2017 Buick Regal — Should You Buy One?
Typical asking price: $10,000–$16,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.
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Kestrel Take
The last year of the sedan Regal before the Sportback replaced it, and a small record with one loud story: 20 complaints, and 12 of them — 60% — are the brakes, almost all of them the engine-driven vacuum pump on the 2.0L turbo failing and taking the power assist with it. The pedal goes hard, the Brake Assist light comes on, and the car takes far longer to stop; one owner had it happen three years running, and there is a crash and a fire in the cluster. There is no recall on record for the 2017, so the pump is your cost and your risk. Twenty complaints is not a reliability rating for the rest of the car, but this one is specific, it is on the most important system in the car, and it is checkable: ask whether the vacuum pump has been replaced, and on the test drive brake hard from 60 mph twice and feel for the pedal turning to stone. Beyond that, a couple of owners describe the key refusing to come out of the ignition and the eight-speed shuddering between gears.
What we checked
Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25
NHTSA holds 20 owner complaints for the 2017 Buick Regal, and no 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. 60% of them are about one thing — the brakes. 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.
Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.
Known Issues for the 2017 Buick Regal
Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.
Twelve of 20 complaints, and the words are 'vacuum', 'pump', 'pedal' and 'failed'. The 2.0L turbo drives a mechanical vacuum pump off the camshaft to supply the brake booster; when it fails the pedal turns hard, the Brake Assist warning lights, and the car needs a leg of force and a long distance to stop. Owners report it at 35 mph approaching a light, at 80 mph downhill, and one used the parking brake to stop. Several replaced the pump and had it fail again — one three times, one twice in 14 months. One pump failed violently enough to blow out the camshaft sensor and start a fire. There is no recall on file for the 2017 Regal; one owner mentions seeing one, but we could not find it on the record and neither should you assume it exists. Ask a Buick dealer whether the VIN carries any special coverage for the pump, ask for the invoice if it has been replaced, and on the test drive make two firm stops from 60 mph — the pedal should feel the same both times, with the assist there from the first inch of travel.
Repair cost (estimate): $400–$900 for the vacuum pump; $1,200–$2,500 if the failure took the camshaft sensor or booster with it
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (12).
Three electrical complaints, and one of them is the vacuum-pump fire filed a second time. The other two are separate: a key that will not turn to the release position after shutdown, so the owner has to jiggle the wheel, work the brake and restart the car until it lets go — the dealer had no fix — and a car that shut itself off while driving, twice in two weeks, with the electronic parking brake light on and the brake slow to release afterwards. On this car the shift-to-park interlock and the ignition lock housing are the usual suspects for a stuck key, and the shutdowns need a scan for stored codes before anyone guesses. Turn the car off at the end of the test drive and pull the key; then shift into Park a few times from Drive and Reverse and watch for a 'Shift to Park' message that will not clear.
Repair cost (estimate): $150–$500 for an ignition lock housing or shifter interlock; $100–$200 for a diagnostic scan
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (3).
Two power-train complaints: one is the vacuum-pump fire again, the other an owner whose Regal shuddered on every shift at various speeds and had been through three repair attempts, each an oil change, without a cure. That is the pattern GM's eight-speed drew across several models in these years — a torque-converter shudder that a fluid exchange to the newer specification sometimes fixes and sometimes does not. Two complaints is two complaints, so we are not calling it a defect of the 2017 Regal; we are telling you what to feel for. Drive it cold in stop-and-go traffic and hold a light throttle at 30 to 45 mph, where the converter locks up: a vibration like driving over a rumble strip is the shudder.
Repair cost (estimate): $250–$600 for a fluid exchange and reflash; $1,200–$2,400 for a torque converter
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (2).
The remaining five complaints are single filings: two for exterior lighting, which on this generation usually means the HID housing fogging and taking on water, and one each for steering, forward collision avoidance and the rear camera. None of them repeats, so none of them is a finding — but a headlight assembly on this car is a four-figure part, so look inside both lenses after the car has sat overnight, and cycle the camera and any collision alert in a parking lot so you know they come up.
Repair cost (estimate): $0–$1,400 depending on what, if anything, you find
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the lights (2).
Walk-Away Red Flags
- ✗Brake pedal that feels hard or wooden on the first press, or a Brake Assist warning on the cluster
- ✗Seller who cannot say whether the vacuum pump has ever been replaced
- ✗Key that resists coming out of the ignition after shutdown
- ✗A rumble-strip vibration at light throttle between 30 and 45 mph
- ✗Fog or a waterline inside either headlight lens
- ✗Any engine shutdown or parking-brake warning during the test drive
Good Signs
- ✓Vacuum pump replaced with a dated invoice showing the part
- ✓Two firm stops from 60 mph with identical pedal feel and full assist from the first inch of travel
- ✓Transmission fluid exchanged to the current GM specification with a dealer invoice and smooth cold shifts
- ✓Key released cleanly from the ignition at the end of the test drive
- ✓Both headlight lenses clear on a cool morning after sitting overnight
- ✓Steady lock-up at light throttle between 30 and 45 mph with the transmission warm
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Known issues on this page are based on documented owner reports, NHTSA complaints, class-action records, and manufacturer technical service bulletins. Individual vehicles vary. A pre-purchase inspection by a trusted mechanic is always worth doing.
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