One Of America's Most Reliable Car Brands Has A $9,018 Average Maintenance Cost In The First 10 Years

Manufactured by Detroit-based General Motors, Buick was ranked as the No. 2 car brand in J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, which surveyed over 34,000 U.S. owners of 2022 model-year vehicles on how their vehicles performed after three years of ownership. According to the survey, there were 143 problems per 100 Buicks, the lowest of any American car brand. In comparison, the average brand in the study had 202 problems per 100 vehicles. The only vehicle listed with fewer reported problems than Buick was Japanese luxury brand Lexus, which had 140 problems per 100. In addition, the 2022 Buick Enclave was named as a top model for an upper midsized SUV. 

Yet while Buick surveyed well, and is considered one of America's most reliable vehicle brands, it turns out that fixing one can be quite costly. According to CarEdge, the average amount of money spent on maintenance and repair for a Buick during its first 10 years of service is $9,018, a figure that is $715 higher than the industry average for similar vehicles. In addition, there is a 26% chance that a Buick will need major repairs sometime during those 10 years, which is 1.34% worse than similarly built car and SUV brands. With that said, Consumer Affairs found that maintaining a Buick isn't all that expensive considering its a semi-luxury vehicle, adding that it costs roughly $831 per year to repair a Buick, which was about 7% less than the average annual repair costs for all brands in 2024.

Buick's maintenance costs are not as large as another popular American car brand: Chevrolet, which was also listed by J.D. Power as a brand with comparatively fewer issues than other vehicles makes (178 problems per 100 vehicles). According to CarEdge, it costs $9,662 to maintain and repair a Chevrolet over 10 years, which is $1,359 more than the industry average. Although not all Chevys are the same, with the Silverado and Malibu serving as solid examples of vehicles that cost the least to repair over time.

On the other hand, upkeep costs for a Buick are significantly higher than, say, a luxury Lexus, which costs just $7,130 in maintenance and repair costs in its first 10 years, per CarEdge, a figure that is $4,854 lower than the average cost of other luxury brand vehicles. And, according to GOBankingRates, a preowned 2019-2022 Lexus RX 350 is not only reliable but also has great resale value, making these models a good used car investment for retirees.