[JeffBazell]

I tried to give Chevy and an American car company a chance to prove its quality. Sadly, I will not be getting another Cruze and definitely not another Chevy or GM product. Mine: 2012 Eco, AT, currently at 68k miles. So far: Replaced turbo, pcv 2x, ECM recall, brakes not self-adjusting, pass. wiper broke at 3 months (in warm weather), dead battery at 3 years (no lights or accessories were left on), water got into spark plug well last week, driver and pass. visors replaced twice, engine shield recall (they botched mine so bad that I made them give me a new one and said DO NOT TOUCH IT), constant coolant smell, coolant return hose leaked ($171 repair), electric pump vacuum switch recall, 2nd gear wobble since day one never fixed (I gave up on that one), CEL on at 34,878 then off at 34,880, no codes saved, engine coolant leak (none found) at 43,681. And to top it off, every time I get the oil changed at this particular dealer, they upload wrong info to OnStar stating they performed a whole list of services which they did not. So now, my maintenance and service history has been wrong for three years thanks to incompetence at the dealer. Next car will most likely be a Honda, Mazda or Suburu. Sorry, Chevy lovers, including my own jet-engine-mechanic brother who swears by GM. I'm sad because I love the design, handling, torque, fuel economy and quiet ride compared to other similar vehicles. I wanted to love this car for 150K but doesn't look like that's gonna happen.

 

[pandrad61]

did you buy it new? you could always look into local lemon laws.

 

[MP81]

did you buy it new? you could always look into local lemon laws.

Yep - that's what it sounds like.

Which by the way: every manufacturer has lemons, whether you want to believe it or not. It's something that happens when you build that many vehicles, mistakes get made, it happens.

 

[JeffBazell]

Yes, I bought it brand new. Lemon law only applies to the state in which you purchased it and it depends on the states' law. I bought it in Oregon which gives it up to 24,000 miles or 2 yrs, to be considered a lemon. Way past that. Now I live in Illinois which only gives you up to 12k or one year. Same problem has to have occurred 3x and not fixed within that time period. Lemon laws are ok but they're skewed to the car maker more than the consumer. I understand most cars have issues. Just seems like the Cruze has become unreliable. I feel like I'm just waiting for the next problem. I never felt that way about my Honda's. This Cruze reminds me of a horrible car I had: 1990 Ford Probe GT. It was in the shope every 3 months for major work, not piddly stuff.

 

[obermd]

... every time I get the oil changed at this particular dealer, they upload wrong info to OnStar stating they performed a whole list of services which they did not. So now, my maintenance and service history has been wrong for three years thanks to incompetence at the dealer.

I would put the blame on the dealership for failure to fix things properly. This is GM's Achilles tendon - crappy dealerships. Better luck with your next dealership.

 

[pandrad61]

hey i know how you feel. i have had Toyota all my life reach 300k and still pumping strong. i always could not stand GM but the cruze is one car that did impress me and that's why i bought the CTD. every manufacturer has a lemon in the shipment, sory to hear your car troubles but most of us here are not having any issues. have your tried other dealers. a problem is easy to fix with the right dealer and with the wrong one becomes a nightmare

 

[spacedout]

I see 3 recalls listed in your complaints, would you rather them just leave possible safety issues unfixed? Also a dead battery in 3 years is within normal life expectancy of a battery, most need replacing in the 3-5 year range. Remember its the heat of the summer than kills batteries and we did just have the hottest summer on record. Once the weather turns even just slightly cooler temperatures your now weak battery shows its diminished capacity.

It also sounds like your dealer sucks, I would have looked for new service department long ago.

 

[JeffBazell]

Thanks for all the great replies. I always learn something from you great Cruze owners. Like I mentioned, I really wanted to love this car. I actually did for the first year but then the problems started. Some were major, some just annoying, for which I actually have alot of patience. Yesterday, 'cruzing' at 79-81mph on the freeway, every time I accelerated to pass I had that missing/chug chug happen. I examined my spark plugs today and lo and behold, one plug was filthy (there was grit and burned gas residue in the plug well), and 2 of the 4 had changed their gaps. Went ahead and bought 4 shiny new sweet-smelling plugs today and vacuumed out the dirt. I was careful not to let any dirt fall back in the wells. Next service will be at a new dealer.

 

[pandrad61]

Thanks for all the great replies. I always learn something from you great Cruze owners. Like I mentioned, I really wanted to love this car. I actually did for the first year but then the problems started. Some were major, some just annoying, for which I actually have alot of patience. Yesterday, 'cruzing' at 79-81mph on the freeway, every time I accelerated to pass I had that missing/chug chug happen. I examined my spark plugs today and lo and behold, one plug was filthy (there was grit and burned gas residue in the plug well), and 2 of the 4 had changed their gaps. Went ahead and bought 4 shiny new sweet-smelling plugs today and vacuumed out the dirt. I was careful not to let any dirt fall back in the wells. Next service will be at a new dealer.

you can have the most reliable car in the world but if the dealer thats working on it is poop then the car experience will be ruined and tarnished. unfortunately as others have stated GM has a big problem with junk dealers.

 

[JeffBazell]

Just changed the plugs, as mentioned in earlier post. Wow, what a difference. Just popped in the AC Delco 41-121's iridiums without any gapping. Car running fantastic, drove to running temp (215F), no ping, no hesitation, super pick-up, smooth, quiet. I'm a happy man again. Biggest difference I noticed was the passing rpm, went from 55mph, floored it, smooth acceleration up to 80mph. No sputtering or roughness. Idle is perfect. Even a little lower than with the old plugs (which, btw were Autolite XP 3923's. Aren't those made for Ford products? Anyway, I'm happy right now.

 

[Jim Frye]

Sorry to see your bad experience. I think a lot of the ownership experience is due to dealer service, which seems to be really hit and miss (mostly miss) with the Cruze. Things will be better the less you have to take a vehicle back to the dealership for work. Hopefully, your next car won't require visits.

 

[spacedout]

Just popped in the AC Delco 41-121's iridiums without any gapping. Car running fantastic, drove to running temp (215F), no ping, no hesitation, super pick-up, smooth, quiet. I'm a happy man again.

I replaced my plugs at 85K(a few thousand miles ago) with those same plugs, my car is also very very smooth now.

 

[jblackburn]

Just changed the plugs, as mentioned in earlier post. Wow, what a difference. Just popped in the AC Delco 41-121's iridiums without any gapping. Car running fantastic, drove to running temp (215F), no ping, no hesitation, super pick-up, smooth, quiet. I'm a happy man again. Biggest difference I noticed was the passing rpm, went from 55mph, floored it, smooth acceleration up to 80mph. No sputtering or roughness. Idle is perfect. Even a little lower than with the old plugs (which, btw were Autolite XP 3923's. Aren't those made for Ford products? Anyway, I'm happy right now.

You are not the first that I have heard of that has had issues with Autolite Platinums. Generally platinum plugs do not play well in turbo engines.

Glad the fix was that easy.

 

[pandrad61]

You are not the first that I have heard of that has had issues with Autolite Platinums. Generally platinum plugs do not play well in turbo engines.

Glad the fix was that easy.

you would think that GM would have had enough complaints about this and had the problem fixed. a simple TSB to replace plugs.

also i dont agree that turbo cars don't like platinum. my 87 supra right on the radiator frame had a big placard from toyota that said. Spark plugs to be set X gap and minimum of platinum ngk X number, Bosch X number. my 87 turbo was 13 psi and it loved double platinum from ngk, a dodge Daytona Shelby non intercooled turbo loves platinum and is still running them today

 

[jblackburn]

you would think that GM would have had enough complaints about this and had the problem fixed. a simple TSB to replace plugs.

also i dont agree that turbo cars don't like platinum. my 87 supra right on the radiator frame had a big placard from toyota that said. Spark plugs to be set X gap and minimum of platinum ngk X number, Bosch X number. my 87 turbo was 13 psi and it loved double platinum from ngk, a dodge Daytona Shelby non intercooled turbo loves platinum and is still running them today

It actually does not surprise me that Toyota would go out of their way to design around a platinum plug; they are known for trying to make their cars as low-maintenance as possible. Hence the "generally" phrasing in my statement above.

However, MOST turbo engines designed in the last decade or two (off the top of my head, DSM, Volvo, Saab turbos, FIAT Multiair, GM Ecotec turbos) prefer either a copper/nickel or iridium plug. While platinum does have the benefits of being a long-life choice for a plug that does not experience much gap erosion, there are 3 reasons against platinum plugs:
1) Platinum as a metal itself scavenges heat poorly compared to nickel or copper. This leads to high cylinder temps after the ignition stroke that can lead to pre-detonation. The Cruze's stock IFR7X7G plugs are actually an iridium tip with a platinum electrode, and we've discovered that they suffer from exactly this issue at sub-2500 RPM engine speeds on the 1.4T. Indeed, Chevy flip-flopped heat ranges several times between the years trying to eliminate the terrible hesitation these cars have in hot weather.
2) It creates a weaker spark that can blow out more easily. I ran into this with my Volvo T5. It ran ~10 PSI on a big turbo, and near 5000 RPM with a set of Autolite platinums in it, it felt like the transmission was starting to slip. That was actually a stutter in power from misfiring that cured completely with a new set of NGK coppers (the same plugs that I tried out in the Cruze).
3) Plugs must self-clean. Sometimes this can just be an issue with mixing and matching heat ranges between different brands of plugs, but if the plug doesn't get hot enough, due in part to the other two conditions or just being the wrong heat range for the application, it will build up crud that eventually leaves the plug unable to fire in a nice arc, or unable to fire at all. This was the problem that the OP had with his plugs.

 

[pandrad61]

I just find it so embarrassing that us non engineers here on a forum found a easy fix for the 1.4 plug issues but big GM could not take care of it

 

[LS6rally]

So wait, in 2012 the 1.4s came from the Factory with Autolite Platinum Plugs?

 

[obermd]

you would think that GM would have had enough complaints about this and had the problem fixed. a simple TSB to replace plugs.

Why? The GM OEM plugs for the Cruze are AC Delco re-branded NGK iridium plugs - specifically the plugs Jeff just installed. Who put the AutoLites into his car in the first place?

 

[obermd]

So wait, in 2012 the 1.4s came from the Factory with Autolite Platinum Plugs?

No. They came with AC Delco (NGK) 41-117 iridium plugs. The 121s are slightly colder plugs.

 

[pandrad61]

Why? The GM OEM plugs for the Cruze are AC Delco re-branded NGK iridium plugs - specifically the plugs Jeff just installed. Who put the AutoLites into his car in the first place?

If many people here are having rough running cars and the spark plugs are a go to fix why would GM not do it themselves vs us having to do it?