2008 Buick Enclave
Complaints about this year name transmission far more often than the other years of this generation — 21% of them, about 5× the usual rate of 4.5%.
First year of a new generation. The Buick Enclave was redesigned for 2008. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 536 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 64 |
| Involving a crash | 13 |
| Involving a fire | 10 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 18.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transmission — 20.9% of this year's complaints, against 4.5% across the other years of this generation (4.6×).
- wave — 8.2% of this year's complaints, against 0.3% across the other years of this generation (24×). Owners wrote it as: wave, plate, wave plate, rebuilt.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- water — 13% of complaints, 8× usual
- wave plate — 7% of complaints, 16× usual
- sunroof — 6% of complaints, 15× usual
What owners wrote
CAR WAS PARKED. WATER APPEARED TO BE COMING FROM SUNROOF AND RUNNING DOWN PILLARS WHICH FLOODED THE FRONT FLOORBOARDS.
"TAKATA RECALL" SUNROOF CLOG CAUSES WATER IN VEHICLE AFTER THE RAIN. I SEEN ONLINE A LARGER PUMP INSTALLED UNABLE TO DO MYSELF.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V782000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V415000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 14V118000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 08V441000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 10V240000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 08V410000 VISIBILITY
How this was worked out
Every year of the Buick Enclave was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Buick Enclave? What happened to yours?
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