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 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
46,338 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.
2011 Chevrolet Cruze. 1.4 engine. Manual transmission. No accidents. Mileage: 69,000 The engine has stopped while driving 3 times in last year (2023) January (5 degrees), Sept and November. Battery is 2 years old. Replaced negative battery cable with (OEM), after 2nd engine stop, after reading that negative cables have history of going bad over time. Very dangerous, especially in dark. All lights, head lights, dash lights and engine stop. Emergency flashers work. I coast to the side of road, and try to restart. It will restart after about 5 minutes. I have gotten a check air bag message on dash. First, two times I took to a mechanic and they said there are no repair codes coming up from computer.
I purchased a Car on 8-11& I didn-??t pick it up until 8/13 of this year. On 8/14 The electrical went out of my middle Consol starting with the radio and then down to the heating and air-conditioning buttons along with the fact that the windows would not roll down or up. When you use the Bluetooth in the car the AC shuts down and I hear a roaring sound coming from the engine as well as whenever I stop the car just jumps. There is also a sound in the steering wheel whatever it-??s turned right to left
Last month the car started ti show me this errors Stabili Trak Control and Traction Service Control, I keep getting them driving on the highway, every road I drive, the steering wheal just becomes stiff and its hard to maneuver, the Air Condition turns off itself and the car has a big vibration, like there is an earthquake outside, I have been calling General Motors to tell them about the problem but they are telling me there is nothing they can do. There are times when I get in the car trying to get to work and the car won't start, the car would show me the errors and would not clear for hours, it's a nightmare.
Every year there-??s always a issue with oil leakage resulting into smoke coming out of my car, another thing is my car starts to hesitate literally once a year. This has been happening since I purchased my car in February of 2015
- Bear, DE, USA
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The car is hesitating after stopping whether its a light or sign also has while in motion which almost got me hit! !T1here is also a burning smell at times! I have had it looked at within the month and they said it was a sensor, no-one seems to know what to do ! bou8ght this car from Honda in anderson Indiana!! its had problems the whole time I've had IT1 ill never buy another Cruze
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.
Also from the other complaint I've made on my 20011 Chevy Cruze eco is that when I've tried starting my car it skipped then was having trouble starting so I took my key out and got another car and hooked the jumper cables up to it and let it charge for a little while then I put the key into the ignition and had trouble starting it up it started up first try just not as usual it took about a couple second instead of instantly starting up this make me believe that the cause of this is a faulty ignition or alternator the only damaged caused from the accident was the headlight and passenger fender and bumper body the only damaged part on the under the hood was the air box intake and a hose moved around but not damaged
The 'ac off due to high engine temp' warning keeps coming on, the ac won't work and the temp gauge goes back to zero. We have had the engine coolant temp sensor replaced and the radiator temp sensor replaced also and we are still having this issue! along with the dash and power steering goes out randomly while driving.
My vehicle was recalled for the valve cover gasket which may leak oil and drop down causing a fire. I was told by the dealership that this was fixed upon taken it to a mechanic because the oil was dripping down causing smoke and the part that it was dripping on was red hot which was the coil wire. Was in fact not fixed.
Engine light comes on and car will slow down and barely take off. Engine is responding to gas pedal but no power in low gear so takes off very slow nearly resulting in wreck. Two shops, including transmission shop, state its electronic problem including 'lack of communication'. it happens from being stationary or in process of driving when it loses power suddenly. When engine light goes off it runs ok. Dangerous to drive as never know when it'll act up. Started about six months ago, and is intermittent.
Me and my kids were driving down the highway when my 2011 Chevy cruise just lost power and my engine stopped working... it will not start up at all. Mechanic cant figure out why. I've got tons of sensors going out everytime I turn around and I am a mother of a disabled son. We were on at parkway going 65 to 60 mph. It could have been very bad. It happened ed in madison ville
Takata recall. Recently while driving, my car will randomly say service stabilitrak or service traction control whenever I turn the wheel backing up but wasn't affecting the car in any way as far as I could tell. My headlights would also flicker at the same time so I figured it had to be something electrical. Yesterday while turning onto a different street and today while driving straight down a street I lost power steering.
Tamara recall transmission, valve cover, brake sensor, throttle sensor, this car has gave me problems after problems, every month it's literallg something new I have about 20 pages of receipts
It's been one year and my Chevy Cruze has overheated twice. The first time the thermostat was wrong along with the thermo pipe that needed to be replaced. And now similar issue is happening where my car smells funny, I turn the heat in and the car will start to over heat and never warm the car.
While driving the engine totally looses power and the entire car is shut off and comes to a stop. Lots of electrical messages show up, and sometimes the key cannot come out of ignition. After an hour, sometimes it will restart. I have had it towed three times to the dealer. At first they thought it was the negative battery cable, but its still has the problem. Starting to not be able to trust this car as its a hazard to drive not knowing when it will cut out and just stop with no power to even have windows roll up.
2016 ECM reprogramming recall ever since I brought my car in for the recall in 2016 to have the ECM reprogrammed, I have had severe issues with very rough idling, slow acceleration, and inconsistent fuel usage. Check engine light comes on and lists several sensors that need to be replaced. We replaced all of them and the problem still comes back. Now the codes indicate there is a catastrophic issue with the ECM and Chevy will not cover it even though this issue started from their own recall.
Engine power reduced light comes on, car idles rough, like it is going to shut off. When initially taking off car putts like it is not getting gas. Car acts like it will stall while driving and during idling. Stability service traction light comes on periodically and engine rmps increase. Had car looked at in case it was O2 sensor, but was told by mechanic there is an electrical issue. Issue has been occurring since May 2018. There are 126K miles on the car. Car has been well maintained. I drive 45 minutes to work, 5 days a week. I have young children that I Transport in the vehicle. Car feels unsafe.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ridgefielde, CT, USA