Reliable Auto DB

2012 Buick Enclave reliability

Is it reliable?

Owners have filed 132 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Buick Enclave over 15 years — 5 per year. That is more complaints per year than most Enclave years here — over the median of the other years, which is 5. NHTSA has 6 recalls on file, including Frontal, Critical fasteners, and Liftgate.

2012 Buick Enclave
Photo by MercurySable99, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Complaints

132

Per year

5

Recalls

6

Years on the road

15

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (24 of 132), then Structure (24) and Air bags (21). Those filings include 9 that report a crash and 16 that report an injury.

Next to 2013

The 2013 Enclave has 69 complaints, 5 per year. The 2012 has more complaints per year than the 2013.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2012 Buick Enclave. How we count. Data as of .

Recalls (6)

Recall air bags, frontal 2021-10-07 · NHTSA campaign 21V782000
Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2008-2017 Buick Enclave and 2013-2017 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles. The driver's air bag inflator may explode during deployment, due to a manufacturing defect.
Remedy Dealers will replace the driver's air bag module, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on November 3, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on January 10, 2022. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N212349040.
Recall air bags, critical fasteners 2021-04-08 · NHTSA campaign 21V246000
Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2010-2015, 2017 Buick Enclave, 2010-2019 Chevrolet Traverse, and 2011-2016 GMC Acadia vehicles. The side curtain air bags may not be properly attached.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, realign or replace the weld nuts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 24, 2021. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N202321200.
Recall structure, body, liftgate 2015-06-30 · NHTSA campaign 15V415000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2012 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured January 3, 2007, to February 29, 2012, 2009-2012 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured July 6, 2008, to March 9, 2012, 2007-2012 GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured September 15, 2006, to February 29, 2012, and 2007-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured August 17, 2006, to March 18, 2010. The affected vehicles, equipped with the power liftgate option, have gas struts that hold the power liftgate up when open. These struts may prematurely wear and the open liftgate may suddenly fall.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the power liftgate actuator motor control unit so that the motor will prevent the rapid closing of the lift gate, free of charge. The recall began on November 15, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, and Saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. GM's number for this recall is 15240.
Recall Seat belts 2014-05-20 · NHTSA campaign 14V266000
Summary General Motors is recalling certain model year 2009-2014 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through May 14, 2014, Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured June 6, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured April 9, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and 2009-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through March 18, 2010. In the affected vehicles, the flexible steel cable that connects the seatbelt to the front outboard seating positions may fatigue and separate over time.
Remedy General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, repair and replace the lap pretensioner, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. An interim notice will be mailed to owners in July 2014. A second notice will be mailed to owners once parts become available. The recall for the 2009-2010 model years began on July 11, 2014. The interim letter for the 2011-2014 model years were distributed on July 11, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-462-8782 (GMC), 1-800-553-6000 (Saturn). General Motors recall number for this campaign is 14187.
Recall air bags, side and window 2014-03-17 · NHTSA campaign 14V118000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2013 Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia and 2009-2013 Chevrolet Traverse and 2008-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles. In the affected vehicles, increased resistance in the driver and passenger seat mounted side impact air bag (SIAB) wiring harnesses may result in the SIAB and seat belt pretensioners not deploying in the event of a crash.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the affected harness connections with soldered connections, free of charge. The recall began on June 16, 2014. Buick owners may contact the owner center at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet owners at 1-866-694-6546, Saturn at 1-800-553-6000, and GMC owners at 1-866-996-9463. GM's number for this recall is 14030. Note: Vehicles repaired as part of Customer Satisfaction Campaign 10085 and special coverage 10335 have already had the subject condition repaired and therefore are not included in the safety recall.
Recall visibility, windshield wiper, linkages 2012-04-09 · NHTSA campaign 12V151000
Summary GENERAL MOTORS (GM) IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 CHEVROLET TRAVERSE, BUICK ENCLAVE, AND GMC ACADIA VEHICLES CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN ALASKA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH DAKOTA, UTAH, VERMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN, WYOMING AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. SNOW OR ICE BUILDUP ON THE WINDSHIELD OR ON THE WIPER MAY RESTRICT THE MOVEMENT OF THE WIPER ARM, CAUSING THE WIPER ARM TO LOOSEN AND CAUSE THE WIPER TO BECOME INOPERATIVE.
Remedy GM WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL TIGHTEN THE WIPER ARM NUTS, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 20, 2012.

Complaints by component (132 total)

Engine
24
Structure
24
Air bags
21
Electrical system
19
Steering
17
Powertrain
13
Fuel and propulsion system
6
Service brakes
6
Seat belts
3
Speed control
3
Suspension
3
Electronic stability control (ESC)
2
Equipment
2
Fuel system, gasoline
2
Seats
2
Tires
2
Visibility
2
Visibility and wipers
2
Air brakes
1
Exterior lighting
1
Fuel system, other
1
Show 13 more Show less
Crash-flagged

9

Fire-flagged

0

Injury reports

16

Death reports

0

Complaints filed per year

2201242013102014172015142016720171720181920191020201120214202232023720245202522026
Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings
  • "While driving, the vehicle suddenly and without warning experienced a severe, dangerous loss of acceleration. The dashboard immediately displayed a "Reduced Engine Power" warning message along with a "Service…"
    Powertrain, Unknown or other, Engine · filed 2026-05-16
  • "While sitting at a traffic light my engine runs rough, then it dies"
    Engine · filed 2026-03-28
  • "Transmission needs replacing"
    Electrical system, Speed control · filed 2025-07-23
  • "Fuel pump, throttle body, and High pressure fuel pump. Car makes door lock noises and’s completely cuts off while driving over 20 times now on highway and all. Have gotten several things repaired in addition to these…"
    Fuel and propulsion system · filed 2025-04-29
  • "Steering wheel airbag warning. Seat belts fraying. The underneath welding for the support bar, potentially the rear axel, came unwelded."
    Air bags, Seat belts, Unknown or other · filed 2025-03-08

NHTSA crash ratings

Version Overall Front Side Rollover
2012 Buick Enclave SUV AWD 5 stars 4 stars 5 stars 4 stars
2012 Buick Enclave SUV FWD 5 stars 4 stars 5 stars 4 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim Engine Transmission Drive City Hwy Combined Annual fuel cost
Enclave all-wheel drive 3.6L, 6-cyl Automatic 6-speed All-wheel drive 16 22 18 MPG $3600
Enclave front-wheel drive 3.6L, 6-cyl Automatic 6-speed Front-wheel drive 17 24 19 MPG $3400

Specs and fitment

First generation, 2012–2017
Body styles SUV
Oil 5W-30 (~6 qt with filter, 3.6L V6) , 6 qt capacity
Tire size 255/65R18, 255/60R19, or 255/55R20 (trim dependent)

Known issues for this generation

Recall 21V782000 covers certain 2008-2017 Buick Enclave vehicles (with Chevrolet Traverse on the same campaign) where the driver's frontal air-bag inflator may rupture on deployment. Dealers replace the driver's frontal air-bag module. Recall 21V246000 covers certain 2010-2015 and 2017 Enclave vehicles (with Traverse and Acadia) for a passenger-side frontal air-bag inflator condition; dealers replace the passenger frontal air-bag module.

Compare

Next year 2013 Buick Enclave See every Buick Enclave model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2012 Buick Enclave reliable?

Owners have filed 132 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Buick Enclave over 15 years — 5 per year. That is more complaints per year than most Enclave years here — over the median of the other years, which is 5. NHTSA has 6 recalls on file, including Frontal, Critical fasteners, and Liftgate.

What are common problems with a 2012 Buick Enclave?

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (24 of 132), then Structure (24) and Air bags (21). Those filings include 9 that report a crash and 16 that report an injury.

Is the 2012 Buick Enclave more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2013 Enclave has 69 complaints, 5 per year. The 2012 has more complaints per year than the 2013.

Has the 2012 Buick Enclave been recalled?

The 2012 Buick Enclave has 6 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2012 Buick Enclave?

Owners have filed 132 complaints about the 2012 Buick Enclave with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2012 Buick Enclave get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2012 Buick Enclave is 18.5 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What generation is the 2019 Buick Enclave?

Second generation (2018-on).

What oil does a Buick Enclave take?

US generation notes list 5W-30 full synthetic for the 3.6L V6 across both generations here.

What tire sizes does a Buick Enclave use?

First-gen pages list 255/65R18; second-gen trims also use 255/55R20 on upper levels.