2012 Buick Verano problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (39) · Air Bags (21) · Steering (9)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Buick Verano model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
75 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (3)
Air Bags 2014-06-06 · campaign 14V300000 · 31,520 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles manufactured December 2, 2011 to July, 16, 2012, Chevrolet Cruze vehicles manufactured December 7, 2011 to July 25, 2012, Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured December 5, 2011 to August 2, 2012, and Chevrolet Camaro vehicles manufactured December 1, 2011 to June 11, 2012. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
Risk: If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The recall began on July 25, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact GM at 1-800-222-1020. Buick owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. Note: This is an expansion of recalls 12V-522 and 13V-023.
Air Bags 2013-01-24 · campaign 13V023000 · 4,167 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, Cruze and Sonic, and model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
Risk: If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on February 13, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.
Air Bags 2012-10-31 · campaign 12V522000 · 2,949 vehicles
Defect: General Motors is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano, Chevrolet Cruze, and Chevrolet Sonic vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
Risk: If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal airbag, that airbag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Fix: General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel airbag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on January 11, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.
Service bulletins (1,485)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-04 · PIP4902W · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-05-19 · PIP6113 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this document provides the technician with a diagnostic tip if the vehicle stalls and set diagnostic trouble code p0191 and may also set p0172. the diagnostic tip has the technician inspect the high pressure fuel pump body markings to confirm it is an original manufacture part. if it is not an origi
Unknown Or Other 2026-04-01 · PIT3271Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates information about how to determine if a wheel and tires size change is available.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP6104 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates the steps on how to save a gds2 session log and upload to a technical assistance case in cx connect.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP4902V · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-01-08 · PIP4902U · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Showing the 6 most recent of 1,485 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-05-05 · Visibility/Wiper“rear window shattered while driving. no rock or other damage. i just heard a loud bang and it exploded…”
2024-06-04 · Electrical System“nav display and radio stopped working black screen blank…”
2024-05-26 · Engine“ on 2 separate occasions, i have gone through 4 quarts of oil in 2000 miles. no leaks as verified by mechanic. just excessive burn. the check oil light does not come on to warn you and says i still have 50% oil life but almost bone dry.…”
2024-04-16 · Air Bags“the passenger airbag indicator goes on and off with person in passenger seat. we first noticed this summer 2023. it has gotten worse. now a passenger can shift weight slightly one way or another and cause the indicator status to change which disables the airbag. dealer also confirmed (4/16/24) dtc code b0081(internal malfunction with passenger pre…”
2023-04-20 · Engine“oil consumption- burning through 2 qts of oil every 2000 miles. no warning lights coming on. last oil change my car had no oil in it. …”
2023-01-27 · Power Train“car has had excessive oil consumption since start. easily consuming 1-2 quarts of oil on monthly basis. had timing chains replaced at 75000 miles. car suddenly stopped without warning 1/16/23 and completely shut off while driving. now, at 170000 miles the engine is blown, due to chains loosening, and valves getting bent and scattered. …”
2023-01-11 · Air Bags“this airbag is supposed to last the lifetime of the vehicle and it has not. on top of it not lasting i am being charged to fix the airbag issue replacement and it is at fault of general motors for not offering a lifetime lasting airbag. …”
2022-09-29 · Air Bags · 106,000 mi · 💥 crash“the contact owned a 2012 buick verano. the contact stated while driving at 30 mph, another vehicle was traveling in the opposite direction and struck the front driver side of the contact’s vehicle causing damage to the front end of both vehicles. the air bags did not deploy in the contact's vehicle but in the other vehicle, the air bags did deploy.…”
2022-09-20 · Engine“my car started burning an excessive amount of oil this caused my car to die with no engine warning while driving. my mechanic found it to be completely out of oil. the car only has 67000 miles on it and now i have to constantly put oil in the car. it does not leak it just burns oil. i just drove 400 miles and when i got to my destination my car was…”
2022-08-10 · Fuel System, Gasoline:fuel Injection System · 120,000 mi“the contact owns a 2012 buick verano . the contact stated there was an abnormal odor of fuel entering through the vents. in addition, while driving, there was an abnormal very loud knocking noise. the contact noticed that there was oil or fuel leaking from the injection system. the tpms warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the lo…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.