2012 Buick Regal
Complaints about this year name condensation far more often than the model's other years — 18% of them, about 44× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 182 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 19 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 7 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 22.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- timing — 16.5% of this year's complaints, against 6.1% across the model's other years (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: timing, chain, timing chain, paid.
- much — 9.9% of this year's complaints, against 3% across the model's other years (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: much, type, interior, cold weather.
- july — 7.7% of this year's complaints, against 1.4% across the model's other years (5.4×). Owners wrote it as: july, feb.
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 — 16% of complaints, 41× usual
- headlights — 16% of complaints, 41× usual
- assembly — 15% of complaints, 38× usual
What owners wrote
BOTH DRIVER AND PASSENGER HEADLIGHTS CONSTANTLY SHOW CONDENSATION/WATER IN THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY AFTER IT RAINS. AT ONE POINT, THE CONDENSATION CAUSED THE PREMATURE FAILURE OF THE HID BALLAST, AN LOSS OF HEADLIGHT. IN VIEWING A BUICK REGAL FORUM, THIS SEEMS T…
Issue with the condensation/water getting inside our HID headlights. Have replaced once and now they are both full of water again. Dealer refuses to cover as a defect. VERY expensive to repair. Huge safety issue because lights can fail at any time going down a…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V447000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 12V484000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 12V093000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 13V173000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 20V764000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 21V00F000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 26V113000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Buick Regal 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 Regal? What happened to yours?
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