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2017 Chevrolet Cruze

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 250.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

114 reports with mileage · 87 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.

  • Engine. Review the 73 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 39 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 33 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

8 crash reports6 fire reports5 injury reports

Engine complaints

73 reports
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62,000 miles · Jul 25, 2023
EngineEngine And Engine Cooling

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40-45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle decelerated to 30-35 MPH. Additionally, the vehicle made abnormal rattling sounds and failed to exceed 30-35 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was dia…

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The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40-45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle decelerated to 30-35 MPH. Additionally, the vehicle made abnormal rattling sounds and failed to exceed 30-35 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the knock sensors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred two months later. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the knock sensors and the engine were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a second dealer, Zimbrick Chevrolet Service (1877 W Main St #200, Sun Prairie, WI 53590), where the knock sensors and the knock sensors terminal were replaced; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the Engine Control Module (ECM) needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist because the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.

NHTSA ODI #11534297

Mileage unknown · Jul 24, 2023
EnginePower TrainUnknown Or Other

Based off my mechanic's assessment and that of a Chevrolet dealership, one of the cylinders in my Chevy Cruze is no longer firing. The dealership believes at least one of the pistons needs to be replaced. The car is available for inspection. The car is unreliable to drive, as I drove up a freeway incline it slowed to a dangero…

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Based off my mechanic's assessment and that of a Chevrolet dealership, one of the cylinders in my Chevy Cruze is no longer firing. The dealership believes at least one of the pistons needs to be replaced. The car is available for inspection. The car is unreliable to drive, as I drove up a freeway incline it slowed to a dangerously low speed for freeway driving. The dealership has confirmed they believe it is an issue with the piston but will not confirm without charging $2800 to dismantle the car and are not able to guarantee they will be able to fix the issue. Diagnostics were run on the car at Putnam Chevrolet in Burlingame CA. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to a major issue with the cars functionality. The issue first appeared June 15, 2023 without any warning. The engine light came on and the car was not functioning properly, plus a notification to "service Stabilitrek". I have found mention of the same problem on consumer forums. Cracked pistons are a KNOWN issue on this make and model but there are no recalls and the car is just outside of the warranty.

NHTSA ODI #11534172

Mileage unknown · Jul 24, 2023
EngineFuel/propulsion System

Vehicle had a cracked piston. Now the vehicle is very sluggish while accelerating from a stop. Burns a tremendous amount of fuel. Vehicle is also stalling frequently. It’s been to Chevrolet twice and a mom and pop shop and nobody can figure out what the problem is.

NHTSA ODI #11533975

Mileage unknown · Jul 9, 2023
Electrical SystemEngineService Brakes

I purchase this car in 2017 apprentices 2017 Cruze at the time it only have four thousand miles it has 80,000 MI it was a fuel injector pump replaced next to the engine at everybody there knew that the car was defective due to the fact that they have several men that don't know what they're doing and working on these cars are un…

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I purchase this car in 2017 apprentices 2017 Cruze at the time it only have four thousand miles it has 80,000 MI it was a fuel injector pump replaced next to the engine at everybody there knew that the car was defective due to the fact that they have several men that don't know what they're doing and working on these cars are unprofessional workers and everybody here knows that they keep repairing cars and they need to send them back to the manufacturer for DFCS and numerous problems they said everybody here got nothing but junk cars and they need help to replace them immediately in this car the cruise and the Malibu the odometer kept sticking and going bad and they did replace it once and then they replaced it again and they left the park open in the vehicle you always have to get so many oil changes with this and then the one-time the Auto stop feature had got stuck on a train track and it was very hard to get that car off we had got frightened and had jumped off the car over here in Milwaukee off of 2nd street or 1st Street we're trying to report whatever we can so I can get a replacement vehicle or sometimes the rear camera was defective to it didn't always come on right away

NHTSA ODI #11531233

Mileage unknown · Jul 5, 2023
EnginePower Train

Car very suddenly started having slow acceleration, and vibration felt during acceleration. Check engine light on with StabiliTrak warning message on dashboard. Rough idle and vibration felt in cabin. Difficulty accelerating at traffic light and car seemed to almost stall at one point. Diagnosed at the dealer with cracked piston…

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Car very suddenly started having slow acceleration, and vibration felt during acceleration. Check engine light on with StabiliTrak warning message on dashboard. Rough idle and vibration felt in cabin. Difficulty accelerating at traffic light and car seemed to almost stall at one point. Diagnosed at the dealer with cracked pistons in engine with code P0300 for random misfire. 2017 Chevy Cruz has passed the power train warranty by 1 year. Mileage odometer reading is about 58200. GM is not willing to replace without charging $4700 for replacing the faulty piston components in the engine even though this poses safety hazard for regular driving. After some research, this seems to be a widely known problem of this generation Chevy Cruz and GM has even changed the part number of the piston assembly to replace the faulty pistons in engine. This needs to be a recall!

NHTSA ODI #11530514

Mileage unknown · May 23, 2023
Engine

It started with a check engine light stating I needed to replace a fuel injector. I had that replaced and continued to have the same problem. I had a compression test performed and stated that I had a cracked cylinder leaking compression in cylinder one. The engine needs to be replaced or rebuilt. As you can imagine that is expe…

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It started with a check engine light stating I needed to replace a fuel injector. I had that replaced and continued to have the same problem. I had a compression test performed and stated that I had a cracked cylinder leaking compression in cylinder one. The engine needs to be replaced or rebuilt. As you can imagine that is expensive. After finding this out, I continued to drive the vehicle hoping to get a new a vehicle. I was unable to and the vehicle stalled on me while driving several times. This put my safety in jeopardy as I could've have gotten hurt on the road and other safety if I got hit. Luckily, neither happened. General motors intentionally inflates the PSI in the engine to compensate for the turbo engine, resulting in the breakdown of the engine quicker and makes it unsafe for the road. In my case, I just bought this vehicle a year ago and has under 100k miles. I have been unable to get a GM technician to diagnose the vehicle due to finance reasons. After research, this is common issue with my vehicle and I am reporting this issue.

NHTSA ODI #11523519

35,000 miles · Apr 5, 2023
Engine

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 MPH, the engine started to misfire. The contact stated that the vehicle was hesitating while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehi…

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The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 MPH, the engine started to misfire. The contact stated that the vehicle was hesitating while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving into the driveway; however, the vehicle was able to restart. The contact stated that she attempted to call a local Chevrolet dealer however, her calls were not returned. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI #11515599

Mileage unknown · Mar 29, 2023
Engine

The number one cylinder piston cracked causing it to idle rough and possibly blowing up causing the car to come to a stop. The problem has been reproduced and confirmed by a licensed Chevy dealer/ repair shop. Was told that it’s a common problem with the car and also told that it will just explode

NHTSA ODI #11514420

Mileage unknown · Dec 16, 2022
Engine

I HAVE A 2017 CHEVY CRUZE, WITH 38,000 MILES. MY PISTON CYLINDER IS BROKEN. I HAD BOUGHT IT OFF A DEALERSHIP WITH 24000 MILES ON IT4 YEARS AGO. AT 38000 MILES WITH ONLY PUTTING VERY LITTLE MILEAGE ON IT, I HAVE TO HAVE THE ENGINE REPLACED WHICH IS A VERY EXPENSIVE FIX. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE MY WHOLE ENGINE REPLACED A…

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I HAVE A 2017 CHEVY CRUZE, WITH 38,000 MILES. MY PISTON CYLINDER IS BROKEN. I HAD BOUGHT IT OFF A DEALERSHIP WITH 24000 MILES ON IT4 YEARS AGO. AT 38000 MILES WITH ONLY PUTTING VERY LITTLE MILEAGE ON IT, I HAVE TO HAVE THE ENGINE REPLACED WHICH IS A VERY EXPENSIVE FIX. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE MY WHOLE ENGINE REPLACED AT 38,000 MILES. I HAVE DONE MY RESEARCH AND THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2017 CRUZES. THIS IS SUPPOSE TO MAKE A GREAT FAMILY, REALIABLE CAR! I AM VERY UPSET WITH CHEVY! THERE WAS NO PRIOR WARNINGS OF MY CYLINDER PISTON BREAKING. STABILITY SERVICE LIGHT CAME ON AND IMMEDIENTLY AFTER THE ENGINE LIGHT DID TOOK IT TO A SHOP THE NEXT DAY. AND MY CYLINDER IS BROKEN. WITH LABOR IT IS EASIER TO JUST REPLACE THE WHOLE ENGINE. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED! I WAS DRIVING WITH MY KIDS WHEN THIS HAPPENED. LUCKY MY CAR ENGINE DIDNT BLOW UP IN THE PROCESS AND I WAS ABLE TO GET HOME SAFELTY!

NHTSA ODI #11497678

Mileage unknown · Oct 19, 2022
EngineService BrakesCrash

The car shut down in the middle of the highway which made me pull to the side and not so long after this incident the brakes stopped working for some time causing me to crash.

NHTSA ODI #11490066

Official recalls

2

18V304000 · Fuel System, Gasoline

May 10, 2018

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Chevrolet Cruze LS vehicles, equipped with a gasoline engine and a tire inflator kit instead of a spare tire. The vehicles may leak gasoline following a rear-impact crash and a rollover. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 301, "Fuel System Integrity."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A fuel leak, in the presence of an ignition source, increases the risk of a fire.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will install a lock-ring on the fuel tank that will shield the fuel tank vapor pressure sensor from damage in a rear-impact crash, free of charge. The recall began June 7, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 18159.

17V057000 · Seats:front Assembly:head Restraint

Jan 26, 2017

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2017 Chevrolet Cruze vehicles. A bracket used in the driver or front passenger seat-back recliner mechanism may have been incorrectly welded to the seat-back frame, as a result, in the event of a crash, the head-restraints may not function properly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 202a, "Head Restraints."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: In a crash, the seat-backs for the front seats may break, increasing the risk of injury to the occupants.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the front passenger seats, replacing any with seat-back frames that are incorrectly welded, free of charge. The recall began on February 28, 2017. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 17035.

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

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.