The car will stall and shut off, the radio quits working and the key will get stuck in the ignition.
2012 Chevrolet Captiva Sport
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Limited comparison data
There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Captiva Sport years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
56 reports with mileage · 24 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Electrical System. Review the 46 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 22 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electronic Stability Control (esc). Review the 12 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Engine complaints
22 reportsEngine light came on lost compressions. Engine wouldn't turn off. Steering was loose like we were on water. Traction control and stabilitrac were disabled and unable to turn bsvjninuiHas to press breaks to the floor. If I was going any faster I could have lost control. The repair shop replaced the fuse box and Bcm not even 3 m…
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Engine light came on lost compressions. Engine wouldn't turn off. Steering was loose like we were on water. Traction control and stabilitrac were disabled and unable to turn bsvjninuiHas to press breaks to the floor. If I was going any faster I could have lost control. The repair shop replaced the fuse box and Bcm not even 3 miles engine light came back on and it misfires, pistons problems, compression. I called the dealership I bought it from and they state it's safe!
I am not sure what component could be one could be several. When I pulled into my driveway and put it in park. The engine light came on and the stereo went off. When checking the stereo would not turn back on and nothing on the instrument panel would work, heater/air conditioning, rear wipers, heated seats, hazard lights, the …
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I am not sure what component could be one could be several. When I pulled into my driveway and put it in park. The engine light came on and the stereo went off. When checking the stereo would not turn back on and nothing on the instrument panel would work, heater/air conditioning, rear wipers, heated seats, hazard lights, the parking/emergency break literally nothing. So I turned the key in the ignition to the off position took the key out and the engine continued to run? I called onstar from the vehicle and realized that didn't work either so I had called from my cell. They advices me to call a mechanic. Unable to do so as it was 9pm and not was mechanic shop was available I looked online. I ended up pulling the fuel relay switch and waited several minutes for it to finally die then I undid the negative battery cable. Tried again the next day and same thing happened. It is available for inspection as I have no clue as to if and when it can be fixed. My safety was at risk due to the vehicle not shutting off and a fire/explosion could happen. The safety feature or requirement of the hazard lights (good thing I wasn't on the freeway) the parking/emergency break no need to explained this. Unable to call for emergency with onstar equipped vehicle and who know what else could be wrong. Unknown if anyone else has a verified claim but it seems to be a problem with this vehicle and no it has not been inspected but will be taking to a shop Monday morning! No lights/lamps/warnings were on or appeared prior to the engine light turning on with all this at the same time.
Vehicle has a know oil useage problem. Have to check to make sure it is not low between oil changes. In the past I had it start to cut out if I was sitting at a stop light & had to put my foot on the brake & the gas pedal to keep it from quitting. Only happened occasionally & never gave it more thought till about a month ago.…
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Vehicle has a know oil useage problem. Have to check to make sure it is not low between oil changes. In the past I had it start to cut out if I was sitting at a stop light & had to put my foot on the brake & the gas pedal to keep it from quitting. Only happened occasionally & never gave it more thought till about a month ago. Was sitting in my car while it was idling and it just quit. Started it back up & it did it again. Thank goodness I was sitting in a driveway not on a highway. It drove terrible on the way home. Sputtered at every stop sign. Got it home a mile away and parked it. I was lucky to get home because it had started to leak oil just before my driveway so you could see it on the road. I lost the rest of the oil in my driveway! Got to doing some calling & research & found out they have issues with freezing up a tube on the top of the engine & now I have a blow rear main seal! Had we been informed of this issue we would have been able to prevent a real problem. Now I have a 2012 Chevy Captive (manufactured 02/24/12) that has 87,000 miles on it an needs a major repair! From our understanding some vehicles were issued a notification that this was an issue & offered a engine repair. Our vin number unfortunately doesn't come up under this issue. So now we are sitting a a major repair issue & no help with covering the cost of this known issue! The car is in good shape and we are unable to drive it till we get it fixed. Wish we would have known about this issue. Not too happy to find out this problem has been known about but yet many have not been notified of this issue. Glad my car died in my driveway & not out on some highway in the middle of now where. Could have caused a major accident when the car just died in the roadway! Would like to know what is offered for this issue & why car owners are not notified of this issue. Just frustrating!
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Captiva. The contact stated that while his engine was off, the vehicle had caught fire and burned out on its own. The contact discovered the failure upon the entrance of the vehicle and saw smoke within the cabin. The vehicle would not start and was towed to the dealer. The contact was then info…
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The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Captiva. The contact stated that while his engine was off, the vehicle had caught fire and burned out on its own. The contact discovered the failure upon the entrance of the vehicle and saw smoke within the cabin. The vehicle would not start and was towed to the dealer. The contact was then informed that the climate control module had caused a fire within the vehicle and the module was replaced. After the repair, the check engine light would intermittently illuminate on the dashboard. The contact took the vehicle to Bob Tyler Toyota(7201 Pensacola Blvd, Pensacola, FL 32505) where they diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure. The manufacturer was notified and the contact was given a case number. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 125,379
STABILITY CONTROL AND BREAK WARNING CONSTANTLY..HAD BREAKS COMPLETELY REPAIRED TWICE WITHIN THE 2 YEARS OF PURCHASING IT..ONLY HAS 160,000 MILES. LIGHTING WIRING ISSUE MALFUNCTION.
WHILE DRIVING - OR EVEN SITTING STILL - RADIO AND CLOCK WILL SHUT OFF, "SERVICE STABILITRACK LIGHT" ILLUMINATES ON DASH WITH THE MESSAGE SHOWING ON THE MESSAGE CENTER DASH DISPLAY. AFTER 5 SECONDS OR SO, IT DISAPPEARS; HOWEVER OCCURS OFTEN BUT NO CONSISTENT (SOMETIMES NONE AT ALL, SOME TIMES 4 OR SO TIMES IN A 20MI DRIVE). BATTE…
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WHILE DRIVING - OR EVEN SITTING STILL - RADIO AND CLOCK WILL SHUT OFF, "SERVICE STABILITRACK LIGHT" ILLUMINATES ON DASH WITH THE MESSAGE SHOWING ON THE MESSAGE CENTER DASH DISPLAY. AFTER 5 SECONDS OR SO, IT DISAPPEARS; HOWEVER OCCURS OFTEN BUT NO CONSISTENT (SOMETIMES NONE AT ALL, SOME TIMES 4 OR SO TIMES IN A 20MI DRIVE). BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR ARE BRAND NEW (ALTERNATOR HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE IN 12 MONTHS). VEHICLE IS OWNED OUTRIGHT AND HAS 142,000+ MILES.
OIL CONSUMPTION
1. AFTER DRIVING TO ANY LOCATIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, GROCERY STORES, TRAIN STATION PARKING LOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, THE KEY WOULD NOT COME OUT OF THE IGNITION, BUT SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE. THEN AFTER 15-30 MINUTES, THERE IS ALWAYS A CLICK, AND ONCE I TURNED THE KEY , IT STARTS THE CAR SUDDENLY. THIS HAS OCCURRED TWICE THE PAST FEW MONTHS…
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1. AFTER DRIVING TO ANY LOCATIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, GROCERY STORES, TRAIN STATION PARKING LOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, THE KEY WOULD NOT COME OUT OF THE IGNITION, BUT SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE. THEN AFTER 15-30 MINUTES, THERE IS ALWAYS A CLICK, AND ONCE I TURNED THE KEY , IT STARTS THE CAR SUDDENLY. THIS HAS OCCURRED TWICE THE PAST FEW MONTHS, AND MY CHEVYL DEALERSHIP HAD WORKED ON THIS ISSUE. YET, IT HAS STARTED CURRING AGAIN THE PAST 2 DAYS 07/19/2020, AFTER THEY WORKED ON IT SINCE12/04/2019. 2. THERE IS ALSO A JUMP SURGE WHEN SLOWING DOWN TO STOP WHEN TRAFFIC IS MOVING SLOWLY, AND AS I TRIED TO DRIVE FORWARD OR WHEN TURNING FROM A STOP SIGN.
ON 2/20/19 THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND CAR WAS IDLING ROUGH AND MAKING A CHUGGING SOUND. MILEAGE ON CAR AT THIS POINT WAS 108,270. CAR WAS TAKEN TO AUTO ZONE WHERE THE CODE P0016 WAS PULLED REFERENCING A CAMSHAFT ISSUE ACCORDING TO THE EMPLOYEE. WHEN I CHECKED THE OIL, IT SHOWED BELOW THE MINIMUM LEVEL AND SO I PUT 1 QT. …
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ON 2/20/19 THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND CAR WAS IDLING ROUGH AND MAKING A CHUGGING SOUND. MILEAGE ON CAR AT THIS POINT WAS 108,270. CAR WAS TAKEN TO AUTO ZONE WHERE THE CODE P0016 WAS PULLED REFERENCING A CAMSHAFT ISSUE ACCORDING TO THE EMPLOYEE. WHEN I CHECKED THE OIL, IT SHOWED BELOW THE MINIMUM LEVEL AND SO I PUT 1 QT. OF OIL PER THE OWNER'S MANUAL. AFTER I ADDED 1 QT. OF OIL, CAR SEEMED TO RUN MUCH MORE SMOOTHLY. I SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT TO GET THE OIL CHANGED. OIL WAS CHANGED AT MILEAGE 108832. ON 5/1/19 CAR WAS IDLING ROUGH AND MAKING CHUGGING SOUND. CHECKED OIL LEVEL AND FOUND THAT IT WAS BONE DRY ON THE STICK AND I ADDED 1 QT OF OIL PER THE OWNER'S MANUAL. EXHIBITING SAME SYMPTOMS OF THE ISSUE REFERENCED ON TSB # 13-06-01-003H, SAME ISSUE I HAD WITH MY 2012 EQUINOX WHICH HAS THE SAME TYPE OF ENGINE AS THIS CAPTIVA (2.4L ECOTEC). MILEAGE WAS 111,215 WHEN THIS OCCURRED. I THEN TOOK MY CAR IN TO A GM DEALER TO HAVE OIL CHANGED AND REQUESTED AN OIL CONSUMPTION TEST AND THEY CHANGED THE OIL/FILTER AT MILEAGE 111,252. OVER THE NEXT YEAR WE CHANGED THE OIL AT 115,874 MILES, 118,744 MILES, 122,106 MILES. THERE WERE A HANDFUL OF TIMES WHERE I HAD TO ADD 1 QT. OF OIL TO THE CAR PER THE OWNER'S MANUAL BECAUSE IT BECAME LOW ON OIL. THEN ON 6/10/20 THE CAR DIED IN TRAFFIC AND IT WAS ABLE TO BE STARTED AGAIN. IT WAS DRIVEN LESS THAN 5 MILES TO A FIRESTONE WHERE 3 QT OF OIL HAD TO BE ADDED AS ENGINE WAS BONE DRY. OIL WAS CHANGED NEXT DAY AT 125,919 MILES. THEN ON 7/9/20 THE CAR DIED ON THE ROAD AND WOULD NOT START AGAIN. HAD THE CAR TOWED TO A FIRESTONE WHERE THE TECHNICIAN SAID THAT METAL SHAVINGS WERE FOUND IN THE ENGINE OIL AND IT WAS BELIEVED TO BE FROM TIMING CHAIN ISSUE. LOW ENGINE OIL CAUSED FROM OIL CONSUMPTION ISSUE CAN CAUSE THOSE PARTS TO WEAR AND METAL SHAVINGS CONTAMINATE ENGINE OIL. NEW ENGINE IS NEEDED, MILEAGE 126,825.
Official recalls
212V301000 · Parking Brake
Jun 28, 2012
GENERAL MOTORS LLC (GM) IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2012 CHEVROLET CAPTIVA SPORT PASSENGER VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM APRIL 26, 2012, THROUGH MAY 17, 2012. THESE VEHICLES FAIL TO CONFORM TO THE PARK BRAKE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 135, "LIGHT VEHICLE BRAKE SYSTEMS." THE PARK BRAKE CABLE MAY NOT BE FULLY SEATED IN ITS CONNECTOR AND MAY SEPARATE FROM THE CONNECTOR. IF THIS OCCURS, THE PARK BRAKE WILL BECOME INOPERATIVE AND WILL NOT HOLD THE VEHICLE.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: IF THE VEHICLE IS ON AN UNEVEN SURFACE, THIS COULD RESULT IN UNINTENDED VEHICLE MOVEMENT AND A CRASH.
Remedy: GM WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND ENSURE THAT THE PARK BRAKE CABLES ARE CONNECTED AND SECURE FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 27, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT THE CHEVROLET OWNER CENTER AT 1-866-694-6546.
11V591000 · Steering:hydraulic Power Assist:power Steering Fluid
Dec 19, 2011
GENERAL MOTORS (GM) IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 CHEVROLET CAPTIVA VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM OCTOBER 2, 2009, THROUGH APRIL 21, 2011. DRIVING THE VEHICLE WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN MANUAL MODE AND IN FIRST GEAR CAUSES THE ENGINE AND POWER STEERING PUMP TO OPERATE AT HIGHER SPEED THAN IS TYPICAL. INCREASED PUMP SPEED GENERATES HEAT THAT IS TRANSFERRED TO THE POWER STEERING FLUID AND CAN RESULT IN POWER STEERING FLUID TEMPERATURES THAT APPROACH THE POWER STEERING PUMP RESERVOIRS MELTING POINT.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: AFTER PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO ELEVATED FLUID TEMPERATURES, THE RESERVOIR MAY LEAK. LEAKING FLUID, IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, MAY RESULT IN A FIRE.
Remedy: GM WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE POWER STEERING FLUID COOLER WITH AN IMPROVED VERSION, FREE OF CHARGE. AN ADVISORY LETTER TO CUSTOMERS, ALONG WITH INSTRUCTIONS, WILL BE MAILED IN JANUARY 2012. WHEN PARTS BECOME AVAILABLE, GM WILL SEND ANOTHER LETTER ASKING CUSTOMER TO TAKE THEIR VEHICLE TO A GM DEALER TO HAVE THE REPAIRS PERFORMED. GM ANTICIPATES PARTS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN MARCH 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CHEVROLET AT 1-800-630-2438.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
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