YearToAvoid

2012 Buick Verano Airbags Problems

NHTSA lists 27 airbag complaints for the 2012 Buick Verano, 25% of all complaints for the year, tied to 7 crashes and 4 injuries at a median 61,500 miles. Three related recalls address a steering wheel airbag coil defect.

Airbags complaints
27
25% of 106
Crashes reported
7
Fires reported
0
Injuries reported
4
Median mileage
61,500 mi
Related recalls
3

Typical airbag symptoms owners report

  • Frontal airbags failed to deploy in crashes at various speeds, including a collision with a parked car, a pole, and a deer.
  • Airbags did not deploy in moderate-speed crashes, sometimes causing serious injury such as neck, shoulder, and upper back injuries or a multi-day coma.
  • The airbag warning indicator illuminated intermittently or the 'service airbags' message appeared, with dealers unable to find a cause.
  • Owners reported the failure persisted even after recall repairs for the steering wheel airbag coil were performed.
  • A steering coil spring failure was diagnosed as the cause of an illuminated airbag warning light in one case, outside the recall's VIN range.
  • Owners noted airbags failed to deploy in crashes even though the vehicle was not covered by any active recall.

When 2012 Buick Verano airbag complaints were filed

First complaint Jul 23, 2014, latest Apr 16, 2024.

2012 Buick Verano airbags complaints: complaints filed per month1Jul 2014Apr 2015Jul 2017Apr 2019Dec 2019Sep 2020Sep 2022
27 complaints filed with NHTSA from Jul 2014 to Apr 2024; peak Jul 2014 (1).

Airbags recalls for the 2012 Buick Verano

  1. NHTSA 14V300000Jun 6, 2014Airbags31,520 vehicles

    Air bags

    General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles manufactured December 2, 2011 to July, 16, 2012, Chevrolet Cruze vehicles manufactured December 7, 2011 to July 25, 2012, Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured December 5, 2011 to August 2, 2012, and Chevrolet Camaro vehicles manufactured December 1, 2011 to June 11, 2012. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.

    Risk: If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.

    Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The recall began on July 25, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact GM at 1-800-222-1020. Buick owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. Note: This is an expansion of recalls 12V-522 and 13V-023.

  2. NHTSA 13V023000Jan 24, 2013Airbags4,167 vehicles

    Air bags

    General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, Cruze and Sonic, and model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.

    Risk: If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.

    Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on February 13, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.

  3. NHTSA 12V522000Oct 31, 2012Airbags2,949 vehicles

    Air bags

    General Motors is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano, Chevrolet Cruze, and Chevrolet Sonic vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.

    Risk: If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal airbag, that airbag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.

    Remedy: General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel airbag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on January 11, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.

Airbags complaints by Verano model year

Raw complaint counts per model year; newer years have had less time to accumulate complaints.

  1. 201227 (25%)
  2. 201318 (17%)
  3. 201413 (13%)
  4. 201510 (17%)
  5. 201623 (39%)
  6. 20172 (22%)

Frequently asked questions

Are airbag problems common on the 2012 Buick Verano?
Yes. NHTSA lists 27 airbag complaints for the 2012 Verano, which is 25% of all complaints filed for that model year.
Is there a recall for the 2012 Buick Verano airbags?
Yes, there are three related recalls (campaigns 12V522000, 13V023000, and 14V300000) covering a driver-side frontal airbag shorting bar and steering wheel airbag coil replacement.
Did the airbag issue cause any injuries or crashes?
NHTSA data tied this issue to 7 crashes and 4 injuries for the 2012 Verano.
Does the recall fix all airbag non-deployment cases?
Not according to complaints; some owners reported the airbag warning light or non-deployment issue continued even after the recall repair was completed.
At what mileage do airbag problems typically show up?
The median mileage at failure reported to NHTSA for this issue is 61,500 miles.

Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaint and recall databases; U.S. EPA fuel economy data; NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

Data updated Sep 24, 2026. Read the methodology and data sources. The Complaint Index is based on NHTSA owner complaints and recalls; it is not a reliability rating.