2012 Buick Verano problems, complaints & recalls

2012 Buick Verano recalls (3)

• Recall 14V300000Jun 6, 201431,520 vehicles
  AIR BAGS

  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: 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.

• Recall 13V023000Jan 24, 20134,167 vehicles
  AIR BAGS

  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: 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.

• Recall 12V522000Oct 31, 20122,949 vehicles
  AIR BAGS

  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: 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.

NHTSA defect investigations

• RQ13002Opened May 31, 2013Closed Jul 9, 2014led to recall 13V023000

  Air Bag Non-deployment

  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 …

Recent 2012 Buick Verano complaints

Excerpts of the newest owner complaints, lightly cleaned of personal details. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

1. Filed May 26, 2024NJEngine

   On 2 separate occasions, I have gone through 4 quarts of oil in 2000 miles. No leaks as verified by mechanic. Just excessive burn. The check oil light does not come on to warn you and says I still have 50% oil life but almost bone dry.

   NHTSA complaint #11590837 · source
2. Filed Apr 16, 2024MAAirbags

   The passenger airbag indicator goes on and off with person in passenger seat. We first noticed this Summer 2023. It has gotten worse. Now a passenger can shift weight slightly one way or another and cause the indicator status to change which disables the airbag. Dealer also confirmed (4/16/24) DTC code B0081(internal malfunction with passenger presence module). I have recently learned there was a warranty extension for this failure (which had expired) which I was unaware of.…

   NHTSA complaint #11583410 · source
3. Filed Apr 20, 2023PAEngine

   Oil Consumption- Burning through 2 qts of oil every 2000 miles. No warning lights coming on. Last oil change my car had no oil in it.

   NHTSA complaint #11518026 · source
4. Filed Jan 27, 2023PAEngineTransmission & Drivetrain

   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 complaint #11504036 · source
5. Filed Jan 11, 2023ILAirbags

   This airbag is supposed to last the lifetime of the vehicle and it has not. On top of it not lasting I am being charged to fix the airbag issue replacement and it is at fault of General Motors for not offering a lifetime lasting airbag.

   NHTSA complaint #11501242 · source
6. Filed Sep 29, 2022106,000 miNYCrashTowedAirbags

   The contact owned a 2012 Buick Verano. The contact stated while driving at 30 MPH, another vehicle was traveling in the opposite direction and struck the front driver side of the contact’s vehicle causing damage to the front end of both vehicles. The air bags did not deploy in the contact's vehicle but in the other vehicle, the air bags did deploy. No major injuries and no one seeking medical attention. The police report was filed. The vehicle was towed and deemed total…

   NHTSA complaint #11487144 · source
7. Filed Sep 20, 2022MDEngine

   My car started burning an excessive amount of oil this caused my car to die with no engine warning while driving. My mechanic found it to be completely out of oil. The car only has 67000 miles on it and now I have to constantly put oil in the car. It does not leak it just burns oil. I just drove 400 miles and when I got to my destination my car was completely out of oil again. My motor is not going to last if this keeps happening.

   NHTSA complaint #11485476 · source
8. Filed Aug 10, 2022120,000 miOHEngineFuel, Hybrid & EV Propulsion

   The contact owns a 2012 Buick Verano . The contact stated there was an abnormal odor of fuel entering through the vents. In addition, while driving, there was an abnormal very loud knocking noise. The contact noticed that there was oil or fuel leaking from the injection system. The TPMS warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately…

   NHTSA complaint #11478617 · source

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation public data, as of Oct 10, 2026. Complaints are submitted by owners and are not verified by NHTSA or by us; a complaint does not prove a defect exists. View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov Methodology