KnownCarProblems2011 Buick Enclave Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 213 complaints with NHTSA about the 2011 Buick Enclave, most often about the steering (19% of complaints, typically around 60,500 miles). It is 5th of 19 Enclave model years by number of complaints and has 6 recalls.
Most common 2011 Buick Enclave problems
Steering
41 complaints · 19%Half of these problems showed up before 60,500 miles.
The contact owns a 2011 Buick Enclave. While driving approximately 10 MPH, the steering wheel seized without warning. The dealer (luther gmc, 3202 36th st s, fargo, nd) diagnosed that the steering gear was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure…
The contact owns a 2011 Buick Enclave. When driving over a puddle of water or uneven road surface, the steering failed, various warning indicators and gauges flashed, and there was a loss of power. The dealer (bob weaver auto, 2174 west market street, pottsville, pa 17901, [phone]) was unable to duplicate the…
Transmission
38 complaints · 18%Half of these problems showed up before 29,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, axle assembly.
2011 Buick Enclave with auto trans. Vehicle rolls backwards on an incline when foot is removed from the brake. Requires driver to apply excessive throttle power upon taking foot off of brake with danger of rolling into cars behind it.
2011 Buick Enclave rolls uncontrollable on hills while in gear - drive or reverse. Very hard to manage. Requires very quick move from brake to accelerator and "2-foot" driving which is dangerous and wears brakes and transmission. There is no "hill hold" feature and drivetrain provides no resistance. This is a serious…
Engine
38 complaints · 18%Half of these problems showed up before 77,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine.
Car sputtered while driving at slow speed or pulling off from standing still and lost power and then stopped completely. Could not turn wheel. Traction off - stabilitrak light came on. Towed to dealer - dealer thought they repaired. Next day same thing happened but no dash lights came on. Towed again to dealer - now…
My regularly serviced 2011 Buick Enclave with approximately 75,000 miles on it began overheating last summer to the point when turning off the engine the radiator fan kept running. My servicing business was continually adding the recommended radiator coolant in amounts that totaled 3.7 gal. Between mid june, '18 to…
Air bags
38 complaints · 18%Half of these problems showed up before 55,500 miles.
Tl - the contact owns a 2011 Buick Enclave. The contact stated while driving at unknown speed, the vehicle crashed into a deer causing the vehicle to catch on fire and the air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and…
This vehicle has only about 55,000 miles and was purchased used. It underwent the major recall gm had for defective airbags in 2014. The airbag light came on again while the vehicle was on motion and has been intermittently on and off. The dealer wants $145 for diagnostics and gm will not cover under previous recall…
Body and structure
25 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 53,000 miles. Parts named most often: body.
The contact owns a 2011 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that after the liftgate was opened, the liftgate independently closed without warning. As a result, the contact sustained a head injury that did not require medical attention. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the liftgate strut…
The power liftgate does not stay open (the vehicle was statrionary, turned off, and properly parked). Instead it catches and then forcefully closes on whoever/whatever may be right below it. Upon trying to stop the liftgate from closing it will not remain in the open position and continues to forcefully close. This…
Electrical
21 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 52,500 miles.
Takata recall had stop at a store got back in car put car in drive pull out car made like a door bell sound padlel to floor no speed car was not moving traction light came on stablebilty tractionl light park unable iighton eneingel light on did not go outin the first time in motiom on city street second time on…
I purchased the vehicle on 11/4/19. The dealership, salesman or service department. Didn't inform me or put it in writing that the crankshaft sensor was faulty on the vehicle. John eagle acura didn't consider safety first. On 11/7/19 at 48,076 miles the vehicle won't crank. It was cold and rainy so I didn't drive the…
Speed control
14 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 43,500 miles.
Check engine light came on and vehicle suddenly reduced speed while driving on residential street. Message displayed on panel, "engine speed is reduced." in a separate issue, we were advised by the dealership to keep driving the vehicle even if the check engine light appears to empty out the fuel. The dealership…
The contact owns a 2011 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while at a stop sign, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact was unable to control the vehicle and crashed into the side of a house. There were no injuries and a police report t was not filed. There vehicle was neither diagnosed nor repaired.…
Stability control
11 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 67,500 miles.
December 2014 lift gate was up and suddenly came down and hit my wife with great force. This happened twice but not consistently. Subsequently was taken to a chevrolet/gm dealership, found both struts not holding pressure and were replaced at owner's expense. On the morning of january 9,2015 driving during a snow…
We were driving down the highway at 65 MPH the stabilitrak / traction control light came on followed by an engine reduced power warning and the vehicle slows from 65 MPH to 30 MPH in about 3 seconds. The error message clears itself when the vehicle is turned off and left off for 1 to 5 minutes. The second time this…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2011 Buick Enclave recalls
Air bags: inflator module
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.
Full defect 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.
Air bags: critical fasteners
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.
Full defect 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.
Body and structure: hatchback/liftgate
Risk: If the open liftgate unexpectedly falls, it may strike a person, increasing their risk of injury.
Fix: 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.
Full defect 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.
Seat belts
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 1-800-222-1020 (chevrolet), 1-800-521-7300 (buick), 1-800-462-8782 (gmc), 1-800-553-6000 (saturn). General motors re
Full defect 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.
Air bags: side/window
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 repaired and therefore are not included in the safety recall.
Full defect 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.
Visibility and wipers: linkages
Risk: If this occurs, driver visibility could be reduced, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will tighten the wiper arm nuts, free of charge. The safety recall began on april 20, 2012.
Full defect 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.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Outboard front seat belt anchor cable failure
Summary
On august 31, 2020, the office of defects investigations (odi) opened engineering analysis (ea) ea20002, as an upgrade of recall query (rq) rq19003. This investigation, related to recall 14v-266, was opened to investigate instances of detachment of the flexible steel seat belt anchor cable attached to the outboard side of the front seats in vehicles manufactured by general motors (gm). The subject vehicles included model year (my) 2009 through 2014 gmc acadia, buick enclave, and chevrolet traverse suvs as well as my 2009 through 2010 saturn outlook suvs. These vehicles were previously repaired for this defect under recall 14v-266. The subject vehicle population is approximately 1.3 million v
Seat belt anchor cable failure
Summary
On may 19, 2014, general motors llc (gm) notified the office of defects investigation (odi) that it would conduct safety recall 14v266 to address fatigue and separation of the flexible steel cable that connects the front outboard seat belts to the seat-mounted belt pre-tensioner in 1.4 million model year (my) 2009-2010 saturn outlook, 2009-2014 buick enclave, gmc acadia and chevrolet traverse (lambda platform) vehicles.the remedy was to inspect for signs of damage and replace pre-tensioner anchor cables as needed. Re-work was conducted to relocate the pre-tensioner anchor cable out of the occupant entry path. Odi has subsequently received four (4) vehicle owners questionnaires (voq) reportin
Questions about the 2011 Buick Enclave
- What are the most common problems with the 2011 Buick Enclave?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: steering (41 complaints, typically around 60,500 miles); transmission (38 complaints, typically around 29,000 miles); engine (38 complaints, typically around 77,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2011 Buick Enclave have?
- 6 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from October 7, 2021 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2011 a bad year for the Buick Enclave?
- It is 5th of 19 Enclave model years by number of complaints, with 213 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.