Reliable Auto DB

2013 Buick Enclave reliability

Is it reliable?

NHTSA's file on the 2013 Buick Enclave holds 69 complaints after 14 years, a rate of 5 per year. Enclave years here cluster close together — the other years’ median is 5 complaints per year. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Frontal, Critical fasteners, and Seat belts.

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

69

Per year

5

Recalls

4

Years on the road

14

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (13 of 69), then Powertrain (13) and Electrical system (12). Those filings include 3 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 5 that report an injury.

Next to 2012 and 2014

The 2012 Enclave has 132 complaints, 5 per year, and the 2014 has 292 complaints, 8 per year. The 2013 has fewer complaints per year than the 2012. The 2013 has fewer complaints per year than the 2014.

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 2013 Buick Enclave. How we count. Data as of .

Recalls (4)

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 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.

Complaints by component (69 total)

Engine
13
Powertrain
13
Electrical system
12
Electronic stability control (ESC)
12
Steering
12
Air bags
10
Exterior lighting
6
Speed control
5
Fuel and propulsion system
3
Seat belts
3
Structure
2
Suspension
2
Visibility and wipers
2
Wheels
2
Adaptive and mobility equipment
1
Lane departure
1
Service brakes
1
Tires
1
Show 10 more Show less
Crash-flagged

3

Fire-flagged

1

Injury reports

5

Death reports

0

Complaints filed per year

120139201442015620167201713201882019320205202142022320233202432026
Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings
  • "The contact owned a 2013 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH and attempting to make a right turn around a curve, the driver-side curtain airbag deployed unexpectedly and struck the contact's…"
    Air bags · filed 2026-08-27
  • "No first gear. Engine stalls if car is brought to a halt. On take off, car will stall if given too much throttle. If able to roll from dead stop, it will jerk and hesitate as if in too high of gear or dragging clutch."
    Powertrain, Unknown or other · filed 2026-02-16
  • "Steering wheel is so stiff it over works my arms and shoulder muscles burn it hard to turn literally feels as if the wheels is kind of bumping the frame 5 days steering wheel started to make a weird noise that is now…"
    Steering, Unknown or other, Lane departure · filed 2026-02-09
  • "The contact owns a 2013 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The…"
    Air bags · filed 2024-08-21
  • "Check engine light illuminated due to transmission clutch not being adequate in manufacturing. Transmission causes motor to shudder due to clutches slipping. Whether in automatic or manual, when accelerating in low RPM,…"
    Powertrain, Engine · filed 2024-08-02

NHTSA crash ratings

Version Overall Front Side Rollover
2013 Buick Enclave SUV AWD 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 4 stars
2013 Buick Enclave SUV FWD 5 stars 5 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

Previous year 2012 Buick Enclave Next year 2014 Buick Enclave See every Buick Enclave model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2013 Buick Enclave reliable?

NHTSA's file on the 2013 Buick Enclave holds 69 complaints after 14 years, a rate of 5 per year. Enclave years here cluster close together — the other years’ median is 5 complaints per year. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Frontal, Critical fasteners, and Seat belts.

What are common problems with a 2013 Buick Enclave?

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (13 of 69), then Powertrain (13) and Electrical system (12). Those filings include 3 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 5 that report an injury.

Is the 2013 Buick Enclave more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2012 Enclave has 132 complaints, 5 per year, and the 2014 has 292 complaints, 8 per year. The 2013 has fewer complaints per year than the 2012. The 2013 has fewer complaints per year than the 2014.

Has the 2013 Buick Enclave been recalled?

The 2013 Buick Enclave has 4 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 2013 Buick Enclave?

Owners have filed 69 complaints about the 2013 Buick Enclave with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2013 Buick Enclave get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2013 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.