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.
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 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
51,335 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.
After my purchase of a brand new Chevy Cruze ls I did notice that it was not shifting good.the car was not shifting down or up and when shifting down very hesitant, almost like there were no brakes. After bringing it to the dealer several times with them telling me there was nothing wrong with it and several adjustments to the transmission control module, transmission overhaul and parts replacements, I was involved in an accident on the highway. The car still does not work right and I believe this accident is related to this car's drive tran and leads me to think that the product safety should be related to the NHTSA,
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. While driving at various speeds, an abnormal fuel odor was present inside the vehicle. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission lines failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000. Updated 04/07/16
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was strong odor inside the vehicle. The contact also stated that fuel leaked from the front of the vehicle. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the turbo cooler line, the transmission cooler hose line and the oil seal gasket needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,000.
When car is shifted into park, after shutting the car off the dic states "shift car into park". I push up on the gear shifter then the dic screen will go off and car seem to be into park.
While driving the car it continuously jerk forward, and it seems to be getting worse, the car is in motion, on a regular street. It's unknown why the car is doing this.
- Auburn Hill, MI, USA
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When the car first started messing up it was minor things I noticed: The in dash lighter not working, trunk latch doesn't work except by key, turn signals would glitch, can't use usb & audio cord at same time without it cutting off both completely. Then a couple weeks later I noticed my car had an unusual delay in increasing speed it was as if I had to push it to the floor just to get to 30 mph. Now the most recent event occurred on 9/17/15 which is what's prompting me to file this complaint (keep in mind I've only owned the vehicle for 8 months, purchased at 54K miles currently has 70.9K) I drove to my house approx 30 min hwy from where I was I got into my car the next morning it didn't start at all. My bf checked the battery voltage & it was too dead to test, with a jumper box my car took approx10 min to even turn over, during the time of me inside the car attempting to start it my steering column locked up, lights in dash, radio system, headlights everything flashing on and off, key was stuck inside ignition, a foul smell & clicking noise is coming from engine, & couldn't lock doors once I turned car off immediately. This all occurred I'd say within a matter of 30 seconds after the car to turned over. Was so freaked out I didn't try to start again for 2-3 min and once I did it started right up. Within 72 hrs I have now seen the stabilitrac service alert, theft alert system needs serviced, along w/ air bags, & battery light flickers on & off. The clicking under my hood has continued, the rotten egg smell from engine comes & goes, dash lights go dim then go back to regular. Drove to O'reillys, they were able to tell me I now have a bad alternator as well. Recall 14801 was issued for reprogram engine control module, getting serviced this week at dealership but could this possibly cause all this?? especially considering I don't want to be responsible for repairs. Help
My car started jerking violently on Saturday April 25 2015. A few hours later the car stalled then made a loud noise and returned to normal driving. Its been happening 5 days now. I took it to the dealer and they told me it was my drive wise insurance tracker that was making the car jerk so it was removed.the problem is still happening. It jerks when I stop and go but its fine when I'm at a steady speed.
I received my Chevy Cruze in November of 2014 used with aprox. 59K miles. April 7th driving down a highway at 55-60mph it suddenly started slowing down and would not accelerate. It would jerk and the engine would rev like if you were to be idle and in park and press the gas that's the sound it made. I did not notice the check engine come on or any other lights as I was trying to control my car. The speedometer and RPM indicator started acting erratically while doing so. The gauge would go up and down and the car was slowing down. The steering also became very soft. If I were to take my pinky finger and turn the wheel it would have moved that's how soft it was. All this happened multiple times during a 30 minute time period. After I slowed down and tried going over 30mph it would start to act up again. While this was happened I only had 66K miles. I got it towed to the dealer instead of taking my chances driving it there. It was sitting there a week before they even touched it and they claim they cant find anything wrong with it. I think Chevy dealers claim they cant find anything when your car is still under warranty so they don't have to fix it.
Since March 30, 2015, I have been experiencing issues with and have been trying to collect video evidence while in failure mode, of what I believe to be failures of the body computer(s) in this vehicle. The dashboard displays have been going on and off under a wide variety of driving situations, and while sitting at idle. They fault when the vehicle is simply driving down the highway. During these faults, the center information display for the HVAC and entertainment will frequently turn off. This kills the radio. It at times kills the HVAC systems and the turn signals (at least the noise for the turn signal indicators). At times, the center display above the steering column will go black and then display a message about the stabilitrak having failed and requiring it to be checked. Then it returns to normal mode. This is less frequent an occurrence. While driving on the highway under cruise control, the vehicle experienced one incident of unintended acceleration while the displays were in fault modes. This occurred on April 1, 2015 I believe. The driver's feet were on the floorboards. Not touching any pedals at all. The incident was stopped by the driver firmly pressing down on the brake pedal. When sufficient video evidence is accumulated on these failures the vehicle will be taken into the dealership. Lacking actual demonstrative evidence of the failures, the dealership will not be able to know what to repair or replace. The car has a history of dash display issues. The owner, a retired librarian/researcher from General Motors advanced engineering staff and the R&D center, has worked on unintended acceleration legal cases for the company, and has supported litigation defense work on such issues while at the company. He is still gathering evidence but feels the need to document this incident as soon as possible for NHTSA should an accident occur to him due to this.
I was at a stop light when the light turned green I pushed the accelerator an the car was jerky. I the car finally moved and there was a loud bang from the rear and it felt like I had been hit in the rear. The car jerked, sputtered and then stopped moving. This was a few days after taking the car to the dealer and telling them the car was not shifting properly. They fixed my broken tranny but it still does not drive safely. It doesn't accelerate, the gears get stuck merging on the highway is a nightmare. Almost two years to the day my car is once again at the dealer for the exact problem. I was driving up a small incline, pushed the gas the car struggled to go. There was a loud harsh jerk the car finally moved. It sputtered and the check engine light came on.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while approximately driving 60 mph, the traction stability, reduce engine power and check engine warning lights illuminated. In addition, the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,653.
I turned my car on one morning after I just had it in the shop to get the recalls fixed on it. Im seeing service stabilitrak and service traction and ABS lights. I can no longer turn on or off my traction control. My brakes are now grabbing really bad and im getting a really weird feel when I have my foot in the gas and turn my wheel. My car is not the same after the recalls were done.
Driving on the highway at roughly 70mph when car shuddered, and lost power immediately. After this the car would not accelerate. Fortunately there were no vehicles directly behind me, so I was able to pull over to the side of the road. The check engine light was illuminated and the dashboard read three errors: "engine power is reduced", "service traction control", "service stabilitrack". after turning the car off, waiting, and turning back on the vehicle worked correctly, but the issue occurred after another 15 minutes on the road. I drove in the right lane the rest of the way home to ensure our safety, and this occurred 4 times in total. This was an extremely dangerous situation during a busy holiday travel weekend. Had this occurred at the wrong time, this could have been catastrophic. Quick research online has shown this to be an issue with the make and model, as many other people have reported this exact defect.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph and engaging the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate. The contact mentioned that while slowing down for a traffic light, the transmission failed to shift down to first gear and remained in third gear which prevented the vehicle from accelerating from a standing position. The contact indicated that while driving down a hill in first gear, the transmission would erroneously shift to second gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician replaced a computer module which corrected the gear shifting problem but the acceleration problems persisted. In addition, the contact stated that in August 2014 while driving approximately 30 mph, a second vehicle crashed into the front passenger side of the vehicle and the airbags failed to deploy. Both the driver and front passenger suffered head and neck injuries. A police report was filed. No additional information was available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. While stopped, the vehicle vibrated and jerked forward without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The failure mileage was 5,000.
2012 Chevy Cruze with less than 25,000 miles on it. While driving, the traction control light will come on the dic and then service stabilitrack and the car would die down for a brief second and the radio will cut off. I made an appointment to a dealer and they said to drive with the traction control off until it gets in. Now it is doing the same thing with the traction control off. It is also doing this in reverse! this car is still under warranty with GM, but I'm afraid that I will have the same luck as others on here who are experiencing the same problems and nothing will get fixed. I'm also afraid that this will occur at an even greater rate and longer while driving causing an accident! something needs to be done to fix this problem in this model!
From the beginning I had a recall for the oil pan a week after purchasing the car. There has been numerous times the heating had to be worked on and still not fixed. It stills smells like antifreeze when its on. The right brake cylinder went bad a few months after the purchased. The windshield sometimes whistles when you go down the highway at 65 mph. Now after my last oil change the other day, they said I need to take it back because there is a transmission leak. Not to mention where I got the car from, they act like they don't care to help fix the problem. Very frustrated!
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated and stalled while driving various speeds. While driving on an incline, the contact had to keep the clutch pedal depressed in first and second gear to prevent the vehicle from stalling. The accelerator pedal also had to remain depressed to maintain acceleration. The vehicle also stalled when the gear was in reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer more than once, but the failure could not be duplicated. In addition, the air conditioning and heat were inoperable. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 100.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. While preparing to park, the contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle accelerated. The failure occurred while driving 9 mph in a parking lot. The clutch and brake pedals were applied simultaneously to stop the vehicle. The failure occurred regularly when the vehicle was in second or third gear. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 45,000.
I hit the gas pedal hard to merge into traffic, the car did not go. I heard squealing tires, turns out it was my tires squealing. The turbo kicked in and catapulted my car into traffic. I was able to steer to the right, to avoid hitting anyone or getting hit, but I was forced up against construction barrels to avoid a collision.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cocoa, FL, USA