2012 Gmc ACADIA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 GMC Acadia SUV FWD has an impressive overall safety rating of 5 out of 5, making it a top choice for safety-conscious drivers. In terms of specific crash ratings, it received high marks across the board with a 4 out of 5 for overall front crash rating and a perfect 5 out of 5 for side crash ratings. The vehicle is also equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances its ability to maintain control in various driving conditions. While it does not come with forward collision warning or lane departure warning features, its strong safety performance overall is reassuring.

On the downside, there have been 273 complaints reported for this model, which is something potential buyers may want to consider. Additionally, there have been 5 recalls issued for this vehicle, indicating that there may be some issues that need to be addressed by the manufacturer. Despite these concerns, the 2012 GMC Acadia stands out as a safe choice for drivers seeking a reliable and secure SUV option.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

273

Recall Count

5

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2012 GMC Acadia SUV FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 GMC Acadia SUV FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2012 GMC Acadia SUV FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 GMC Acadia SUV FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2007 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 4 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2007 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2007 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated

Complaints for the 2012 Gmc ACADIA

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 gmc acadia. the contact stated the rear hatch door would close independently. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. a dealer was not contacted. the manufacturer had been informed of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 114,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2022-01-01
Complaint:
"the power liftgate suddenly collapsed while i was standing underneath it. it dropped on top of my head pretty hard as it was a sudden drop of the liftgate. my safety was/is at risk and has caused injury to my head. currently experiencing headaches. as condition progresses, i will be seeking medical attention. it is available for inspection. i have recorded a video of the problem. the problem is recurring and reproducing. i have not taken it to a dealer or independent service center today (9/13/2021 date of incident) as the weather is bad in my area (experiencing high rain and winds from a tropical storm). i will have it taken in on 9/14/2021. the vehicle has not been inspected by anyone. there were no warning indicators or other symptoms prior to the initial collapse."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2022-01-09
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 gmc acadia. the contact stated while the vehicle was parked in the driveway and the contact and his wife were taking groceries out of the vehicle, the rear liftgate suddenly fell and hit the contact’s wife on the back of the head. the contact’s wife had a severe headache with dizziness. the contact took the vehicle to a local dealer to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the liftgate struts failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 97,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2020-02-05
Complaint:
"the back life gate does not stay open. it will automatically open with press of button: however, it will not stay open and will fall down fast without any indication. it is very dangerous."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2020-01-09
Complaint:
"tailgate falls down after opening. will not stay up without holding."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2021-04-08
Complaint:
"our 2012 acadia liftgate spontaneously failed when my husband lifted the liftgate, coming down towards his head with speed and force. luckily he was able to quickly get his hands up before it crashed down on his head. had this been a child, someone with slower reflexes, or had his reflexes failed him he could have been seriously injured or killed. i have been an rn for 15 years, 6 of which i spent on a trauma unit caring for problem with closed head injuries and so i understand the devastating effects first hand. the physics to this safety issue are elementary. i have reached out to dealership the day we took in for repair and was told basic wear and tear. no not a spontaneous issue like this that can cause serious harm or death. i opened a case with gmc and through gmc facebook messenger only to be continuously corralled back to the dealer. gmc must do better for their customers who are human beings with families and loved ones. vehicle was stationary parked in our driveway. date of issue was fall of 2019. i have been going back with gmc to no avail and now believe i must take this issue further as i do not want anyone else's injury on my conscious and gmc clearly has no concern for this."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2019-01-10
Complaint:
"the lift gate opens and then immediately falls. it has hit me in the head a couple of times. the lift gate can only be held up if it is pushed up as high as it can go. i am short so that is hard for me to do. i also can't load/unload groceries if i'm holding the lift gate up. i let the lift gate close part way, holding it with my back as i try to load/unload groceries, but now the motor is pulling it closed on me and has trapped me up against the bumber! the car is always parked when we open/close the lift gate."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2019-11-02
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2012 gmc acadia. the contact stated that the liftgate did not open initially, but later slammed down without warning. the contact stated that the liftgate fell down on the driver and knocked him to the ground. it was unknown if the driver was injured. the dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 43,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2018-10-07
Complaint:
"liftgate struts did fail and the liftgate fell down uncontrollably. it happened exactly as mentioned in nhtsa campaign number 15v415000 but the dealership said my vehicle was not on the recall list so there was nothing they could do about the issue under warranty and i would need to pay for the repairs out of pocket."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2018-08-06
Complaint:
"my dash is cracking for no apparent reason. it's to a point now of needing replaced and has raised my safety concern for myself and passenger if i was to come involved in a crash by broken large plastic fragments."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2014-01-01

Recalls for the 2012 Gmc ACADIA

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"general motors is recalling certain model year 2009-2014 buick enclave vehicles manufactured april 14, 2008, through may 14, 2014, chevrolet traverse vehicles manufactured june 6, 2008, through may 14, 2014, and gmc acadia vehicles manufactured april 9, 2008, through may 14, 2014, and 2009-2010 saturn outlook vehicles manufactured april 14, 2008, through march 18, 2010. in the affected vehicles, the flexible steel cable that connects the seatbelt to the front outboard seating positions may fatigue and separate over time."
Consequence:
If the steel cable becomes fatigued and separates, the seatbelt may not properly restrain the seat occupant increasing the risk of an injury in a crash.
Remedy:

General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, repair and replace the lap pretensioner, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. An interim notice will be mailed to owners in July 2014. A second notice will be mailed to owners once parts become available. The recall for the 2009-2010 model years began on July 11, 2014. The interim letter for the 2011-2014 model years were distributed on July 11, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-462-8782 (GMC), 1-800-553-6000 (Saturn). General Motors recall number for this campaign is 14187.

Component(s) Involved: SEAT BELTS
Date of incident: 2014-05-20

GMC Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

GMC ranks 8 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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