2009 Buick Enclave
Complaints about this year name power steering far more often than the other years of this generation — 35% of them, about 5× the usual rate of 7.6%.
Generation 1 of the Buick Enclave, which began in 2008 and ran to 2017. 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 | 220 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 64 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 6 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| EPA combined | 18.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- steering — 49.1% of this year's complaints, against 12.9% across the other years of this generation (3.8×).
- turn — 30% of this year's complaints, against 8.8% across the other years of this generation (3.4×).
- difficult — 9.5% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the other years of this generation (5.6×). Owners wrote it as: difficult, parking spot.
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
- turn — 30% of complaints, 3× usual
- speeds — 17% of complaints, 4× usual
- wheel — 18% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS, THE POWER STEERING FAILED AND IT BECAME DIFFICULT TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC TO BE DIAGNOSED AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE POWER ASSIST MECHANISM FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE V…
THE POWER STEERING FAILED WHILE MAKING A TURN. IT BECAME VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN THE WHEEL. THE PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED THREE TIMES SINCE, ALL WHEN TURNING AND AT LOW SPEED. THERE IS NO NOISE ASSOCIATED WITH THE ISSUE. I AM GREATLY CONCERNED THAT THE FAILURE WILL…
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.
- 14V266000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V118000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 10V375000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 09V073000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 10V240000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 08V615000 SEAT BELTS
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 2009 Buick Enclave? What happened to yours?
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