2012 GMC Acadia problems
NHTSA has received 401 complaints about the 2012 GMC Acadia, and 11% of them involve steering. Next are body & structure (11%) and drivetrain & axles (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 401 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 12% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 22 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 76,000 miles 293 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 | 29 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 32 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 37 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 55 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 60 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 45 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 15 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 11 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Of the 293 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 76,000 miles. For steering specifically, the median reported mileage is about 73,000 miles (39 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 22 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the GMC Acadia with enough data (184 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 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 vehicle was in motion near an intersection and approaching the light to turn. ( near airport in raleigh nc) the front and side airbags failed to deploy during the crash. The other vehicle has been declared total loss and mine has significant damage and could be classified as total loss. There are personal injuries. I am attaching pictures of the vehicle and accident report.
With the vehicle is stationary, I opened the power lift gate, it opened completely, and suddenly fee fell about 1 to 2 feet, stiking me and my 6 month old son in the head. I have repeated this operation multiple times standing clear of the lift gate and it continues to do the same thing everytime. It is not safe to access the cargo area of my vehicle until this is repaired.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 GMC acadia. While attempting to park the vehicle, it accelerated unexpectedly through a garage door. The brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to stop. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the diagnostic results were not disclosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.
When stationary and using the back life gate. Back lift gate will open, then violently come down about 10-12 inches. Very likely to injure. If you hold it up, it seems to push down. If you are holding it up, when you let go it violently slams shut. It could severely injure someone. I was told by GMC that my vehicle was not part of a current recall for other GMC acadias -- for the exact same issue.. They will not cover the repair as part of the recall, since my vehicle is not part of their recall.