2012 Buick Verano
This year drew an ordinary 106 complaints for a Buick Verano — the model's median is 59. What they were about is the unusual part: 12.3% of them mention pistons, against 2% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 106 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 59 |
| Involving a crash | 8 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- pistons — 12.3% of this year's complaints, against 2% across the model's other years (6.3×). Owners wrote it as: pistons, motors, ring, almost hit.
- changed — 13.2% of this year's complaints, against 4.4% across the model's other years (3×). Owners wrote it as: changed, checked, product.
- addition — 7.5% of this year's complaints, against 1% across the model's other years (7.6×). Owners wrote it as: addition, customer service, abnormal, addition driving.
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
Car engine started making noise in front right side. Had oil changed 2000 miles prior and there was no oil when checked. Mechanic said the motors are known to have the timing belt go out and the pistons. There are recalls for this issue, however my VIN number…
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.…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V300000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 12V522000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 13V023000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Buick Verano 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 2012 Buick Verano? What happened to yours?
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