Holden Cruze Gearbox & Transmission Problems

The dreaded Cruze transmission problem strikes again. If you bought the car new go to Holden and seek their agreement to fix it, which I would expect them to do. If you bought it secondhand you can also ask them to fix it, but it will come down to how generous they are feeling.

The symptoms are exactly as reported by other Cruze owners and the first step is to get it to an authorised Holden dealer to have the diagnosis confirmed and reported to Holden. At the same time you should contact Holden customer service at Fishermans Bend and report the problem with full vehicle details.

Go back to the dealership you bought it from and ask them to repair it, and seeing that it is a common problem with that model suggest they approach Holden to cover the costs of the repairs. It’s hard to say what your chances are because you bought it secondhand, but you did buy from a Holden dealer, which makes me a little more optimistic about your chances.

Firstly I'm surprised an auction house gave you a warranty, it's usually a case of buyer beware. The transmission problem is well known; that you had the secondhand transmission fail doesn't surprise me. Go back to the seller's warranty document and thoroughly read it to understand what it entitles you to claim. Holden won't help, given that the car is well out of the new car warranty and the transmission that was fitted was a secondhand one. You need to go back to the seller and try to negotiate a resolution with them.

Yes, I believe you can, and should approach Holden with a request to contribute to the cost of replacing the transmission, perhaps even to cover the whole cost of the job. It is a flaw with the transmission, as we have seen with so many others with that model Cruze. Go directly to Holden’s customer service people and lodge a claim. But you will have trouble with getting money from Holden if your mechanic has done any work on the car.

You should contact Holden and request their assistance in covering the cost of the new transmission. Even though the factory warranty has expired Holden still has responsibilities under statutory warranty laws, and this is a well-known and common problem with the Cruze.

The most common transmission problem that affects the Cruze relates to the automatic transmission, not the manual. As yours is a manual it isn’t affected by these issues. I would suggest you have a mechanic check your car to diagnose the problem for you before you go any further with a claim against Holden. If the noise you are hearing happens while you have the clutch pedal depressed in the process of changing gears it could be a worn clutch throw-out bearing, but if it is a crunching noise when selecting gears it could be either the clutch isn’t fully disengaging, or it could a synchromesh problem.

You're on difficult ground having bought the car secondhand. If you'd bought it new you would be well entitled to expect it to be repaired by Holden free of charge. Unfortunately, being secondhand, the normal warranties don't apply and you're effectively on your own. Still, I would persist with getting Holden to come to the party with at least part of the cost of repairs. After all, it is a known problem that has affected lots of Cruzes.

I would like to think you have a good chance of having the transmission replaced out of goodwill. The car is only just out of warranty, the failure is a well known one, I can’t think of any reason Holden should object to doing the repairs at its own expense.

You're a member of a large club. The Cruze was a dud back then, the transmission problems have been well publicized. Holden has been replacing transmissions at its own expense, so I would be hopeful that they will come to the party with your car. You are absolutely right that a major problem like this should not happen to a car that is so new and done so few kays. Keep calling Holden until you get an answer, and if it's in the negative, call again. You could consider getting a lawyer to send the company a letter demanding action.