Transmission failure at 48K is never heard of. I love Buick but this time i am rethinking and unhappy about this.. the dealership had not been supportive in handling my situation and would not pay for rental or loan a car, so i called up Buick and they spoke to the dealership and now they ask me to come down and talk to them and are willing to see if they can reimburse me for the past week as well for future rental till my vehicle is repaired. I was saved by the extended warranty as the basic has already expired.

I am so upset, I was driving home from work and just as I make it to my garage the car will not accelerate into the garage. Thankfully I was home but it is still very upsetting nevertheless. I turn it off and turn it back on and it drives into the garage. I have it towed to the dealer the next day and I am told it is an issue with the transmission and it is going to cost $625 just to take it out and figure what the problem is.

When I think back and after reading some of the complaints on this site I was having trouble a while ago with the jerking when the car was started but stopped. Just my luck my warranty is over and there definitely needs to be a recall. GM fix your vehicles, no one wants to go through car troubles, it already cost a lot to maintain and run a car, problems are the last thing consumers need to deal with.

I read of the many folks reporting the same problem(s), as well as the same history of problems with their '08 Enclaves. I waited patiently for this vehicle to finally come out and that was regretfully a poor decision on my part. Purchased as brand new within just 1 month of its release. After 10 months- of ownership, steering column problems, 18 - months leaks with the moon roof, and of course that lead to electrical problems requiring 3 different service calls over a period of time that went beyond warranty period, service airbag warnings 5 different times - 5 more service visits, timing chain, wave plate, master solenoid at 70,000 miles at 6 years of ownership; master cylinder at 78,0000 miles, and on and on and on.

Maintenance of this vehicle was by the book and then some; changed the oil every 3,000 miles, had the transmission serviced per the owners manual, and so on. Needless to say, recently I finally rid myself of this problem and owned up to a poor decision to buy it in the first place. I was a fan of GM back in the day - and gone are those days. GM certainly didn't own up to the problems with this vehicle. GM had substantial data that should have resulted in more recalls and like the other decisions made by GM that did not support their products, there weren't. This family is finished with GM and never again will a GM product grace our driveway, much less the garage. Replaced this vehicle with something similar - but certainly not a US manufactured product.

Agreed - RUN don't walk away from any Enclave!

Car wouldn't go out of first gear, had transmission flushed, it went for 1 day and they said it was transmission which would cost about $3600/$4000. I came online to see if anyone else or recall and I found this site with all the same problems.

I emailed Buick because I cannot afford car note and a $4000 repair bill and asked why has this car not been recalled with transmission and water leaks? They said it's not on recall list. I told them I know this, I want to know why? They don't have that information. So why call me with it's not on recall list? I asked where do I call or email? They don't have that information.

So I guess I'm going to have a repossession on my credit report. They can come get it. Will not buy another Buick or GM.

i was driving in a school zone 30km/h and when i got out all of a sudden my RPM goes up but no power to the vehicle as i pushed the gas. I pull over get out the car nothing seems to be wrong, Then my check engine light comes on as i put my car in reverse it doesn't go i put it in drive it doesn't go over 30km if i was on the highway or something along those lines this could of been very dangerous. I am told that i have to get the transmission replaced and this could cost roughly $5000. This is a manufacture issue and i feel they should cover the cost i never push the car hard only drive to work and back home which is less then a 10 minute drive. Please let me know how i can get a reimbursement. Would GM even help me? I read that they reimbursed a few people and other people have no luck.. which isn't really fair at all.

I've had most every problem that I have seen listed for this model year with the transmission being the worst (so far) - but I'm not going to give it any more chances: we are getting rid of this car. Been to dealer about a dozen times: water pump, leaking sunroof, AC issues, loose dash trim, rear window defroster or similar recall, navigation issues with DVD (no inexpensive upgrades).

These were rushed out to sell without regard to the public. It was all about saving Government Motors. I helped to bail out GM and this is how they treat their customers. All I can do is to never buy another GM product and discourage anyone else from doing so.

The transmission failed when it was 10,000 miles under and 2 months over its warranty. I yelled at GM and it cost me $500 for the $3,800 repair. The problem was the wave plate. It would not go into reverse and would not shift above second gear. The same thing happened a year later and they said it was something else wrong with the transmission and it is not covered under the original repair.

This 2008 Enclave transmission is terrible on the highway and around town. It shifts gears more frequently than other cars.

The power steering is also a problem. It always has a whining sound to it. Repairs have been done a few times.

I purchased my Enclave in 2010 with approx 40k miles. The car has been serviced regularly and has been running as intended with the exception of the known issue of the steering wheel humming noise when turning.

I tried to accelerate after stopping at a red light and the rpms went extremely high and the car was barely moving. Luckily the situation I was in allowed me to pulled right into a residential neighborhood. AAA towed the car to the Buick dealership service center in Irvine, Ca. Fladeboe GMC Buick Service on Auto Center Drive. Diagnostic results show wave plate TCM, and the service consultant advised that I need a new transmission. My warranty ran out the end of 2012, but I didn't expect to be replacing a transmission at 80,001 miles! They gave me the cost which included $120/ hr labor.

I was reviewing the web during the waiting period and found many complaints for this same issue for the 08 Enclave. I explained to the consultant what I found and he indicated he sees it a lot, but there is no help he can give. I authorized the work and advised I would be calling GM. He advised against calling and says you will get nowhere. I called GM later and they will talk with service center and said there was a 75% probability that I could get 30% off my bill. They returned my call today and said they could only get the labor charge down to $100 Per hr. $240 savings, a whooping .07% off I believe.

I'm so frustrated right now! But luckily, I'm able to finance the cost. A bill like this on my income is a real hurt piece, but I need my car. I see GM on the news constantly these days with recalls and believe this issue should be considered. Is there anyone else I can talk to about moving this along? This is my first time blogging like this, but I needed somewhere to vent, and this worked fairly well. Thanks for reading... Don

I wish I had read these reviews before I just recently purchased my 2008 Enclave in May of 2014!!!!! I bought it used at 81000 miles, thinking because it was GMC/Buick made it would be a good car....was I wrong!!! It rode good the first 3-4 weeks, I even drove it out of town. On that second month, (the present) is when the problems started, I noticed that when I accelerated it would do a shaking number, like between 25-30 MPH and then it started getting worse, every time I came to a stop and started again, the shaking would get worse! Took it back to the place where I purchased it 3 times to tell them about the problem, they of course didn't feel or notice anything! So it kept doing it so finally I took it to a GMC/BUICK dealership, they diagnosed as a needing a new transmission and all brakes, pads, rotors were shot!! How could this be and I just purchased the car? There is no way I am driving that hard on this car to where the transmission is gone and the brakes are shot! This is my first time with a Buick, GMC or whatever it is, I should have stuck with my Toyota made vehicles!!! I had no problems out of those, I had my Camry 2002 for 9 years 151,000 miles and the transmission never went out!!! American made cars suck and now I'm stuck with this one! UGHHHH! I will never ever get another one! I agree with all of you, if this is a persistent problem with this make and model car, GM needs to either do a recall or pay to get them fixed! This is terrible!

I have a 2008 Buick Enclave CXL, 73200 miles suddenly can not shift to Reverse. The next day check engine light was on, the car can not speed over 40 ml/hrs and noise. After towed to dealer the service agent told me transmission wave plate broken. The cost of rebuild $3800 and replace new transmission $4009. My car was out of warranty, I paid $ 4009 to replaced new transmission. I just sent letter to Buick Corporation to complaint this problem ask for reimbursement , I'm wonder why wouldn't Buick or GM not recall this problem. If your car had same problem please call the NHTSA and GM to complaint. Please let me know how to request for reimbursement. Thank you, hellomyhuy88@yahoo.com

Buick: 1-800-521-7300 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline: 1-888-327-4236

I was driving home with my 6 year old daughter on Friday when my 2008 Buick Enclave (78,000 miles) would not accelerate over 20 miles an hour. We were on a highway and thankfully made it home okay.

After reading all of the comments on this site I am incredibly unhappy and apprehensive about talking with the dealership and/or GM on Monday. This is clearly an issue that should be addressed and unfair to those of us who thought we were purchasing a quality/reliable vehicle. My warranty expired in 2012 so I'm out of luck there. My husband and I purchased this vehicle in 2010 with 28,000 miles. We wanted a reliable vehicle that was family friendly for our two young daughters as he battled stage IV cancer and we knew we would be spending a lot of time driving to and from the hospital.

Sadly he lost his battle 8 months later and would be mortified that his wife and daughters are in this situation as the only reason we bought this car was that we wanted something trustworthy. Shame on you GM!

After doing some research on this Wave Plate and transmission failure in my 2008 Enclave. I found that LOTS of people have had the same problem. If that is the case then why did I have to pay to get it fixed. GM NEEDS TO RECALL!!! I will NOT buy another GM product again.

I loved my Enclave up until now, despite all the other recalls and the problems I have had with the service department getting things fixed. QUIT BEING LAZY GM and BUILD QUALITY CARS! Really considering contacting a lawyer and starting a class action suit to have GM pay for this. It may have only cost me $1700 to fix (that was because we were able to convince the dealership to pay for half) It was $1700 that I didn't have to spend on fixing something that was obviously faultily made and needs to be fixed by the car manufacturer.

We have been long time GM owners, my husband owns a GM truck and has had it for years. It has over 100,000 miles on it and still going strong. But not anymore, when the truck is done, we are done.