On August 30th, 2018, my 20 year old daughter called me in a panic (which quickly escalated into tears) to let me know that she is in Atlanta traffic and can't get the car to go into 1st gear. Once I got her to calm down, I told her to turn the car off and restart it to see if she could get it to work. She did that and was off and running (or so I thought). 5 minutes later, she called me back. Same thing, except she couldn't get it to go into any gear and was once again stuck in Atlanta traffic (during rush hour). I heard a man ask if they could help and she called a few minutes later to tell me they had pushed the car into a parking lot. Keep in mind that although the car is 3 years old, it had less than 15k miles on it, is a manual transmission, so I couldn't imagine that it was having transmission problems (or any problems that would entail it being towed into the dealership).

So I had the car towed into the dealership (the Friday of a Holiday weekend) and waited to hear the verdict. I was contacted the following Tuesday and was told that the car needed a new TRANSMISSION - I couldn't believe it! Sooo, we had to wait 3 to 5 business days for the transmission to be shipped to Georgia. I picked the car up from the dealership on Wednesday, September 12th and was told that it was a total switch out with a brand new transmission and the service manager told me he had personally never seen anything like it. So I drove it home. It seemed a little stiff when shifting gears, but I attributed it to being a new transmission...that is UNTIL, I was backing into the parking space once I got home. It was A LOT harder shifting it into reverse than any other time I had driven it, so I immediately called the service manager and told him the issue. He suggested that I drive it a couple more days to see if it would loosen up and I agreed.

The following morning of September 13th, I was driving the car to work (with my daughter on the passengers side), where I had previously left my car (in order to drive her car - the Cruze, from the dealership to home). Things were fine for the first couple of traffic lights and at about the 3rd traffic light, as we were on a bit of an incline (where I had it in neutral), as the light turned green, I couldn't get it to go into 1st gear (as beads of sweat started to form on my forehead).

Eventually, I got it to go into 3rd gear, and I eased into a nearby parking lot (and of course I needed to get to work early and I was about to be late)!! I drove around the parking lot for quite a while, wondering if I should dare to take it on the highway...BUT I needed to get to work - so I braved it out and drove all the way to work (with my fingers crossed). I stopped in the front of my office and told my daughter to go ahead and park the car in our garage. Once she did that, she called me and told me she could smell the same smell as she did when she had the original issue (smelled like brake fluid, or some sort of fluid burning).

So I took the car BACK to the dealership. When I heard back from the dealership, I was told that it could now be something with the hydraulic clutch. So I am now awaiting the final verdict (and I will enter another post when that happens). BUT having this type of an issue with a car that only has 15k miles on it, has me seriously considering the viability of her 2015 Cruze. BTW, I have a 2007 GMC Denali Yukon with over 185k miles and have NEVER had transmission issues - knock on wood. More to come...

stick shift doesn't always enter reverse but in 1st gear When moving the stick shift into reverse it does not always land in reverse but in 1st gear. Pulling up on the ring and moving the stick to the far left to engage reverse has actually landed in 1st gear resulting in the car moving forward. When I look down at the stick shift to double check that I am in the reverse position it does appear to be right. Yet, when trying to move backwards the car actually move forward.

I feel that this is a problem that should be fixed, but Rancho Motors of Victorville, California (my dealer) does not feel that there is any problems. Rancho Motors maintains that GMC has told them that the shifter is “working as designer’s intended.” So, part of the designer’s intent (GMC) is to give the driver a false sense that the car is in reverse. WOW! Now this doesn't happen 100% of the time, but about 1 in about 25 attempts may result in a false reverse position. Yet it is enough of a problem to be concern of the safety of the driver or of others who may be in the way of the moving car.

The dealer, Rancho Motors, and Chevy (GMC) are unwilling to resolve the issue. They stand by designer’s intend to only block the accidentally shifting into reverse. They believe that the shifting into 1st rather than into reverse is within the intended design and is of no problem.

Have mad contact with customer service for the Chevy Cruze line but nothing come of it. I feel that this a safety issue and should be resolved.

FYI - employees at Rancho Motors were also able to falsely place the car in reverse. They felt that the car was in the reverse position but releasing the brake proved that the car was actually in 1st gear.