2011 Cruze- 1 month review

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The Cruze runs a bit rich from the factory to run acceptably on 87 octane. It does adjust itself to run on 91/93 octane when put into the tank.
 
Got mine in at the dealer, and they said that the instrument cluster looked "like it's gonna fall off pretty soon" based on the amount of vertical movement they encountered when probing it. They told me they wanted a good chunk of time to rip into it and that "this is the first one we've repaired, so we want to have parts on hand since something's likely to get broken when we take a look", so we scheduled another appointment for next weekend when the technician who looked at it is on again.

Things like that happen. It's a new car, it's going to have some teething issues. And bum parts happen too.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Got mine in at the dealer, and they said that the instrument cluster looked "like it's gonna fall off pretty soon" based on the amount of vertical movement they encountered when probing it. They told me they wanted a good chunk of time to rip into it and that "this is the first one we've repaired, so we want to have parts on hand since something's likely to get broken when we take a look", so we scheduled another appointment for next weekend when the technician who looked at it is on again.

Things like that happen. It's a new car, it's going to have some teething issues. And bum parts happen too.


Sounds like you have a pretty honest dealer there, to flat out tell you that they may break parts when they try to fix a model for the first time. They could just as easily have torn it apart, broken something, and never said a word about it.
 
They seemed pretty honest. It's a little mom-n-pop dealer that survived the downsizing. It felt more like a garage that happened to sell new Chevys than a dealer. The vehicles on the lot were mostly pickups since they're in the middle of farm country, and folks by me use pickups for everything. The tech who's likely going to work on it was the one who told me that parts might get broken. I might send some non-warranty work their way since the prices were fairly reasonable for an oil change/tire rotation using dexos1 oil.

We'll see what shakes out next weekend. The rattle's not going anywhere.
 
This kind of reminds me back in '82 or so there was a small Chevy dealer in the country where my dad bought a new '82 Chevy pick up and it wasn't running right or a little rough sometimes. The dealer, nice people, said they were not able to work on it and he should take it to a larger dealer. Imagine that, the Quadrajet wasn't even a feedback model on pick ups and only the HEI ignition was slightly different with Electronic Spark Control. And probably about all they sold was pick ups. What would they have done if an '82 Monte Carlo came in or even worse an '82 Camaro with Crossfire Induction lol. Simpler times.

Interior and instrument panels and steering columns can be intricate and fragile especially the first few times you work on a certain model. Some bigger dealers have a dedicated interior guy.
 
Something inside the instrument cluster broke today and is really rattling around at highway speeds on bumpy roads. Just in time for the dealer visit tomorrow. I'm glad it's rattling loudly now, since that will make for an easy diagnosis.

Unlike other posters who get mad at their new cars for having faults, I'm glad the piece failed now while it's under warranty.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Something inside the instrument cluster broke today and is really rattling around at highway speeds on bumpy roads. Just in time for the dealer visit tomorrow. I'm glad it's rattling loudly now, since that will make for an easy diagnosis.

Unlike other posters who get mad at their new cars for having faults, I'm glad the piece failed now while it's under warranty.


I agree. I also will accept, and I've said it before. All cars these days are massively complicated, with hundreds of thousands of parts. It's a miracle of engineering and a testament to the care of workers that most are perfect out of the gate. But not everything can be perfect. Not everyone will accept that, and a rattle, or burned out LED is cause for "LEMON LAW I WANT NEW CAR!!!!!1!!111!one!!"

New cars can have problems, it's impossible to have every single part, absolutely perfect, every time.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
New cars can have problems, it's impossible to have every single part, absolutely perfect, every time.

Well, it's possible, but nobody would be willing to pay for it.
smile.gif
 
About hundreds of thousands of parts; I think the part count has not gone up substantially over the years (because today most of them are non-serviceable assemblies) On the other hand, the overall automotive reliability is substantially better than ever.

Heck, I just saw reading a list where Jaguar was the second most reliable new car sold! Imagine that!!!

- Vikas
 
I had one as a rental for a recent business trip, I was really impressed! This was my first opportunity to drive a Cruze, and really liked it a lot. It rode like a larger car, power from the 1.4T was really smooth and at no time did I feel like I needed more power. The best part was the steering! I can't believe how light and precise it was...it really felt good going through turns.

I noticed a few new screens on the DIC that my 2011s don't have. It's about time GM took advantage of all the real estate that screen has. Gas mileage was great. 30's all day in the city without even trying.

IMG_20110924_132951.jpg

IMG_20110924_133903.jpg

IMG_20110924_133911.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Wonder if I can take my 2011 to the dealer and have them flash the DIC with the version with the new screens.


I've heard the 2012 uses a different display module, so no go. Double-check that one to be sure.

The 2012's seem to run better from the showroom than the 2011's, again from scuttlebutt I've heard. Mine runs quite well, and keeps impressing me with its fuel economy.
 
Got up to the dealer, and their computer systems crashed. So no ripping it apart today. We re-scheduled for next week.

I did get a Delco PF2257G filter for it. It's a Hengst made in the USA. The model number on the filter is E611H. Pictures up in another thread.
 
Got back from the dealer, and while the original problem is fixed (loose screws holding the cluster down), the cluster itself didn't like being removed. So it's making a very annoying buzzing rattle over pretty much any bump now. The dealer also didn't order the MT fluid needed, so I have to go back yet another time for them to fix this new rattle and drain/fill the MT fluid to hopefully cure the MT's ailments.

Hopefully time #4 will cure things!
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
The dealer also didn't order the MT fluid needed, so I have to go back yet another time for them to fix this new rattle and drain/fill the MT fluid to hopefully cure the MT's ailments.

What's wrong with the MT? I don't recall seeing that in this thread...
 
Originally Posted By: NateDN10
Originally Posted By: sciphi
The dealer also didn't order the MT fluid needed, so I have to go back yet another time for them to fix this new rattle and drain/fill the MT fluid to hopefully cure the MT's ailments.

What's wrong with the MT? I don't recall seeing that in this thread...


It's getting pretty notchy and very occasionally balks at going into gear. Hopefully draining/filling the transmission to the correct level with the correct, apparently unique to 2012 Cruze Eco MT fluid will remedy this behavior. Draining/filling in my other manual car with the correct MTF cured this behavior. I'm wishing the same thing for this transmission.
 
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