I bought a Cruze diesel

[Drew Dowdell]

You can turn off eco mode to get better heater performance I think. You just burn battery quicker.

[2QuickZ's]

You can turn off eco mode to get better heater performance I think. You just burn battery quicker.

 

That was one of the first things I checked.  It is already off.  

[2QuickZ's]

Finally got the Cruze back today.  Same code as last time so they did a little more troubleshooting and found that a turbo inlet pipe was leaking.  Apparently it is a plastic pipe and maybe it cracked?  IDK - I just know they didn't just replace a gasket, they actually replaced two pipes.  The think this is what caused the original issue as well because they did not have to replace the O2 sensor but it isn't totally clear to me how the two are related.  I guess as long as I don't have any more issues, it doesn't really matter.

[ocnblu]

Hopefully all will be good now.

[Drew Dowdell]

If the O2 sensors aren't getting the amount of exhaust they expect, they'll throw a code.

[2QuickZ's]

Well, it set the CEL on Saturday.  I'll be calling the dealership again tomorrow and hopefully this time they will get it in right away.  It's getting a little frustrating now.

[G. David Felt]

Would be interesting to see how many of the cruze diesel have this issue.

[2QuickZ's]

Update:  I took the Cruze in shortly after my last post and it is still at the dealership.  They got an engineer involved and did a bunch of troubleshooting and apparently still couldn't figure out the cause so they just replaced a bunch of parts.  After that work was complete, it set the code again while they were doing the shake down on it.  Since GM is on holiday, they are waiting for the engineer to come back on Monday so they can contact him to see what to do next.

 

Edit:  I should have mentioned that although this has been a frustrating experience, my dealership has handled everything exceedingly well.  My service advisor in particular has been outstanding.

Edited January 1, 2015 by 2QuickZ's

[Drew Dowdell]

Update:  I took the Cruze in shortly after my last post and it is still at the dealership.  They got an engineer involved and did a bunch of troubleshooting and apparently still couldn't figure out the cause so they just replaced a bunch of parts.  After that work was complete, it set the code again while they were doing the shake down on it.  Since GM is on holiday, they are waiting for the engineer to come back on Monday so they can contact him to see what to do next.

 

Edit:  I should have mentioned that although this has been a frustrating experience, my dealership has handled everything exceedingly well.  My service advisor in particular has been outstanding.

 

Do you subscribe to TrueDelta.com?  It's free.  It's like consumer reports. 

What are lemon laws like up there in Canada?

[2QuickZ's]

I'm actually in Michigan.  I was just looking at that.  4 attempts to fix the same problem as long as the first attempt occurred in the first year of ownership or 30 days out of service within the first year of ownership (can be different problems).  They are on attempt #3 for the same problem but are well past 30 days at this point.  I'm debating whether to initiate a buy back.

[Drew Dowdell]

I'm actually in Michigan.  I was just looking at that.  4 attempts to fix the same problem as long as the first attempt occurred in the first year of ownership or 30 days out of service within the first year of ownership (can be different problems).  They are on attempt #3 for the same problem but are well past 30 days at this point.  I'm debating whether to initiate a buy back.

 

...I have no idea why I thought you were in Canada..... 

 

Wonder if you can negotiate a new Cruze diesel as part of a buy-back.  My grandmother did that with her first 7-series, got out of a 4 year lease when only about 2 years in and walked into another 7-series for the same payment.

 

.... you seem to enjoy the Cruze otherwise

[2QuickZ's]

Michigan lemon law states a replacement vehicle is an option the OEM has but I am not obligated to accept it if they do offer.  I can still insist on a buy back.

 

I've been doing some research this morning and it seems like the problem I am having has also afflicted others but there does not appear to be a clear, obvious fix.  One person just keeps getting their O2 sensor replaced.  Someone else had the O2 sensor, EGR valve and mounting plate replaced and that seemed to fix it and yet another says they have heard it is a problem with the intake design that allows unmetered air to enter though the PCV and that supposedly GM has a new intake design that they are going to release in 1Q 2015 to fix the problem.  I do like the car overall and if it was a lease I would probably just slog through but I bought this sucker so that changes my attitude on things.  Hell, if there was clear cause with a known permanent fix that would at least make me feel better that one last repair would make it all go away.

 

Edit:  I guess I should have gotten the Buick Verano turbo I was considering instead. LOL

Edited January 1, 2015 by 2QuickZ's

[ocnblu]

Not cool in the least.  This was GM's chance to sell diesels in the U.S.  They NEED to get this right, right now!  If the baby Duramax fails in the midsize trucks, I know Nissan and Toyota will eat their lunch... again.

[Drew Dowdell]

Not cool in the least.  This was GM's chance to sell diesels in the U.S.  They NEED to get this right, right now!  If the baby Duramax fails in the midsize trucks, I know Nissan and Toyota will eat their lunch... again.

 

Assuming Cummins gets their small diesels right on the first try.  There were some stumbles by them years ago with the Ram trucks.

[G. David Felt]

I think this could explain GM's lack of advertising as they know they need to fix this issue before they can move on. Hopefully the Baby Duramax in the trucks does not have this same issue.

[2QuickZ's]

I got the car back yesterday.  So far so good but we'll see how it goes from here.  They wound up doing more troubleshooting on Monday and found one of the new parts apparently didn't seal properly so they refit it and got it to seal and now no more code.

[kittyworker]

I got the car back yesterday.  So far so good but we'll see how it goes from here.  They wound up doing more troubleshooting on Monday and found one of the new parts apparently didn't seal properly so they refit it and got it to seal and now no more code.

Thats good to hear, hopefully they managed to fix the problem and the seal holds.

[G. David Felt]

Looking forward to an update of 30, 60, 90 no more error code.

[2QuickZ's]

Remote start has been a little flaky since I got the car back.  I think it is the hood latch.  It wouldn't work at all at first and then I opened the hood and shut it and it was fine.  Hopefully that is all it was.

[Drew Dowdell]

Remote start has been a little flaky since I got the car back.  I think it is the hood latch.  It wouldn't work at all at first and then I opened the hood and shut it and it was fine.  Hopefully that is all it was.

 

On my encore, it will throw an error on the DIC for something like that...   I've noticed that when it is super super cold (like right now), the drivers door switch will stick a little bit and the car thinks the door is closed when it is actually open.

[2QuickZ's]

I had read on one of the Cruze forums that the sometimes the hood appears closed but the sensor isn't actually registering it.  IDK.  My earlier statement was a little misleading.  It wouldn't work yesterday until I opened and closed the hood.  It also didn't want to work this morning so I opened and closed the hood again after I got back from a short trip and it still didn't work. A short time later it started working.  Perhaps it was frozen (it was really cold here this morning) and just needed to sit in the garage after the engine had run  and eventually that heat got up to the latch?

 

We had a similar problem with our Saturn VUE but in that case IIRC it was a bad hood release cable that was sticking and was preventing the latch from closing all the way.  They may have even wound up replacing the latch.  I don't remember.  Again the hood looked closed but the remote start wouldn't work.

[2QuickZ's]

UPDATE:  Well, so far so good on this repair.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.  No codes and it seems to be chugging along.  It did have a bad melting plastic smell to it a few days ago that really had me worried but it was just that one night. 

 

The tank after I got it back was a throw away fuel economy wise but the last tank actually did very well so maybe this repair even helped fuel economy?  533.7 miles of crappy, cold weather and a number of remote starts and it still only took 14.14 gallons for a calculated average of 37.74 mpg.  Trip computer showed average speed of 33.0 MPH for the tank (80/20 city/hwy).  That would make it one of my best tanks for my normal commute.  I don't think I shorted the tank either but I guess I'll know that on my next fill up.

[G. David Felt]

Very cool, so glad you are not having the issues any longer.

[2QuickZ's]

Looks like the last tank was real.  This tank was 476.3 miles at 30.1 mph average with an indicated 32.7 mpg.  It took 13.739 gallons so calculated was 34.67 mpg.  Lots of cold days, a few remote starts and slow commutes due to snow really took their toll.

[regfootball]

fun catching up on this thread and your detailed posts, that is awesome.

 

I was test driving some cruze diesels again a couple weeks ago and the diesel in the cruze is a match made in heaven.  Its a little luxury car and so smooth and torquey.  Would be perfect for my daily drive but right now a bit gun shy still on even the heavily discounted prices. My daily drive is 43 miles one way, and about 2/3 highway.  I bet i could average low forties no problem.

 

One thing i noticed on the test drive was the instant mpg readings were quite a bit better at say 65 mph vs. 75 mph. 

Edited March 1, 2015 by regfootball

[2QuickZ's]

Do it!  You know you want one.  lol  If you are 2/3 highway, unless the other third is all a stop and go crawl I would bet you would average AT LEAST low 40's.  Go back and look at what my average speeds where per tank and what MPG I got.  60 MPH seems to be its sweet spot but honestly as long as you are going a steady speed without doing a lot of acceleration, the car doesn't much car how fast you are going.  Have you checked used in your area?  I was surprised when I saw used for sale in metro Detroit already.  I'd say buy used in the colder months when diesel is quite a bit higher than gas.  In the summer when fuel prices are more even my guess is the used prices on the diesel will go up a bit.

 

So, obviously I haven't been posting every tank any more.  It has largely been more of the same.  Most have been around 35 mpg throughout the winter including a lot of sub zero mornings and remote starts.  Not too bad.  I was checking on fuel tank size one day and happened to notice that I was a little off on what size the tank is.  For some reason I thought it was 14.5 gallons.  Turns out it is 15.6 gallons but it takes forever to get it full because of the foamy nature of diesel.  I think all my earlier calculations were accurate as I filled it up the same way every time.

 

So, with the new found fuel tank capacity, my latest tank was as folllows:

575.6 miles (still showed 60 miles of range!) at an average speed of 35.8 mph and the VIC showing 35.6 mpg average.  It was a little more off than usual this time as calculated was 38.22 mpg since it took 15.058 gallons.

[2QuickZ's]

This will probably be the last update I do for a while because it appears interest has maybe dried up a bit.

 

All is well at the moment.  No codes since the last time I got the car back from the dealership and everything runs fine.  I just went on a driving vacation that would have been great with this car but the wife wanted to use her big car (Chrysler 300S - more on that later) so this got left at home.  None the less, I think it just had its best performance of a whole tank on just my typical daily drives.  This time around: 607.5 miles on 15.368 gallons for a calculated average of 39.53 MPG.  I had maybe an extra 20 miles of interstate driving on this tank so I'll call it 70/30 city/highway.  The EVIC was way off for some reason as it showed only 35.8 MPG and even if I calculate assuming I used the full 15.6 gallon tank it still works out to almost 39 MPG.    It also showed an average speed for the tank as 35.5 MPH.

 

As for the wife's car, it is a 2014 300S V6.  We took it on a trip from Michigan to Tennessee and back to Michigan with a detour through east Ohio.  The only 100% highway driving tank was partially through the mountains and included 30+ minutes of bumper to bumper traffic (thanks Cincinnati and especially Columbus!) and the car averaged a calculated 30.98 MPG!!!  That fill up was just as we got off the interstate for some Ohio two lane highway driving and the EVIC showed that next tank hitting 34.5 MPG before we hit our destination and ruined the tank with a bunch of city driving.  I actually was damn impressed that a big car like that would get that mileage.

[ocnblu]

Hey, keep posting your ownership experiences.  They're interesting as far as I'm concerned.  That 300 is doing very well for itself, too!

[G. David Felt]

Awesome update, Thanks for sharing, maybe only a few of us, but great to hear how the car is doing, mileage and any issues. You have a great long term thread here that I always enjoy reading the updates on.

 

Thank you for doing it.

[GMTruckGuy74]

I enjoy reading your posts too, though I don't add much.  Please keep 'em going!

[Drew Dowdell]

Do it!  You know you want one.  lol  If you are 2/3 highway, unless the other third is all a stop and go crawl I would bet you would average AT LEAST low 40's.  Go back and look at what my average speeds where per tank and what MPG I got.  60 MPH seems to be its sweet spot but honestly as long as you are going a steady speed without doing a lot of acceleration, the car doesn't much car how fast you are going.  Have you checked used in your area?  I was surprised when I saw used for sale in metro Detroit already.  I'd say buy used in the colder months when diesel is quite a bit higher than gas.  In the summer when fuel prices are more even my guess is the used prices on the diesel will go up a bit.

 

So, obviously I haven't been posting every tank any more.  It has largely been more of the same.  Most have been around 35 mpg throughout the winter including a lot of sub zero mornings and remote starts.  Not too bad.  I was checking on fuel tank size one day and happened to notice that I was a little off on what size the tank is.  For some reason I thought it was 14.5 gallons.  Turns out it is 15.6 gallons but it takes forever to get it full because of the foamy nature of diesel.  I think all my earlier calculations were accurate as I filled it up the same way every time.

 

So, with the new found fuel tank capacity, my latest tank was as folllows:

575.6 miles (still showed 60 miles of range!) at an average speed of 35.8 mph and the VIC showing 35.6 mpg average.  It was a little more off than usual this time as calculated was 38.22 mpg since it took 15.058 gallons.

 

Sorry.. I meant to rep you up and I reped you down by accident.... I'm too dumb to use my own website. 

Also,  I mentioned your prior issues with the Cruze diesel to a rep from Chevy.  He said that if you have any such issues again that you give him a call. 

[2QuickZ's]

Okay, guys.  No problem.  This thing is 7 pages long and over a year old so I figured the interest was drying up but since you guys are still interested, I'll keep it going.  I'll try to update once a month or so.

 

 

 

Do it!  You know you want one.  lol  If you are 2/3 highway, unless the other third is all a stop and go crawl I would bet you would average AT LEAST low 40's.  Go back and look at what my average speeds where per tank and what MPG I got.  60 MPH seems to be its sweet spot but honestly as long as you are going a steady speed without doing a lot of acceleration, the car doesn't much car how fast you are going.  Have you checked used in your area?  I was surprised when I saw used for sale in metro Detroit already.  I'd say buy used in the colder months when diesel is quite a bit higher than gas.  In the summer when fuel prices are more even my guess is the used prices on the diesel will go up a bit.

 

So, obviously I haven't been posting every tank any more.  It has largely been more of the same.  Most have been around 35 mpg throughout the winter including a lot of sub zero mornings and remote starts.  Not too bad.  I was checking on fuel tank size one day and happened to notice that I was a little off on what size the tank is.  For some reason I thought it was 14.5 gallons.  Turns out it is 15.6 gallons but it takes forever to get it full because of the foamy nature of diesel.  I think all my earlier calculations were accurate as I filled it up the same way every time.

 

So, with the new found fuel tank capacity, my latest tank was as folllows:

575.6 miles (still showed 60 miles of range!) at an average speed of 35.8 mph and the VIC showing 35.6 mpg average.  It was a little more off than usual this time as calculated was 38.22 mpg since it took 15.058 gallons.

 

Sorry.. I meant to rep you up and I reped you down by accident.... I'm too dumb to use my own website. 

Also,  I mentioned your prior issues with the Cruze diesel to a rep from Chevy.  He said that if you have any such issues again that you give him a call. 

 

 

No biggie on the negative rep points.  Thanks for letting the Chevy rep know.  It's been good since the last fix so I'm happy at the moment.  If nothing else, it will highlight the issue a little more.  I'm not sure everybody would quite as patient as I have been so its good they know what is going on.

[G. David Felt]

I clicked +1 so we get you back to zero

[regfootball]

I still am interested in your posts. There have been some good prices on new remaining 14 diesels, but not 'rock bottom'. I still think there is a ways to go yet. The used ones I see listed are of no big price advantage and have lots of miles on them. With diesel now only about 30 cents apart again, the diesel can make financial sense for awhile too. Truth is if I felt confident about my job with 45 mile commute lasting, I would have probably done a deal on it. My fear is I get a new gig and it's 10 miles away and it's hard to get the mpg out of it I need. Really my wife and I would like a larger car too. Used Gas passats and new body style impalas are available for under 20 grand and it makez it hard to go small and diesel when those choices are out there. Despite mpg and all.

My dad was visiting and even went and took another test drive in one again. He is a diesel fanatic and even tried to work some numbers for trading his DTS. Not good enough numbers yet either. Plus he too thinks the larger passat gives more room.

The 15's are coming in but the 14's have a warranty advantage. I think if a person were serious enough and spent enough time doing it they could probably find a dealer who is willing to sell the car to get rid of it.

Great car though. Malibu diesel 2016 with less weight would be perfect but theory have hybrid instead. New volt and other EV's make it hard for diesel to regain a niche here.

If I did get a cruze diesel I might also think about getting it from a dealer that has free lifetime powertrain warranty.

[bbeals91]

I am having the same issue can I get the reps info that this forum is talking about?

[2QuickZ's]

I am having the same issue can I get the reps info that this forum is talking about?

 

Are you referring to the P0133 code?  If so, I saw a number of posts when I was researching mine that said you need to get on the gas pedal once in a while.  That is definitely not the problem for me!  I don't beat on the car but I am not a hyper miler and am definitely not conservative with throttle application.  The tech told me the engineer thought the car wasn't running long enough to heat up properly.  That didn't make sense either as I have a 25 mile one way commute to work and I was putting 1500 miles per month on the car.

 

In my case, first time in they replaced the O2 sensor.  I think this lasted around 5K miles.  The second time in, they supposedly found a leak in the intake system somewhere and got everything aligned and sealed.  That fix lasted a few days.  For the third time in, they replaced a number of the intake components.  I got it back in January and it has been good ever since, knock on wood.  I remember reading on one of the Cruze sites back in December that some were talking about replacing leaking EGR valve/mounting plate fixed it and another person chimed in and said it was a design issue with one of the intake tubes and GM was going to release a new design.  My car didn't have the EGR messed with and I honestly have no idea if I got a new design intake tube.  Unfortunately, I don't think they really know what is causing the issue as I have seen a variety of "fixes" reported.  All I can say is that mine has lasted 4 months and 5K miles without throwing the code again.

[2QuickZ's]

I had a feeling I didn't remember everything so I went out to my car and dug out the repair orders.  Repair #1 (approx. 6K miles) was just replacing the O2 sensor .  Repair #2 (approx. 11.5K miles) was "Replaced air induction and air heater duct."  Repair #3 (approx. 12K miles) was the everything but the kitchen sink repair of "replaced ALL air induction components including air heater and mass air flow meter."  This repair included replacing the one duct that they had just replaced 500 miles earlier in repair #2.  A field engineer was involved on the last repair.  The situation sucked but the dealership handled everything very well at least.  The car never had any driveability issues and always acted 100% normal other than the SES light.

Edited April 30, 2015 by 2QuickZ's

[Drew Dowdell]

I am having the same issue can I get the reps info that this forum is talking about?

 

can you be more specific on the issue you're having?

[2QuickZ's]

Another update as of a few days ago:  539.2 miles on 15.043 gallons for an average of 35.84.  Average speed for the tank was 34.5 mph.

[Drew Dowdell]

What's been your best ever? Have you ever done a really really long trip in it?

[2QuickZ's]

Unfortunately I've never gotten a chance to take it on a long trip that used a whole tank of fuel.  My wife never wants to take it on the long trips because "it's too small" even though it is an awesome trip car.  The best was a little over 44 mpg on a trip from the Detroit area to Chicago and back.  This included some heavy Chicago area traffic as well as one bad traffic jam that was about 45 minutes to go maybe 6 miles IIRC.

 

On a two lane highway trip of a couple hundred miles round trip it showed 47 mpg on the EVIC which would have probably calculated out over 48 mpg but I didn't fill up when I got back.  At one point it showed a 50 mile average over 53 mpg.

 

Just for reference, my brother-in-law makes almost the same daily commute as me to work every day in his 2014 Dodge Dart GT w/ auto and and I think he gets around 26 mpg.  I think I am more aggressive with the throttle than he is as well and I average at least 35 mpg.

[Z-06]

That GM Diesel engine is very good and possibly even better than the VW. Too bad GM wants to make it mainstream but doesn't want to support it through marketing. It's possibly going to be another GM wallflower.

[2QuickZ's]

Update:  The check engine light came on again this morning.  I drop it off at the dealership Thursday morning.  Just under 18k miles on the ODO.

[2QuickZ's]

They turned the car around same day.  P0133 reared is ugly head again along with a couple of other codes.  Fix # 4 was an ECU reflash and was done per a service bulletin, I believe.  To recap my P0133 saga for posterity:

Fix #1 = Replace O2 sensor

Fix #2 = Replace a couple of intake components

Fix #3 = Replace a bunch of intake components and sensor

Fix #4 = Reflash ECU

 

I average about 5K miles between codes.  I guess we'll see how it goes this time.

[daves87rs]

Hoping it will go much better......

[regfootball]

don't worry, your Chevy diesel experience is better than BMW

 

"one should avoid BMWs that are out of warranty."

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-bmw-328d-xdrive-diesel-wagon-long-term-wrap-review

[Drew Dowdell]

don't worry, your Chevy diesel experience is better than BMW

 

"one should avoid BMWs that are out of warranty."

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-bmw-328d-xdrive-diesel-wagon-long-term-wrap-review

 

Indeed.  Never own a german luxury car unless the manufacturer is picking up the repair tab.  It needed a new transfer case at 25,000 miles??!

[regfootball]

hard to rip BMW with what is surfacing on the C7 vette, but yeah, who in their right mind would sign up for that.

[regfootball]

here, gas was 2.69 today, diesel 2.71.

 

Z's, what have you seen for price difference recently?

[2QuickZ's]

Diesel has been $0.10-$0.15 cheaper than regular unleaded for the last month+.  Right now regular is around $2.89 at most stations near my house but I can also get diesel at a bunch of stations for around $2.73 and many of the gas stations around here charge $0.10 more per gallon if you use credit but diesel is usually the same price cash or credit.  Not sure why it is like that.

 

Bad news: The check engine light is on again.  I drop it off again tomorrow morning.  I'm beginning to think this car is trying to set some kind of record! lol