68 problems related to power train have been reported for the 2008 Buick Enclave. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 Buick Enclave based on all problems reported for the 2008 Enclave.
The wave plates broke while driving 60mph on the hwy. Car jolted and clunked. . . Felt as if we went from 5th to 1st gear. Took vehicle to dealership and found it it was the wave plates. Talked to gm - gm district manager dwight admitted that gm had an issue with certain models with the wave plates due to them not being heat treated properly. Got this all on recording too. Could have caused a nasty accident.
Driving on the highway rpm's were going up but car was hardly moving. We could have been hit! after checking on-line this seems to be a problem for the 2008 Enclave. Why has there not been a recall? I believe no-one wants to take responsibility for such a costly problem but someone is going to get hurt. . . . . We were on the highway. I will not stop here. . . . I am hoping someone will actually read and respond to me.
Check engine/emissions control light came on as we were driving. Stopped about a half hour later to put gas in, as we were stopped at a stop light the car didn't want to go (no power, no shift). As we were leaving the station, the car would not go. It would not shift into 3rd year, rpms were at 4000 at only 40mph. Drove home and later drove it to the mechanic. Drove fine then, but the rpm gauge was fluctuating. Mechanic read the codes as 716 and 717. Took it to a transmission specialist and it did the same thing, wouldn't shift. Trans mechanic states its the clutch wave plate that probably broke and magnetic pieces attached to the sensor causing it to go into a limp mode. Approximate cost to replace the $20 part (wave plate) will be in the upper $2000! ridiculous. I'm losing my faith in gm vehicles. Per a web search, this is a common problem with Enclave, acadia, outlook and traverse. Something needs to be done about this!.
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Enclave. While driving approximately 55 mph, the vehicle made a jerking motion. In addition, the transmission power off and motor losing power indicators illuminated. The failure occurred several times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000.
Was driving and the vehicle just dropped speed,motor revved. The car continued to lose speed, pulled to the side of the road had to have it towed in to a shop. Mechanic informed me the wave plate was bad and that it was/is a really common problem. Dealership informed me gm knows its bad but no recall. Got a letter in the mail on 4/2/2015 saying they would reimburse me if my mileage was l20000 or less. Nice that they get to choose which ones they fix. Waited till now to report thinking sense so many are bad gm might do something. Hope this problem doesn't hurt anyone.
The engine light came on. . . (4) recalls for other malfunctions. . . , the current re-call - 10/2014 on side air bags, that was taken care of. The engine light continued to stay on . . . The dealership found the problem. . . The gas tank. . . A brand new gas tank was needed. How can that be, the car is ( 6 ) years - six . The mileage ( 64,000 ). . Record shows consistent car services, good care from the initial purchase. The dealership states the cost would be $505. 00. "the car could at any time stop receiving gas into the tank!!!. . . . The car at any time, could just stop!!!, due to a defected gas tank; assembled at a gm plant, 2008 to me, this is their/ gm responsibility. This is definitely a **safety road issue, not caused by me. . . . They did some sort of test; automobile was not even at the service area, when the so-called test was administered; it was then declared that the charge is mind. . . . I spoke to a gmbuick rep, in detroit . Mi. , he sent me to dealership, dealership determines who pays. Gm transfers its responsibility to a dealership. . . Please advise. . . . Gm lacks the ability to interact with customer; no options, no customer service, no consideration, no satisfaction was given, especially; no manners. . . Dealership did not make the car; nor equipment. . . Please .
2008 Buick Enclave. Consumer writes in regards to reimbursement for vehicle transmission repairs. The consumer stated gm denied her request for financial support. In spetember 2014, the transmission was replaced due to a wave plate defect. The consumer received a letter from gm stating they would offer full reimbursement for vehicles that had the repair if they were less than 10 years old or had less than 120,000 miles at the time of the repair. The consumer was denied, because her vehicle had a 122,000 miles by the time she was able to afford the repair.
My car has been maintained the whole time I've had it. I've had to have replaced the motor for the electric seat, the hinge mounts for the lift gate, the dvd player, and an oil leak fixed. Now the 3/5/r wave plate has broken. What's up with the Buick Enclaves? they cost too much for all these items to break and need replacing. I could understand if the SUV was abused and not maintained. If I wanted to have my car in the shop all the time, I would have bought a clunker. Why doesn't GMC have a recall for some of these items, especially the transmission 3/5/r wave plate. It isn't safe when it goes out and you are on the road. I have grandchildren that I drive around in this SUV. We could be killed. GMC needs to wake up before someone is killed in regards to this problem.
My family and I were on our way back to wisconsin from a trip to florida on Saturday, August 16, 2014. My husband had exited the interstate and was pulling into a parking space at a fast food restaurant. The space was on a slight incline. As he pulled into the space, the Enclave started to roll backward. I checked the position of the gearshift thinking that he had accidentally shifted into neutral but found that the vehicle was still in drive. The engine revved when he pressed the accelerator but the car continued to roll backward. The only gear the would work was park. We had the vehicle towed to the local Buick GMC Cadillac dealer. On Monday, August 18, a service technician called to let us know that the 35r wave plate had failed and the 35r housing was also damaged and that metal debris had been found throughout the unit. The repair took about two days and cost $3589. 49. Thankfully we were not on the interstate when the failure occurred. Had we remained on the interstate another mile and suddenly not been able to keep the vehicle moving forward while the traffic around us moved at expressway speeds, we could have had a serious accident that resulted in terrible injury or fatality. I wrote a letter to Buick requesting reimbursement of cost of the refund and expense we incurred due to having to wait to have the vehicle repaired. I also requested that they issue a recall for the wave plate failure due to the severe danger that the failure creates. Finally, I mentioned information I found on the internet stating that this failure is common on the Enclave and its sister vehicles. They refused to reimburse me since there was no recall on the vehicle. They also said that the NHTSA, not gm, issues recalls and gave me the phone number to contact the NHTSA to file a complaint.
I was driving at approximately 55 mph when I felt my steering wheel go stiff and my rpm gauge dropped. I tried pulling over but had problems turning the wheel. That is when I realized my Enclave had completely shut off while I was driving. I was able to put it into neutral and hit the brakes to bring the vehicle to a stop where I then restarted it. That was 2 days ago. Today I went to start it for work and for the 3rd time in 2 months it would not start. I have already had the battery as well as the connections checked with no wrong findings. I have only had this car for 4 months! I called the dealership and they said that there is a 'service bulletin' posted in their repair shop because "many people" were experiencing the same problem but it was not a recall.
Was driving on interstate at 70 mph and as car was trying to climb a hill and transmission shifting gears, it slipped. Happened a few times while on interstate. Got to location and then went to leave again and backing up car was hesitating. Pull forward then needed to go in reverse and car hesitated like someone pressing on and off gas. Arrived back at home and took the vehicle in to transmission place (had already researced through weekend on problem and saw alot of problems with 2008 Buick Enclaves with wave plate (snap ring) going out on transmission. Just received call and my Buick is another one that has joined the rank of all those who have had this same problem. Should not have to have transmission rebuilt/replaced at this stage of vehicle life. I am one year out of my warranty, but under the mileage, however, that doesn't matter! gm needs to do a recall on these transmissions! there is definitely a problem and in light of all the recent news on gm problems, I think we have found another problem that should have been recalled and wasn't.
Engine revs no movement, no reverse engine light on.
We lost our transmission entering onto a busy interstate! no indicator lights ever came on until it happened. We are not in the habit of beating our vehicles. We are a retired. This I feel is a defect in something. There were many cars coming behind us on the ramp. It was a 2 lane ramp that went to one lane. I got into the right lane when I noticed the problem that the car was jerking and would go intermittently. I sayed right until I could get to a pull over area. Full lines of traffic behind us were having to slow down which it looked pretty scarey when I looked in the rear view mirror. My husband and I feel that the way we drive should not make us lose a transmission. Also, when we purchased the vehicle we took it in for a steering squeek, loud, and were told nothing was wrong. It still squeeks and worse. We are having that looked at now, again! we do not trust the warning lights on this vehicle. We purchased it new.
Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly stalled. The contact restarted the engine but the transmission would not operate in reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 73,000. Kmj.
Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while traveling 35 mph, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate past 15 mph. The contact also stated that the engine light illuminated then the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to a private mechanic who stated that the tranmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was being repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 110,607 and the current mileage was unknown.
Tl - the contact owns a 2008 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle failed to accelerate as the check engine warning light illuminated. On another occasion, the contact stated that the vehicle failed to operate in reverse. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 73,200 and the current mileage was 73,800. Dr.
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked with the engine turned off. A four-year old child was in the vehicle and haphazardly moved the vehicle out of park. The vehicle then rolled away and crashed into a fence from the drover¿s side area. The child did not sustain any injuries. A police report was not filed. The dealer inspected the vehicle and was unable to duplicate the failure. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 100,000. The VIN was not available.
Purchased vehicle end of Feb 2014. Problems started right away. 3-13-14 replaced front struts, complained about trans shifts and heater motor working part time. Dealer said they could not duplicate. 4-8-14 replaced blower motor and pigtail. 6-5-14 replaced ac evaporator old one was shot. 7-5-14 replaced transmission,& water pump, & steering gear pinion shaft seal. Now we currently have clear coat pealing and water coming in on the drivers side floor.
Car lost all forward motion with no warning. Diagnosis: transmission gone. I was on a narrow 2 lane roadway and was stuck on a curve. A sitting duck. I was able to pull over to side a bit but still in harms way. No indication of any kind that there was a problem prior to incident. 12 hours prior at 11 pm at night, I was traveling in the tunnel under boston. Thank god it didn't go then. The car was 9 months out of dealer 5 year / $100,000 warranty. Also had to repair steer gear bushings for $350 (which I see on this site has been a problem for many others). These seem to be defective parts, that put me in danger.
I just had my transmission repaired, cost me my savings, and a known issue with many owners. Now the power steering is caput. Have to waist my precious time and money on taking the car to the shop again. There is already a class action law suite for this exact issue. Shame on GMC for producing such poor quality car.
While driving down the freeway at 70 mph the vehicle kicked out of gear. Engine was still running. Pulled to shoulder of freeway and coasted. Once the vehicle slowed to approximately 50 mph it engaged back into gear. Was able to drive between 55 and 60 at about 3000 rpm but transmission would not shift to higher or lower gears. Took freeway exit and came to stop. Upon turning onto adjacent road the vehicle only used 2 gears to reach a speed of 55 mph, shifting from a low gear to a high gear at 4000 rpm.
As we were driving around a dark curve on a well traveled country road, the car quit pulling, the battery died, and the car would not shift. We were unable to move the car and were in the dark. There were two adults and two children in the car at the time. We had to call a wrecker to pick up the car and a deputy sheriff to direct traffic and keep from being hit by oncoming traffic. Apparently, the shifter broke and the transmission died. Both had to be replaced. I found out later that the transmission is the #1 complaint on this particular car. Why has a recall not been done? do lives have to be lost before something is done???.
Was driving down highway and vehicle started to hesitate and couldn't do anything with it. . Had to call two truck and tow it to capital Buick. . Was told transmission went out and had to replace it. .
The contact owns a 2008 Buick Enclave. The contact was driving approximately 40 mph when the service engine warning light illuminated. In addition, the vehicle would not respond to acceleration attempts and then stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed as the transmission needing to be replaced. No repairs were performed. The manufacturer was notified but no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 74,000. Updated 02/11/lj.
While driving with my daughter, and dogs from the vet; the car began to slow down and eventually stop. I tried to restart and vehicle turn on lights, ac, radio came on however would not crank. Pedestrians pushed me out of harms way and into a parking lot. Towed to dealer immediately without inspection they said it is engine failure and I would be responsible for over 7000 worth of damage. The car had a full warranty and extended warranty which just recently ended. I am still making payments and had the vehicle less than 1 year.
After stopping at a stop sign my vehicle would not move. . . I shifted into neutral then back to drive and it went forward very slowly, then nothing. I coasted off the road (at a very busy intersection) and fortunately 2 policemen stopped to help me. They looked under the hood and could smell something burning. They called the Buick dealer for a tow and when I went into the dealer they said they 'thought' it was probably the transmission, but wouldn't know the problem until the trans. Was dropped. Also that the warranty had expired in July! I was told, two days and $3100. 00 later it was a wave plate problem. After searching online I found that this seems to be fairly common for this vehicle and other gm products. I bought this Enclave used in Jan. /2010 with 41,000. Miles. It supposedly had rave reviews, and now has terrible ones. That says a lot. No one should have to replace a transmission after 5 yrs. , or 66,000 miles, especially in a high end model vehicle that costs this much!.
My two children and I were traveling on a highly elevated ramp between major highways in san antonio (281 and 1604) when my car no longer would move into a higher gear and suddenly stalled at its current speed. The engine roared, but the car would not go faster. The traffic behind me almost hit me, as I unexpectedly was not increasing speed as one would typically do entering a highway. It was extremely frightening to all three of us (especially my 9 year old) and required our exiting the highway immediately. The problem continued, and we immediately took the car into the dealership service center. The technician was able to determine the problem quickly, because it has been a frequent repair. The "wave plate" failure led to the failed transmission with additional engine problems. The bill exceeds $6000. Both the near accident and cost have been highly stressful. We want gm to address this "wave plate /transmission" issue before more people almost get hurt. The forums for gm vehicles containing this part have dozens of complaints already.
We brought this car from landers Ford collierville in 19apr13 and I have had to get the brakes redone, and a valve with the air conditioner fixed. But we went to sunrise GMC on 28jun13 and they advised us that we need a brand new transmission in the car due to a crack in some part of the transmission. I haven't had the car that long and now it needs a new transmission. Landers Ford knew that that car had transmission problems. GMC advised us that this is a problem that happens in the Buick Enclaves and the arcadias. So if you know that this car had these problems, then why havent a recalled been done on the cars. We did research this past week and everyone complains about the transmission. We also called GMC and they advised me that since I brought the car from a Ford dealership and not GMC that they can not replace the transmission. But they can give us 70/30 we pay 70 percent of the repairs which I can not afford. They advised us that the car came off the line in 2007 and that is why the car is 10 months out of warranty.
My 2008 Buick Enclave only has 54000 miles on it and the transmission had to be replaced. The rpms would race up but the car would not move. The air conditioner also quit working at 39,000 miles but I waited until this breakdown to fix it because it was the beginning of the cool season. The high pressure line to the condenser and evaporator had to be replaced.
Broken 3-5-r wave plate in transmission.
After momentarily putting the car in park, and then back into drive, the car would only move a couple inches at a time and after 30 seconds or so, stopped moving entirely. Vehicle was towed to garage, and needed to have the transmission replaced due to defective wave plates.
Tl-the contact owns a 2008 Buick Enclave. The contact stated that while driving at 30 mph, the vehicle jerked without warning. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 79,000. Djr.
This car has a whinning noise coming from the steering column that gets louder the more drive it. I have contacted the Buick care dept and they indicated it is a known problem but they will not fix it. They had me take my car to the Buick place where I purchased the vehicle and they come up with about 1900. 00 to fix this and say that it is a known problem with the Buick steering that some housing is too close to the steering column and it creates the noise and steering problems and that Buick and everyone else is aware of it and that they should issue a recall but do not. In addition I have engine stalling problems where there is lack of power upon sudden acceleration. This happens frequently.