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.
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:
10 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
44,336 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.
Our 2012 Chevy Cruze started with the radio turning "off" and "on" on its own the month after we bought the car. A month later it happened again as well as left my wife stranded at a store. Car didn't want to turn on. I figured it may have been a bad battery. Before I could even "jump" the vehicle, the car got all power back on with no problem. The 3rd time radio turned off and on its own and then shut down completely with no power to vehicle at the same store near my wife's work. I noticed nothing electrical worked in the car, like hazard lights, brake lights, and anything that should have 12 volt constant power. I now carry a multimeter in the car. On a 400 mile drive on the highway I experience the radio issue as well as "stabilitrac", and many other malfunction lights displaying on and off on my dash while driving 75 mph. I even recorded this while driving. My family and I were on vacation and while driving I lost power steering then the car shut down and left us stranded with no power again. Wait about 10 to 15 minutes, the car will return back to normal like nothing happened. Took it straight to the dealer right at that moment and they couldn't duplicate the problems. Returned home from vacation and it all happened again in traffic while driving. My wife and kids were in the car. I called for a tow truck and towed it to the Chevy dealership in town. I left it with them for 4 days and they still couldn't find anything wrong with the car. This car still continues to turn off to this day and I've only had the car for 6 month now. I won't let my family in this car. I have also experienced the door locks, lock and unlock on its own and the wipers activated on there own. Not sure whether it could be a bad ECU, BCM, electrical harness, fuse boxes. The ECU was reprogrammed at the 2000 miles for an unknown reason. Wish I had bought a different car instead of this lemon.
As I drive down the road my stability trak light comes on and my radio turns on and off. Now my power steering goes out and my car won't always start. I've taken it in 3 times to have these issues fixed and nobody can seem to figure out what is wrong. I've been left stranded with my 3 year old son because my car wont start. I've only had this car 2 months and it is by far the worst car I have ever had.
I was sitting at a stoplight to turn left. After the light turned green I applied pressure to the gas pedal and noticed a slight loss of power. As I proceeded through the turn I had difficulty turning as though I had no power steering. Once through the turn I still has no power steering and noted a message on the dash reading "service steering". I controlled the car to the next stoplight which was approximately 1/2 mile during which time I still had no power steering. At the stop light I turned the car off, and started it again. After restarting the car I had no more problems with the steering. Prior to this instance and multiple times following I have had issues with the electrical system failing. It usually begins with the radio board "blinking" off. By blinking I mean that the radio completely shuts off and the radio dash lights blink off and on until it finally returns to full power. But usually its not a one time thing. There are times where this occurs every 5 seconds until I'm able to pull the car over and turn it off. While this occurs I will get a message on my dash cluster saying to "service stabilitrac" along with several other cluster lights that blink. I have taken this car to the dealership where it was purchased and they have not been able to reproduce what I've experienced, and such they have not been able to fix anything. This first began while the car was under bumper to bumper warranty, but that has since passed and if they were able to actually fix anything I would be stuck with the bill.
Vehicle started with the radio panel light flashing on and off and the radio would also turn off. Today the electrical problems progressed greatly, impacting the power stealing I was turning around the corner and, the steering seems to stick/bind and requires additional effort to make a steering correction. I almost hit the car waiting in the corner for the light. But I was able to control the steering while even though it was very hard to do.
Car has ongoing issues with radio flashing, multiple errors appearing on the dash, blinkers having sound one minute and not the next. When these issues occur and you are turning on your bright lights, the radio discontinues playing then starts again. Since these issues are intermittent, I recorded the issues and took the car to progressive Chevrolet. I showed them the video and the kept the car and tried to recreate the issue. They indicated they were unable to recreate the issue and did not advise me they fixed anything on the car. After filing a complaint with the better business bureau, a GM representative advised me that progressive had replaced the brake vacuum micro switch during this visit. My husband and I were never advised of this repair. After speaking with the GM representative, I checked the receipt and it was listed as being completed at no charge. I feel we weren't advised of this repair because we were attempting to trade the car in and were negotiating with their sales team. I did not purchase a car from them due to the value that they wanted to give me on this car. The car with all of the problems that they cannot fix!! ongoing issues continue and I have been advised by GM to take the car back to a dealership and have them review the car again. I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, March 31, 2014. This issue is very distracting and causes a lot of stress on the individuals in the car! the lights flashing at night are blinding and could truly cause a person to get into an accident. You worry what is not going to work when this is taking place. Help in determining what is causing these problems and having GM recall these cars and take responsibility is necessary! I am sure it will save lives!
- Beach City , OH, USA
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Car towed from serpentini to progressive since the repair that progressive completed a week prior did not fix the existing problem. Car shutting off and not starting. Progressive wiring harness to ubec has bad connection due to ubec and wiring harness connection stripped out, necessary to replace complete harness. Removed ubec, replaced fuse block, main body harness, required R&R of battery and tray, ebcm, master cylinder and brake booster, dash components removed/loosened to remove brake/gas pedal bracket assembly (harness grommet installed between bracket and firewall), R&R of trunk panels, complete interior including rear seats, lowering headliner. Replaced brake booster pushrod clip and rear seat side bolster clip with repair. GM paid for the cost of this repair. Additional electrical issues continue with car. Will add an additional complaint.
Stopped at a stop sign and car started missing when attempting to go thru intersection. Car stopped and would not start. Car was towed to serpentini Chevrolet in strongsville. They indicated the car started at their facility but was giving the same code (heck Z - U0109) that progressive Chevrolet in canton had gotten and progressive replaced the fuel pump control module 3 days prior. Serpentini indicated the car was fine. I complained to progressive and they had the car towed from serpentini back to their facility.
After stopping at a stop sign, I attempted to proceed thru the intersection when the car starting missing and then stopped and would not start. Car was towed to progressive Chevrolet and they replaced the fuel pump control module. This is what they thought was the problem and it was not. I will open separate complaints for each incident with the car.
The day I purchased the vehicle, the radio intermittently discontinued working. The following morning after driving the care for approximately 20 miles and then stopping to visit my father, the car would not start. The car was towed back to the dealer and they noticed a burnt smell and no voltage to BCM, the repair order indicates they replaced ubec and operated system was all ok at that time.
While driving all the lights are coming on, the dashboard. The brake lights, service stabilitrak light, and the ABS light and the radio blinks on and off and then sometimes the radio stays off for several minutes. I had taken the care to the dealership to have them to check it and they advised me it was my thermostat causing the issue. They replaced the thermostat which was under warranty and the dealership said everything was ok to go. A week later the all the lights on the dashboard came back on again I took it back to the dealership and they advised me they didn't see any codes reading that there was and issue. I showed them the pictures and the video that I captured while the car was doing it and they advised me I had a electrical problem but they can't find it. The problem is still an issue and its still doing the same thing.
I purchased a used Chevy Cruze, previous rental, from the Chevy dealer about a month ago. Within the past week I began to have intermittent electrical issues, which started with the radio panel light flashing on and off and the radio would also turn off for several mins at a time. Today the electrical problems progressed greatly, impacting the power stealing and I lost power steering completely while driving. In addition, multiple warning signals began to flash: Power steering, stabilink, brakes and security traction control. This happened while driving, thankfully I was going at a very low speed otherwise this could have been a potential serious and dangerous situation as I briefly lost control of the car and almost crashed at 10mph (or less.) thankfully I was already on my way to the dealer (1 miles away) for an appointment for servicing that I had previously scheduled due to this issue. Once I got to the dealer they were able to see the issues first hand. I turned off the car and then this car completely died. I left the car at the dealer and hope this issue is resolved and the car is safe to drive. Honesty, I am very nervous to drive the car in fear that the car is unsafe and these issues will continue.
Car drives fine but interior lights go out radio starts blinking and service stabilitrak, service traction control, service antitheft, and service power steering lights come on the dash. I took the car to the dealership where they replaced the BCM. This did nothing 4 days later it all started again. After turning the car off everything resets. On some occasions the antitheft stops the car from starting back up I have to leave the car sit with the key on engine off for about 5 minutes then it will start. There is no loss of power in the engine and all the gauges still work. When I apply the brakes this happens, or when I try to roll down the window, or even when im just cruising down the street without and changing speed or anything in the car.
We have video of the radio display area going blank then coming on then going blank continually, it takes out all sound I.e., radio, navigational instructions, blinker sound.. while throwing multiple error codes in the area for odometer reading I.e., service stabila track, service traction control. The users manual tells you that if something like this happens to shut off the car to reset the car. If you do shut it off or stall out the car (manual transmission) everything goes dead. It cannot be accessed by onstar (I called them on 2-19-2014 and asked them to document that they could not access the car... it simply read "error" for them) the fob key has no effect, there is no steering, no brakes, no lights, no nothing for 20 to 45 minutes. So if in traffic.. the car simply becomes either a road block or a target. The car has been into 2 different dealerships and even with video of the incidents they simply say they can find nothing wrong and make ridiculous suggestions. The car as is, is an accident or worse waiting to happen.!....updated 07/31/14
Electrical issues that include loss of power steering while driving: Warning indicators would flash on and off, such as "service stabilitrack", "service power steering" and "service ABS", while driving. Radio began shutting on and off while driving. When the display & radio shuts off, even the blinker wouldn't make a sound. What I find alarming is during these episodes, the power steering actually fails for a short period of time. On a 20 minute drive, I experienced 4 failures and the above electrical issues happening non-stop for the duration of the trip. A day later, as a test, I drove my car around my neighborhood (less than a 1 minute drive) and experienced all the same issues, including loss of power steering. I have scheduled service with a dealer. A search on the internet shows an alarming number of Chevy Cruze owner with this issue, which points to manufacturing or design defect and not wear & tear. Loss of power steering while in motion would seem to be a safety issue and should be addressed.
It begins with the radio blinking on and off when this is happening there are several things we notice that goes on in the instrument panel such as signal lights no sound, sometimes putting the window up will trigger the wrench to be displayed, also loss of the ability to turn the wheel. No cruise control when the radio is blinking.
Electrical issues that include loss of power steering while driving: Warning indicators would flash on and off, such as "service stabilitrak", "service power steering" and "service ABS", while driving.radio began shutting on and off while driving. When the display & radio shuts off, even the blinker wouldn't make a sound. What I find alarming is during these episodes, the power steering actually fails for a short period of time. On a 20 minute drive, I experienced 4 failures and the above electrical issues happening non-stop for the duration of the trip. A day later, as a test, I drove my car around my neighborhood (less than a 1 minute drive) and experienced all the same issues, including loss of power steering...I have scheduled service with a dealer...a search on the internet shows an alarming number of Chevy Cruze owner with this issue, which points to manufacturing or design defect and not wear & tear...loss of power steering while in motion would seem to be a safety issue and should be addressed.....updated 07/31/14
The center information center with the radio began shutting on and off while driving. When the display & radio shuts off, even the blinker wouldn't make a sound. Sometimes during this a notification would come up "service traction control" and/or "service stabilitrack." I tried troubleshooting it myself for a few days. Sometimes the blinker, seat warmer, or even plugging in my phone to the usb port seemed to trigger it. I noticed the voltage fluctuating from 12.9 - 15.2V while driving or at a stop. The day that I took the vehicle in for repair, all the notification lights began to blink and then the power steering went out during a left turn. The dealership replaced both battery cables and mentioned that they've had many of these cars in with this same issue. The issue appeared to be resolved and the car was running great, until yesterday 1/15/14. Everything mentioned above, except for the power steering loss, is happening again. If you search the internet and youtube, you'll quickly see this is a growing problem that needs to be resolved and recalled.
Recently, car radio has been flickering on and off, along with service notifications of stabili trac, traction control. Chevy dealer notified, serviced car, found nothing and has no explanation. Today, stopped at a corner to make a right hand turn. As I was accelerating at approx 2-3 mph around the corner, then steering was lost and could not turn the corner. Lost all control of car. Very fortunate there was no damage or injury to anything or anyone. Scary incident that could of had a worse outcome.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet cruz. The contact stated that the lights on the instrument panel flickered as the stability control service soon warning message displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 32,000 and the current mileage was 34,000.
I am having problems with the electrical inside my car cutting in and out, all electrical turns off. Service checks come across dashboard for power steering, stability check control, and traction control. The power steering has stopped working at times as well. I am not sure but if you are turning it appears that the turn signals stop working from inside the vehicle. Headlights are dimmer than normal when it cuts in and out, it flickers with the shortages. I have taken it to the dealership three times now. The first time they tightened a ground wire, the second time they couldn't find a problem, third time they replaced the engine control module, and now I'm taking it back a fourth time to have the body control module replaced. This problem continues to get worse.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Corpus Chrisit, TX, USA