Buyer Research

2016 Chevrolet Cruze — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $8,000–$12,000. There are 2 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 9 Chevrolet Cruze years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

The first year of the second-generation Cruze with a new 1.4T, and the record says the new engine kept the old habits: overheating, coolant loss, a PCV that fails, and stalls that end in a $3,700 engine quote. Then a car that shuts off after auto-stop and does not restart. Four recalls, one of them a fuel leak on cars without a spare tire. Better built than the 2012, same weak points; a coolant and PCV check tells you most of what you need.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 249 owner complaints for the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze, and 4 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 43% of them are about one thing — the engine. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

4 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

1.4T overheating, coolant loss, PCV failure — and the engine replacement at the end of itHigh — wallet impact

108 complaints, 43% of the record, 3 fires. Constantly adding antifreeze, the heater going cold, a catalyst code (P0420) that comes from coolant reaching the exhaust, and one owner's $3,700 engine. The LE2 1.4T's valve cover PCV fails like the old engine's did and the cooling system's plastic fittings leak. A cooling-system pressure test and a sniff for coolant at the exhaust.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$900 for cooling parts; $3,500–$5,000 for an engine — around 50% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (108).

Stalls after auto-stop; dead battery with power; doors that lock and unlock themselvesMedium

58 complaints, 4 fires: the engine shuts off at a light and stays off, the battery reads full but nothing works, the touchscreen flickers and the locks cycle. The stop-start system's auxiliary battery and its control module, a variable-valve-timing solenoid that stops the car starting, and the key fob receiver. An electrical diagnosis, not a guess.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$900

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (58).

Engine shuts off at low speed and will not restart; fuel leak on LS cars without a spare (recall)High — wallet impact

38 complaints of the engine cutting out at stop signs and in turns. Recall 18V304 covers 2016–2018 Cruze LS cars fitted with a tire inflator kit instead of a spare: the fuel tank can leak where the kit's bracket contacts it — a fire risk. Free. The stalls outside the recall are the electrical faults above.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the fuel system (38); 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Seat-back recliner bracket (recall), headlight marking (recall), ignition park lock (recall)Low

Recall 17V057: a front seat-back recliner bracket that may not hold in a crash. Recall 16V498: headlight assemblies missing a marking. Recall 16V502: the key can be removed without the car in park. All free.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Coolant reservoir below the line
✗Auto-stop that hesitates to restart
✗P0420 in the scan history
✗LS trim with recall 18V304 open

Good Signs

✓Valve cover and cooling fittings replaced
✓Both batteries load-tested
✓All four recalls closed
✓Cooling-system pressure test passed