2013 Buick Enclave problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Power Train (9) · Steering (8) · Air Bags (8)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Buick Enclave model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
50 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (4)
Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module 2021-10-07 · campaign 21V782000 · 555 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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.
Air Bags:critical Fasteners 2021-04-08 · campaign 21V246000 · 108 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: Unsecured side curtain air bags may not perform as intended, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: 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.
Seat Belts 2014-05-20 · campaign 14V266000 · 1,339,355 vehicles
Defect: 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 fatig
Risk: If the steel cable becomes fatigued and separates, the seatbelt may not properly restrain the seat occupant increasing the risk of an injury in a crash.
Fix: 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-
Air Bags:side/Window 2014-03-17 · campaign 14V118000 · 1,176,407 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: Failure of the side impact air bags and seat belt pretensioners to deploy in a crash increase the risk of injury to the driver and front seat occupant.
Fix: 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 repai
Service bulletins (1,688)
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 2026-09-26 · PIT5698F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi provides diagnostics tips on how the lin bus works and how to diagnosis it.
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 2026-07-27 · PIT6002C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this is to advise about a part concern
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.
Showing the 6 most recent of 1,688 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-28 · Power Train“transmission slip, surging forward, grinding, not shifting, shuts down completely…”
2026-08-27 · Air Bags · 2,000 mi · 💥 crash“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 left temple, causing the contact to lose consciousness. while unconscious, the contact's foot remained depressed on the accelerator …”
2026-02-16 · Unknown Or Other“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. …”
2026-02-09 · Unknown Or Other“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 persistent and sounds like a rubbing rubber sound and i have been getting electric shock every time i’m getting out the car and go to…”
2024-08-21 · Air Bags · 109,000 mi“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 manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 109,000.…”
2024-08-02 · Power Train“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, the entire car begins to shudder instead of downshifting. transmission has been replaced twice, with no corrections. happens…”
2024-03-10 · Unknown Or Other“you will just be driving down the road and then get the check engine light, engine power reduced, traction control off, and service stabilitrak warning on the dash board. you can be going 60 and it will just shut down with no warning. it's been to the shop 3 times and the issue is still unresolved. this is highly dangerous and could cause an accide…”
2023-11-27 · Power Train“ this vehicle should have a recall on the transmission upon review the recall numbers nhtsa recall id: 14v092000 and nhtsa recall id: 09v073000 are not showing up in the system as recalls on the 2013 model. i purchased this vehicle used from a private owner. in april of 2023 the transmission went out without any warning a major expense not to me…”
2023-09-24 · Seat Belts · 63,000 mi“i originally did front end collision repairs on this gm vehicle and i had to originally replace the front passenger seatbelt. i went through 3 apparent good used ones for replacement and all of them have had their fair share of difference from acting up. one of them seemed to work but every now and then the airbag light would come on due to seatbel…”
2023-09-03 · Unknown Or Other“ac issue causing it hot to be in vehicle in this hot drought we are in. ac blows hot indicating that there is a leak in the system of freon. this needs to be fixed as i was researching i found many others complaint of the same year 2013 buick enclave having the same issue. in the south it is too hot and not safe for anyone to be in a vehicle with …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.