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2012 Buick Verano

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2012 Buick Verano do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 80.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

75 reports with mileage · 31 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 48 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Air Bags. Review the 27 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 16 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

8 crash reports1 fire reports3 injury reports

Power Train complaints

7 reports
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Mileage unknown · Jan 27, 2023
EnginePower 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 scat…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11504036

66,000 miles · Oct 1, 2019
EngineFuel/propulsion SystemPower Train

VEHICLE STALLED AT RED LIGHT ON CITY STREET. VEHICLE ENDED UP NEEDED 4 QUARTS OF OIL WHICH CAUSED A BROKEN TIMING CHAIN AND COMPLETE ENGINE REPLACEMENT. ENGINE WAS THE 2.4L ECOTEC, WHICH HAS BULLETINS FOR OIL CONSUMPTION ISSUES. THE LOW OIL LIGHT DID NOT COME ON IN THE VEHICLE.

NHTSA ODI #11265453

70,000 miles · Jul 12, 2019
EnginePower Train

CAR JERKS WHEN SITTING AT STOP SIGNS, RED LIGHT, IN CONGESTED STOP AND GO TRAFFIC. IT ALSO HESITATES WHEN YOU INITIALLY PRESS THE GAS AND ARE GOING UNDER 20 MILES PER HOUR. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT DOESN'T COME ON AND WHEN YOU TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY RUN DIAGNOSTIC AND CAN NOT DETECT THE ISSUE

NHTSA ODI #11231469

61,000 miles · Sep 11, 2018
EnginePower TrainSteering

2012 BUICK VERANO. IMMEDIATELY UPON PURCHASE I NOTICED THE FRESH AIR INTAKE ALWAYS HAD HOT AIR BLOWING THROUGH VENTS. DEALER AND GM CUSTOMER SERVICE SAID NOTHING IS WRONG. OTHER VERANO OWNERS WOULD STOP ME IN PARKING LOTS AND ASK ME IF I HAD THE SAME ISSUE AS THEY HAD. IT WAS A DEFECT. AFTER 40,000 MILES THE TIMING CHAIN NEEDED…

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2012 BUICK VERANO. IMMEDIATELY UPON PURCHASE I NOTICED THE FRESH AIR INTAKE ALWAYS HAD HOT AIR BLOWING THROUGH VENTS. DEALER AND GM CUSTOMER SERVICE SAID NOTHING IS WRONG. OTHER VERANO OWNERS WOULD STOP ME IN PARKING LOTS AND ASK ME IF I HAD THE SAME ISSUE AS THEY HAD. IT WAS A DEFECT. AFTER 40,000 MILES THE TIMING CHAIN NEEDED REPLACED; CAMSHAFT POSITION SOLENOID VALVE REPLACED; NEW GASKET KIT; OUTPUT SHAFT SEAL LEAKING. AT 60,000 MILES, THE CAR LOST ALL POWER WHILE DRIVING 55 MILES AN HOUR ON HIGHWAY (OTHER OWNERS- BUICK FORUMS - HAD THE SAME DANGEROUS EXPERIENCE). BY LOST POWER, I MEAN THE CAR SUDDENLY HAD NO POWER STEERING, BRAKES. GAS PEDAL WAS NOT OPERATIONAL. THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. PISTON RING FAILURE WAS THE DIAGNOSIS FROM BUICK SERVICE. ALMOST 4000 TO FIX THEY STATED. NONE OF THESE ISSUES SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED WITH A CAR WITH ONLY 60,000 MILES. THE VERANO IS NO LONGER BEING MANUFACTURED. GM SHOULD ADMIT THAT THEY SOLD A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT THAT DID NOT PERFORM AS ADVERTISED. AFTER ADDITION INVESTIGATION, I'VE DISCOVERED THAT GM WAS WELL AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM SINCE 2014. GM NEVER NOTIFIED VERANO OWNERS OF THIS ISSUE. WHAT'S MORE; THE BUICK DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THERE WAS NEVER A SERVICE BULLETIN ISSUED BY GM FOR THIS PROBLEM. SERVICE BULLETIN 13-06-01-003H IN FACT WAS ISSUED. FOR ALL VERANO OWNERS, PLEASE TAKE NOTE. YOU MAY STILL HAVE RECOURSE. PLEASE VIEW LINKS: EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION - 2010-2013 BUICK CHEVROLET GMC GM IS FIXING SOME SMOKY ENGINES UNDER WARRANTY

NHTSA ODI #11128724

45,250 miles · Nov 14, 2015
EnginePower Train

TODAY I WAS DRIVING MY 2012 BUICK VERANO AND WITHOUT ANY ADVANCED NOTICE (IE.. LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON DASHBOARD) MY VEHICLE LOST POWER AND JUST STARTED TO CREEP TO A FULL STOP. THE DASHBOARD WAS BLACK NOTHING TO TELL ME WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. THANK GOD THEY HAVE CREATED A LARGE PULL OFF ON THE HIGHWAY OR I WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY H…

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TODAY I WAS DRIVING MY 2012 BUICK VERANO AND WITHOUT ANY ADVANCED NOTICE (IE.. LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON DASHBOARD) MY VEHICLE LOST POWER AND JUST STARTED TO CREEP TO A FULL STOP. THE DASHBOARD WAS BLACK NOTHING TO TELL ME WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. THANK GOD THEY HAVE CREATED A LARGE PULL OFF ON THE HIGHWAY OR I WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY HURT. I TRIED SEVERAL TIME TO RESTART MY VEHICLE THE RESTARTING PROCESS WAS NOT THE PROBLEM IT WAS PUTTING THE CAR IN GEAR EVERY TIME I TRIED TO PUT THE VEHICLE IN GEAR IT WOULD SHUT OFF AND THE ENGINE LIGHT IS NOW ON.

NHTSA ODI #10790382

2,500 miles · Mar 28, 2014
Power Train

IT HAS ALWAYS DOWN SHIFTED HARD AT ABOUT 28 TO 30 MPH, WE ASKED THE DEALER AND HE SAID IT WAS NORMAL, I HAVE NEVER HAD A CAR DO THIS, AND WHAT I AM AFRAID OF, IS IT WILL GO BAD AFTER THE WARRANTY GOES OUT AND I AM STUCK, I HAVE READ OTHER REVIEWS ON THIS AND OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM?? PLEASE HELP ME FIND OUT ABOUT …

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IT HAS ALWAYS DOWN SHIFTED HARD AT ABOUT 28 TO 30 MPH, WE ASKED THE DEALER AND HE SAID IT WAS NORMAL, I HAVE NEVER HAD A CAR DO THIS, AND WHAT I AM AFRAID OF, IS IT WILL GO BAD AFTER THE WARRANTY GOES OUT AND I AM STUCK, I HAVE READ OTHER REVIEWS ON THIS AND OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM?? PLEASE HELP ME FIND OUT ABOUT THIS, IT ONLY HAS ABOUT 6500 MILES ON IT NOW, AND WE BOUGHT IT DEC 28 2012, IT WAS DRIVEN BY THE FINANCE MANAGER AT FUSON BUICK IN TERRE HAUTE INDIANA,AND THEY SOLD IT TO US AS A NEW CAR WITH 4 YEARS WARRANTY, THANKS AND HOPE THAT YOU CAN HELP US. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ODI #10575450

100 miles · Jul 26, 2012
Power TrainSuspension

A CONSTANT "PERCOLATING" OR RATTLING SOUND IS HEARD WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY AND ESPECIALLY ON UNEVEN SURFACES. THE NOISE GETS WORSE AND MORE CONSISTENT AS THE CAR IS DRIVEN. SINCE NOBODY CAN TELL ME WHAT IT IS, I MUST ASSUME IT COULD BE A SAFETY CONCERN. THE NOISE BECAME WORSE AFTER A STRUT WAS REPLACED AT 100 MILES. THE NOISE GOT …

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A CONSTANT "PERCOLATING" OR RATTLING SOUND IS HEARD WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY AND ESPECIALLY ON UNEVEN SURFACES. THE NOISE GETS WORSE AND MORE CONSISTENT AS THE CAR IS DRIVEN. SINCE NOBODY CAN TELL ME WHAT IT IS, I MUST ASSUME IT COULD BE A SAFETY CONCERN. THE NOISE BECAME WORSE AFTER A STRUT WAS REPLACED AT 100 MILES. THE NOISE GOT LOUDER AFTER AN ATTEMPT TO FIX IT BY INSTALLING A NEW COIL (F-SPRING?). I WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CAR SO THEY WILL NOT MAKE ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR IT WHEN I REQUEST SPECIFIC ACTIONS. I HAVE HEARD SIMILAR NOISES IN AT LEAST 7 OTHER SAME MODEL CARS. THREE SEPARATE PEOPLE HAVE DRIVEN THE CAR AND CONFIRM THE NOISES. IF THERE IS A STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS IT WOULD BE A SAFETY CONCERN. *TR

NHTSA ODI #10467742

Official recalls

3

14V300000 · Air Bags

Jun 6, 2014

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.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: 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: 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.

13V023000 · Air Bags

Jan 24, 2013

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.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: 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: 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.

12V522000 · Air Bags

Oct 31, 2012

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.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: 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: 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.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

1

RQ13002 · Air Bag Non-deployment

Opened May 31, 2013 · Closed Jul 9, 2014

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Air Bags; Air Bags:frontal; Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module

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.

Additional source detail variants (6)

Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module

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.

Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module

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.

Air Bags:frontal

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.

Air Bags:frontal

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.

Air Bags

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.

Air Bags

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.