2012 Chevrolet CRUZE - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 Chevrolet Cruze received excellent safety ratings across the board, with a perfect score of 5 in overall front crash, side crash, and rollover ratings. The car also features standard electronic stability control, which enhances safety by helping drivers maintain control during sudden maneuvers or in slippery conditions. However, it does not come with forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems.

Despite its high safety ratings, the Chevrolet Cruze has had a significant number of complaints, with 840 reported. Additionally, there have been 7 recalls issued for this model, indicating some potential issues that have required manufacturer attention. Overall, while the Chevrolet Cruze offers top-notch safety features and performance, potential buyers should be aware of the reported complaints and recalls associated with this vehicle.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

840

Recall Count

7

Investigation Count

3

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2012 Chevrolet Cruze 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 4 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2012 Chevrolet Cruze 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 4 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2011 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2011 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 4
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear 5 5 4
Overall Side Barrier Rating 5 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2011 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating 5 5 5

Complaints for the 2012 Chevrolet CRUZE

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"- there is a severe oil leak that. - 1. the vehicle broke down when driving, which put the family and other drivers at risk. 2. the burning of the oil and the vapor coming from the burning was not safe to breathe. - yes, the problem has been confirmed and attempted to be fixed by a dealership upon purchase through southern utah car and trailer sales. - no the vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer/police/ or other. - yes, low oil pressure and a check engine light. they first appeared in february of 2023 and have remained present, only getting worse over time."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-01-09
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet cruze. the contact stated that while driving at 35 mph, the vehicle overheated and lost radiator fluid. the engine overheated warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic and confirmed that the main seal over the engine, water pump, and timing belt had caused the failure. the vehicle had not been repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was not on recall. the failure mileage was approximately 139,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-02-09
Complaint:
"motor is leaking coolant around the water pump. although it is leaking the water pump is not bad, but because it is leaking it cause the car to lose coolant and goes in the state of overheating."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-06-08
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet cruze. the contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph, there was a burning odor coming through the vents. the contact stated that smoke was coming from the engine compartment. additionally, when the vehicle was parked, there was condensation underneath the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the intake manifold, valve cover, exhaust manifold gasket, oil filter housing, and coolant reservoir needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-08-08
Complaint:
"2012 chevy cruz turbo failed. car is available for inspection upon request. the dealer that i had purchased a vehicle from in 2022 was informed that my check engine light had turned on and i checked this at autozone that there was still an oil leak as well as an additional issue after they had finished repairing a coolant leak that caused my vehicle to overheat all before my 30 day warranty ended. he informed me he would get it repaired for me. however, he never returned my calls or texts, since i had let him know on the final 30th day since i had purchased the vehicle. the vehicle has been inspected by a mechanic that has confirmed. the turbo is in fact bad and needs to be replaced. my car broke down while turning right on a busy intersection."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-10-05
Complaint:
"the o2 sensor blew out of the catalytic converter and the sensor can't be replaced. the threads were basically gone! took it to a professional and he said he wouldn't even put on a new one(aftermarket) because the cruze and sonic's are notorious for having this issue and it would do it again. he said they need to recall these immediately! i only have around 65,000 miles on this vehicle."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2021-01-07
Complaint:
"check engine light came on and car was leaked oil onto the driveway, when car was parked. the next day, car was taken in to be serviced."upon vehicle inspection, technician(tech) found, oil filter adapter leaking oil." "need gasket to block. "resealed oil cooler and oil filter adapter seals." "tech also found valve cover leaking. replace cover leaking oil. replaced valve cover. tech found trans oil cooler lines both leaking lines- replaced. customer states check engine light is on. replaced purge valve. tech found battery negative cable high resistance. replaced negative battery cable. after 8 days without her car and after paying for the aforementioned services, when the car was parked in the driveway, it continued to leak oil! tech informed her that it was a new problem and that she would have to pay an extra $700! the fact the tech had the audacity to think it was ok to say that to her or anyone else, is appalling, to say the least. i'm sure someone has had a similar problem with this make nd model."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-10-04
Complaint:
"multiple oils leaks (mainly from the turbo area) causing smoking and burning smell. the latest resulted in oil leaking on the manifold, which could have resulted in a fire."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2021-01-02
Complaint:
"my car has been fitting the description of a specific recall on the same year and model. (i.e.: recall #12v288000 - date: 6/22/2012 - component engine and engine cooling) i purchased my car through carmax less than a year ago and have had multiple issues including, airbag senor problems, rmp issues, alternator replacement, etc. i've dealt with an oil leak from the valve cover most recently. i took it in for an oil change and found out there was a leak which was so bad it saturated everything in the engine area collecting near the engine and exhaust system. this lead to an awful burning smell. the valve cover was replaced and now two weeks later there is still an awful burning smell coming from both inside and outside the car. the valve cover doesn't seem to be leaking oil, and i don't see any weird objects or debris in the engine area. the recall previously mentioned fits my current problem to a t - but according to my vin there have been 0 recalls. the car is not dependable at this point due to risk of fume inhalation and potential fire. it has been in the shop multiple times since i bought it and i have barely put 6,000 miles on it since purchase."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2021-07-01
Complaint:
"i have had to change multiple parts relating to the cooling system of this vehicle. the plastic parts have each melted and required replacement. upon research, many others have had similar issues. my vehicle continues to over heat, and parts continue to need replacement."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-04-09

Recalls for the 2012 Chevrolet CRUZE

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2012 buick verano vehicles manufactured december 2, 2011 to july, 16, 2012, chevrolet cruze vehicles manufactured december 7, 2011 to july 25, 2012, chevrolet sonic vehicles manufactured december 5, 2011 to august 2, 2012, and chevrolet camaro vehicles manufactured december 1, 2011 to june 11, 2012. the driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals."
Consequence:
If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The recall began on July 25, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact GM at 1-800-222-1020. Buick owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. Note: This is an expansion of recalls 12V-522 and 13V-023.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2014-06-06
Recall:
"general motors is recalling certain model year 2012 buick verano, chevrolet cruze, and chevrolet sonic vehicles. the driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals."
Consequence:
If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal airbag, that airbag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Remedy:

General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel airbag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on January 11, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2012-10-31
Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2012 chevrolet camaro, cruze and sonic, and model year 2012 buick verano vehicles. the driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals."
Consequence:
If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on February 13, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-521-7300.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2013-01-24

CHEVROLET Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

CHEVROLET ranks 2 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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