Dodge Avenger vs Buick Enclave: which is more reliable?
The Dodge Avenger and the Buick Enclave are level on the federal record — 74/100 against 73/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Dodge Avenger
- 4 model years scored
- 1,515 owner complaints on record
- about 30 complaints per year on the road
- 12 recall campaigns, 9 safety-critical
- best year 2014 (89/100) · worst 2013 (60/100)
Buick Enclave
- 15 model years scored
- 1,457 owner complaints on record
- about 12 complaints per year on the road
- 45 recall campaigns, 32 safety-critical
- best year 2019 (92/100) · worst 2014 (30/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Avenger against Enclave
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Dodge Avenger
- Air Bags — 367 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 341 complaints
- Engine — 286 complaints
Buick Enclave
- Air Bags — 634 complaints
- Engine — 164 complaints
- Electrical System — 157 complaints
Both nameplates have Air Bags as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.
Years to avoid on each
Dodge Avenger: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2011, 2014.
Buick Enclave — avoid: 2014, 2025.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Dodge Avenger prices at about $15,400 and a Buick Enclave at about $44,100 — the Dodge Avenger is roughly $28,700 less, and they return 24.0 against 21.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Dodge Avenger or the Buick Enclave more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Dodge Avenger scores 74/100 against the Buick Enclave's 73/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Dodge Avenger and Buick Enclave years should I avoid?
Dodge Avenger: no year scores below 45. Buick Enclave: 2014, 2025. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Dodge Avenger and the Buick Enclave?
The largest complaint group on the Dodge Avenger is Air Bags (367 complaints); on the Buick Enclave it is Air Bags (634).
Is the Dodge Avenger or the Buick Enclave cheaper to own?
A recent used Dodge Avenger prices at about $15,400 and a Buick Enclave at about $44,100, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.