Holden Cruze Problems

Holden has in the past replaced faulty transmissions without cost to the owner, but I would guess they won’t offer to replace yours free of charge, as your car is seven years old. But until it is assessed you can only speculate that the transmission is at fault.

You could try for a goodwill payment from Holden, but I doubt that you would have any success. Your car is 10 years old, it’s done 200,000 km, and you bought it second hand.

It’s probably an issue with the computer, but it could a wiring issue, a sensor problem. Have a mechanic check it.

It sounds like the Cruze automatic transmission gremlin has struck. In the past Holden has come to the party with some or the entire repair costs, but that was some time ago when the car was near new. As yours is seven years old Holden might not be as cooperative. Even so it would be worth calling Holden (1800 033 349) and lodging a claim for compensation.

Leaking water pumps are not unknown; most are changed every time the timing belt is changed because they’re leaking.

It’s an annoyance rather than a safety issue per se, one that’s related to the car’s computer system. By stopping and restating you are rebooting the computer, same as your computer when it shuts down for some unknown reason. The difficulty for those trying to find the problem is that it happens sporadically, and not necessarily when they are working on the car.

It sounds like it could have the dreaded Cruze auto transmission problem. Take it to a Holden dealer, or an automatic transmission mechanic and have them check it.

Your choices are limited. An i30 of around 2014 would handle your towing needs and fit your budget. You could also look at Holden Cruze or VW Golf wagons.

The best people to check it for you are the people from Holden. It’s most likely a problem with the electronics of the car. Because it only happens occasionally, and you can bet it won’t happen when the mechanic is there looking at it, it will hard to trace the cause.

Holden recalled 8000 diesel Cruzes in 2014 for a driveshaft problem that causes the vehicle to lose power. The cars affected were mostly built between February 2009 and December 2010. Holden replaced any driveshafts found to be faulty. Contact your dealer, or Holden direct.