# Manual transmission, clutch and starter problems



## digorius (Feb 26, 2014)

Hey all, this is my first post here. My 2012 Chevy Cruze is at the dealership right now. We were having a problem starting the car and the clutch would stay all the way to the floor and slowly come back a couple of times. After having the car for a day the dealer has informed me that our car needs to have the manual transmission replaced (bearings are gone), the starter is shot, and the clutch looks worn. They are replacing the transmission and starter under warranty. The car has 23400 kms on it. They are however telling me that I need to pay for the clutch. I have been doing a lot of reading on this forum and have seen that there are a lot of clutch problems out there. It has been mentioned that there has been misalignment on the pressure plate from the factory causing these clutches to fail prematurely. We are not clutch riders. We have (still have) a VW Jetta TDI with over 400000kms and have had the clutch replaced once at 240000kms. The car before that was a Honda Civic with 306000 kms on it and only had one clutch replaced at about 225000. So we don't ride the clutch in this family. Is there a TSB on this pressure plate misalignment or does anyone have any info on this issue. I do not feel I should have to pay for a new clutch when I feel that the car came from the factory with an issue. Thank you for your help.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I'd ask them if the clutch could have been damaged by the transmission bearings going out. If so they should get GM to cover the clutch as well. That's less than 15K miles.


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## digorius (Feb 26, 2014)

I did. They said no. They said it is a separate issue.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

digorius said:


> I did. They said no. They said it is a separate issue.


Have you tried getting the Chevy Customer Care folks here involved?


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## digorius (Feb 26, 2014)

No, but I think I should. How do I do that?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I think you should. Find a post by Chevy Customer Care, select their user name, and then select Private Message. With the transmission needing a major repair at 15,000 miles I would really push for the clutch to be covered as well.


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## digorius (Feb 26, 2014)

obermd said:


> I think you should. Find a post by Chevy Customer Care, select their user name, and then select Private Message. With the transmission needing a major repair at 15,000 miles I would really push for the clutch to be covered as well.


Hi there obermd, I have done that. We shall see. I am not sure they work with Canadians though. Does anyone know if they do?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Unfortunately not.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Hey There Everyone,

Unfortunately we are only US based. Please feel free to send us a PM with your location and we will be able to direct you to the correct department within our company. We look forward to your reply!

Kristen A.
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## digorius (Feb 26, 2014)

Thank you Kristen, I just talked to Chevrolet Customer Care Canada. I was told that it is up to the dealership to determine whether the clutch is worn due to defect or customer driving habits. Well my dealer has told me that my wife must be riding the clutch. I know she isn't. She puts it into neutral when coming to a stop with the clutch all the way to the floor. She does not ride the clutch. I have read on cruzetalk in other threads that there were shipments of pressure plates that weren't quite flat and therefore were out of alignment with the wear material. I am going to see if the dealer will let me see and keep the parts of my clutch that they are replacing. This is just not right. I mean, the bearings in the transmission have almost completely failed and they are replacing the flywheel as part of the warrantied fix. The starter is also done which is also being replaced under warranty. Is it just me or does anyone else see that something is obviously out of alignment here? It is a misalignment coupled with a bad part that has caused all this. Not driving habits. The cars we have had have clutches that last over 230000 kms. I am not the only one experiencing this. I have read about this problem all over the internet including many failures on this site. You know there is a huge population of people that are having the same problem but not posting it. They are told it's their driving habits and probably get upset and frustrated but hey "it's a wear item"!! I call complete horses..t on this one! Come on GM, I thought you were getting it together!! When you get bad parts from your supplier put it back on them. LUK is the clutch supplier. Is quality not checking these plates before they install them! Why would I buy another Chevrolet? They won't stand behind their own product when they know that have faulty parts. Chevrolet, here this. Your reputation is going down the toilet. The Cruze is supposed to be a "come back" car!!! It's going to sink you!! Smarten up


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Hi digorious,

I apologize for my delayed response. I’m glad that you were able to speak with GM of Canada and apologize that their response was not what you were looking for. Please feel free to send us a private message with your contact information and possible case number so that we can further discuss this. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Kristen A.
Chevrolet Customer Care


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