID headlight assemblies that fill with water and burn out their projectors at $1,200 to $1,500 a side, and the electrical faults that follow — blown fuses, flickering lights, a battery that will not stay charged. Behind that is the eAssist generator-module recall that can stall the car, a handful of shutdowns in traffic with six crashes across the record, and four separate toe-link recalls for cars that ever lived in a salt state, the newest from 2026. Check both headlights for fog, load-test the battery, run the VIN for all six recalls, and if it stalls or stumbles once on the test drive, do not talk yourself past it.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 91 owner complaints for the 2013 Buick Regal, and 6 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 41% of them are about one thing — the lights. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

6 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2013 Buick Regal

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

HID headlight assemblies take on water, burn out the projector and blow fuses — $1,200 a sideHigh — wallet impact

37 of 91 complaints are exterior lighting and the word is 'headlight' 66 times. Condensation forms inside the housing, then water — one owner poured ten ounces out of the driver's side — and the HID bulb or projector shorts. Owners quote $1,244 and $1,200–$1,500 for an assembly, and several have had a side replaced two or three times: one dealer did the assemblies three times on the same car. On this year the failure leaks into the electrical record too, as blown fuses and lights that burn out fast. Inspect both lenses on a cool morning for fog or a tide line, and switch on the low beams, high beams and turn signals with someone standing in front. Recall 12V484 is separate: a body-control-module update so the flasher speeds up when one of the two turn-signal bulbs in a lamp dies.

Repair cost: $600–$1,500 per headlight assembly; $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the lights (37); 6 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

eAssist generator control module can drain the battery, smoke and stall the engine (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 13V173 covers 2013 Regals with eAssist, which for this year is most of the base cars: the generator control module can fail, the 12-volt battery slowly drains, the engine stalls or refuses to start, and the module can give off a burning smell or smoke. Dealers test and replace the GCM free. The 36 electrical complaints read like the aftermath — a battery that will not hold a charge after replacement, radio and lights flickering, a console that will not switch on in the heat, a 'not in Park' warning that will not clear, and a 2026 report of the hybrid shutting the engine at a light and the whole car losing power for a beat when the brake is released. Run the VIN, load-test the 12-volt battery, and on an eAssist car sit through a dozen stop/start cycles in traffic and watch for any hesitation on restart.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $200–$450 for a 12-volt battery

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (36); 6 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Engine shuts off or drops to reduced power in traffic — throttle, crank sensor, key detectionHigh — wallet impact

Ten engine complaints, nine power train and seven speed control, and between them six crashes and two fires across the record — small clusters with a serious shape. Owners describe limp mode with the check-engine and StabiliTrak lights, a stutter and stall on the road, one car that flashed 'Remote Not Detected' and shut down in the middle of the road with no way to shift it, and a loss of acceleration at 70 mph followed by heavy steering. One owner had replaced the throttle body sensor and crank position sensor and was still chasing it. There is no single part here, which is why it belongs on the test drive rather than the invoice: pull away hard from a dozen stops, hold highway speed for ten minutes, and treat one stumble as disqualifying. A loose belt tensioner pulley squeaking under the hood is in this cluster too, a cheaper fix.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$900 for a throttle body, crank sensor, tensioner or battery; diagnosis first

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (10), the transmission and drivetrain (9), throttle and cruise control (7).

Rear toe links corrode and can snap — salt-state cars, four separate recallsHigh — wallet impact

Four campaigns cover the 2013 Regal's rear toe links: 20V764, 21V633, 21V00F and 26V113, the last for the Turbo and GS trims and issued in April 2026. All apply only to cars sold or ever registered in a road-salt state — Connecticut through Missouri and the District of Columbia. The links rust through and fracture, and a broken toe link lets the rear wheel steer on its own at speed. Dealers replace the links and adjuster fasteners free. Because the campaigns came out years apart, a car can show one closed and another open, so read the VIN lookup line by line. Ask where the car has lived, then look under the rear with a flashlight for the thin adjustable arms from the subframe to the knuckles: scaling rust means it is not done.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 6 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Rusting exterior trim strips and window regulators that fail twiceLow

One of the more detailed complaints is a Turbo owner at 60,000 miles whose headlamp, driver's window regulator and rusting trim strips had all been replaced under warranty and all needed doing again. The bright trim on this generation pits and rusts early, which is cosmetic, and a window regulator that grinds or drops the glass is a few hundred dollars. Run every window up and down twice and look at the chrome strips along the doors and windows in daylight.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$450 per window regulator

Source: not yet checked against public records.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Fog, droplets or a waterline inside either headlight
✗Headlight, radio or interior lights flickering with the engine running
✗Any of the six recalls open on the VIN lookup — especially 13V173 on an eAssist car
✗Any stumble, stall or reduced-power message on the test drive
✗Scaling rust on the thin rear toe-link arms on a car from a salt state
✗'Not in Park' warning that stays on after the car is parked

Good Signs

✓Both headlight assemblies replaced with an invoice and clear lenses on a cool morning
✓All six recalls shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓12-volt battery load test passed with a dated sticker inside the last three years
✓A dozen clean stop/start cycles in traffic with an immediate restart each time
✓New toe links visible under the rear with the dealer printout
✓A steady idle and a strong pull from every stop across a twenty-minute drive