2016 Buick Encore
This year drew an ordinary 79 complaints for a Buick Encore — the model's median is 60. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.9% of them mention covered, against 1.5% across the model's other years.
Generation 1 of the Buick Encore, which began in 2013 and ran to 2019. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 79 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 60 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 28 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- covered — 8.9% of this year's complaints, against 1.5% across the model's other years (6×). Owners wrote it as: covered, about year.
- city — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 0.8% across the model's other years (7.6×). Owners wrote it as: city, city street, flashed.
- middle — 7.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.6% across the model's other years (4.6×). Owners wrote it as: middle, seats.
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.
What owners wrote
THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVING DOWN A CITY STREET AT APPROXIMATELY 35 - 40 MPH. THERE WAS A GLANCING SIDE IMPACT TO THE DRIVERS DOOR, AND ALL AIRBAG CURTAINS DEPLOYED. CAUSING BRUISING, BURNS, SPRAIN, AND A CONCUSSION. THE IMPACT TO THE VEHICLE WAS MINIMAL. THE AIRBA…
HEAVY VIBRATION IN LOWER GEAR WHILE SHIFTING SEEMS TO COME FROM ENGINE OR TRANSMISSION CANT TELL BUT STRONG VIBRATION CAN BE FELT IN SHIFT HANDLE WHEN YOU ATTAIN HIGHER GEAR SEEMS TO STOP ON CITY STREET OR HIGHWAY SAME EXPERIENCE WORSE IN LOWER GEARS.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V651000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V437000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Buick Encore 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 2016 Buick Encore? What happened to yours?
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