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CarComplaints.com Notes: In many ways, the 2012 Cruze continues the legacy of its predecessor. It's a legacy of sluggish transmissions and coolant leaks, but it's still a legacy.

To be fair, the number of complaints about the cooling system are way down versus the 2011 model which led to a class-action lawsuit.

On the flip-side, there's more concerns about brake problems.

However, there were far more Cruze vehicles sold for the 2012 model year so we'll give it our "Beware of this Clunker" badge rather than the "Avoid Like the Plague."

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
59,402 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Chevrolet Cruze brakes problems

brakes problem

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Owner Comments (Page 5 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #28

Jul 302014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 45,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I bought this car for my daughter, the second or third week after she got it she started to notice the radio flickering on and off while driving for no reason, which eventually led to the radio flickering continuously after using blinkers &windows. "service stabilitrak" flashes on the display often but very quickly and goes off. Doesn't occur every time I drive, but it does it more times than not. Now the radio will flicker and I will occasionally lose cruise control and power steering. I also have no blinkers/radio when this happens. It usually only happens briefly and will return to normal soon after, but it continues to do it off and on until I park. I have also noticed this occurring when I shift gears to park. Most recently I went to start my car and it just clicked and wouldn't start. I got it to start and it said "service anti theft deterrent, " then changed to "service power steering" just as I lost power steering while driving. "service stabilitrak quickly flashed next all while I lost blinkers, power steering, and radio. I parked, turned my car off and restarted it and it was just fine. It has been to the Chevy dealer once but they could not get a code to read because they can't get the radio to flicker, etc because it only happens every so often but when it does happen it is scary! so there is nothing they can do to fix it. Please look into it as I do not feel it is safe for her to drive. This has been going on for 3 months now and I do not feel like this car is reliable which is the reason I bought it! there has to be something that can be done as I have read several complaints that are extremely similar to mine! I also have come to the conclusion that the problems are going to continue to worsen after reading the other complaints.it is a major problem. Please don't wait until something tragic happens before something is done about this! please!

- Roxie, MS, USA

problem #27

Feb 032014

Cruze

  • 39,100 miles
I was driving to work around 6 am my dash board blinked off and on and showed an error "traction control/stabilitrack." I have taken the vehicle to the dealer at least 3 times and they tell me when the vehicle is in their care it does happen. The last time I let them keep the vehicle for a 1 1/2 weeks and it happen the next day I drove it. Now I'm trying to figure out who is going to reimburse me for the rental I needed.

- Grand Prairie, TX, USA

problem #26

Aug 172014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 50,000 miles
First the car would not start. After multiple attempts it did start and service anti theft system flashed. Shortly after, while stopped, all of the dash lights began flickering on and off causing multiple service codes to flash. Then while driving the power steering would stop working at random times.

- Delaware, OH, USA

problem #25

Jun 012014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 30,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I got my car in March & absolutely loved it! for the first few months I had no problems. Then I started to notice the radio flickering on and off while driving for no reason, which eventually led to the radio flickering continuously after using blinkers &windows. "service stabilitrak" flashes on the display often but very quickly and goes off. Doesn't occur every time I drive, but it does it more times than not. Now the radio will flicker and I will occasionally lose cruise control and power steering. I also have no blinkers/radio when this happens. It usually only happens briefly and will return to normal soon after, but it continues to do it off and on until I park. I have also noticed this occurring when I shift gears to park. Most recently I went to start my car and it just clicked and wouldn't start. I got it to start and it said "service anti theft deterrent, " then changed to "service power steering" just as I lost power steering while driving. "service stabilitrak quickly flashed next all while I lost blinkers, power steering, and radio. I parked, turned my car off and restarted it and it was just fine. It has been to the Chevy dealer multiple times but they cannot get a code to read because they can't get the radio to flicker, etc because it only happens every so often but when it does happen it is scary! so there is nothing they can do to fix it. Please look into it as I do not feel safe driving. This has been going on for 2 months now and I do not feel like this car is reliable which is the reason I bought it! there has to be something that can be done as I have read several complaints that are extremely similar to mine! I also have come to the conclusion that the problems are going to continue to worsen after reading the other complaints.it is a major problem. Please don't wait until something tragic happens before something is done about this! please![xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- York, NE, USA

problem #24

Apr 192014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 64,829 miles
On the first occurrence the lights on the radio display began to flicker and then all electrical power to the dashboard. The electrical came back on and the dash display depicted the warning message check stabilitrak. I took it to the dealership where I purchased the car and they said that high voltage codes C0800, 07 and high voltage history showed up on the scope and there were no issues. The second time the lights on the radio display began to flicker and then all electrical power to the dashboard, airbags and the electrically assisted power steering went out, while on a very steep mountain road and I had no control over the vehicle. The electrical came back on and the dash display depicted the warning message check stabilitrak. I took it to a different dealership and the dash flickering occurred with the service person in the car driving but nothing showed up when the mechanic was trying to fix it so they said there was nothing they could do. Two days later while my daughter was driving she lost power steering and the same issues with the dash and was involved in an accident, thank god her baby was not in the car. Please help!....updated 07/31/14

- Georgetown, CA, USA

problem #23

Jul 202014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 44,000 miles
Bought the car used from a non-Chevy dealer in June 2014. After about a month or so and 44000 mpg. All of a sudden, the time/temp/date display (along with the radio) started blacking out. Then a few times the "service power steering" warning light flashed on and off and we actually lost our power steering momentarily several times and today 07-20-2014 with me, my husband and 6yr old daughter in the car!!!! very scary. Then the "service stabilitrak" warning light flashed on and off as well. At the same time the time/temp/date blacks out again too. The car loses power when traveling at speeds over 50mph. All the warning lights have flickered on and off several times along with the power steering and stablitrak. This issue needs to be addressed. I will be contacting a dealer and legal action will be taken if issue isn't resolved. Peoples lives and safety are not something to be taken lightly.

- Troy, MO, USA

problem #22

Jun 132014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 58,650 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Since 11/13 to present, I've been experiencing instances with the stability trak issues with the radio turning on/off for a few mins; the dashboard lights would blink and go dim; it happened often when I'd use the defogger and try to let the window up/down and it would also dim my headlights (I noticed that in the evenings) or even just using the turn signal. Recently I was hitting the highway & the power steering went out, the doors unlocked & the messages were on my dash. There's also a dark ring around my steering wheel for the airbag that I believed tried to open. I had to turn the steering wheel with a lot of force to pull to the side of the road to avoid getting hit from behind. I turned the car off & waited a few minutes & turned it back on. It came back on with no issues. The next day the power steering went out again but this time I was in the driveway after arriving home. Both times that this has happened, I was using my ac. I went to the dealership & was told that the codes may not come up since it had only happened 2 times. I took it to advance auto and they put it on their computer and no codes showed up. I was told by the place that I purchased my car from to wait for the recall. I've been checking every day since then to see if there is a recall for my car because I don't want to pay for repairs that should already be on the recall list! I'm too afraid to drive the car a long distance for fear of getting hit or even killed by other vehicles if & when my car does it again.

- Kittrell, NC, USA

problem #21

May 222014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 70,000 miles
I was driving home from work, about 15 miles on the freeway at the speed limit which is 75 mph. The car with no warning completely shut itself off. As a result, I lost the ability to steer or brake. I would estimate it stayed off for approximately 5 seconds before kicking back on, without my having to restart. I treated this as an anomaly. Last week on my way to work, which is in the dark at 3am, it shut itself of 3 times within 10 miles of a 70 mile drive. Each time giving me a service indicator light of some sort ( service stabilitrak, service anti theft...) I had no steering, no breaks and no lights. Again this is in the dark!! I noticed that there are 43 other complaints of this very serious safety issue with no resolution from this site, the dealerships or the manufacturer. Is it going to take a death or horrifyingly bad accident to get this addressed"?"

- Philipsburg, MT, USA

problem #20

Apr 012014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 40,000 miles
In April I had been driving and noticed that my radio was flickering. After about ten minutes of my radio flickering on and off, the "service stabilitrack" light came on. Once the service light came on, power steering shut off and I had to pull the vehicle over. After pulling over, I shut off the vehicle and then tried to restart it. This time it started with a new service light on. I took the car into the dealership and they had it for three days hoping that the problem would present itself to them. I showed them a video of what happens to the radio and they were unable to help me. They did however notice that a previously recall done on my car had not been fixed before I purchased it. A few days after getting the car back, the lights started to flicker again. I contacted the dealership and they let me know that there was no point in bringing it in unless the problem was constant. About a month later, I went to start my car and nothing. No lights, no engine turn over nothing. My key was stuck in the ignition and would not turn. My fiance had to get out tap the battery and the whole thing started up. Two days ago, the same radio, service lights and engine shut off happened again. This is 2 times now that I have had complete failure in the middle of the road. I am literally terrified for my life!!!!!!!....updated 07/31/14 updated 08/23/2017

- Snohomish, WA, USA

problem #19

Feb 202014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 46,000 miles
My 2012 Chevy Cruze turned the radio dashboard on/off and the check engine light came on in December 2013 the engine light remained on the radio only once then didn't do it again. In February 2014 it started doing it again this time the stereo would turn on/of, the dash board on/off and my locks would unlock and lock themselves the blinker stopped making the clicking sound and the open door sound failed as well. This problem would occur occasionally until April 2014 the vehicle started to do all the issues above except this time it would include anti theft, service stabiltrack, and power warnings every time and the vehicle would turn off/on the engine and required me to put it on park and turn it off/on. In May 12 of 2014 I took the vehicle into the Chevrolet dealer to resolve this issue.they resolved several issues to what they believed resolved the issue of the vehicle turning on off. That didn't resolve the issue. My vehicle now is worse it turns off/on while driving accelerating or decelerating. It turns the radio on/off and gives me the same errors codes. Its life threatening as I almost got into a accident jumping onto the free way June 1014, my vehicle turned off and would not turn on on the free way entrance and a vehicle from behind was about to hit me. My vehicle is un safe for, me and my family keeps turning on/off and I have taken it to Chevrolet dealer 3 times and they do not know what is wrong. Life threatening issues!!

- San Jacinto, CA, USA

problem #18

Nov 112013

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 42,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving all of the dash lights keep flickering on and off. The power steering went out and the ac turned off and would not turn on. The next day the car would not start and key was stuck in the ignition.

- Mount Juliet, TN, USA

problem #17

Dec 162013

Cruze

  • 48,000 miles
December 2013 -- the radio and dash board lights (service stabilitrak) have been flashing on and off then this evening while driving on a straight road, the "service power steering" light flashed on and my steering wheel locked up. That continued for approx. 2 minutes then started working correctly. When I got home and pulled into my parking spot and turned my car off everything turned off, including my interior lights and I couldn't remove my key from the ignition. I let it sit for approx. 5 minutes then tried to start the car and it did turn on so I turned it off again and I was able to remove the key. February 2014 -- the same things are happening and the power steering turns off and the steering wheel locks up May 2014 -- power steering turns off and steering wheel locks up; battery completely dies randomly; new dealership tells me the battery cables need to be replaced; however, other Cruze owners who have filed a complaint with the same issues and had their battery cable replaced report that this does not resolve the issue.

- Columbus, MS, USA

problem #16

Apr 072014

Cruze

  • 20,000 miles
Radio starts turning on and off, stability control lights flash, power steering gets hard to turn.this is the third time we brought it to the shop.its good for a week or so and does the samething again. They claim this is the only Cruze they ever heard of doing this.I don't think so not according to your web site somebody knows this is a big problem. Why do dealer ships think lying is the way to solve the problem, I mean it just come out and say ya your daughters car is not the only 2012 Cruze with this problem! my patience are getting a little thin. Car was bought with 20000 miles on it by my oldest daughter who is 20 yrs old and putting herself trough college to become a nurse. She was so happy when she bought the car now she thinks she bought a lemon! car from kissel Chevrolet calumet mi cant figure out the problem, its to late when somebody gets hurt or worse!!!! concerned father.

- Atlantic Mine, MI, USA

problem #15

Mar 152014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 51,000 miles
Our 2012 Chevy Cruze started with the radio turning "off" and "on" on its own the month after we bought the car. A month later it happened again as well as left my wife stranded at a store. Car didn't want to turn on. I figured it may have been a bad battery. Before I could even "jump" the vehicle, the car got all power back on with no problem. The 3rd time radio turned off and on its own and then shut down completely with no power to vehicle at the same store near my wife's work. I noticed nothing electrical worked in the car, like hazard lights, brake lights, and anything that should have 12 volt constant power. I now carry a multimeter in the car. On a 400 mile drive on the highway I experience the radio issue as well as "stabilitrac", and many other malfunction lights displaying on and off on my dash while driving 75 mph. I even recorded this while driving. My family and I were on vacation and while driving I lost power steering then the car shut down and left us stranded with no power again. Wait about 10 to 15 minutes, the car will return back to normal like nothing happened. Took it straight to the dealer right at that moment and they couldn't duplicate the problems. Returned home from vacation and it all happened again in traffic while driving. My wife and kids were in the car. I called for a tow truck and towed it to the Chevy dealership in town. I left it with them for 4 days and they still couldn't find anything wrong with the car. This car still continues to turn off to this day and I've only had the car for 6 month now. I won't let my family in this car. I have also experienced the door locks, lock and unlock on its own and the wipers activated on there own. Not sure whether it could be a bad ECU, BCM, electrical harness, fuse boxes. The ECU was reprogrammed at the 2000 miles for an unknown reason. Wish I had bought a different car instead of this lemon.

- Corpus Chrisit, TX, USA

problem #14

Apr 072014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 43,500 miles
As I drive down the road my stability trak light comes on and my radio turns on and off. Now my power steering goes out and my car won't always start. I've taken it in 3 times to have these issues fixed and nobody can seem to figure out what is wrong. I've been left stranded with my 3 year old son because my car wont start. I've only had this car 2 months and it is by far the worst car I have ever had.

- Umatilla, OR, USA

problem #13

Feb 052014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 50,000 miles
While driving all the lights are coming on, the dashboard. The brake lights, service stabilitrak light, and the ABS light and the radio blinks on and off and then sometimes the radio stays off for several minutes. I had taken the care to the dealership to have them to check it and they advised me it was my thermostat causing the issue. They replaced the thermostat which was under warranty and the dealership said everything was ok to go. A week later the all the lights on the dashboard came back on again I took it back to the dealership and they advised me they didn't see any codes reading that there was and issue. I showed them the pictures and the video that I captured while the car was doing it and they advised me I had a electrical problem but they can't find it. The problem is still an issue and its still doing the same thing.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #12

Mar 222014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 54,968 miles
I purchased a used Chevy Cruze, previous rental, from the Chevy dealer about a month ago. Within the past week I began to have intermittent electrical issues, which started with the radio panel light flashing on and off and the radio would also turn off for several mins at a time. Today the electrical problems progressed greatly, impacting the power stealing and I lost power steering completely while driving. In addition, multiple warning signals began to flash: Power steering, stabilink, brakes and security traction control. This happened while driving, thankfully I was going at a very low speed otherwise this could have been a potential serious and dangerous situation as I briefly lost control of the car and almost crashed at 10mph (or less.) thankfully I was already on my way to the dealer (1 miles away) for an appointment for servicing that I had previously scheduled due to this issue. Once I got to the dealer they were able to see the issues first hand. I turned off the car and then this car completely died. I left the car at the dealer and hope this issue is resolved and the car is safe to drive. Honesty, I am very nervous to drive the car in fear that the car is unsafe and these issues will continue.

- Murrieta , CA, USA

problem #11

Mar 052014

Cruze

  • 29,500 miles
Car drives fine but interior lights go out radio starts blinking and service stabilitrak, service traction control, service antitheft, and service power steering lights come on the dash. I took the car to the dealership where they replaced the BCM. This did nothing 4 days later it all started again. After turning the car off everything resets. On some occasions the antitheft stops the car from starting back up I have to leave the car sit with the key on engine off for about 5 minutes then it will start. There is no loss of power in the engine and all the gauges still work. When I apply the brakes this happens, or when I try to roll down the window, or even when im just cruising down the street without and changing speed or anything in the car.

- Elyria, OH, USA

problem #10

Feb 192014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 9,000 miles
We have video of the radio display area going blank then coming on then going blank continually, it takes out all sound I.e., radio, navigational instructions, blinker sound.. while throwing multiple error codes in the area for odometer reading I.e., service stabila track, service traction control. The users manual tells you that if something like this happens to shut off the car to reset the car. If you do shut it off or stall out the car (manual transmission) everything goes dead. It cannot be accessed by onstar (I called them on 2-19-2014 and asked them to document that they could not access the car... it simply read "error" for them) the fob key has no effect, there is no steering, no brakes, no lights, no nothing for 20 to 45 minutes. So if in traffic.. the car simply becomes either a road block or a target. The car has been into 2 different dealerships and even with video of the incidents they simply say they can find nothing wrong and make ridiculous suggestions. The car as is, is an accident or worse waiting to happen.!....updated 07/31/14

- Westerville, OH, USA

problem #9

Feb 032014

Cruze 4-cyl

  • 21,000 miles
Electrical issues that include loss of power steering while driving: Warning indicators would flash on and off, such as "service stabilitrack", "service power steering" and "service ABS", while driving. Radio began shutting on and off while driving. When the display & radio shuts off, even the blinker wouldn't make a sound. What I find alarming is during these episodes, the power steering actually fails for a short period of time. On a 20 minute drive, I experienced 4 failures and the above electrical issues happening non-stop for the duration of the trip. A day later, as a test, I drove my car around my neighborhood (less than a 1 minute drive) and experienced all the same issues, including loss of power steering. I have scheduled service with a dealer. A search on the internet shows an alarming number of Chevy Cruze owner with this issue, which points to manufacturing or design defect and not wear & tear. Loss of power steering while in motion would seem to be a safety issue and should be addressed.

- Indian Land, SC, USA

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