I am retired and my wife is disabled and we needed an economical car for all our appointments that seemed to be inevitably increasing in our older years. We were talked into the Chevy Cruze by a fast talking sales person and we pursued to acquire one. We first leased the 2016 Chevy Cruze Limited because it was the only way we could acquire a vehicle at the time. Seemed like a fine car, two years after we had it, the engine severely overheated on us. I took it back to the dealer, the water pump, the thermostat housing and water outlet assembly all had to be replaced. It seemed odd that such a simple part failed so quickly. Fortunately the drive train warranty (To 60,000 miles) covered the repairs. Now understand, our dealer offers free lifetime oil changes and tires rotations which we always followed through on. I am an old school mechanic and when I see simple things go wrong I address it and I do the maintenance. Tire replacement, brakes, air filters, etc. When the end of the 3 year lease was coming to an end, we decided to buy the car, and we did!
Ever since the replacement of the water pump and the other parts, the car never seemed to really drive like it did when we first took possession of it. Some time the electronics screen on the dash would go black and then come right back on, so I never gave it much thought. But then the shock of our life, two years to the month, the car overheats again and shuts down. I look for water leaking and I see none, it was just like the first time, no evidence as to where the water was leaking from the engine. So the next day I fill the over flow tank and bleed the air out of the system and made sure the system was full of water, and I return to the dealer the next morning figuring that because this was exactly the same problem I had two years earlier, that this was a condition that Chevrolet would take care of at no cost to me, well I was wrong. The car is 4 years old, I now have 72,000 miles on the car and they tell me that there are no warranties, there are no recalls for this car regardless to the fact that the engine overheating was a major problem with this car for many years. So they told me they could run an "analysis" that would cost me $97.00 for them to ell me exactly what was wrong with the car. So I said okay!
I had to leave my car and take a shuttle ride back to my home. That afternoon they contacted me and said that they completed the review and they also changed my oil and rotated my tires while they had it there. So they sent their shuttle to pick me up. I get there and they provide me with the report and told me that the same parts failed again on the car. But this time there is no warranty to cover the repairs. They give me an estimate of $872.00 to make the repairs. I am retired living on social security, I don't have that kind of money to make a repair of a fairly new car with an obvious engine design flaw! So, I drove it back to my house. I ordered all the parts myself, water pump, thermostat housing assembly, water outlet assembly and replaced all of them. Added new coolant and bled the system of all the air, system was full, and I took it for a test run and everything ran well, for that short trip. The next morning my wife and I got into the car to take her to an appointment, and about 5 miles down the road the car totally over heats again. I get out; lift the hood, still there is no apparent leakage anywhere.
I contact the Chevrolet dealership and talk to the service department and a service advisor. I told them that as a result of their review of the problem my car was displaying and what you recommended to me, I had gone ahead and performed those repairs myself. and the car still overheated. I advised them that somehow their analysis of the problem didn't reflect everything that was obviously wrong with the engine. Water was leaking from the car but where? Their service advisor informed me that it may be leaking into the engine. So I had pulled the oil dipstick and checked it and it did not reflect any evidence that water had gotten in the engine. The new oil the dealership put in the car was still as clear as it was when it was put in. He advised me that if this has happened to this car twice that I may have a warped head on the engine. But I asked him wouldn't I be showing a milky brown oil if that were the case and he confirmed that it would be very evident, which it wasn't. So, the next morning I was getting ready to take to a Chevrolet dealership that was closer to me than where I had bought it and as I drove down the road about 4 miles, the car immediately overheats and shuts down my car in the middle of traffic.
A couple of people helped push my car off the street into a parking lot and from there it was picked up by a tow truck and taken back to my place where the car sits today! I checked the engine when I got it to my house and found that the engine was full of water mixed with the oil! I have to wonder if whether or not the oil that was drained from my car while they had it there for the analysis ever had any evidence of water mixed with the oil? They usually just pull out the drain plug and the oil is emptying into the tall neck drain pans and may have not even been observed while it was draining. I drove my car 17 mile to see them when the engine overheated. I had already replaced the water pump, the thermostat housing assembly and the water outlet assembly and I had absolutely no leaks outside of that engine. A four (4) year old car, 72,000 miles and the engine is blown. After the same problems occurs twice on this engine! Still making payments on a car that does not work. Chevrolet knew this car has had this same problem occur on many of the Chevy Cruze models and made no effort to recall these cars. It is a poorly designed engine. My lawn mower is 8 years old and still runs like a top. Now I am out to seek compensation for a poorly designed vehicle engine that should never have died with 72,000 miles.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I am retired and my wife is disabled and we needed an economical car for all our appointments that seemed to be inevitably increasing in our older years. We were talked into the Chevy Cruze by a fast talking sales person and we pursued to acquire one. We first leased the 2016 Chevy Cruze Limited because it was the only way we could acquire a vehicle at the time. Seemed like a fine car, two years after we had it, the engine severely overheated on us. I took it back to the dealer, the water pump, the thermostat housing and water outlet assembly all had to be replaced. It seemed odd that such a simple part failed so quickly. Fortunately the drive train warranty (To 60,000 miles) covered the repairs. Now understand, our dealer offers free lifetime oil changes and tires rotations which we always followed through on. I am an old school mechanic and when I see simple things go wrong I address it and I do the maintenance. Tire replacement, brakes, air filters, etc. When the end of the 3 year lease was coming to an end, we decided to buy the car, and we did!
Ever since the replacement of the water pump and the other parts, the car never seemed to really drive like it did when we first took possession of it. Some time the electronics screen on the dash would go black and then come right back on, so I never gave it much thought. But then the shock of our life, two years to the month, the car overheats again and shuts down. I look for water leaking and I see none, it was just like the first time, no evidence as to where the water was leaking from the engine. So the next day I fill the over flow tank and bleed the air out of the system and made sure the system was full of water, and I return to the dealer the next morning figuring that because this was exactly the same problem I had two years earlier, that this was a condition that Chevrolet would take care of at no cost to me, well I was wrong. The car is 4 years old, I now have 72,000 miles on the car and they tell me that there are no warranties, there are no recalls for this car regardless to the fact that the engine overheating was a major problem with this car for many years. So they told me they could run an "analysis" that would cost me $97.00 for them to ell me exactly what was wrong with the car. So I said okay!
I had to leave my car and take a shuttle ride back to my home. That afternoon they contacted me and said that they completed the review and they also changed my oil and rotated my tires while they had it there. So they sent their shuttle to pick me up. I get there and they provide me with the report and told me that the same parts failed again on the car. But this time there is no warranty to cover the repairs. They give me an estimate of $872.00 to make the repairs. I am retired living on social security, I don't have that kind of money to make a repair of a fairly new car with an obvious engine design flaw! So, I drove it back to my house. I ordered all the parts myself, water pump, thermostat housing assembly, water outlet assembly and replaced all of them. Added new coolant and bled the system of all the air, system was full, and I took it for a test run and everything ran well, for that short trip. The next morning my wife and I got into the car to take her to an appointment, and about 5 miles down the road the car totally over heats again. I get out; lift the hood, still there is no apparent leakage anywhere.
I contact the Chevrolet dealership and talk to the service department and a service advisor. I told them that as a result of their review of the problem my car was displaying and what you recommended to me, I had gone ahead and performed those repairs myself. and the car still overheated. I advised them that somehow their analysis of the problem didn't reflect everything that was obviously wrong with the engine. Water was leaking from the car but where? Their service advisor informed me that it may be leaking into the engine. So I had pulled the oil dipstick and checked it and it did not reflect any evidence that water had gotten in the engine. The new oil the dealership put in the car was still as clear as it was when it was put in. He advised me that if this has happened to this car twice that I may have a warped head on the engine. But I asked him wouldn't I be showing a milky brown oil if that were the case and he confirmed that it would be very evident, which it wasn't. So, the next morning I was getting ready to take to a Chevrolet dealership that was closer to me than where I had bought it and as I drove down the road about 4 miles, the car immediately overheats and shuts down my car in the middle of traffic.
A couple of people helped push my car off the street into a parking lot and from there it was picked up by a tow truck and taken back to my place where the car sits today! I checked the engine when I got it to my house and found that the engine was full of water mixed with the oil! I have to wonder if whether or not the oil that was drained from my car while they had it there for the analysis ever had any evidence of water mixed with the oil? They usually just pull out the drain plug and the oil is emptying into the tall neck drain pans and may have not even been observed while it was draining. I drove my car 17 mile to see them when the engine overheated. I had already replaced the water pump, the thermostat housing assembly and the water outlet assembly and I had absolutely no leaks outside of that engine. A four (4) year old car, 72,000 miles and the engine is blown. After the same problems occurs twice on this engine! Still making payments on a car that does not work. Chevrolet knew this car has had this same problem occur on many of the Chevy Cruze models and made no effort to recall these cars. It is a poorly designed engine. My lawn mower is 8 years old and still runs like a top. Now I am out to seek compensation for a poorly designed vehicle engine that should never have died with 72,000 miles.
- gjsipe67, Melbourne, US