# Jerky Transmission



## Paul7893 (Jan 12, 2011)

kkilburn, welcome to the club.

These two problems (jerky transmission, weak than hard braking) are common in every Cruze. They are the first two problems a Cruze owner will notice.

After 4000 miles, I've gotten used to them and neither of these problems bother me anymore. I do agree that they are the worst aspects of the Cruze.

Paul


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## TSURacing (Jan 1, 2011)

Like Paul said, these are the issues that many of us noted when we took delivery. The good news is that they will improve as you break in the vehicle. The transmission is "adaptive" meaning that it will adjust its behavior and optimize itself as you drive. By the time you get a few thousand miles on the car you will see that it will smooth out its operations.
And yes, the brakes do need some time to bed in to the rotors and get comfortable. Usually this is no more than a couple hundred miles of mixed driving. Obviously 200 miles of highway doesnt do much to help the brakes bed in...


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## kkilburn (Mar 1, 2011)

Thanks for the help guys. It's much appreciated.


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## Seabee (Mar 8, 2011)

Hello all, new member and first time poster here. 

I noticed the same issues when I test drove a 1LT this past Saturday. We are supposed to take delivery any day now of a new one (dealer has to get one delivered with color and features we wanted from another dealer). My wife and I will both drive it and have very, very different "driving styles". Do you guys think this will be an issue in it's transmission adaptivity?! I am starting to get a little nervous about buying this thing now as we can just barely afford it as it is. Any advice is appreciated, great forum!


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## Seabee (Mar 8, 2011)

*Bump*...anybody, anything? Thanks!


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...well, my wife drives with a slightly "leaded" foot and seldom considers fuel economy, while I tend to drive as though there's a "raw egg" between my foot and the gas pedal and am always trying to "coast" as long as possible without having to actually "brake & stop." This combination must really confuse the 'adaptive' shifting-algorithm(s) in the TCM.

...anyway, with a little over 4K-miles (and GM reprogramming), things seem to be smoothing out for BOTH of us...but, every now and then, something happens and we'll experience some "odd" shifting and throttle response...but, thankfully, it never seems to become recurring event(s). 

...


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## Aeroscout977 (Nov 25, 2010)

70AARCUDA said:


> ...well, my wife drives with a slightly "leaded" foot and seldom considers fuel economy, while I tend to drive as though there's a "raw egg" between my foot and the gas pedal and am always trying to "coast" as long as possible without having to actually "brake & stop." This combination must really confuse the 'adaptive' shifting-algorithm(s) in the TCM.
> 
> ...anyway, with a little over 4K-miles (and GM reprogramming), things seem to be smoothing out for BOTH of us...but, every now and then, something happens and we'll experience some "odd" shifting and throttle response...but, thankfully, it never seems to become recurring event(s).
> 
> ...


Same experience here with my GM auto and me and my wife.


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## booradley (Dec 20, 2010)

I have complained to GM/Chevy, a customer service rep called me twice, kept talking in circles, reading from some script, not at all helpful. He allegedly called my dealer and to this date, neither GM or my dealer called back. So I put on my orthopedic collar, belt up and hope for the best. I call m Cruze, "Whiplash". Plus it is awful on fuel around town, 20 MPG. I drive with the raw egg under the gas pedal theory, and watch the tach, still it is AWFUL. Thankfully I leased this vehicle. It will not last long.


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

GM_6T40_Trans_Engineer said:


> So, all your hate and bashing is because GM wouldn't give you a clear and concise answer if they are going make OEM mud guards for your car??


...I believe it's because the OEM mud guards being sold NOW don't properly fit either model.

...and, this thread is about a *'jerky transmission'* so how did we stray off onto *mud guards*?


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## GM_6T40_Trans_Engineer (Feb 26, 2011)

booradley said:


> I have complained to GM/Chevy, a customer service rep called me twice, kept talking in circles, reading from some script, not at all helpful. He allegedly called my dealer and to this date, neither GM or my dealer called back. So I put on my orthopedic collar, belt up and hope for the best. I call m Cruze, "Whiplash". Plus it is awful on fuel around town, 20 MPG. I drive with the raw egg under the gas pedal theory, and watch the tach, still it is AWFUL. Thankfully I leased this vehicle. It will not last long.


Please take you car into the dealer. You can't diagnose the car over the phone. Your dealership will be more than happy to review your car.


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## cruze 2011 (Oct 20, 2010)

as the owner of a 2011 cruze with the Rs package with almost 6000miles on my car i dont see why you need mud flaps for the front i have no rock chips and the rs molding sticks out enough to keep mud and rocks from hitting the sides of the car.


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## Seabee (Mar 8, 2011)

Thanks very much for the input guys, I feel a little better now. 

The Cruze the dealer got in for us had the wrong interior so they are getting another one which we will pick-up this weekend. This weekend will be the first time my wife gets to test drive the car so hopefully the transmission doesn't bother her as much as it did me. Thanks again!


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## melhart74 (May 10, 2011)

I am having this problem also but with a twist. I purchased my 2011 LS in February. Three weeks and 800 miles later my transmission went out. They had to replace my whole transmission. The car is a very rough driving car. It jerks while shifting in the lower gears. Once I get up to around 40 mph it starts to shift smoothly. Also the down shifting is horrible. I agree with the "whiplash" comment. I now have over 6000 miles on it and it still drives the same. The service manager is telling me that its because the car has turbo and GM is trying to make the car more fuel efficent too therefore that is why it drives the way it does. That is total BS! Now I see that GM is going to issue a recall not only on the steering wheel but for the transmission shift linkage. I should have known not to purchase a first run year car!!


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## jeremylanders (Feb 10, 2011)

melhart74 said:


> It jerks while shifting in the lower gears. Once I get up to around 40 mph it starts to shift smoothly. Also the down shifting is horrible. I agree with the "whiplash" comment. I now have over 6000 miles on it and it still drives the same. The service manager is telling me that its because the car has turbo and GM is trying to make the car more fuel efficent too therefore that is why it drives the way it does. That is total BS! Now I see that GM is going to issue a recall not only on the steering wheel but for the transmission shift linkage. I should have known not to purchase a first run year car!!



I have this exact same problem took it too the dealer and they told me the same thing. It is kind of aggravating that a brand new car is having so many issues with shifting. It should be smooth, just like every other car I have driven in my life. Please let us know if they are going to fix it for you.


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## jmfancy (Mar 23, 2012)

I wouldn't buy a 2011 cruze or any cruze again. We just bought a 2011 cruze less than a month ago. It has 8000kms on it. We had 5 things wrong with it the moment we brought it home. We got them fixed accept that it is still the worst car I've ever driven. It's jerky when you go to slow down and then from a stop. We are currently in a dispute with the dealership. I am going to the better business bureau and I don't want this car. After 8000kms it's still jerky and I don't think it will get better.


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

GM_6T40_Trans_Engineer said:


> Please take you car into the dealer. You can't diagnose the car over the phone. Your dealership will be more than *happy *to *review* your car.


...the dealership _may_ be *happy* to _*review*_ the car, but are they _competent_ enough to perform a meaningful and comprehensive _*review? *_Too often the answer is "no."

If GM-Powertrain has access to OnStar™ realtime data stream, then *why* don't they have the customer drive around so you can collect--and see--what's actually going on (right or wrong) within the transmission? Duh! That feature would make OnStar™ actually useful for once!


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## vitgia78 (Mar 9, 2011)

We are having many problems with this car:
- AT Transmission is malfunction, dirty fluid, can not change filter fluid
- Transmission activity is delay
- ABS wire goes wrong
- Steering performance rod has strange sound after 40,000 km


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

jmfancy said:


> I wouldn't buy a 2011 cruze or any cruze again. We just bought a 2011 cruze less than a month ago. It has 8000kms on it. We had 5 things wrong with it the moment we brought it home. We got them fixed accept that it is still the worst car I've ever driven. It's jerky when you go to slow down and then from a stop. We are currently in a dispute with the dealership. I am going to the better business bureau and I don't want this car. After 8000kms it's still jerky and I don't think it will get better.




jmfancy,
Have you spoken to GM of Canada? If you have not I would suggest that you contact them with your concerns. You can contact them at 800-263-3777 Monday-Friday between 7:30am-11:30pm and Saturday from 7:30am-6pm EST. They will be able to assist you with these issues. 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## ebs1984 (Sep 25, 2012)

Hey there,

I've recently purchased a 2012 LT1 Cruze and have noticed some slight jerkiness when in low gears but nothing severe enough to deem it as whiplash. It just seems very eager to accelerate! I've been thinking it might be me needing to get used to the pedals (previous car is a 2000 Cavalier). The brake must be pressed farther and the accelerator is quite touchy but she moves that's for sure!

I'm really hoping it's not something that will require a visit to the dealership and will smooth out over time. There's only 400km (250 miles) on it so far.


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