AutoUtility currently tracks 64 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Buick Enclave. Brakes & Traction Control issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 21 complaints (32.8% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 5 filings cite a crash, 1 reports one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 64 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Brakes & Traction Control (21 reports • 32.8% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (15), Powertrain & Transmission (15)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 5 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 1 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2018 Buick Enclave
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Brakes & Traction Control
Engine & Cooling
Powertrain & Transmission
Electrical System
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Buick Enclave
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"2018 Enclave w/106k on the odometer and the catalytic convertor cracked. $2200 repair."
"I am submitting this letter to formally report two ongoing issues with my 2018 Buick Enclave. First, I have experienced persistent problems with the emissions purge valve. My vehicle has repeatedly triggered diagnostic trouble code P0496, indicating a malfunction in the purge valve system. I am..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shut off and failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the alternator was replaced 4 times before the dealer diagnosed that the failure was due to oil leaking onto the..."
"After two transmission flushes and being told by a Buick dealership's service technicians that nothing is wrong with the vechile's transmission, it has now failed completely at ~90k miles."
"Catalic converter weld broke both sides now"
Complaint History for Buick Enclave
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Buick Enclave | 171 | 7 | 5 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Buick Enclave | 140 | 2 | 4 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Buick Enclave | 179 | 6 | 3 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Buick Enclave Current Page | 64 | 5 | 0 | Current |
| 2019 Buick Enclave | 42 | 2 | 1 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Buick Enclave | 56 | 2 | 6 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Buick Enclave | 25 | 0 | 2 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Buick Enclave | 13 | 2 | 1 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Buick Enclave | 19 | 2 | 0 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Buick Enclave | 7 | 1 | 0 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Buick Enclave | 36 | 3 | 0 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Buick Enclave | 0 | 0 | 1 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Buick Enclave
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 31 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,AIR BAGS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lane Departure Warning NHTSA category: LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, AIR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.