NHTSA Investigating Chevy Cruze Over Reported Engine Fires
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The NHTSA has opened an investigation on the Chevrolet Cruze after two reports stating that engine fires occurred whilst being driven. In one of the cases, a Cruze Eco owner reported smoke emitting from the engine bay, five minutes before the vehicle torched while the driver could only watch from a distance.
General Motors is reportedly cooperating with the NHTSA investigation. There were no injuries reported.
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There are a lot more than just the two incidences reported on NHTSA. Chevy Social Media Representatives have been collecting reports from Cruze forums and supposedly reporting them back to management. It appears that the fires happen after the car has been serviced at Chevy dealerships, so it may be problem with how the oil and filter changes are being done.
Yikes…
my guest is a electronic part made in japan ,,,,and just watch order car company have the same problem,,,
me again they dont have this problem in Europe wy in America ,,,,,,,,
I think the problem is unique to the US because the Cruzen are just getting enough miles on them to get oil changes, It is a new vehicle to US Chevy service departments and some may not be doing the filter change correctly. One Cruze owner reported that he stopped for gas after a dealership oil change and people were yelling at him that his car was smoking. He popped the hood and found a burning, oil soaked rag wrapped around the base of the filter housing. He got it out before the car caught fire. I would surmise that the service tech. had left it there.
Interesting. If there was an oil soaked rag around the filter housing, that strongly suggests poor workmanship at the dealer. There is no reason for an oil rag to get soaked the way that the filters are oriented.
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2010/05/chevy-cruze-engines-to-get-easy-change-environmentally-friendly-oil-filter/
I also found this from Motor Trend.
http://wot.motortrend.com/cars-2011-chevrolet-cruze-ltz-rs-changing-oil-74235.html
Seems like there may not have been much education on how to change these new oil filters.
The only thing I can think of where GM could be directly liable (other than dealership education) would be if the filter caps were faulty and cracked under the recommended tightening torques. Hope the root cause is discovered and addressed quickly.
Made in hillbilly Ohio, doesn’t help either… There are two GM manufacturing plants I would never buy a vehicle from Wentzville, Mo and Lordstowne, Ohio… Yikes…
Would you rather the plants be placed next to Harvard and Yale? Perhaps Nantucket?
Hey Yabadabadoo, or caveman, learn to spell the city in which you intend to insult. we have been making cars for over 40 years here so we are doing something right. So climb back in your foreign crap car that wants to be a Chevy.
Be American Buy American
@Yab
Why dont you like them? I have found that the plant has very little to do with the car or its quality, as really all what plants do take the pieces of the puzzle and put them together, they dont make anything they just assemple.
@ztownmike
Im really getting tired of you Buy American people? Please tell me why as im utterly befounded why
Buying products in America will create American jobs. It helps community’s in which those products are built. All I’m saying is make the attempt to buy products from this country. (unless you live some where else) This area that we build the Cruze is turning around. I’m proud to be apart of this project.
Will it create jobs are you shore about that?
I think in 2009 Toyota employed the most people in the U.S in manufacturing. But lets say it creates jobs and helps american communites. Im all for that.
The problem is if we reward a American manufacturer buy buying their products even if their INFERIOR, then long term we are destroying their automaker. Because the american automaker we are giving sales they do not deserve will continue to decline, as any company will do when absent of competition, and at a certain point, the products will get so bad that even the most ardent Buy American supporter will be unable to buy a car that falls apart. We just saw this in the 70s and the 2000s. you work at a auto plant I presume, you know how it feels to get or being close to getting the pink slip, the best way you can ensure that you might lose your job is by buying GM even if their cars are inferior.
I buy / will buy GM only and only if the car im buying is best for me, GM should be #1 buy making the best cars not by being “American”. We as a nation, also have to move past the notion that we can sustain a company just in America. If GM sold cars just in the U.S, even with a 33% market share, they still wouldn’t be profitable. Welcome to globalization, were not that powerful anymore. Get over it. Embrace our founding ideals.
Remember Lees words. “If theres a better car, buy it”
There’s nothing wrong with the principle of buying American. Are you going to condemn somebody for buying… say, a Chrysler 200, because it’s American even if it’s not the best in class? It almost sounds like you would.
No of course not, I own and have owned American cars that are / were not best in class. I dont mean best in class, I mean best for the personal buyer, I mean obviously if youre buying a car your buying it because you consider it best for you, the buyer.
Im not condemning anyone for buying American or the principle of buying American as long as its for a reason, if youre reason is that you want to appear patriotic, thats fine too, but im condemning someone for buying American just because that car is American, not because you think its better than its competitor(whether it is actually better than its competitor is irrelevant) , but just, and only just, because the headquarters of that company is in America and you under the false belief that buying American is beneficial to America. Yes maybe in the short term as the more profit GM makes because you bought the malibu over the accord* even though the accord is better because its american as the money eventually flows back to the country of origin, but over the long term it has disastrous effects.
BTW: I dont consider the 200 to be American, I consider it to be Italian.
*I dont think the malibu is better than the accord, just a hypotethical example.
@Yab that’s unfair man. Quality of production and assembly nowadays is pretty much universally congruent. All of GM plants (outside of China, not sure what happens there) are built and run to the same standards and have the same QA processes. It doesn’t matter if it’s Ohio, New York, Tennessee, Halol, or anywhere in Korea. Quality will be within a tiny measure and won’t be discernible. And what’s wrong with Ohio in the first place? Or Missouri, at that?
If its only an ECO version problem than has it something the do with the 1.4 Turbo engine. The US version has a bottom plate beneath the engine when the oil filter is not correctly placed its possible that oil leaks on it and in combination with high engines temperature it could ignites….
I am a lot active on Cruze forum’s and never has seen a person reporting this.
Sorry guys, I will retract my statement, but having interfaced with people from both facilities, it was rather frightening… In the last 15 years all my cars have been GM… I buy American solectively…
Doesn’t this thing have a cartridge oil filter? My CTS has one of those, never had any problems after oil changes by the dealerships, and the few time I do it myself, it’s easier and cleaner than a regular oil filter mainly because I don’t have to get under the car.lol
Nevertheless, I do hope it is an issue of shoddy dealership service work. This car as a lot riding on it and so far has been a hit, something like this could do for the Cruze what Ralph Nader’s book did for the Corvair…
Or the volt, but its just a preliminary investigation, the NHSTA is so bored these days that they will open an investigation if they get just three complaints about a car that are just barely connected.
Since the Cruze and Sonic share the same enignes, any word on Sonic fires?
If not, I wonder what differences there are.
Sonics haven’t been out long enough to have the OLM calling for an oil change. The Cruze fires didn’t start showing up until the ’12s started shipping. So far the Cruzen that have burned have been ’11s.
Hey, Yab. The Chrysler 200 is American. It’s based off the same platform as the Sebering and Avenger and they’re built in Sterling Heights Michigan. Besides Fiat’s 3.6L engine, what part of that car is Italian?
In our era of globalization it doesnt matter what or how many parts of a car are from where. Even if 100% of the chrysler 200 was built and assembled, including all the parts were made in America, it would still be Italian. Why?
I dont know about you but I determine where an automaker is by where its profit is going. And isnt that what matters, where the money is? Did you know that Chrysler turned a decent profit of millions of dollars in 2011. Did you know that the Fiat group lost millions of dollars in 2011 and continues to be struggling? Did you know that without Chrysler, Fiat would have been in an even worse condition than PSA right now? As of right it would likely be heading to what happened to SAAB a couple of months ago.
I dont like how Chrysler’s money is going to shore up its European operations. Chryslers money is also going to Marchoinne and the Angellia family, last I checked, both are not European.
Ultimately, any profit made by Chrysler will go to Europe and Italy, not America, thats why I dont consider it American.
Correction on my last statement, that was directed towards Babersher. Sorry, Yab.
Chrysler, Ford GM are all options I would consider but not just any vehicle it would have to have the qualities I am looking for as well, I think researching where a vehicle is made and the reputation of that facility is very viable. From my perspective if I am dropping thousands of dollars I want to know I am getting the best GM I can get for my money. Not just any GM vehicle Is going to get my hard earned money, let’s consider the reputation of past Lordstown vehicles, not exactly stellar. I believe in buying American, but if the product is Garbage then no, I don’t think so, I will find another American option. I believe what Babersher means is he considers Chrysler to be an Italian owned auto maker, which is true thus moneys are going to support aspects of a foreign entity, I support GM and Ford because they are American auto manufacturers that are headquartered in the US of A. That said I would consider a Korean made GM, or for that matter an HHR made in Mexico, Actually that was my most recent GM purchase, prior to that a 2006 Chevy Malibu Maxx made in Fairfax Kansas, I have toured this plant very impressive, prior to that a Saturn Sw2 and 2 Chevy Blazers one retired with 240,000 miles.
Yes! I buy mostly American because I want to support America. But only if the cars are good and not crap. For example if I had to choose between two exact same cars with the exact same price but one was American and one was Japanese, I would pick the American. But lets say the Japanese got 35 mpg compared to the Americans 30 mpg, I would pick the Japanese. If the difference was only like 1 mpg, id probably still pick the American but since 5 mpg is alot the japanese it is.
I dont believe in giving American companies special treatment for two main reasons.
1. Over the long run it actually hurts the companies I want to help.
2. Its against my values and American values, I want to give my business to honest and hard working people who deserve to get my money, in the same way, I want succeed through my own work not because I have some rich friends who buy my products/services just because I am their friend. Which is like buying an inferior American car just because its American.
Chrysler is still American. Under the terms of the agreement, Fiat took a 20% stake in Chrysler only so they could gain access to its North American distribution network in exchange for providing Chrysler with technology and platforms to build smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles in the US and providing reciprocal access to Fiat’s global distribution network. I live in Macomb County Michigan and since this happened Fiat has started selling cars here and all over the United States through their own dealers, something that never happened before. Chrysler headquarters is located in Auburn Hills, MI next to the Palace (where the Detroit Pistons play). It is very much American since their profits still stay here and do not go anywhere else.
If you truly believe that Chryslers profits are going to American, than you are misinformed or …..
Read above post on the 200.
Do you know how many great cars made and developed by American Chrysler before Fiat was even in the picture are being sold as rebadged Fiat group vehicles all over Europe. How many “smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles” have we gotten so far. Its been over a year and the Dart isnt even on sale yet. And im sick of Americans believing that AMERICAN Chrysler does not have ability to build “smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles” by itsef. The same was once said about Ford and GM too. Too me, Fiat is basically raping Chrysler, taking its money and development while not providing much in return. Anyway thats a different topic
The point here is that Chrysler profit goes to ITALY.
Thats why I called it Italian.
Oh and Fiat already has a 60% stake in Chrysler with the intro of the dart.
And the size of the stake doesnt matter, what matters if the stake is controlling as Fiats is. Even if the stake was 10%. Italian Fiat is in power.
According to this Fiat will have 61.8% stake from Chrysler.
http://www.autoedizione.nl/fiat-binnenkort-voor-618-eigenaar-van-chrysler/
Thank you Babersher, you should get paid to post at GMA, great comments…