Owners have filed 547 complaints on the Buick Encore, covering 2013–2022. The system named most often is Engine (122 reports). Worst years by volume: 2015, 2017, 2019; cleanest: 2022, 2021, 2020. 47 reports describe a crash, 6 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 4.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Buick Encore
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 547 Encore complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 122 Read
This vehicle had less than 8,000 miles on it and had only been serviced one time by the dealer (oil change in may 2018) the engine caught on fire and consumed the entire front end of the vehicle. The driver was in the drive through lane of a kfc restaurant when the car caught on fire. 03 my 89 year old mother-in-law…
My 2017 encore burst into flames. I arrived to work after lunch, I parked and turned off the ignition and I see smoke coming from under the hood of my car. I paused just a moment to see if it was going to stop but it got worse very fast. I grabbed my purse and jumped out of the car as the front end closest to the…
The contact owned a 2017 Buick Encore. The contact stated that the vehicle was at a standstill in a traffic light, she saw smoke exiting from the hood of the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated a bystander informed the vehicle was on fire. The contact was able to exit the…
Power Train 65 Read
The contact owns a 2019 Buick Encore. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle loss motive power and stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that the vehicle failed to start-up after several attempts with the check engine warning light illuminated. The…
The contact owns a 2018 buick encore. While the vehicle was parked and unoccupied, it inadvertently rolled away and crashed into another vehicle. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to a dealer (nye buick gmc, 1421 genesee st, oneida, ny 13421, (315) 363-2200) where it was awaiting…
1. The vehicle roll backwards in unpredictable ways even on small inclines when foot is taken off the brakes. At times vehicle will go forward and at other times it will roll back on the exact slope. We were told by buick dealers that the manufacturer does not see this as an issue. However, both my wife and I have…
Air Bags 58 Read
The contact owns a 2017 buick encore. The contact stated that while distracted by an insect on the windshield, the vehicle rear ended a 2019 gmc arcadia. The air bags did not deploy and the seat belts failed to restrain the contact and his head struck the steering wheel. The contact sustained injuries to his head and…
None of my air bags went off in my car and my car was totalled. My insurance company has possession of the car now
Pulling into a parking spot and the car took over and was speeding and hit the concrete pole,air bags went off the car was totaled
Electrical System 58 Read
I was stopped in a drive thru taco bell and the clerk dropped my change dollars from my purchase so I reacted by opening the door to pick up the money by taking my foot off the brake without putting it in park because it was a reaction. The car's stop start feature surged the car forward pinning my legs between the…
Nothing air bags deployed was leaving a parking lot started went to drive off !! Bang 2000 bounds of pressure in my face! My whole body!! It was a rental !! Look into this vechicail !hair burnt! Fried wire smell still on my burnt jacket!! Look into this with great concern as iam reaching out with shock and awe about…
I was driving on the interstate and the vehicle was in cruise control. It acted as it was accelerating and then the cruise control quit and I lost speed. I regained speed and then it lurched again; the cruise control again went off. When I applied the brake to pull to the side of the road, the engine started to…
Steering 43 Read
While on the highway car suddenly had a brake and steering failure which resulted in injuries to myself. Zeigler and Buick are doing nothing to remedy situation and want to put myself and my family at risk
Car was parked on level ground outside home. Atv accidentally ran into rear bumper of car (had moved approximately 10 feet). Car rolled away and ended up rolling down a small hill, jumping a ditch and resting on another hill. Car moved approximately 300 feet prior to coming to a stop. Wheels were noted to be turning…
The contact owns a 2015 Buick Encore. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the power steering assist warning light illuminated and the steering wheel was locked. Additionally, a burning odor was detected, and the tachometer was inoperable while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an…
Service Brakes 33 Read
I have complin to my dealer about my car excelerating when I hit the brakes . They said they can find a problem , well it happen again on august 29 2019 an it cause a accident I was driving on a 6 lane roadway around 330 in the afternoon I was in cruise control at 45 mph an when I went to stop the car accellerated . I…
5 month after I had bought the car I was going 35 mph down a regular street when the car stop then when I want to move again the accelerator but then the car came to a complete stop where the engine had smoke coming out of it. The dealer said that there was a big hole in the engine. After they repair it no more than…
Car plowed into brothers carport and trailer doing $9,000 damage to his property, did $16,000 damage to car. Insurance company would not total car, had it repaired took over three months. Got car back and the same day, was backing out of driveway and brakes got hard and would not stop. I kept hitting brakes and…
Engine And Engine Cooling 24 Read
The contact owns a 2022 Buick Encore. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the GMC mobile app alerted the contact of emissions failures and advised to contact the dealer for assistance. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed…
The contact owns a 2019 Buick Encore. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH on the highway, the vehicle started to lose motive power, started jerking back and forth, and there was white smoke coming from the tailpipe. The contact attempted to depress the accelerator pedal; however, the vehicle failed to respond as…
The contact owns a 2019 Buick Encore. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle was shaking and jerking abnormally. The contact stated her daughter reported there were several unknown warning lights illuminated on the instrument cluster. The driver exited the highway and…
Seat Belts 14 Read
Seatbelts on my year old Encore with only 15k are frayed and unraveling, I am having the vehicle in for other unrelated repairs on Friday and will be certain to inform the dealership at that time but feel that this is extremely dangerous and totally unacceptable in a year old vehicle and I feel like I or my passengers…
Dealership has been notified multiple times with no results or repairs given to customer
The contact owns a 2018 Buick Encore. The contact stated that the rear passenger’s side seat belt was not retracting. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the seat belt needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed…
Encore years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2021 | Electrical System,air Bags | — | — | |
| 2020 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 9 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 9 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 11 | 4 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 6 | 1 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 6 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 3 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 329 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.7 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.4 years |
A model average of 1.7 hides a worst series at 9. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Encore?
By complaint volume, 2015, 2017, 2019 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Encore years are the cleanest?
2022, 2021, 2020 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Buick Encore have?
547 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2013–2022. Of those, 47 describe a crash and 6 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.