2016 Buick Verano problems
The 2016 Buick Verano has 97 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (24%) concerns air bags. Next are electrical system (15%) and engine (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 97 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 26,000 miles 56 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 22 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 17 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 56 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 26,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 45,000 miles (11 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 1 complaint mentions a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2016 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 5 model years of the Buick Verano with enough data (70 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
The driver as well as the front seat passenger loses the benefit of the airbags in the front seat and the airbag status indicator lights. Neither airbag deployed in my crash in which the car was completely destroyed and both driver and passenger injured. I was driving at approximately 15 MPH and turning left on a city street. A letter from buick in december 2016 claimed that only the air bag on the passenger's side needed fixing.
While car was unattended at night and parked in the driveway, a fire started, apparently under the drivers seat. The fire burned through the seat and into the driver side door, starting at the bottom and continuing up to the window opening. The drivers door would not open the next day and all the windows were completely smoked over so the interior was not visible. We entered the vehicle through the passenger door and discovered the damage. This event occurred during the night of 12/6/17.
Was driving on expressway going 65 when car totally turned off or stalled. It scared the hell out of me. Haven't even made my first car payment yet. Called dealer they wanted me to wait till tomorrow are they kidding. They finally agreed to give me a lender car. Salesman said they have never had any problems with verano upon checking this morning I have found many years with this problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2016 buick verano. While driving approximately 80 MPH, the gear shifted so hard that the vehicle jolted and caused the front passenger to strike the dashboard. There were no injuries. The service air bag warning indicator illuminated. The failure recurred several times. The failure recurred and the vehicle was taken to another dealer (wackerli buick, idaho falls, id, 208-522-606) where it was diagnosed that the air bag sensors needed to be replaced.