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CarComplaints.com Notes: In many ways, the 2012 Cruze continues the legacy of its predecessor. It's a legacy of sluggish transmissions and coolant leaks, but it's still a legacy.

To be fair, the number of complaints about the cooling system are way down versus the 2011 model which led to a class-action lawsuit.

On the flip-side, there's more concerns about brake problems.

However, there were far more Cruze vehicles sold for the 2012 model year so we'll give it our "Beware of this Clunker" badge rather than the "Avoid Like the Plague."

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
59,402 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.

2012 Chevrolet Cruze brakes problems

brakes problem

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Owner Comments (Page 1 of 6)

problem #108

Dec 202018

Cruze

  • miles

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

The car has had issues since I bought it. Everything from the transmission to the seatbelts to the engine to the brakes there is something wrong. My VIN number doesnt match the recalls but teverything that is wrong is recalled on the 2012 and 2013 but I missed the recall by a week? sounds like to me GM knew the most issues were on the car manaufactured when mine was and didnt want to fix the problem

- Dayton, OH, USA

problem #107

Oct 162020

Cruze

  • 100,000 miles
Less than 30 days I have purchase a car from gallimore motors started having issues with the transmission slipping reported it to the dealer, who did nothing. It was like oh well. Then now the stabilitrak is coming on, I haven't even had this car for 30 days until yesterday.

- West Palm Beach, FL, USA

problem #106

Apr 052020

Cruze

  • miles
My son was driving down the road last week and dash flashed stabilink and he lost all power and forces him to try to pull over which he could because steering wheel locked up and brakes got hard to push. A week later stabilink flashed again and then while driving down the road he had to slam on brakes for a stopped vehicle and brakes would work and steering wheel locked up again resulting in him rear ending the vehicle.

- Morgantown, WV, USA

problem #105

Feb 022020

Cruze

  • 100,000 miles

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

Driving down the interstate doing 70-80mph and the car starts dinging-stabilitrack, traction control, and reduced power all come on and the car loses power without any warning and couldn't drive faster than 5 mph and had to get to the shoulder of the road without getting hit by other vehicles doing the same speed. This vehicle with this issue that came out of nowhere should not be driven on the road. I have had several issues with this vehicle and cel lights on but nothing that almost completely stops vehicle without warning and almost kills everyone in the car! I get they are trying to save the engine or whatever from further damage but I am pretty sure that I would like to live and not kill anyone else in the process of this so called safety precaution the vehicle takes on.

- Luverne, MN, USA

problem #104

Jun 032019

Cruze

  • miles
While driving my 2012 Chevy Cruze, my radio will shut off randomly for about 10 seconds, and when it does, I lose complete control of the steering. It is like the car shuts off but when the radio turns back on, then the car will restore power. Very dangerous and scary!!! and yet, there is still no recall for my specific VIN. Also, for two mornings in a row, I have noticed a smell and some smoke coming from the engine. It will only do it for about 5 minutes and the car will not overheat. I swear it is one thing after another with this car.

- Huntington, WV, USA

problem #103

May 172019

Cruze

  • 130,000 miles
While driving the music will shut off and the dashboard which projects the speed flashes on and off. My headlights and turn signals are also effected by the issue as well; at one point while driving it occurred and my steering wheel locked up while tryin G to make a turn on a city street.

- Santa Barbara, CA, USA

problem #102

May 012019

Cruze

  • 93,000 miles

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

5/1/2019 my radio started going on and off while driving home then on 5/2/2019 it started blinking "stalibitrak" on my gauge panel along with the radio going on and off. Is this something I need to be concerned with as my car is no longer under warranty and I'm not raking in the dough to have this on my plate along with the other issues with the car. I've only had this car for a year and a half.

- Mesa, AZ, USA

problem #101

Apr 202019

Cruze

  • 75,000 miles
A week or so ago while driving home from work on the interstate the instrument cluster went dark and the display in the center of it completely shut off. I finished the remaining 30 mins. Of my drive without it returning to normal(lights off display remained off). I didn't have any more issues until today. This afternoon I drove to a family get together and while still in the city my instrument cluster plus my radio display started to randomly shut off then come back on after a second or two sometimes continuously for 10-20 seconds and once for around 30 seconds. Each time they went off the speakers would shut off too and I'm not sure if the turn signals worked due to the lack of a display and audio. One instance I also encountered either reduced power steering or complete loss of it for several seconds while losing power to the displays and regaining it approximately 15 times over about a 30 second timeframe. After that I got a stabilitrak message but steering was normal for the rest of the drive. However the cluster, radio display, speakers, etc. Continued to randomly turn off for a second or two then come back on. When we left the gathering within a minute of starting the car(hadn't even made it out of the driveway) everything started shutting down then coming back on just like earlier but steering wasn't effected again and no stabilitrak message on the way home either. Today the drive started in a city then was open highway for about 20 mins. And the gathering was at a house on the outskirts of a town. The loss of power to the things I mentioned above seemed to be completely random and were not effected by speed, stop and go traffic, or open highway. The one time steering was effected I was taking off at a stop light but it's hard to say if that was a factor since none of the other stops were.

- Booneville, KY, USA

problem #100

Apr 012019

Cruze

  • 109,000 miles
My vehicle will say the drivers door is open when it is not, it will shut off and on. The alarm system goes off when ever it feels like it even driving down the road. There is nothing to do when it does this you just have to let it go off until it stops. The speed gauge changes from what the non digital one says. And the engine light shuts off and on when you hit a bump.

- West Danville, VT, USA

problem #99

Jan 202019

Cruze

  • 113,350 miles
Turbo charger valve failed causing multiple other issues. Car shuts off randomly. Stability track keeps coming on even after the wire to the battery was replaced.

- Bunkerhill, WV, USA

problem #98

Jan 172019

Cruze

  • 73,139 miles

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

I was leaving work, onto a busy street and the headlights flickered, the check engine icon appeared on the dash, along with engine power is reduced, service traction control & service stabili trak. My car slowed down to about 5 miles and I was almost hit. I reversed back into my company's lot. Someone scanned my car and the code was for P2135. Doing research, I found it was a previous recall for this issue but can't find any now.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

problem #97

Dec 102018

Cruze

  • 130,000 miles
Car was like new for a few months, driven to and from orlando maybe 4 times, but mostly use it for work to take my daughter to school then it started the check engine light being on, then shortly, car started jerking while parked, or on brake, and the "check stabili track control" light comes on, and then would just turn off. I would start smelling a very strong burnt smell but no oil was falling to the floor, but once I stopped driving there would've smoke everywhere. Was told there is a vacuum leak coming from PCV which is built in valve cover...have had valve cover changed 3 times in 3 weeks and each time, it looked like someone died under my hood and bled oil! am told that there is too much pressure coming in and so causes oil to find a way out and leaks it spills it slashes, and it's a mystery! also, there is another leak that all of a sudden strated from the side of the engine! when doing my research, there are soooooo many people with the same problems! this needs to be some sort of recall. Please help!

- Cutler Bay, FL, USA

problem #96

Aug 112018

Cruze

  • 120,345 miles
The valve cover and PCV valve leaks air bad and is defective. It constantly causes surging and multiple obd codes and the stabili/trac to flash and the radio to flash off and on. It idles rough and shuts off rough too. The gas mileage isn't as good as it should and the power isn't as good as it should. There should be a recall on this known defective PCV valve cover to be fixed

- Alma, GA, USA

problem #95

Apr 172018

Cruze

  • 100,000 miles
Car does not run right. When accelerating the car does not budge and stalls out. Found out if the ac is off it is less likely to stall out after stopping. Was told it is a possible clogged catalytic converter. The stabilitrak and traction control wanings pop up. Took it to auto zone and they told me it was bad gas. Something is off and it's not a easy diagnosis.

- Carterville, IL, USA

problem #94

Jun 302018

Cruze

  • 79,887 miles
Dangerous to drive this car 2012 Chevy cruz. My cc 12 decided to jerk, shake, all panels starting flashing, shake, make noise and increase speed and then suddenly brakes kick in and it stopped in the middle lane of I95. Becus powertran is over by 1 year, Chevrolet wont do anything about it. They said to take to official Chevy dealership. Which now incurred a cost of 370 with discount. Their rep told me a each time I call tha the powertrain is over however considering the trouble with the vehicle, you are on the perimeters of this. We get the diagnostics and work with you possible picking up some if not all of the cost. No such thing, instead their senior advisor advised me I am [xxx] out of luck on a 6 yrs old car with approx. 79 thousand miles. That's their response. Out of car now 11 days, handed a bill for $370 to tell me the same thing my mechanic told me. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Tamarac,, FL, USA

problem #93

Jun 072018

Cruze

  • 80,000 miles
Without any previous problems before this day.. my transmission went out with only 80,000 miles on June 7, 2018. Being on a busy 2 lane, curvy highway, my car just completely went out of gear and thankfully I was able cruise off to the side. A few minutes later an alert than came up on my dash and said "transmission hot, idle engine". I had bought this car in 2014 with only one previous owner that took really good care of it. It is ridiculous for my transmission to go out with such low mileage and to have to pay $5,000 for a new one and plus the car payments I still have on it. Unfortunately, I am not the only person to have this issue. There are many others. Just because they look nice doesn't mean it will last long.

- Mount Washington, KY, USA

problem #92

May 262018

Cruze

  • 82,000 miles
It has been a known issue all over the internet that the 2012 cruise has had a problem with its electrical system. Along with myself many others have noted that while driving the cars electrical system goes out disabling the power steering, radio, gas, anything tied in with the electrical system. This has caused many accidents and has nearly caused my significant other and myself on 3 separate occasions to nearly run into a pole or ditch. This is a safety hazard not only to the driver of the vehicle but to other vehicles or pedestrians.

- Des Moines, IA, USA

problem #91

Mar 102018

Cruze

  • miles
Overheating. Loud noise in engine with loss of power that we determined to be the turbo. Cars breaks have been changed several times since purchase. Consistent warning lights on dash. The car has a very loud rattling sound when driving. It isn't as lound when sitting still at a redlight.

- Greenback, TN, USA

problem #90

Jun 192017

Cruze

  • 76,000 miles
As I was driving my radio started going on and off then car completely shut off steering while went stiff to the left and locked as I was on the road scared the living spirit out of me was the scariest experiences luckly I was alone without my kids because that could of been a fatal accident. In was very lucky it was not a busy morning the first time it happen and I was able to keep to left until car came to a stop at the curve. This has happen to me more than once that I stopped driving car stopped paying it because it was a lemon so many things went wrong 3mnths after buying car at used dealers I felt cheated and stuck I even lost my job because I wasnt able to get to work on time or at all at times because of car problems

- Bakersfield, CA, USA

problem #89

Mar 142018

Cruze

  • 73,254 miles
While driving the radio and other interior lights started flashing on and off. Now along with that the check engine light is on, the service stabiltrac is on and it will loose steering assist at times. Today it started dying when taking off and at intersections.I have spoken to a few diffrent techs and a couple diffrent shops on this matter and nobody has any answers as to what it is they all have said that they have several doing the same thing and can not figure them out.

- Wynona, OK, USA

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