canuck

I bought a new 2011 Cruze LS in July/11. Nothing but problems-which are blown off by GM Canada & my dealer. 15,000 km on it now. Latest problem- started car-no problem. Drove fine for about 4-5 miles then cut to 2 cylinders- check engine,reduced power,check anti-skid,see mechanic & code 84 lights on. Was within a mile of dealers,so limped in at 20 km/hr. They kept it over 2 days (no loaner) and answer was that it was a low battery. I may not be that car savvy,but wouldn't the problem have shown up when starting it? Coolant level in surge tank down an inch from when I got it for the 2nd time-added dye but no coolant. Wrote a bit of a rant on FB page-got me a call from a GM rep whose answer was that they might give me a break on an extended warranty. Hadn't gotten one because my last 2 Chevys never used them-in fact my last car (98 Cavalier) which I gave to my niece has put on another 50,000 km since I bought this lemon without any problems! Guess I will be switching to another maker after 45 + years of being a loyal customer.Very bad way to retain customers,GM.

mnelsonri

I just found this forum after having our 2011 Cruze having on-going problems. I brought the car in a few weeks after purchasing it and was told that that was just the way the transmission work. I was also told the poor gas mileage must be because my son is a younger driver. I brought it in several more times complaining about the transmission with similar responses from the dealer.

Most recently I have been having transmission stuttering problems and the car has back in the shop 3 times to fix it so far.

I am not a big complainer and I have owned many GM Vehicles: Chevy Corsica LTZ, Chevy Lumiva APV (The Dustbuster), Chevy Nova (corolla), Buick Regal GT, GMC Sierra truck, Saturn SL1, Chevy S10 pickup.

The gas mileage and the shifting have never been right with this 2011 Cruze. I am very disappointed.

fastdriver

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it will never get fixed no matter what they say or do! They may go the whole route if you complain enough to Detroit DIRECTLY and get an 'engineer" to come to the dealership and have him proclaim- "operating as designed"! Been there. Done that! DUMPED the Cruze after 2 years and got a Buick Verano Turbo! Like night and day! LOVE the Verano 14 months old and NO problems!

Good luck.

tech2

i would prefer a 250hp turbo verano to a 138hp cruze too

fastdriver

It wasn't that as much as the crappy transmission! TWICE I almost got hit pulling out into traffic and having the car go nowhere when stepping on the gas. I don't care what ANY person/engineer/GM executive etc. says- my transmission was DEFECTIVE! Just like the ignition switch problem NOW that GM is facing, YEARS down the road, this 2011 Cruze transmission will be in the headlines too! Consumer Reports gives the 2011 model a BLACK mark in their current car issue.

Anyway- YES, the 250 HP turbo is VERY nice! I love it!

Poohski

Check engine on and car is stalling out suddenly. Very dangerous. Just picked the car up from dealer who did a throttle body service (at 32k miles) which cost $150 just a as a starting point. The light came on on the way home and car stalled out getting on the parkway, very close to an accident. I've been reading that this is a rather common problem. Why isn't there a definite fix for this and why isn't it covered under the power train warranty? Going to go back to dealer but he wants to replace the sensors now for more money as a second guess at the problem. I'm very nervous about driving the car now. Help GM! Yeah right.

12cruze

Don't know how to start a new post. Anywho... Defrost air is coming out at a trickle since last winter. I took it in and it cost $150 and they said it would cost another $700 just to figure out what the problem is. So I am fixing it myself. I took the battery cable off and it doesn't fix it. I can manually move the vent door I believe all the way back and forth and it doesn't blow air out the defrost. It happened when I was driving in winter and was sitting with heat on dash vent for quite a while and it was blowing super hot. When I moved it to defrost air barely came out and hasn't since. What do I need to do to fix this problem?

Jovana Serbz

I purchased my 2011 Chevy Cruze (LTZ) as a certified car in July 2013 (before working for the dealership). I didn't have many issues the first year and half. In 2015 i started noticing the car would lag (accelerate very poorly which almost cost me a few accidents) and I'd get a warning light was when i was on the highway and i got "TRANSMISSION HOT/IDLE ENGINE". I freaked out and slowed down on the highway until the light went away, had to turn off the A/C on a hot June day in Chicago. I took it into my dealership (which i currently work at) and they said it was a coolant leak just like everyone else on here that has brought it in. So they "fixed" it and it happened to me a few months later again. This time i contacted a family friend who owns a mechanic store as i received the same warning light AND engine light came on. So he towed my car in and also said to give it to the dealership since i have extended warranty as the transmission is designed poorly and under powered that would give me that information. Which would make sense as when i am driving longer distances on the highway (with or without A/C and in hot weather) this is when these issues arise. And yes, i frequently travel on the highway. So i need a reliable safe vehicle for this. Which shouldn't even be a debate. So that occurred late summer of 2015. Obviously fall and winter in Chicago wasn't a problem for the car as it the weather was cold. Fast forwarding to June 2016 which was right around the same time as the first time this occurred i was on the highway with my sister going to my grandpa's one year memorial service, and again. My warning light came on. I slowed down and turned off a/c and opened all the windows to let the car cool down. And of course after a few minutes the indication went away. I took my car in to my partnering dealership and they said it was something small with the the coolant...again. OK so i got the car back in a few days. Then i go to Wisconsin (Baraboo) for 2 days. Less than an hour going up north from Chicago i received the same warning light. I was following another car to get up there and had to call them to tell them about my issue and we had to slow down. It happened once more before we reached our destination which was a 3 hour drive. I was infuriated as i called my service adviser and very calmly said i will bring my car back first thing Monday morning as i'm experiencing the same issues. Driving up there i drove alone while tailgating another car. Coming back, one friend was coming home with me as we live in the same direction. Happened once more coming back to Chicago and I have a witness (car also jerked and very poorly accelerated). Keep in mind i take pictures of each time my issue occurs for reference and evidence. I also include the time and date with each picture. So i drop it off Monday to the same dealership. I also start contacting Chevy corporation at this point. I find this all ridiculous that no one can find the issue. At this time i was suppose to leave for Texas the following day (Tuesday) and yes, it would be a 15 hour drive to Dallas Texas. I got the car back Wednesday with a statement and receipt saying they haven't found anything and to "keep an eye" on it. That is not my job. To keep an eye on a vehicle i don't feel safe driving and that clearly has issues. Ridiculous. So driving to Texas my warning sign "transmission hot/idle engine" came on once ( the car jerked when going up slopes and barely accelerated, also my cruise control would turn itself off). Took a picture. Coming back it happened twice. Also took a picture. I couldn't make it in back to the dealership til a week later which at this point Chevy called back saying that they called the dealership and was told everything was taken care of which i responded no, everything is not alright. I haven't had the time to take it in and will be doing so in a few days. As i'm infuriated with the incompetence of my OWN dealership and Chevy Corporation. They kept my car for 9 days. They test drove my car 3x and finally once they were able to receive the same message i would get on my MID screen. Which I've told them under certain conditions does this happen. It has to be hot outside. You have to drive the car longer than an hour. However when they got the car back and hooked it up to their computer they couldn't find anything wrong so they gave the car back to me and said my extended warranty and Chevy cant do anything for me as their computer doesn't read any problems. THERE IS A DEFINITE PROBLEM WITH THE CAR. I complained to Corporate and i found help from a lawyer at this point. CHEVY KNOWS THEIR TRANSMISSIONS are designed poorly and under powered. I am driving an UNSAFE VEHICLE and if by chance something happens to me with Chevy and the dealership ( and my extended warranty) knowing VERY WELL about my issue it will be them that has to answer to my lawyers. This is beyond ridiculous as there haven't been anything done for me. AND I WORK FOR THE DEALERSHIP FAMILY. I'm not saying i need special treatment but how dare they brush me off and not help me with ANYTHING or give me any COMPENSATION for CHEVY's DEFECTIVE VEHICLE!!! I currently have taken the car at another Chevy dealership in my area and I am waiting to hear their response. I will be collecting all of my information and i will be talking to Chevy Corporation AGAIN about this.

kreplogle

I bought my 2011 Chevy Cruze from K&L auto in mill hall Pennsylvania April of 2017. two weeks after owning it I was experiencing the jumping transmission, the vehicle not shifting right between first and second gear, along with second and third. I took it back to the dealership and told them what it was doing and that I WAS NOT happy with the vehicle they sold me. The service tech wrote me off because I am a woman. He completely took advantage of my lack of knowledge with cars, but I KNEW I was right about this. I knew there was something wrong with the transmission and they just didn't wanna bother with it. He told me it was "throttle lag" because it had a small turbo in it. I looked at him and said "I've driven several cars with turbos and NONE of them acted like this. He preceded to tell me that there was nothing they could do and didn't want to hear anything I had to say.
A year and four months later my transmission has been ****ing up. I cant go into passing gears, when ,y car goes over 45 my RPMs jump and after a few minutes the car will shut off and leave me stranded on the side of the road. I cant drive my car for more than 20 minutes without having to pull over and let it sit so the transmission can cool down and get a break.
Took it to the shop to get the check engine light scanned and its throwing
-Transmission
-Body control
-Transmission control system


Never in a thousand years did I think this car would leave my 7 month son and I ****ed like we are right now. I am highly disappointed in this vehicle and it has put a VERY bad taste in my mouth for Chevys. I will never again purchase another one. And I make sure to tell all my friends and family to never buy one either. This was the first big purchase I had made and now it has left me with no vehicle until I either get whatever is wrong with it fixed or gather up another down payment for another vehicle. Leaving me with a $7000 loan to pay on still. I cannot stress how disappointed I am in this vehicle. GM NEEDS to take responsibility for their **** up and get this problem fixed. Take ownership for their mistake instead of leaving us stranded on the side of the road.

fastdriver

So sorry you had to go through this. This is the MAIN reason that I lease my cars because IF they are a POS, THEY get the car back and take the LOSS and NOT ME! I too had a 2011 Cruze LTZ RS that had a POS transmission. I fought them all the way. The last straw was when they had a factory "expert" come down who said "operating as designed"!!!! Of course, the problem was erratic. I had something else to drive and told them to drive the car in stop and go traffic where the problem would pop up! Of course, they never did because I would check the app on my phone and the mileage would increase by only a few miles! IF I drove on the highway all the time I probably would never have noticed the problem. However, that was not the case. I can't tell you how many times I thought I got rear ended when coming to a stop! TWICE I almost got t-boned pulling onto a main road because when I stepped on the gas NOTHING happened!!! LUCKILY, I was able to get out of the 3 year lease after 2 years. Leased a 2013 Buick Verano top of the line model, fully equipped! Loved the car and was going to lease another until I saw the 2016 Chevy Malibu Premier! LOVE it! GM KNOWS the 2011 Cruzes were a POS, but would never admit it. Some people had the whole heating/AC system components replaced because they were getting an antifreeze smell in the car! I never had that problem.

I hope they fix your car. What did the dealer say NOW when those codes came up? Did you say- I TOLD YOU SOMETHING WAS WRONG! Good luck.