Buyer Research

2014 Buick LaCrosse — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $8,000–$12,500. There are 3 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

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Kestrel Take

The facelift year — new nose and tail, the IntelliLink screen, and the same eAssist 2.4L or 3.6L V6 with a six-speed automatic underneath. Only 63 complaints reached NHTSA, which is a third of the 2013's file and too thin to rate the car on; what it holds is specific rather than broad. The largest real pattern is electric power steering quitting at highway speed, twelve times, with a 'Service Power Steering' message and a tow. Six of the seven crash reports are airbags that did not deploy, and unlike most years this one has two recalls for exactly that — airbag module software that can fail to fire the front airbags and belt pretensioners — so it is a VIN check, not a shrug. Three more 2014-only recalls cover brake pads that can detach, a shift cable that can pop off the transmission, and a door-wiring splice. Five recalls on a car this age is a paperwork job before it is a mechanical one; do that, then have the steering rack and charging system checked, and a 2014 with those in hand is the most sorted version of this body. A thin record is a small sample, not a clean bill.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 63 owner complaints for the 2014 Buick LaCrosse, and 5 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. The largest single group is electrics and electronics at 22%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.

5 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 2014 Buick LaCrosse

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

Electric power steering quits at highway speed — 'Service Power Steering', then a towHigh — wallet impact

Twelve steering complaints on a record of 63, and they read alike: 65 to 75 mph, an audible alarm and 'Service Power Steering' on the display, and the assist gone instantly — one owner describes the car 'floating back and forth' in the inside lane with his wife and 92-year-old passenger aboard; another lost it at 10 mph and was towed. Several also show 'Service StabiliTrak' and the ABS and traction lights at the same time, which is why the five stability-control complaints on this year belong here too. None of the twelve ended in a crash, and the ones that were repaired at a GM dealer got a new electric rack or its module. Before buying, ask whether the rack has been replaced and get the invoice; on the drive, take a highway on-ramp and a slow parking-lot circle and feel for a moment where the wheel goes heavy. Any steering message in the history is a walk-away until a dealer has read the codes.

Repair cost (estimate): $900–$2,000 for an electric power steering rack or module

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under steering (12), stability control (5).

Airbag module software can fail to fire the front airbags and belt pretensioners in a crash (recall, twice)High — wallet impact

Recall 17V437 covers 2014–2016 LaCrosses: the sensing and diagnostic module's software can enter a test state under some conditions and, if a crash happens then, the front airbags and seat belt pretensioners may not deploy. An earlier campaign, 16V651, is on the record for the same software fault. The fix for both is a free reflash; a car that has had a deployment gets a new module. Six of the eight airbag complaints on this year are crashes where the airbags did not fire — a 25 mph side impact with back injuries, a head-on into a stationary car with bruising — and one owner attached GM's recall notice to the complaint. Airbag non-deployment is usually a claim a buyer cannot check; here it is a recall a buyer can. Look the VIN up on the NHTSA recall page and get the completion record, and with the ignition on watch the airbag light come on and go out within a few seconds.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (8); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Front brake pads can detach from the caliper on early-2014 builds with 17-inch rotors (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 14V240 covers 2014 LaCrosses built January 29 to March 31, 2014 with 17-inch front brake rotors: the wrong rotors may have been fitted, and with them a brake pad can come loose from the caliper, which means a sudden loss of braking on that wheel and a longer stop. Dealers inspect and fit the correct rotors and new pads free. The build date is on the driver's door-jamb label, and most 2014s are outside the window. The six brake complaints on the record, one of them a crash, are scattered — a pulsing pedal, a claim the dealer never replaced rotors it billed — with no single part behind them. Ask for the recall status on the VIN, then check the pedal for pulsing at 40 mph and look at the rotor edges through the wheel for a deep lip.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $300–$600 for pads and rotors outside it

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (6); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Car stays live after it is switched off, locks the driver in, or burns out a window motor; the door-splice recallMedium

Fourteen electrical complaints with no common part but a common theme of the body electronics misbehaving: the windows, sunroof and instrument panel staying powered after the car is turned off; an owner locked inside for four minutes with the key in hand and nothing responding; a driver's window motor burning out and smoking through the switch without blowing a fuse; a push-button start that ignores the brake pedal; and one 2016 report of the gauges going blank and the engine stalling on the freeway after a hands-free call. Recall 14V317 covers cars built April 30 to September 1, 2013: a wiring splice inside the driver's door corrodes and breaks, silencing the door-ajar chime — a small thing on paper, but the same splice feeds the window motor, so a corroded one is a plausible start for the smoking-switch story. Check the campaign on the VIN, work every window and the sunroof from the driver's switch, and after shutting the car off confirm the dash goes dark and the door locks respond.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $200–$500 for a window motor or switch; $500–$1,200 for a body control module

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (14); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Shift cable adjuster can pop off the transmission — stuck in gear or a rollaway (recall)Medium

Recall 14V092 covers 2014 LaCrosses along with most of GM's front-drive cars that year: the adjuster on the transmission shift cable can disengage from the shift lever, so moving the gear selector does nothing and the position the dash shows may not be the gear the car is in — a car left in what the driver thinks is park can roll. Dealers inspect and replace the adjuster free. The four power train complaints on this year are thin, one of them a crash, and do not add a pattern beyond the recall. On the lot, shift through every position with your foot on the brake and confirm the dash indicator changes each time; then with the car in park and the parking brake off, rock it gently to confirm it is held.

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

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (4); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Water in the tail lights; the turn-signal mirror repeater replaced repeatedly — one fire in the clusterLow

Five exterior lighting complaints, and one of them reports a fire and another a crash. The everyday version is the LED tail light assemblies fogging and filling with water because the seal keeps failing, and the turn-signal repeater in the side mirror dying — one owner replaced it four times on both sides. Water sitting on a tail light's circuit board is how an LED lamp fails and, occasionally, how it shorts. Look at both tail lights for condensation or a tide mark, check every mirror repeater and brake light with a helper, and ask whether the lamps were ever replaced under warranty.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$500 per tail light assembly; $60–$200 per mirror repeater

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the lights (5).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Steering that goes heavy for a moment on a parking-lot circle, or any steering message in the history
✗Airbag light that stays on, or never comes on, with the ignition
✗Dash that stays lit after the car is switched off, or a door lock that does not respond to the fob
✗Gear selector position that does not match the dash indicator
✗Condensation or a water line inside either tail light
✗Build date on the door jamb inside the 14V240 or 14V317 window with the recall open

Good Signs

✓Recall 17V437 airbag module reflash shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓All five recalls shown complete on the dealer's printout for the VIN
✓Invoice for a replacement electric power steering rack from a GM dealer
✓Every window, the sunroof and the dash all going dark within seconds of switching the car off
✓Charging system tested at 13.8–14.4V at idle with the codes printed out
✓A firm, even brake pedal at 40 mph with original rotors showing a shallow lip