2012 Buick Verano recalls and problems

The 2012 Buick Verano has 3 recalls and 106 owner complaints on file with NHTSA; the most reported problem area is engine.

2012 Buick Verano
Photo: 2012 Buick Verano by skinnylawyer from Los Angeles, California, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
How the 2012 compares
Fewest complaintsMost complaints

High complaint count among 6 Verano model years — 2nd most.

3recalls
106complaints
8crashes
1fires
4injuries
56,000median miles

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA, not verified and not adjusted for sales. Ranking compares this model's own years only.

Does your car have an open recall?
Recalls apply to specific vehicles. Only a VIN lookup on NHTSA's official site shows whether yours is affected and still unrepaired.
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3 recalls

Air Bags

Jun 6, 2014 · NHTSA campaign 14V300000 · 31,520 vehicles

Problem: 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.

Remedy & notes

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.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Air Bags

Jan 24, 2013 · NHTSA campaign 13V023000 · 4,167 vehicles

Problem: 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.

Remedy & notes

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.

This is General Motors recall number 12261 and is an expansion of NHTSA recall 12V-522.Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Air Bags

Oct 31, 2012 · NHTSA campaign 12V522000 · 2,949 vehicles

Problem: 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.

Remedy & notes

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.

This is General Motors recall number 12261.Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Recall text as published by NHTSA and the manufacturer.

What owners complain about

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA; one complaint can name several areas. Not verified by NHTSA.

Complaints by year filed

2012: 5 complaints20122013: 5 complaints2014: 11 complaints20142015: 10 complaints2016: 7 complaints20162017: 7 complaints2018: 15 complaints20182019: 19 complaints192020: 8 complaints20202021: 6 complaints2022: 6 complaints20222023: 3 complaints2024: 3 complaints20242026: 1 complaints20261

NHTSA investigations

Air Bag Non-deployment

RQ13002 · opened May 31, 2013 · closed Jul 9, 2014 · led to recall 13V023000
Summary

General Motors (GM) has initiated a safety recall of 31,520 model year (MY) 2012 Buick Verano and Chevrolet Camaro, Cruze and Sonic vehicles to address a defect condition that could result in the primary or secondary stage air bag not deploying.These vehicles are a small percentage of all MY 2012 vehicles and were built on several specific production dates broadly ranging from December 1, 2011 to August 2, 2012 (see NHTSA recall 14V-300 for more information).Also, see attached additional report for more information.This investigation was opened to evaluate the scope of two uninfluenced safety recalls (NHTSA recalls 12V-522 and 13V-023) of certain MY 2012 Verano, Camaro, Cruze and Sonic vehicles.These recalls involved the same defect issue as the new recall mentioned above.Accordingly, this investigation is closed based on the recall actions GM is undertaking.

2012 vs. other Buick Verano years

Owner complaints by model year; the darker bar is the 2012. Click a bar to switch year.

Questions

Does the 2012 Buick Verano have recalls?

Yes — NHTSA lists 3 recall campaigns covering the 2012 Buick Verano, the latest from Jun 6, 2014 (air bags). A recall applies to specific vehicles: enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see whether yours is affected and still open.

What are the most common problems with the 2012 Buick Verano?

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA most often mention engine (50), air bags (27), electrical system (16). Complaints are consumer reports and are not verified by NHTSA.