[Quin]

Hi all, just looking for some general advice/thoughts on a few things that I've experienced with my Cruze.

I purchased my 2013 Holden Cruze (turbo diesel wagon) in May 2018 with 41,000 miles on it. Great service history and looked to be well maintained (I kept this up).
It treated me well until about 81,000 miles when the problems began... summary as follows:

81,000 miles - Radiator failed, leaks everywhere and had to replace for ~$700 AU
107,000 miles - Boost leak caused by a split in the lower intercooler hose, plus pinhole leaks in the turbo itself, ~$1,750 AU
132,500 miles - Weird electrical problems including radio and dash shutting off, keyfob not being recognised, power steering failure ~$20 negative battery cable replacement (DIY)
133,000 miles - Complete auto transmission failure, no used or reconditioned parts available, no decent used cars available so replaced with new transmission ~$5,400 AU

I'm now sitting at about 135,000 miles (so 2,000 ish since the transmission replacement) and have mixed thoughts on the car and cruzes in general.
Every time I told someone I drove a cruze they'd tell me how terrible they were, and how I should upgrade ASAP (I work in a city where people love status symbols), but I was able to say that it had never gave me any problems and called it "bulletproof" a lot. I also love driving it due to its handling and torque.

Now I'm sitting at about $7,870 into unexpected problems with this car, and am having a hard time loving it now.. 😂
I still really enjoy driving it now it's running well again, but I'm having a hard time trusting it, and am almost just waiting until it screws me over again.
Just looking for some general thoughts and discussion on all this, what have ya got?

Cheers.

 

[grs1961]

I have a 2009 Korean-built Cruze diesel manual - Holden badged them as the JG - and apart from having to replace the clutch at 160,000km (what are these "miles' you are talking about??) and the A/C unit last summer - (currently at 185,00km) it has been bullet-proof.

I don't consider replacing either in a 10+ year-old car to be a problem.

Nor do I consider your list to be worrying, but without knowing the sort of driving that it's done for the various kilometres, nothing looks dreadful.
Stuff fails, and given that GM-H have abandoned Oz, parts can be difficult to obtain.

 

[Quin]

I have a 2009 Korean-built Cruze diesel manual - Holden badged them as the JG - and apart from having to replace the clutch at 160,000km (what are these "miles' you are talking about??) and the A/C unit last summer - (currently at 185,00km) it has been bullet-proof.

I don't consider replacing either in a 10+ year-old car to be a problem.

Nor do I consider your list to be worrying, but without knowing the sort of driving that it's done for the various kilometres, nothing looks dreadful.
Stuff fails, and given that GM-H have abandoned Oz, parts can be difficult to obtain.

I'm glad you've had decent luck with yours, sounds great!
I considered doing a dodgy manual swap when my auto trans died, but my partner cant/wont drive manual haha.

I spoke in miles because most people around here I've seen do, but I think you're inferring I should have stuck to the metric (I should have).

The driving I've been doing has been quite varied between city, highway, rural suburbs, and country driving - but it's mostly a commuter that goes to and from Melbourne several times a week.
Glad to hear also that you don't think my list is crazy, appreciate your input!

 

[Johnny B]

Well since you asked
I start by saying you have had an unusual amount of big ticket failures.

81,000 miles - Radiator failed, leaks everywhere

How was that even possible? Since this car has had a "great service history", when was the coolant changed?

132,500 miles - Weird electrical problems including radio and dash shutting off, keyfob not being recognised, power steering failure ~$20 negative battery cable replacement (DIY)

Yup, welcome to the club, say hi to the other 100,000 members. But seriously, aren't we being a bit petty here.

133,000 miles - Complete auto transmission failure,

Your vehicle was made just as they did some major transmission improvements. So this is might a legit rant. But lets be honest about it. Between the split intercooler hose and the trashed tranny, I'm thinking you are beating on this mule. 😈

All that said, if you like the car I would definitely keep it for now. I assume the car prices down under are still crazy like the US. With a caveat, were the all those repairs done professionally or just cobbled? Having help many people on this forum, one of the biggest failure modes of a Cruze is the mechanics botching jobs on them.

 

[boraz]

Well since you asked
I start by saying you have had an unusual amount of big ticket failures.

How was that even possible? Since this car has had a "great service history", when was the coolant changed?

Yup, welcome to the club, say hi to the other 100,000 members. But seriously, aren't we being a bit petty here.

Your vehicle was made just as they did some major transmission improvements. So this is might a legit rant. But lets be honest about it. Between the split intercooler hose and the trashed tranny, I'm thinking you are beating on this mule. 😈

All that said, if you like the car I would definitely keep it for now. I assume the car prices down under are still crazy like the US. With a caveat, were the all those repairs done professionally or just cobbled? Having help many people on this forum, one of the biggest failure modes of a Cruze is the mechanics botching jobs on them.

how does a driver cause split IC hose?

 

[alexandru96]

I'm now sitting at about 135,000 miles (so 2,000 ish since the transmission replacement) and have mixed thoughts on the car and cruzes in general.

and when I think I was intending to buy a automatic but I've got a manual as the car itself was cheaper this way
after reading this and other automatic transmission-related horror stories, i tend to say the inconvenience of having to shift a lot of gears in city traffic is an actual advantage
of course in the case of the manual its only issue would be a slipping clutch, which is relatively cheap to fix

 

[grs1961]

Your vehicle was made just as they did some major transmission improvements. So this is might a legit rant. But lets be honest about it. Between the split intercooler hose and the trashed tranny, I'm thinking you are beating on this mule. 😈

Sorry, but the OP's vehicle was not made when they did some major transmission improvements.

This is an Australian-built Cruze, completely different engine, gearbox, programming for the ECU, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

It looks the same as a US-built Cruze of the same vintage, from a distance, but they are not the same.

 

[Quin]

Sorry, but the OP's vehicle was not made when they did some major transmission improvements.

This is an Australian-built Cruze, completely different engine, gearbox, programming for the ECU, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

It looks the same as a US-built Cruze of the same vintage, from a distance, but they are not the same.

No kidding!?
I always thought they were ~exactly~ the same!

Thanks for educating me.

 

[Quin]

Well since you asked
I start by saying you have had an unusual amount of big ticket failures.

How was that even possible? Since this car has had a "great service history", when was the coolant changed?

Yup, welcome to the club, say hi to the other 100,000 members. But seriously, aren't we being a bit petty here.

Your vehicle was made just as they did some major transmission improvements. So this is might a legit rant. But lets be honest about it. Between the split intercooler hose and the trashed tranny, I'm thinking you are beating on this mule. 😈

All that said, if you like the car I would definitely keep it for now. I assume the car prices down under are still crazy like the US. With a caveat, were the all those repairs done professionally or just cobbled? Having help many people on this forum, one of the biggest failure modes of a Cruze is the mechanics botching jobs on them.

Hahahahahhaha you got me! 😈
Look.... I'll admit, I do drive it quite hard, though have legitimately never (knowingly) gone past 4,000rpm, so.. eh?
Anyway... I do like the car a lot and still love driving it, and yes, pricing is absolutely insane here.. All repairs were professional by the way (apart from my battery cable DIY).

 

[Quin]

and when I think I was intending to buy a automatic but I've got a manual as the car itself was cheaper this way
after reading this and other automatic transmission-related horror stories, i tend to say the inconvenience of having to shift a lot of gears in city traffic is an actual advantage
of course in the case of the manual its only issue would be a slipping clutch, which is relatively cheap to fix

Yeah.. give me a slipping clutch over an auto transmission box any day...

 

[Quin]

how does a driver cause split IC hose?

I think they're inferring that driving it hard can cause the hose to split, not sure if that's true? Could well be I guess!

 

[Johnny B]

Hahahahahhaha you got me! 😈

Holy cow Batman, an honest person on the interwebs !!!

 

[boraz]

I think they're inferring that driving it hard can cause the hose to split, not sure if that's true? Could well be I guess!

if only the car had a boost controller or something

 

[Barry Allen]

Pinhole leaks on the turbo seems like a large bill to fix. Did they replace the turbo? Plugging those pinhole leaks with JB Weld might have been a lot cheaper.