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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:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 2
Average Mileage:
55,522 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 miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2011 Chevrolet Cruze Owner Comments (Page 2 of 4)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #54

May 072016

Cruze

  • 62,758 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Burning smell from engine. Back in May 2016 I started smelling this burning smell after you drove the car for 20 mins. I bring it up to the dealer every time I have to take the car in. They can never find the source. They thought a oil pan leak was it. That was fixed and the smell still is there. They claimed to find an oil leak another time and fixed. Then it was a transmission leak, which was fixed and still the smell. There is never fluid under the car. I have the smell noted every time.

- Nashotah, WI, USA

problem #53

Oct 192018

Cruze

  • 68,000 miles
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.

- Schuylkill Haven, PA, USA

problem #52

Nov 022018

Cruze

  • 87,500 miles
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.

- Saint Peters, MO, USA

problem #51

Oct 132018

Cruze

  • 80,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Rolled down my drivers side window while at a stop light, it made a clicking noise and when I tried to roll it up, the window fell into the door. The window wouldn't roll back up and made more clicking noises when I tried to roll it

- Oklahoma City, OK, USA

problem #50

Aug 312018

Cruze

  • 159,000 miles
The car lunges real bad driving down the road. Leaving a stop light. Very dangerous for my 17 year old

- Claremore, OK, USA

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problem #49

May 012018

Cruze

  • 165,000 miles
After awhile of owning my vehicle I noticed my ac/heater blower began to stop blowing out of my vents, and it only blows out of the defrost vent. With the blower on my windows become very fogged and hard to see. I took it to a repair center and found out that it would end up costing me $1000 to fix a $15 piece. With having to remove my entire dash. They told me it was a lever of some sort and there is no other way to get to it.

- Flint, MI, USA

problem #48

Jun 202018

Cruze

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Chrome is peeling on interior door handles leaving razor sharp edges. Unsuspecting passengers or driver can be seriously cut by the material. This is especially dangerous to children exiting the car.

- Cedarburg, WI, USA

problem #47

Jun 142018

Cruze

  • miles
I was made aware of the multiple recalls my vehicle had through my pepboys dashboard which is where I get my car serviced. I was told that this recall was active when I was sold the car last February 2017 in which I am currently paying

- Florence, NJ, USA

problem #46

May 142018

Cruze

  • 66,000 miles
Takata recall, I have a 2011 Chevy Cruze. My turbo is having underboost failure and needs replaced. I can no longer increase speed while driving on the road to pass cars or go up hills, I have seen several other Chevy Cruze with the same year been recalled for the same problem. When I typed my VIN number in nothing popped up. So why doesn't my car qualify ?

- Grandview, MO, USA

problem #45

Feb 162018

Cruze

  • 5 miles
Takata recall, transmission failure, car not shifting into gears. Driving on city street at a stop light and the car would not advance forward, I had to physically push it off to the side of the road to let traffic pass. Car will not advance in forward or reverse.

- Whittier, CA, USA

problem #44

Feb 182018

Cruze

  • 66,454 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The hose that connects to the coolant for the ac system always breaks and the heating and cooling stops working, this is unsafe because it may cause overheating of the engine if not repaired.

- Leesburg, VA, USA

problem #43

Feb 032018

Cruze

  • 41,000 miles
" takata recall" transmission failure

- Brentwood, CA, USA

problem #42

Jun 122017

Cruze

  • miles
In the last 4 months my tracking control, stability traction control, and reduce engine power light stays on. I have had knock censor replaced, value covers but nothing has worked. My car constantly cuts off in in the middle of traffic and three times on the freeway at 65 miles. The car is very unsafe and yet there are no recalls on my car.

- Fraser, MI, USA

problem #41

Nov 282017

Cruze

  • 97,000 miles
Noticed I was losing coolant rapidly, full tank within 1-2 days, only driving about 7 miles to work and back.. took to dealership (where purchased) and they determined engine coolant leaking from faulty water pump. Thought the issue would be covered by GM extended warranty because already existing special coverage bulletin 14371A, existed for this issue in 1.4L engine, ...but not for the 1.8L engine, which is what I own. The water pump in the 1.4L is the exact same part in the 1.8L engine, so I'm lead to believe that the water pump in my vehicle should have been covered due to it being a faulty part, in general. Water pump was replaced and have experienced no more leakage. I am unable to attach the service invoice from mckinleyville Chevrolet and Buick, but can provide hard copy.

- Mckinleyville, CA, USA

problem #40

Sep 102017

Cruze

  • 115,711 miles
I parked my car in a parking lot to go into a store and when I came back immediately after I started it under the hood there was a lot of smoke even after I turned it off there was still smoke everywhere.

- Addison, IL, USA

problem #39

Nov 142016

Cruze

  • 50,000 miles
The car has a burning electrical smell. Sometimes we can smell the odor in the cabin, but mostly coming from the engine after we have finished driving the car and walk around the front of the car. The odor has been present since we purchased the car in November 2016.

- Elmira, NY, USA

problem #38

May 162017

Cruze

  • 2 miles
I have had work down on the air conditioner in this automobile three (3) times. The Chevy Cruze is the worse car every made.

- Wesson, MS, USA

problem #37

Jun 202017

Cruze

  • 80,000 miles
I just purchased this car, used. I went to start it, it worked perfectly fine. I went to start it again later in the evening ( 7 hours only from when I bought it ) and it would not start, lights worked but it would not start. Eventually whatever is wrong with it began to get it worse and now it won't start, and nothing will work. The key is also stuck in the ignition. Again, only had this car less than 12 hours. The vehicle was stationary.

- Rome, NY, USA

problem #36

Apr 272017

Cruze

  • 82,000 miles
Steering rod issue, steering wheel feels loose while driving especially when on the highway over 50 mph. Several issues with coolant/ car overheating/ overheated and gauge flew rapidly to hot, driving about 40 mph and had to pull over and turn off car - call tow truck. This happened twice, supposedly fixed but still smells of burning oil. Drive side windshield stopped working while driving about 65 mph on busy highway -possible problem with the motor because the other one works fine. All very dangerous issues.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

problem #35

Jan 152017

Cruze

  • 83,000 miles
Accident, on Jan 15 2017, vehicle was turning into a restaurant parking lot from a highway and hit by a F150 pickup on the front end and whole passenger side, going about 15 mph and other vehicle was traveling 50mph, none of the 10 air bags deployed, have shoulder injury 3 days following accident, vehicle was towed to collison, shop & was made aware that the frame of the vehicle from front end to rear was shattered, the vehicle was moving and turning into a business, the insurance company deemed that the vehicle was totaled. No air bags ever deployed, if there were a passenger they would have died.

- Orlando, FL, USA

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