2015 Buick Encore problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Steering (25) · Engine (14) · Service Brakes (12)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Buick Encore model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
80 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (4)
Seat Belts:pretensioner 2017-07-10 · campaign 17V437000 · 40,683 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Trax, Suburban and Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles, and 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 2500 and 3500 vehicles. While being previously remedied for recall 16V-651, the affected vehicles may
Risk: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17287.
Seat Belts:pretensioner 2016-09-08 · campaign 16V651000 · 3,640,162 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing
Risk: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
Equipment:other:labels 2015-03-20 · campaign 15V162000 · 19,831 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015 Buick Encore vehicles manufactured August 26, 2014, to February 9, 2015, and 2015 Chevrolet Trax vehicles manufactured October 13, 2014, to February 3, 2015. The affected vehicles have tire placards that do not provide the rim size information for the front or rear wheels. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/R
Risk: If the label is missing front and rear rim size information, the owner may replace the rims with ones that are an incorrect size, increasing the risk of crash.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and will send owners a corrected label, free of charge. The recall April 29, 2015. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, and Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 15166.
Steering:electric Power Assist System 2015-03-13 · campaign 15V146000 · 2,295 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015 Buick Encore vehicles manufactured November 27, 2014, to February 24, 2015, and 2015 Chevrolet Trax vehicles manufactured November 18, 2014, to February 17, 2015. The steering column assembly housing may contact the power steering printed circuit board causing the circuit board to wear.
Risk: The circuit board wear may cause a sudden loss of electric power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the steering column assembly, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 24, 2015. 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 15168.
Service bulletins (1,461)
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 2026-07-21 · PIT5099J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
pi to help diagnose a/c 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 1,461 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-07-29 · Engine“weber road auto service replaced the engine using county prc and out-of-pocket funds, and the newly installed used engine has an active engine oil cooler leak, creating an immediate vehicle fire and sudden engine stalling hazard. also there’s a leak at the ac compressor, condenser and coupler valves. this was discovered by buckeye auto service. no …”
2026-06-26 · Power Train“the turbo in my vehicle has a check engine light come on and than the engine does no act right. the repair shop that looked at car stated that the manufacture knows this is a known issue and they have not made a recall as several cars my year range has this going on. if this is a known issue why is there no recall. i worked had for my car and i can…”
2026-06-09 · Steering“transmission wouldn't shift out of 2nd gear and wouldnt shift into reverse. has no power steering or power brakes …”
2026-05-11 · Air Bags“the seatbelt systems light has come on in my 2015 buick encore. …”
2025-09-15 · Engine And Engine Cooling“the contact owns a 2015 buick encore. the contact stated that while depressing the accelerator, the vehicle hesitated before accelerating. the contact became aware of oil underneath the vehicle on the driveway, resulting in a complete loss of power. the vehicle leaked oil and lost the vehicle lost power twice. the check engine warning light was ill…”
2025-08-10 · Engine“check engine light came onforp0299 code and heard that there's a lot of vehicles with turbos having this problem…”
2025-07-31 · Vehicle Speed Control · 138,000 mi“the contact owns a 2015 buick encore. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. in addition, the steering wheel seized. the traction control warning light and the power steering warning light was illuminated, and the message to “contact dealer …”
2025-01-28 · Engine“leaking oil from oil coolant pipe under car and timing chain or belt gasket blowing oil.i have seen on google in 2016 a stop update on 2015 had issue with the s02ame problem.…”
2024-11-26 · Engine And Engine Cooling“the contact owns a 2015 buick encore. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound coming from underneath the vehicle, before the vehicle lost motive power. the contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the failure persisted. the check engine warning light was illuminated. the vehic…”
2024-11-20 · Structure:body“the painting on my 2015 buick encore started peeling about 2 years ago and has continued to worsen, and i am concerned about the longevity and overall appearance of my vehicle. as a loyal customer, i expect the paint job to last for a reasonable amount of time, and i believe this issue should be addressed by the manufacturer. i would like to reques…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.