What is wrong with Chevy?

[ZZR12]

A short background story, I had my 2009 Cobalt bought back under the Lemon Law, then in August of last year, when I took the Cobalt back I let my dealer talk me into buying a 2012 Chevy Cruze ECO. I like the car, but at 5000 miles the coolant reservoir was empty, it went in for its first service, and they couldn't find the leak. At 9000 miles reservoir was empty again, I was far from home so I went to a Chevy dealer who topped off the reservoir and said take it to my selling dealership, well I didn't. At 15000 miles I stopped at my local/selling dealer, reservoir empty, well they finally smelled antifreeze, the Service Manager had a Tech top of the reservoir and add dye, they said they would call me when they had time too look at my Cruze. Well a week and a half later the car overheats pumps antifreeze out and the car is on the hook, they called yesterday to ask me a few more questions and I talked to the Tech who said they were calling the Chevy Tech line because they have never heard of these types of problems with a Cruze. Really? Today the service Manager calls and says they pulled the head off the car, and are sending it out to see if it is cracked, it may just need a head gasket could need a head, it could fix the problem, but their not sure. WTF, I have owned two brand new Chevy's since April of 2009, seven tow jobs between the two, way to many tows. Now I wonder if having antifreeze leaked into the cylinders could have caused any type of wear on the cylinders. I called the Service Manager back and he was gone for the day, but he has always treated me well, and is always easy to deal with, but when I asked the adviser some question he said he was slammed and it's covered under warranty and what is the problem, not what I wanted to hear. How can you consider a new Chevy a good option, when it can't even get through a three year period without a Lot of problems.

[Hoon]

The cylinders won't be affected. If it's a head gasket it's a simple fix, but the better question is why did it leak? Defective gasket or the head/block isn't flat?

[OnlyTaurus]

Alot of Cruzes have had coolant consumption issues, but being a tech at Chevrolet, I'm going to second the fact that nothing was found.

The main coolant issues are the heater core, water pump, and thermostat. If coolant isn't coming out of one of the three, it's hard to say where it is going. There's coolant going into the engine and the turbo charger. It's could be leaking into either, and as much as I would love to rip all the heads off to see where the coolant went, it may not have gone in the engine.

A good test would be with someones Cruze that has a coolant consumption issue for a while, atleast 30k miles, and visually look at the pistons and see if they look brand new or look like they've had 30k miles worth of combustions. If they look new, good chance coolant got in there.

Bummed you're so disappointed in Chevrolet, I have issues with my Cruze as much as the next, but I also realize nothing is perfect and Chevrolet wouldn't have sold half a million Cruzes if they weren't good vehicles.

Nonetheless, I hope they resolve your problem. Keep this thread updated. It might help a lot of other owners(including me).

[TODD2869]

The only response I can offer is I have owned the following GM cars: 1977 Vega, 1985 Chevy G20, 1987 Caprice, 2002 Cavalier, 2002 S-10, 2006 Cobalt, 2006 Impala and 2012 Cruze. I have not had any major issues with any of these vehicles and never had one on a hook.

[H3LLON3ARTH]

The only response I can offer is I have owned the following GM cars: 1977 Vega, 1985 Chevy G20, 1987 Caprice, 2002 Cavalier, 2002 S-10, 2006 Cobalt, 2006 Impala and 2012 Cruze. I have not had any major issues with any of these vehicles and never had one on a hook.

Dido since I've been driving I've owned all chevys my grandfather was retired from GM they have owned nothing but chevy no problems except for my 2012 cruze eco 6mt but I am wanting ut fixed no lemon for me I love my cruze

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[ZZR12]

I will keep everyone updated on this issue. As far as nothing being perfect, I'm not asking for perfection, but if there's no coolant leaking externally, then it must be internally. $20,000 plus should buy me some type of peace of mind. I like this car, great MPG, good power, comfortable, and it doesn't drive like a small car. Hopefully my issues can be rectified.

[sciphi]

Huh, mine at 38k miles would be perfect for scoping out the cylinders. I wish I had a borescope to do it!

Mine's had the coolant low since delivery, and it hasn't changed noticeably. I hope it doesn't...

[OnlyTaurus]

Huh, mine at 38k miles would be perfect for scoping out the cylinders. I wish I had a borescope to do it!

Mine's had the coolant low since delivery, and it hasn't changed noticeably. I hope it doesn't...

You really should have no problem taking a plug out and viewing a piston at 'top' position with a decent flashlight. With the ignition module out, it shouldn't be too deep to view. The center is really where you want to inspect ultimately anyways.

If you do this Sciphi, do post results. I'm interested in getting to the bottom of the mysterious coolant disappearing act.

[OnlyTaurus]

I will keep everyone updated on this issue. As far as nothing being perfect, I'm not asking for perfection, but if there's no coolant leaking externally, then it must be internally. $20,000 plus should buy me some type of peace of mind. I like this car, great MPG, good power, comfortable, and it doesn't drive like a small car. Hopefully my issues can be rectified.

Understandable completely. I hope you get this resolved, and can't wait to hear what they find.

[cottonseed]

Dont even get me started with the quality of chevys. My 2010 Nox is the biggest pos I have ever owned. Its at 108,000 miles and the engine is toast, been to the dealership with it to get repaired around 7 times, clocking in around 3 months of repair time among the 7 visits. Never though I would be on another GM based vehicle forum.