# I love my Cruze diesel - but......



## jimautoteach (Mar 27, 2016)

I leased my Cruze in August of 2014 and the lease is up this November. the car has 27800 miles on it. Approximately 8 months ago i had a CEL for an O2 failure. Took it in for a quick replacement and had the car back in a few hours. Now, the CEL is back on - a quick scan and a P21dd pops up. I research the code and discover it's due to high impedance in the DEF heater circuit. Texted my drivability buddy at the local Chevy dealer and he texted back, "I'm working on a 2014 Cruze right now with the same code" and I had one in here a few weeks ago for the same thing. The part is on back order though so it could be a week to two weeks getting the part". 

I take my car in and drop it off with the dealer. I get a call back a few hours later that yes, they must order parts and they are on back order. The good news in all of this is that GM will be providing me a rental car and no charge. The dealer has a Hertz rental center in their agency and they stick me in a Chrysler 300. Unbelievable! When I take my wife's Lexus in to the Lexus dealer they put us in a new Lexus - what a great way to entice us to step up to the newer model! I find it hard to believe that GM is paying for me to drive a Chrysler product! 

I've decided to return the car at the end of the lease simply because I'm very concerned that a few more years down the road when more stuff fails on this car, there won't be any parts available. Sorry Chevy, I love your diesel, but I can't take a chance on parts not being available on this very limited production vehicle. Because of the low production, I suspect the aftermarket folks won't invest in manufacturing and inventory for the long run. 

Does anyone know how many Cruze diesel's were produced? I've only seen a few of them on the road here in San Diego.

thanks, Jim


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

jimautoteach said:


> I leased my Cruze in August of 2014 and the lease is up this November. the car has 27800 miles on it. Approximately 8 months ago i had a CEL for an O2 failure. Took it in for a quick replacement and had the car back in a few hours. Now, the CEL is back on - a quick scan and a P21dd pops up. I research the code and discover it's due to high impedance in the DEF heater circuit. Texted my drivability buddy at the local Chevy dealer and he texted back, "I'm working on a 2014 Cruze right now with the same code" and I had one in here a few weeks ago for the same thing. The part is on back order though so it could be a week to two weeks getting the part".
> 
> I take my car in and drop it off with the dealer. I get a call back a few hours later that yes, they must order parts and they are on back order. The good news in all of this is that GM will be providing me a rental car and no charge. The dealer has a Hertz rental center in their agency and they stick me in a Chrysler 300. Unbelievable! When I take my wife's Lexus in to the Lexus dealer they put us in a new Lexus - what a great way to entice us to step up to the newer model! I find it hard to believe that GM is paying for me to drive a Chrysler product!
> 
> ...


Some dealers have their own courtesy vehicles to loan, and when they're all gone, they source cars from local rental places. It's really not up to them what you drive. When my Cobalt was in and out of the shop, I got a variety of rentals. A Suburban, Silverado, Sentra, and a Rio. I loved the trucks, did not love the Nissan or the Kia. 

The CTDs are quite rare, I can't say that I've ever seen one here in TN but that being said, they also don't really stand out either. I may have passed them but not known. Just know I haven't personally seen the 2.0TD badge up close.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

jimautoteach said:


> The part is on back order though so it could be a week to two weeks getting the part".


You might want to point your friend to this post. He may have to go though the GM Technical Assistance Center to get the part.


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## jimautoteach (Mar 27, 2016)

Thanks for your reply. I'll ask him about this - he's a really good tech and I suspect he's well aware of the issues related to getting diesel parts. I suspect the parts are in short supply simply because so many of the vehicles are now seeing failures of the DEF tank heater. This dealer has had three cars come in with the exact same problem within a two week span. I would guess that's nearly half of the Cruze diesel's that they service.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I think @Tomko did the exact math, but I think between the US and Canada there were roughly 15,000 diesel Cruzes sold. 

Personally, I am not worried about being able to find parts in the future. The car will be supported by GM for 10 or 12 years, and there will always be parts available one way or another. I recently had a 1979 Plymouth TC3. Parts were quite a challenge for that, but Ebay to the rescue! 

It's not something I will worry about for years to come, and based on my track record with the car, I believe it will serve me for many miles to come. I am at 162K miles (on my Cruze) as of this writing. As I have mentioned elsewhere, once these cars are properly sorted, they are generally very reliable.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

An estimated 16-17,000 CTD were assembled at Lordstown. 

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/64-c.../136178-production-numbers-2.html#post2324497


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## jimautoteach (Mar 27, 2016)

It's not something I will worry about for years to come, and based on my track record with the car, I believe it will serve me for many miles to come. I am at 162K miles (on my Cruze) as of this writing. As I have mentioned elsewhere, once these cars are properly sorted, they are generally very reliable.[/QUOTE]

It's good to hear you are confident that once the car is "sorted out" it will provide ongoing reliable service. I'm assuming you've had very reliable service from your diesel. What early service issues did you have and did you buy it new?

thanks,


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

jimautoteach said:


> It's good to hear you are confident that once the car is "sorted out" it will provide ongoing reliable service. I'm assuming you've had very reliable service from your diesel. What early service issues did you have and did you buy it new?
> 
> thanks,


Here is an extremely detailed answer to your question.

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/64-c...sion/151073-150k-miles-2014-cruze-diesel.html


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

It's my belief that new cars are subject to manufacturing faults and could potentially become a lemon. That's what the warranty is for, if anything goes wrong with your brand new investment, they fix it for free. If a new car is properly maintained and exhibits no issues within the first 30,000 miles it's generally safe to assume that it will remain reliable for at least another 100,000 miles without major issues. If something is going to fail catastophically it'll likely do it sooner rather than later. Things that fail later are usually due to lack of maintenance or age, however there are plenty of other factors that affect longevity. The CTD has a few advantages over a gasoline engine in favor of reliability and should be good for at least an additional 170,000 miles without issues.

These articles really highlight the advantages of diesel engines.
8 Advantages of Diesel Engines | WyoTech Latest News and Events
10 Reasons You Should Buy A Diesel Car - Business Insider


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

diesel said:


> I think @Tomko did the exact math, but I think between the US and Canada there were roughly 15,000 diesel Cruzes sold.
> 
> Personally, I am not worried about being able to find parts in the future. The car will be supported by GM for 10 or 12 years, and there will always be parts available one way or another. I recently had a 1979 Plymouth TC3. Parts were quite a challenge for that, but Ebay to the rescue!
> 
> It's not something I will worry about for years to come, and based on my track record with the car, I believe it will serve me for many miles to come. I am at 162K miles (on my Cruze) as of this writing. As I have mentioned elsewhere, once these cars are properly sorted, they are generally very reliable.


I sure hope this is right, because after only 7 years, I've already seen some parts "discontinued" on GMpartsdirect.com for my 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP. Granted, it's a far more rare offering than the Cruze Diesel (fewer than 2,000 EVER produced, although the twin of a Commodore in Australia), but still.

I'm hoping to never get into an accident, especially after some of the more important parts become discontinued!


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## jimautoteach (Mar 27, 2016)

Update on my Cruze:
As I said in my original post, I took my car into the dealer on Monday, 3/28 because of a P21DD code - high resistance in Reductant tank heater. My drivability buddy at the dealership quickly diagnosed the problem - unfortunately, there were two other diesel's in the shop waiting for the same back ordered part. I was sent on my way in a free rental car........fast forward, part finally arrived at the dealership on Friday, 4/08 was installed and I'm back in my diesel for the weekend. I'm wondering how many other 2014 Cruze, 2.0L diesels are having the same problem with bad heaters in the reductant reservoir (heater #1). 
How many of you have experience the same problem in your 2014?


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

spaycace said:


> I sure hope this is right, because after only 7 years, I've already seen some parts "discontinued" on GMpartsdirect.com for my 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP. Granted, it's a far more rare offering than the Cruze Diesel (fewer than 2,000 EVER produced, although the twin of a Commodore in Australia), but still.
> 
> I'm hoping to never get into an accident, especially after some of the more important parts become discontinued!


The parts will be available from Australia for a long time so don't worry about that. Also many SS parts should fit as it uses the same engine.


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## Poje (Aug 2, 2012)

Under 10k Diesel exist worldwide.

In July 2015, 6000k had sold.

(Its what i could find on the net...)


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

jimautoteach said:


> Update on my Cruze:
> As I said in my original post, I took my car into the dealer on Monday, 3/28 because of a P21DD code - high resistance in Reductant tank heater. My drivability buddy at the dealership quickly diagnosed the problem - unfortunately, there were two other diesel's in the shop waiting for the same back ordered part. I was sent on my way in a free rental car........fast forward, part finally arrived at the dealership on Friday, 4/08 was installed and I'm back in my diesel for the weekend. I'm wondering how many other 2014 Cruze, 2.0L diesels are having the same problem with bad heaters in the reductant reservoir (heater #1).
> How many of you have experience the same problem in your 2014?


I have been reading the forum for a long time and I can say that has popped up a few times. I want to say it's happened to at least 5 people on here. I've never had the issue though. 

Anyway, glad to hear you are back on the road. 



Poje said:


> Under 10k Diesel exist worldwide.
> 
> In July 2015, 6000k had sold.
> 
> (Its what i could find on the net...)


I think Tomko's numbers are a bit more accurate than that.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

The Indian Cruze only has a diesel and there has been around 6,000 sold.


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## Poje (Aug 2, 2012)

diesel said:


> I think Tomko's numbers are a bit more accurate than that.


Ah good to know, i didnt see his numbers.

I bought one of the last that was available in Quebec. Lookin foward to see the next one, probably a 2017-18 1.6 CTD, but i wont buy one.


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