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:
0 / 2
Average Mileage:
49,408 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.
As I was on the highway, I was unable to pick up speed without feeling resistance! After awhile I couldn-??t go past 25 mph and my car eventually gave out before I made it home. I had to call a tow to have them tow me to my park lot! A couple days went by and my car was able to drive through the parking and park in different spots. I am not sure what the problem may be but I just bought this car and it has been causing unsafe issues for about a year now! Please help!
The car cuts out and jerks (has no power) (no warning lights) when accelerating or staying at a steady speed with engine light coming on or flashing. I've reported to dealership. So far, Don't know the cause of problem.
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.
When accelerating the car it takes a moment to actually go which has left me sitting in intersections etc. This is a common problem since it is a wire relay not a cable relay so it causes a delay in sending the message to the motor.
Cruze control fails to remain set and turns off on it's own resulting in reduction of speed when traveling. Rear seat belt buckles become non-functional and won't fasten, posing a safety hazard and making the rear seats unusable for passengers.
- Lebanon, OR, USA
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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.
Well it would kind of stall when I began to give it gas the rpms would go up N rev but it didn't kick N go for a min than it would be ok until U stopped jbstarted to go again than one day I was driving N the drive went completely out on me so it goes in every gear but won't drive
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. While driving 30 mph, when the contact released the accelerator pedal, the vehicle stopped abruptly. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was taken to david stanley Chevrolet (located at 614 w interstate 240 service rd, Oklahoma city, ok 73139, (405) 632-3600), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 43,163.
On October 19,2018 my in laws were traveling North on route 61 in Pennsylvania. They can to a red light and ran into the back of a minivan and the airbags deployed. Then we dont know what happened, but the car accelerated and went the length of a football field and they hit a pole and my mother in law died instantly and my father in law died at 5:10 am.my concern is why isn't it an industry standard that once the airbags are deployed the throttle doesn't shut down. If the throttle would have not worked they way still be alive.if you cant help me could you send me in the right direction.
Vehicle has a very rough idle while stopped and while driving. When driving the vehicle will change roughly idle and speed up the vehicle. While in a stopping position the vehicle will roughly idle and the RPM indicator will bounce up and down. The engine light is on and the traction control warning and service esp warnings come on intermittently while in stopped position and then the vehicle will not accelerate properly. The most recent one revved and accelerated on its own, almost hitting the car at the stoplight in front of me.
Vehicle was on highway going to lexington ky from louisville ky. Car begin to smoke. Hose that was supposedly fixed on radiator was rigged and oil spilled from the hose causing it to go into engine. Engine overheated while driving on highway. Engine died. Had to get car towed from one city to the next. Got stranded in another town because could not obtain a rental car because they were closed. Since 2016 I have spent over $7000 on getting the same issues or related issues fixed. I have spent over $5000 in rental cars and I still owe $9000 on my car which I purchased from bales automall/bachman in jeffersonville Indiana in 2014 with on 28,000 miles. I have kept my services up to date on the vehicle and have documentation for that. It seems once I begin to get oil changes at this location my car begin to decline. I would be told that I had one problem, they would fix it, and then something else would happen. In addition, I have a witness who is a family member who is experiencing the same problems with the same year and model car that she owns. I see her going through the same down spiral steps with her car as I did. It is almost like clockwork. I have read consumer reports about these vehicles and none have been positive. In fact, many who have a turbo engine will or have experienced this same issue. The car is a lemon... it needs to be recalled!! it is unfair that I purchased a car that was no good and that only ran good for two years before having to replace the turbo twice and the engine. Let me reiterate.. I still owe $9000 on this car. At this point I am clueless and I feel as if I was taken advantage of. When I reported this to the BBB;GMC and other sources they led me on for weeks knowing that they would not assist in the matter. Because of this whole fiasco I have anxiety in which I am taking medication. Please help dont know what to
Car does not properly accelerate, so much so that I need to use the hazard lights to avoid being hit by the car behind me when accelerating after stopping at a stop sign or red light. This is not safe. I have small children. I drove 40+ miles (city miles) and had no issues getting there, but then when I attempted to turn the car on again to return home, the temperature gauge showed the engine go from cold to hot very quickly, displayed the message "engine hot A/C off" and it started making a loud squealing noise. At this point I swerved the car off the road because my daughter and I feared for our safety and thought it was going to explode. I put the car in park, we both opened our doors and took off running from the car until we reached a safe distance. I had to have it towed 40+ miles to my home. The mechanic checked the vehicle again and found that the radiator had cracked and that the water pump needed to be replaced. He replaced the radiator and also the water pump, and ensured the proper amounts of all fluids. Also, whenever I attempt to drive on the highway, the front end of the car gets very hot and the "transmission hot idle engine" message comes on and the ac, which was working fine, does not work now. Still, the mechanic could find nothing wrong with the transmission! the heat from the engine and transmission come straight through the front of the vehicle, which with no ac gets super hot in addition to the 80+ degree weather in central Florida (and it's not even summer yet!). every time I have to have tried to refuel the car within the past 2 weeks of me having purchased it, the engine stalls and stalls and stalls. It takes 10-15 tries to turn the car back on every time I refuel. In addition to this, once you actually get the car back on the car jerks when put in drive. I have to keep my foot on the gas or the car will shut back off.
I purchased a certified pre-owned car on Jan. 2015. Since mid-2016 (one and a half year since I owned the car) I've been noticing that my check engine light turned on every now and then, and gear shifting became significantly lagging around 30mph. Every single time in a service appointment (which I took strictly on schedule for every 3 months), I would point that out to the service department, and every single time they would claim that they tested everything and there was no problem they detected. While last week (late June 2017, 2 and a half years since I owned the car, and interestingly 5 months after all my warranty expired), I was trying to drive back home from office via the highway. While entering the highway and speedup, I noticed that my engine speed went ups and downs in a serious, uncommon, rapid manner. There was also an unpleasant noise coming out of the transmission system. My car seriously shakes, and all gear shifting attempts became useless. The car went out of control and went to neutral gear on the highway--which pushed me to a very dangerous emergency situation. Fortunately I made it stopped by the side of the highway and managed to call the roadside assistance. My car was finally towed to the closest Chevy dealership, and upon diagnostics they replied that to replace the transmission part, it would cost me $4100. It was the same amount for selling the same model with good condition !!!! I read every complaints for 2011 Chevy Cruze regarding the transmission problem, and found very similar experiences for all the cases. It all happened on the 2011 module, transmission system got failed around 50K~60K mileage, and the only solution is to replace the whole part.
Bought this car used with 51K miles a month ago. Drove great the first week, after that loses powerupon acceleration and is slow to get up to speed. While driving just now, the car was losing power so I decided to hit the gas harder and instead of going faster the the stability track light came on. I am starting to wonder if I made a bad decision purchasing this car. It had trouble going up hill on the highway last wk. This car is too compact to have speed issues.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact called on behalf of her son. While driving 20 mph or less, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that the reduced power, traction control, check engine, and electronic stability control warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 153,468.
While driving down a city street, the vehicle was stopped at a stop light. Just as it was about to move forward as the light turned green, it went into engine power reduced mode and prevented the vehicle from moving forward at a normal rate of speed. Thankfully was able to get the car off the road. Had to be towed to mechanic. The conditions were cold (about 20 degrees), with no ice. Further warnings included traction control servicing, but there were no issues with the traction control system. Mechanic is saying it is a throttle body issue.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle would not immediately accelerate when depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 28,000.
Transmission jerks extremely hard. When air is on car fails to accelerate at all. Idles on its own, jumps gears always. Fuel system is bad, it chokes constantly and wont start some days. It vibrates extremely hard and I had it serviced 1 month ago for shaft case. This is the worst car ever!!!!!!! its a danger to drive it wont pick up speed and when the air is on it wont move at all. If still at a light, it will jerk extremely hard to where it jerks me. When in park it idles itself. If I'm entering onto the highway it wont pick up speed even if the air is not on. When I reverse and go back to park it jerks extremely hard. I hate this car!!! sometimes it doesn't want to stop.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. While driving 25 mph, the brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle accelerated independently. As a result, the contact crashed into a fence. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic after the crash. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 35,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Yorktown , VA, USA