CarComplaints.com Notes: What’s that smell – it’s a tad sweet with a tinge of chemical toxicity? If you own a 2011 Cruze it’s probably a coolant leak. It’s a widespread and notorious problem for the car and is the subject of a class-action lawsuit filed in the state of New York. And that’s not the only problem 2011 owners face…
Many say the 2011 model year suffers from a throttle lag that is probably due to a fauly electronic throttle control. The problem is signifigant enough that some owners say they are too scared to drive their cars. Those that do get behind the wheel often say their transmission isn’t shifting properly and problems start occuring as early as 15,000 miles.
All of this leads us to say you’re probably better off without this car’s headaches (they’re probably chemically-induced anyway).
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
52,949 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.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while attempting to leave a parking lot, the gear shifter was shifted to drive but the transmission remained in reverse. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000. The VIN was not available.
The transmission failed and wouldn't go into 3rd gear. Safety of person driving was put at risk on an expressway on ramp, transmission refused to go into 3rd gear could have been rear ended as traffic was accelerating on ramp. The issue was reproduced at a transmission repair shop. Vehicle has been repaired at a transmission shop after being towed to their facility as it was undriveable. There were NO warning lights or messages prior to failure. Car seemed a little sluggish before but not really a warning at all before catastrophic failure of transmission.
Noticed a very hard transmission shift when accelerating from approximately 35 to 40 mph. Hard shifting in this vehicle has been observed over the past year. Milage is approximately 60,000 miles.
Transmission locked gears and would not accelerate causing a huge safety violation when it occurred on an interstate. Vehicle was just seen by a mechanic that deemed the car safe to drive and then the car proceeded to malfunction. Vehicle has history of a slipping transmission, with no diagnosis ever found.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while at a stop sign and accelerating, the vehicle hesitated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that the oxygen sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 54,057. The contact noted that the failure mileage was actually 45,057 and the failure speed was intermittent. After the vehicle was left with the dealer a second time, they found that there were two cylinders with low compression. The dealer presented the contact two options to remedy the issue. The contact paid to have the engine replaced with a remanufactured one from GM. The new engine has since been reinstalled, but it is unknown why the failure happened. The contact has reached out to the manufacturer to try to get some financial help with the repair costs.
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Due to OnStar 2G sunsetting their services at the end of this year, all makes of General Motors vehicles did not comply to any of the customers requests to upgrade their module to 4G services, although upon researching, all Canadian GM vehicles did get the upgrade well over 7 years ago. This is well beyond a concern with GM and OnStar customers. With the NHTSA as a safety liaison and protecting the consumer, if a module upgrade can be applied in a vehicle that is on the same assembly parts, platform, electrical components...and be denied from the United States? The NHTSA should realize that this will be frivolous law suits because of neglect and safety concerns with GM and OnStar in the United States.
Seven recalls!!! Chevy claims there are no recalls for this vin number. 7 is way to many!!! Not to mention their valve covers on this car are terrible, no wonder the engine catches fire, I-??ve had it replaced 3 times. I-??ve replaced cooling components multiple times an never got any recall notifications from Chevy!!!!!! Please help.
I drive daily taking 2 freeways. I stopped at the traffic light and the car felt like shaking. Stabilitrack warning and traction control warning light and messages appeared on the screen and also the check engine light turned on, and ABS too. Break pedal was really hard to push and breaks were not working (i was not reducing speed at all) and it felt like the engine loose power and the car felt rough while driving. I was approaching to another traffic light and it was a red light so I prepared to decrease my speed and stop to wait for the green light. When I placed my foot and pressed the break pedal, it was hard. I was pushing it hard but the pedal did not respond, it was very hard and not moving at all and I was almost on the intersection, which always has heavy traffic with cars, 18 wheeler trucks and delivery trucks and more because its an industrial zone and Amazon and UPS are on this avenue along with other major companies. I could be involved and be responsible for a really bad crash if the light wouln't turn green on time. Fortunately it changed to the green light and I was in the very front. After this, I tried to go to the side if the road but there was a sidewalk and it was a no parking zone with no space/edge to park In case of emergency. I drove slowly with my emergency lights on and moved to the right lane until I found a space to stop. The car was shaking really bad, same lights on the dash were on and messages on the control panel did not change or disapear. The car was still moving when the engine suddenly stopped working while I was driving it. Music was playing and all lights worked so I knew it wasn't the battery. This situation was so scary that I was afraid to drive my car. I did not want to cause an accident resulting in injury to myself, others or any fatality. I've always taken my car to service and to be fixed in chevrolet. My car shook a little since 2020 and chevy guys don't know the reason. Total is about $2800 to get it fixed.
Unknown. When stopping then going to accelerate again the engine acts like it-??s in nuetrual and revs the engine up then causing it to jerk forward. This happens at almost every stop.
Issue 1: car jerks while at low speeds and sometimes acts like it's in neutral, even though my gear is in drive. Issue 2: when I put my car into reverse, then to drive, the car acts like it's in neutral, instead of drive. The engine revs, but doesn't move, unless I happen to be on a hill, at which point it will roll, without me waniting it to. In order to go into drive I have to put on the brake and put it into park, let go of the brake, put the brake back on then put the gear back in drive for it to move forward. Issue 3: car runs in gear 1 and 2, but will not shift to another gear. When you're driving, the engine just revs, but you can't go past a very low speed. I bought this car brand new in 2011, it has 80,000 miles. I don't expect it to be a perfect car, but for the transmission to already be out, isn't right. It's dangerous. Please do the right thing and investigate this car's transmission. Everyone is having this same issue with this particular car. Please. I'm begging.
Many occurrences of pushing the accelerator, and the car having a delayed reaction to accelerate. This has almost caused collisions with other vehicles when coming from a stop in a parking lot onto a main road.
The vehicle shut down while driving, warning, "battery savings mode" came on. Vehicle was towed, has not since started back up. Key's will not remove from the ignition. I believe it is due to faulty wiring causing the electrical system to short out, although, I am uncertain.
The Cruze sputters or hesitates when braked or idling, the service traction control, services stabilitrak came on along with a flashing check engine light. I loose power and feel like I'm needing to press a lot harder on the gas to accelerate.
First time the problem occurred, I had just started driving and my car would not shift into the next gear, leaving me doing 20 miles per hour to a safe parking spot. I was no longer able to reverse. Check engine light then came on. Fuse changed for indicator light and transmission fluid checked(fluids fine). Car began working with no explanation. Second incident was backing out of my driveway, after using the car without incident earlier. Went into reverse fine. Backed out, only to discover I could not go forward into drive. Drive acted as if in park. Reverse worked. Neutral worked as if in reverse. Had to back into a safe parking space on the street instead of pulling back into driveway. Almost ran over my son that was going to push my car while in neutral, due to the fact that once the car was in neutral, it was still reversing.
It leaks motor oil everytime it gets changed, theres always a huge pile of oil on the ground, I can also move the gear shift without needing to press the brake pedal. Overall its been a hassel to deal with it.
We purchased a 2011 Chevy cruz with less than 100K miles. In the 2 years we've had it we've replaced the transmission, oil cooler, and all the hoses. The furthest we've driven it is 400miles in a trip. We haven't taken it up mountains, and we keep up with maintenance
When slowing to a stop from 2nd gear, the car shifts hard and jerks back when shifting down into first gear. Often times, when accelerating from a stop, the car doesn't actually get power; the rpms jump to about 6000 and the car doesn't move. While driving, it feels like tension against the gas pedal while the car feels like it's dragging back and bogging down (the rpms don't indicate bogging, but that's what it feels like). When it finally catches a gear, it jerks backwards and almost feels like it's going to stall out.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Owensboro, KY, USA