Chevrolet Cruze Forums banner

Blown engine help

Tags
blown engine
13K views 46 replies 16 participants last post by  chidesd 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Im having a issue which im hoping for some input on. I own a 2014 cruze 1.4 withn 18000 miles on it. I have a tune.
I randomly started having sever power loss and spuddering issues so I took the car into my dealer.
I installed my factory tune back on before hand.
I got a call about 3 weeks later saying the engine needs replaced. They quoted me at $4000 for a used engine and $8000 for a new engine.
They had a GM expert look at it and he found the tune and stated that voided the warranty.
My situation is I bought the car certified preowned with 13500 miles on it and have drove it about 4500 miles in a year in a half.
I understand that the tune voids the warranty if thats what the expert deems.
They offered to buy back my extended warranty and car to pay off the loan of $9000.
does anyone have any input?
 
#10 ·
That might be worth considering. With their offer, you have nothing - but you owe nothing. If the car were running now, what could you get? A quick run of KBB.com for a LT standard options suggest you'd be lucky to get $9000 for it.

However, this does make me wonder why the dealer is being so generous. We're going to have to know a lot more about what's "blown" to know what to suggest.

At "4500 miles in a year in a half", I think you should run the numbers on a lease. Yes, a lease is never-ending, but OTOH, that's a big chunk of money to buy a car. (Especially when you have to take out a loan to do it). If you're not going to go over the mileage allowance of a lease, it can be a pretty good deal. This could be a silver lining - your're out from under your old car and can lease a new one for less.
 
#3 · (Edited)
GM offered to buy back your 'Extended Warranty' and your used Car to pay off your loan after modifying the CRUZE and then blowing it up? I have a 2014 with an "Extended Warranty" and a perfectly fine running CRUZE bought new, only 14,000 miles and GM offered me $9000 as well on a trade. Your Story just doesn't make economic 'cents'
 
#7 ·
If GM invalidated your warranty because of BNR I'd be right on to Bad News Racing and wanting to know what their warranty coverage is.
 
#14 ·
Leasing is great if you have a way to right the leasing expense off on your taxes. Otherwise it's better to buy if you can swing the financials.
 
#15 ·
Leasing can be like a Shell Game with that little ball played on the streets of America. Today I heard a commercial for new 2016 CRUZE leases @$99 a month. This is the current offer which still offers $0 down but remember $2000 is due at signing and don't forget Sales Tax on a lease, about another $2000 and the monthly payment of $179
2017 CHEVROLET Cruze Sedan LT Preferred Equipment Group
Lease

Chevrolet National Lease Offers

Ultra Low-Mileage Lease for Qualified Lessees
$176/month
for 39 months. $2,000 due at signing (after all offers).

$0 down payment / $0 first month payment / $0 security deposit for Current Lessees of select GM vehicles (after all offers)*.

Tax, title, license, and dealer fees extra. $0 security deposit.
Mileage charge of $0.25/mile over 32,500 miles at participating dealers.

Read Full Offer Detail
 
#17 · (Edited)
Something doesn't sound right here. In fact, many things don't sound right.

BNR has tuned over 500 cars, mine included, and most of those have been 1.4L Turbo engines. The OP is the first to report an engine failure on that tune.

My vehicle has been run short trips to redline making full boost every time I take the car out for a spin, for any purpose whatsoever, and it has made that power reliably for the last two years or approximately 25,000 miles. Those were some very hard driven 25,000 miles. The OP's engine somehow "blew" with only 4,500 miles. It doesn't add up.

The OP states that they installed the factory tune back on. How then did GM find the tune and claim it voided the warranty? All GM could have found was that the ECU was programmed at some point, but they have no way to prove that the programming caused a failure.

The dealership offered to buy back the extended warranty, the car itself, and to pay off the loan of $9,000, and there is no indication from the OP that this would be part of a new vehicle purchase. Why would the dealer make such a generous offer if, as ChevyGuy pointed out, that is basically the value of the vehicle?

The dealer said the engine blew, and said he needed a new engine. There is nothing a tune can cause that will require someone to need an entirely new engine short of extreme detonation, and BNR's tunes have safety parameters in place specifically designed to dial back power, even throw the car into limp mode before the vehicle even gets close to that point. If the pistons blew, which I've seen occasionally happen on these vehicles, tuned or not, the pistons would be replaced, not the whole engine, and it wouldn't cost $4,000 to do it.

The cost of the service to be performed is absolutely asinine. A used 1.4L Turbo goes for $500, maybe $1,000 from the most expensive junkyard in town. The remaining $3000 is for what? 24 solid hours of service? It takes one day to pull and replace an engine, not three. The math doesn't add up.

A lot of things don't add up here. To the OP: did you datalog your tune like you were supposed to, install any updates BNR sent, and send datalogs for any update that was needed?
 
#18 ·
The OP states that they installed the factory tune back on. How then did GM find the tune and claim it voided the warranty? All GM could have found was that the ECU was programmed at some point, but they have no way to prove that the programming caused a failure.
Without knowing the details of how ECMs work, I'll be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in finding a tune. A lot of things are possible with computer forensics. It might be as simple as finding a flash count well above what GM's service records indicate. Yeah, they would have to prove it's what did it, but we're getting into a significant artillery zone if OP wants to battle this.


If the pistons blew, which I've seen occasionally happen on these vehicles, tuned or not,
That wouldn't be a surprise in a 2011 or 2012, but OP has a 2014.


I would sure like to know more about what went wrong. Part of me is wondering if the dealer's techs botched something badly and the dealer is trying to cover this up. A no-profit sale is preferable to having to pay up. And why did it take 3 weeks? Geez, you don't suppose they accidentally sold OP's car??
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blasirl
#19 · (Edited)
I do know how the ECMs work which is why I'm not giving them the benefit of the doubt. The ECM doesn't store old tunes. It simply clicks over a counter for how many times its been flashed. That's all they can find.

I know the OP has a 2014 and I've seen pistons blown on 2013 models as well. It happens.

Like I said, and you seem to be noticing, something isn't quite right.

Sent from my BlackBerry PRIV using Tapatalk
 
#21 ·
Figured Id stop back and thank everyone for there input and give a breif update.
I went back to the dealer with my dad to go over a few things. We tried talking to the mechanic that had worked on my 14 cruze to get a better understanding of what actually happened to the engine since all the mechanic had told me previosly was that I needed a new one.
The mechanic had the day off and no one else there apparently new anything about my vehicle.
I ended up settiling for a new 2016 cruze with 200miles.
I felt like they gave me a pretty good deal.
They bought out my 2014 cruze loan. put $2900 left on my extended warrenty down as a down payment. There was also a $1500 dealer bonus plus $400 rebate.

Long story short I got a new 2016 cruze lt with Sun and Sound package for $19,000. I felt like it was a pretty good deal
 
#29 ·
So will you get an extended warranty for this one?
 
#26 · (Edited)
Something here doesn't add up. That said I think you got a good deal. I suspect someone at the dealership really screwed the pooch on this one and they'd rather do this than pay up. You effectively got a new Cruze for $10,000 + the old car - not a bad deal.
 
#27 ·
Ill agree its a bit fishy but i went away semi happy about the deal. I should have less worries with my new car over the precertified one. Unfortunately Im not going to be getting this one tuned just in case even though i preferred the extra power.
 
#28 ·
Yep, I'll say it again. They gave you fair market value for a car that supposedly needs a new engine. They wouldn't have paid you that much money for a car that was broken if they weren't trying to hide something. Something is not right, but whatever the case, you got a new Cruze for a very good price, and as far as I'd be concerned, that would be good enough. Congrats on your new Cruze, and find yourself a new dealer for service.
 
#33 · (Edited)
How much was this 'Extended Warranty' again for your pre owned CRUZE? Canceling a Vehicle Service Contract is usually done by the holder of the policy, not a dealer. Also who was this GM Expert that happened to drop in, where did he come from, where do you come from
I own a 2014 cruze 1.4 withn 18000 miles on it.
My situation is I bought the car certified preowned with 13500 miles on it and have drove it about 4500 miles in a year in a half. They offered to buy back my extended warranty and car to pay off the loan of $9000.
Despite this neat outcome can you in easy to understand math tell me why a Dealer would take back a blown USED CRUZE, sell you a Brand New CRUZE at a super price, and ALSO take care of the pre existing $9000 balance for the old non functional CRUZE. I must be reading your post wrong, did not understand this comment either..."put $2900 left on my extended warrenty down as a down payment"
 
#34 ·
This all does seem hard to believe but what I said about the log is true, right now it's the big trucks with the power up but they are also instructed to take a snapshot of the data and up it to corporate if a tune is suspected, believe me the BCM keeps lots of log files including parameters when an airbag was deployed, the ECM tune has a increment counter and log of past tables
 
#35 ·
When I bought my 14 cruze the dealer said that at anytime I could sell them back my extended warranty. They offered me $2900 for it. Im putting that towards a down payment. They didn't actually tell me the name of the GM Rep. the original price of the extended warranty was $3500 I believe.
 
#36 ·
Oh my goodness, 3500 for extended warranty with how much you drive is darn near stealing or rape. I sure wouldn't buy an extended warranty for that much on a modest price car. Something seems fishy but hey you have a new car. Congrats
 
#38 ·
Couple thousand. About what you paid for the other one. I wouldn't bother. Generally the non powertrain stuff is fairly insignificant in cost, but of course get any nagging HVAC or infotainment issues sorted while you're under the bumper to bumper warranty.

With what you drive, you'll still be covered by the powertrain warranty for the whole reduced 5 yr/60k period anyway. That covers the major stuff should you have engine trouble or transmission trouble again.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top