Vehicle report
1985 BUICK RIVIERA
This model year
What the record shows
The 1985 Buick Riviera is a midsize car, and the 17th model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1969 to 2000.
The EPA rated four configurations: engines from 3.8-litre six-cylinder to 5.7-litre eight-cylinder, front-wheel drive only, a single transmission, Automatic 4-spd and running on diesel, premium gasoline and regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy ranges from 17 to 21 mpg depending on which one you have.
The federal record holds 2 owner complaints for it.
Counts are reports, not rates. A complaint is something an owner chose to file; it is unverified and unadjusted for how many of these cars were sold, so the useful comparison is against other model years of the same car. Recalls and investigations carry more weight because a manufacturer or regulator acted on them.
Reading this report
Complaint counts are reports filed with NHTSA, not failure rates. A common model collects more of them than a rare one that breaks more often.