The contact owns a 2012 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lunged forward while accelerating. The failure was more persistent at speeds of 40 MPH and lower. There were no warning lights illuminated. Additionally, while turning the steering wheel to the left or the right there was a clunking sound coming from the steering wheel. The vehicle had been taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 83,000.
Buick Enclave harsh shifting problems
23 of the 2,515 owner complaints about the Buick Enclave describe harsh or hard shifting, most of them for the 2008 model year.
- owner complaints
- 23
- worst model year
- 2008
- typical mileage
- 92,000
Is there a fix? There are 3 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
- 20221
- 20201
- 20191
- 20161
- 20144
- 20121
- 20102
- 20094
- 20088
Often reported together
Check engine light 5Steering noise 3Won't shift 2Slipping 2Jerking 2Transmission failure 1Sudden acceleration 1Steering lock-up 1
What owners say
The contact owns a 2014 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and decelerating to make a turn, the vehicle experienced a hard shift. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the same assessment was made, and the contact was informed that the vehicle was operating as designed. Additionally, the contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Engine revving, would not shift even after taking my foot off the accelerator. Had to pull over and shut the car off. After restart, it was very hard shifting but the engine wasn't revving, Engine light stayed on. Engine revved between 3,500-4,500 rpms without shifting. The car can be very jerky when accelerating from a stop and shifting the first time or two.
Bought brand new 2020 buick enclave, with 4 miles on it, on 6/13/20. Started having transmission problems almost immediately. The car would jerk hard (hard shift) when pushing on the gas and also anytime it was placed in park. On 6/21/20 the check engine light came on and the vehicle would barely shift. Called local buick - gm dealership to get repaired. Local shop restarted computer on 6/24/20 and said that it was good to go. Drove it less than 3 miles before service engine light came back on and jolting started again. On the drive back to the dealership the vehicle came to a hard jolting abrupt stop on the road. Vehicle would no longer start or shift. Had to leave vehicle in the middle of the road until dealership could come get it. On 6/26/20 dealership called to say that the vehicle was running good and ready to pick up. On 6/27/20 drove car about 15 minutes before the hard shift started happening again and the check engine light came back on. When attempting to shift into reverse, the vehicle hard jolted us backwards and then died. The vehicle would no longer start or shift gears. On 6/28/20 got the vehicle to start so drove the vehicle, as it was still hard shifting, back to the dealership and dropped it off. The dealership still has it as of today and has refused to give us any paperwork from our previous 2 attempts at getting it fixed however gave us falsified documentation stating that we only brought it in the shop 1 time, when it actually is the 3rd time to be taken in for the same problem to be fixed. Gm has refused to replace this defective vehicle nor return our money paid for it.
When driving you can hear the clunking noise the vehicle makes when on the road. It's sounds bad and I don't want it to get any worse. I can not pinpoint the problem.
Steering makes a clicking noise when turning the wheel. The vehicle makes a clunking noise when hitting minor bumps in the road and intermittently the steering wheel shakes at highway speeds. The vehicle has a rattling noise when first started and recently the ABS/traction control service light comes on when first started. Also the vehicle has decreased horsepower and the mileage lcd screen has been acting up and not always showing the prndl and also the transmission acts up when shifting into 3 and 6 gear
When vehicle reengaging from auto start/stop during stops in traffic and/or lights/signs, slamming into gear after removing foot from brake, prior to pushing gas pedal. Happens in highway travel (if having to come to a stop) and city travel. Dealership replaced auxiliary fluid accumulator and added fluid to transmission. Owner now realizes fluid spots in driveway are where vehicle must have been leaking some fluid.
Vehicle suddenly stopped accelerating over 20 MPH and became unable to reverse. This was discovered while driving. We do not have the funds to make this repair. The car has sat at the end of our driveway in a non-drivable condition since april 2019. The rear strut towers required complete replacement. This was noticed while driving 10 MPH. The car made a clunking noise. I took it to the buick garage and they recommended the strut towers be replaced and the rear axle. They have record of the date and mileage. The power steering cable rubbed on the air conditioning line and a a hole was created. The air conditioner became non-functional. A diagnostic was performed by the buick garage but, we did not have the funds to repair the air conditioner since we needed to rebuild the strut towers. So we drove the car with a non-functioning air conditioning unit, until the car stopped operating in reverse and stopped accelerating over 20 MPH. I am a single mom with 3 children. This has been a great hardship for us. It is very unlikely that I would purchase a car from buick in the future.
Shortly after taking ownership of the vehicle, we noticed a "clunking" within the transmission when going up a small incline at approx 15 MPH. The problem has persisted for years and we've had the dealer investigate multiple times with no remedy. The issue is now more visible at highway speeds between 60 and 65 MPH. We recently dropped off with the dealer where they applied a software patch which has slightly reduced the issue, but has not resolved. We still have a "clunking" transmission at 15mph up an incline and at highway speeds. I have seen others reporting the same problem.
I've experienced ongoing intermittent issues with the transmission slamming into gear, around 2nd and 3rd gear, and changing the transmission oil as not alleviated the issue.
Related recalls
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Cruze and Buick LaCrosse, 2018-2020 Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Terrain, 2018 Chevrolet Malibu, 2019-2020 Buick Encore, Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT4, Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Acadia, and 2020 Cadillac XT6 vehicles. The start/stop accumulator endcap may have missing bolts.
- Risk
- Missing bolts on the start-stop accumulator endcap could result in a transmission oil leak and may progress to a loss of propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash. A transmission fluid leak in the presence of an ignition source may increase the risk of fire.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the start-stop transmission accumulator and replace it if any bolts are missing, free of charge. The recall began December 15, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1‑888‑988‑7267, Buick Customer service at 1‑866‑608‑8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006. GM's number for this recall is N202313440.
Recall number 20V668000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Buick Regal, LaCrosse, Verano, and Enclave, and Chevrolet Impala, Malibu, Cruze, and Traverse, and GMC Acadia vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions. In the affected vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjuster may disengage from the transmission shift lever. As such, these vehicles do not conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 102, "Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect." They also fail to conform to FMVSS number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."
- Risk
- If a vehicle's shift cable disengages from the transmission shift lever, a driver may be unable to shift gear positions and the indicated shift position may not represent the gear position the vehicle is in. Should a disengagement occur while the vehicle is being driven, when the driver goes to stop and park the vehicle, the driver may be able to shift the lever to the "PARK" position, but the vehicle transmission may not be in the "PARK" gear position. If the vehicle is not in the "PARK" position there is a risk the vehicle will roll away as the driver and other occupants exit the vehicle or anytime thereafter. A vehicle rollaway increases the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.
- Remedy
- General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace any affected transmission shift cable adjusters, free of charge. The recall began on April 10, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑222‑1020, Buick owners at 1‑800‑521‑7300, and GMC owners at 1‑800‑462‑8782. General Motors' number associated with this recall is 14048.
Recall number 14V092000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission: lever and linkage: column shift
- What is wrong
- General motors is recalling 276,729 my 2009 buick enclave, chevrolet cobalt, hhr, malibu, traverse, gmc acadia, pontiac g5, g6 and saturn aura and outlook passenger vehicles. These vehicles fail to comply with federal motor vehicles safety standard 102, "transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect", and fmvss 114, "theft protection and rollaway prevention". On some of these vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjustment clip may not be fully engaged. If the clip is not fully engaged, the shift lever and the actual position of the transmission gear may not match. With this condition, the drive could move the shifter to "park" and remove the ignition key, but the transmission gear may not be in "park".
- Risk
- The driver may not be able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle could roll away after the driver has exited the vehicle, resulting in a possible crash without prior warning.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and ensure that the shift cable adjustment clip is fully engaged. In the event that the clip does not engage, the shift cable will be replaced free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before march 24, 2009. Owners may contact buick at 1‑866‑608‑8080, chevrolet at 1‑800‑630‑2438, gmc at 1‑866‑996‑9463, pontiac at 1‑800‑620‑7668 and saturn at 1‑800‑972‑8876 or at www.gmownercenter.com.
Recall number 09V073000 · Recall details
Questions about the Buick Enclave harsh shifting
Which Buick Enclave years have harsh or hard shifting problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2008 (8 complaints), 2009 (4 complaints) and 2014 (4 complaints).
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