1987 Buick Century

The 1987 Buick Century predates the federal record data, which begins in 1990, but it belongs to the same N-body platform generation that shows a clear trend: complaints remained modest through the early 1990s (46-52), surged dramatically from 1997-2000 peaking at 251-252 complaints and 4-7 recalls annually, then declined sharply to just 19 complaints by 2005. The target year's complaint profile (steering dominant at 12, with 2 crash complaints and 2 fire complaints) aligns with early-generation vehicles that had not yet experienced the mid-to-late 1990s escalation in problems—though notably, the 1987 lacks the benefit of any manufacturing updates that may have been implemented in subsequent model years. TSBs skyrocketed from 8 in 1992 to 327 by 2000, indicating increasing technical sophistication and manufacturer acknowledgment of chronic issues as the platform aged. The data suggests the 1987 falls in the relatively stable pre-peak portion of this generation's lifecycle. Given that the worst years for this platform (1998-2000) were still ahead, and the 1987 shows fewer crash/fire complaints than some later years, it represents a reasonably defensible purchase provided a thorough pre-purchase inspection addresses the documented steering concerns—though buyers should recognize it lacks the later-model updates that partially resolved the platform's reliability issues.