2013 CHEVROLET CRUZE Complaints

I RENTED A CHEVY CRUZ FROM AVIS FOR A VACATION TRIP. I NOTICED AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS THE CAR PULLED TO THE LEFT AND AS I APPLIED PRESSURE TO CORRECT FOR THE DRIFT THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD RELEASE SUDDENLY AND THE CAR WOULD TRACK NORMALLY FOR A SHORT TIME THEY REPEAT. ONLY AT SPEEDS GREATER THAN 60 MPH DID I NOTICE THE PROBLEM. I WAS CALLED BY AVIS TELLING ME THE CAR WAS BEING RECALLED BUT THE RECALL DIDN'T DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE RETURN. *JS

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 CHEVROLET CRUZE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY STALLED. THE CONTACT RESTARTED THE ENGINE AND THE VEHICLE RESUMED NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND NO SOLUTION WAS OFFERED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3200. UPDATED 06/17/14*LJ UPDATED 8/17/17*CN

2013 CHEVY CRUZE 1LT WITH THE 1.4 TURBO ENGINE. I HAVE ACTUALLY OWNED TWO OF THESE CARS, THE FIRST WAS A 2011. THE COMPLAINT IS ABOUT BOTH AND I SUSPECT IS THE SAME IN EVERY ONE OF THESE CARS THAT HAVE THE 1.4 TURBO. MY COMPLAINT IS ABOUT A POSSIBLE HEALTH HAZARD WITH THESE VEHICLES. THEY EMIT ANTIFREEZE FUMES CONSTANTLY AND GM IS NOW CLAIMING THAT THIS IS NORMAL AND THEY WILL NOT FIX IT. SHORTLY AFTER I PURCHASED THE 2011 MODEL I BEGAN TO NOTICE THE SMELL OF HOT ANTIFREEZE EVERY TIME I WOULD DRIVE THE VEHICLE, I TOOK IT IN FOR SERVICE SEVERAL TIMES AND THEY DONE EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO FIX IT WITH NO LUCK. FINALLY AFTER ABOUT TWO YEARS OF DEALING WITH THIS I GOT TIRED OF IT AND TRADED IT OFF FOR A 2013 SAME MODEL. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS STUPID AND WAS BUT MY REASONING WAS THAT I LOVED THE CAR AND THOUGHT THAT SURELY GM HAD CORRECTED THIS ISSUE BY NOW(I WAS VERY WRONG). SHORTLY AFTER MY PURCHASE OF THE 2013 I BEGAN TO SMELL THE ANTIFREEZE AGAIN AND AGAIN BEGAN THE PROCESS WITH GM TO GET IT FIXED BUT AS BEFORE, NO LUCK. FINALLY AFTER FIGHTING WITH IT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS GM HAS CALLED ME BACK AND SAID THAT THE SMELL IS NORMAL OPERATION FOR THIS VEHICLE. ACCORDING TO THEM THE WATER PUMP IS DESIGNED TO LEAK A SMALL AMOUNT AND THE LEAKAGE IS CAUGHT IN A RETENTION CHAMBER BUILT INTO THE WATER PUMP THEM EVAPORATED OUT VIA THE HEAT OF THE ENGINE CAUSING THE CONSTANT SMELL. THIS IS RIDICULOUS! I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT SNIFFING THESE HOT ANTIFREEZE FUMES ALL THE TIME CAN'T BE GOOD FOR YOU AND WILL IN THE LONG TERM CAUSE HEALTH ISSUES. WITH THIS ANSWER I ASK GM TO TAKE THE CAR BACK OR AT LEAST LET ME TRADE IT FOR ANOTHER MODEL BUT THEY ARE UNWILLING TO HELP ME ANY MORE. I KNOW THAT THIS PROBLEM IS WIDE SPREAD, NOT JUST WITH MY VEHICLE. IF YOU GO TO CRUZETALK.COM AND RESEARCH THIS YOU WILL FIND HUNDREDS OF OTHER PEOPLE WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING INTO THIS FOR US. *TR

ALMOST FROM THE DAY I LEASED MY MANUAL CRUZE I HAD ENGINE DYING PROBLEMS. IT HAPPENS WHEN I DOWNSHIFT INTO SECOND GEAR, WHEN I STOP AND WHEN I STOP SUDDENLY. IT HAPPENS PERHAPS A FEW TIMES A WEEK. THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPT. TESTED THE CAR AND FOUND NOTHING WRONG. IT WAS SUGGESTED, TACTFULLY, THAT PERHAPS I WASN'T SHIFTING CORRECTLY. I AM ALMOST 66 YEARS OLD I LEARNED TO DRIVE A CAR ON A THREE-THE-TREE FORD. I HAVE OWNED ONLY ONE AUTOMATIC CAR IN MY LIFE, AND THAT WAS FOR FOUR YEARS. I REALLY DON'T THINK I AM TO BLAME. AS THE GM IGNITION SWITCH CAME TO LIGHT I BEGAN TO WONDER. OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS GM HAS EXPANDED ITS RECALL INTO MORE RECENT MODEL YEARS. TO ME, IT IS SIMPLY THE GM CULTURE WHEN IT COMES TO BUILDING CARS. THE SAME MENTALITY ABOUT USING BAD PARTS WAS PROBABLY PASSED ON THE 2013 MODELS. *TR

WHEN MY HUSBAND AND DRIVE THE CAR AND TURN IT OFF THE CAR TRIES TO RE-CRANK ON ITS OWN. IT HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES. ALSO, MY COUSIN WITNESS IT ONE DAY AFTER I TURNED THE CAR OFF. I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S THE IGNITION OR WHAT. WE WANTED TO REPORT THE PROBLEM SOONER BUT DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO UNTIL I SEARCHED ON THE INTERNET. IT'S SCARY TO SEE SUCH VEHICLE TRYING TO RE-START ITSELF. *TR

VEHICLE WAS BACKED OUT OF A DRIVEWAY. DRIVER SHIFTED FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE. CAR MOVED FORWARD ABOUT 20 FEET AND SUDDENLY SLOWED TO A STOP. ENGINE POWER REMAINED ON. CLICKING NOISE WAS HEARD FROM THE RIGHT FRONT SIDE. CLICKING NOISE CONTINUED IN REVERSE, DRIVE, OR PARK SHIFTER POSITIONS. CAR WOULD NOT MOVE UNDER ITS OWN POWER IN EITHER DIRECTION. WE PUSHED CAR TO SIDE OF ROAD IN NEUTRAL AND CALLED ONSTAR THIS IS THE DRIVESHAFT RECALL ISSUE ON 2013-14 CRUZE WITH 1.4 TURBO ENGINES. I WRITE BECAUSE IF THIS HAD HAPPENED ON AN INTERSTATE OR IN HEAVY TRAFFIC THE CONSEQUENCES COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE DIRE. THIS CAR IS ALMOST 1 YEAR OLD AND HAS ONLY 3000 MILES ON IT. THIS DEFECT IS AS SERIOUS AS THE IGNITION SWITCH PROBLEM. THERE ARE 170000 OF THESE CARS OUT THERE WITH THIS SAME POTENTIAL ISSUE. WHEN I SPOKE WITH GM THEY INITIALLY SAID THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL ON MY VEHICLE AND THAT I SHOULD TAKE IT TO A DEALER FOR SERVICE. WHEN I INSISTED THAT THERE WAS A POWER TRAIN RELATED RECALL ON THE CAR THEY THEN SAID THAT INDEED THERE WAS A RECALL AND THAT I COULD GET IT TOWED TO A GM DEALER. MY ONLY REASON FOR WRITING NHTSA IS TO HOPEFULLY ELEVATE THIS ISSUE TO ONE OF MORE IMMEDIATE IMPORTANCE. I HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED ANY NOTICE FROM GM ABOUT THIS ISSUE, AND IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE EXTENSIVE MEDIA COVERAGE WOULD PROBABLY STILL NOT KNOW OF THIS VERY SERIOUS ISSUE. *TR

THE STEERING WHEEL/RACK HAS KNOWN ISSUES ALREADY DOCUMENTED BY THE NHTSA. WHEN DRIVING, ESPECIALLY AT SPEEDS > 50MPH, THE STEERING WHEEL WILL "LOCK UP" OR FEEL "NOTCHY" WITHOUT CONSTANT DRIVER INPUT. WHEN PERFORMING INTERSTATE DRIVING YOU WILL EXPERIENCE THE STEERING CONSTANTLY FEELING LIKE ITS LOCKING UP UNTIL EXCESSIVE FORCE IS USED TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL (MORE THEN A FEW FINGERS WORTH OF STRENGTH). DEFINITELY UNNATURAL AND DEFINITELY AN ISSUE FOR A BRAND NEW CAR. STARTED SINCE 5K MILES, VEHICLE HAS APPRXOIMATELY 15K MILES NOW AND THE ISSUE IS GETTING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. DOCUMENTED ONLINE IS THAT THE STEERING RACK HAS A DESIGN FLAW WHICH ALLOWS AIR INSIDE THE STEERING RACK, CAUSING THE STEERING WHEEL TO FEEL NOTCHY OR LIKE IT IS LOCKING UP. BEING THAT THE ISSUE IS GETTING WORSE, I EXPECT THERE TO BE A MAJOR FAILURE AT SOME POINT AND WANTED THIS DOCUMENTED. ONLINE ON CHEVROLET CRUZE FORUMS THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF ISSUES SIMILAR TO MY OWN AND I BELIEVE A TSB IN CHEVROLET'S DATABASE. I AM GOING TO ATTEMPT TO BRING THE ISSUE TO LIGHT AT THE LOCAL CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP NOW THAT I HAVE THE TIME TO ACTUALLY DEAL WITH THIS SITUATION (DUE TO MILITARY/GOVERNMENT WORK CONFLICTS). I PURCHASED A FULL PREMIUM WARRANTY WITH THE VEHICLE WHEN I BOUGHT IT THAT COVERS EVERYTHING FOR 100K MILES/7 YEARS, SO THERE SHOULD BE NO ISSUES WITH THIS REQUEST OF FIXING/REPLACING THE ISSUE.

THE STEERING DOES NOT FEEL STABLE. AT VARIOUS TIMES MOSTLY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS THE STEERING FEELS AS THOUGH THERE IS NO CONNECTION FOR A SPLIT SECOND WITH THE TIE ROD THAT CONTROLS THE STEERING. THE CAR WILL ACTUALLY PULL SLIGHTLY AND REQUIRE CORRECTION FROM TIME TO TIME. THE PULL CAN BE EITHER TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT AND NOT RELATED TO ANY POSSIBLE WIND. THE CAR HAD BEEN TAKEN TO THE DEALER MARCH 14, 2013, WITH NO CHANGE IN THIS SITUATION. THE FEELING IS SIMILAR TO DRIVING SOME OF THE OLD JUNKS FROM DAYS GONE BY BACK IN THE 60'S WHERE THE STEERING WAS LOOSE AND REQUIRED BOTH HANDS FIRMLY ON THE WHEEL AND CONSTANT CORRECTION GOING DOWN THE ROAD. *TR

THE COMPLAINT IS 1)VEHICLE SURGES WHEN STOPPED AT A SIGNAL OR STOPPED WHILE IN GEAR. EXTRA PRESSURE IS APPLIED TO BRAKE PEDAL OUT OF FEAR IT WILL LUNGE FORWARD. 2)INTERMITTENTLY SURGES DRASTICALLY WHEN YOU REMOVE YOUR FOOT FROM BRAKES. 3)INTERMITTENT HIGH REVVING AND ACCELERATION PROBLEMS. A SERVICE BULLETIN WAS PERFORMED IN WHICH REPAIRS WERE MADE TO THE TRANSMISSION. THESE REPAIRS INCREASED THE SYMPTOMS AND MADE IT THE VEHICLE EXTREMELY UNSAFE TO DRIVE. GM ENGINEERS STATE THE CAR IS OK. DOES SOMEONE HAVE DO DIE BEFORE THE PROBLEM IS CORRECTED. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE MADE COMPLAINT ON THE EDMONDS.COM WEBSITE. SOMEONE NEED TO LOOK INTO THIS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 CHEVROLET CRUZE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 45 MPH, SHE LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND CRASHED INTO A TELEPHONE POLE BUT THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE DRIVER SUSTAINED A MILD CONCUSSION AND WHIPLASH. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 22,000.