Common problems

Chevrolet Cruze common problems

What MOT testers find on the Chevrolet Cruze: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 19,837 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 12 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=4,600)18.3

All cars at 12 years (n=7,303,151)15.4

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=4,600)28.7

All cars, same age (n=7,303,151)27.7

What stands out

Exhaust, emissions and leaks fails show up on 8.0 of every 100 MOTs of a Chevrolet Cruze at 12 years old (n=4,600), against 3.7 for all cars of that age (n=7,303,151).
Steering fails are less common: 0.7 per 100 MOTs against 2.8 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 12 years: coil spring broken, on 8.9 per 100 MOTs (all cars 3.9).
The most common advisory or minor defect: engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive, on 20.0 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 12 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Chevrolet Cruze at 12 years (n=4,600) against all cars at 12 years (n=7,303,151). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	18.3	15.4	12.7	9.3
Suspension	13.8	13.4	16.3	24.9
Brakes	9.6	8.2	24.5	24.0
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	8.0	3.7	21.9	6.9
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	7.4	5.2	4.5	4.4
Tyres	7.0	7.1	28.7	27.7
Body and structure	3.7	4.3	11.1	6.5
Seat belts and airbags	0.7	1.0	1.2	0.6
Steering	0.7	2.8	3.0	3.1
Road wheels	0.5	0.5	0.3	1.1
Number plates and VIN	0.4	0.4	5.4	2.8

What testers fail most on the Cruze at 12 years

Fail items on the Chevrolet Cruze at 12 years (n=4,600), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=7,303,151).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	8.9	3.9	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	6.9	4.1	£10 to £47 per lamp
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	4.0	2.0	£15 to £30 per blade
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.0	1.0	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	3.8	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	3.4	2.1	£18 to £86 per lamp
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	2.3	2.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	2.1	1.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	2.1	1.5
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	1.9	2.8	£10 to £47 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 12 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Chevrolet Cruze at 12 years (n=4,600), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=7,303,151).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	20.0	6.0
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	16.6	18.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	12.1	8.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	11.8	10.4	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	9.7	7.6	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases	Body and structure	7.8	2.6	£182 to £263 per section
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	7.3	4.6
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	7.2	4.7
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread	Number plates and VIN	5.2	2.8	£23 to £63 per plate (rough guide)
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	4.1	7.3	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 12 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
9 years	1,935	17.2	12.8	7.6
10 years	3,588	15.4	12.1	7.8
11 years	4,580	17.6	12.5	8.9
12 years	4,600	18.3	13.8	9.6
13 years	3,381	17.4	14.5	10.0
14 years	1,753	18.3	15.4	11.7

Mileage

At 12 years, Chevrolet Cruze cars showing 60,000 to 90,000 miles failed 41.0% of MOTs (n=1,776); the band that failed most, 90,000 to 120,000 miles, failed 45.6% (n=1,201). For pass and fail rates by age, see MOT fail rates by model.

What to check on a viewing

On the Chevrolet Cruze, testers most often record coil spring broken; side/position light not working; wipers not clearing screen. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Chevrolet Cruze?

At 12 years, the age with the most MOT tests (4,600), the fail items testers record most often on the Chevrolet Cruze are coil spring broken (8.9 per 100 MOTs), side/position light not working (6.9 per 100 MOTs), wipers not clearing screen (4.0 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive (20.0) and tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (16.6).

Which parts of the Chevrolet Cruze fail more often than on other cars?

At 12 years: exhaust, emissions and leaks (8.0 per 100 MOTs against 3.7 for all cars); lights and electrics (18.3 per 100 MOTs against 15.4 for all cars); windscreen, wipers and mirrors (7.4 per 100 MOTs against 5.2 for all cars). Compared with 7,303,151 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Chevrolet Cruze problems by area

Other Chevrolet models

All Chevrolet models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Chevrolet Cruze?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources