Holden Cruze 2013 FAQs

Check out real-world situations relating to the Holden Cruze 2013 here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• My 2013 Holden Cruze transmission has failed completely. Is it worth fixing the transmission or would there be other issues?

  Although it was a reasonably popular car when it was brand-new, it’s fair to say Holden’s Cruze hasn’t aged terribly gracefully. In fact, there has been an ever-growing list of potential problems including (but not limited to) cracked cylinder heads, broken driveshafts, various oil and coolant leaks, not to mention the Takata air-bag recall fiasco. And, as you have discovered, the automatic transmission was a problem-child, too.

  Holden actually extended the warranty of the six-speed automatic to five years or 150,000km, but your vehicle is well outside those parameters. Which means, as you’ve pointed out, you decision now comes down to repair or replace the car.

  This model Cruze varies enormously in price, and your car could be worth anything from $5000 (at which point you’d be over-capitalising with a new gearbox) to $15,000 which would mean it’s worth fixing. Based purely on the kilometres your car has travelled, I’d say its second-hand value is somewhere right about the middle of those two numbers, which muddies the waters ever further.

  Perhaps you should have the rest of the car checked out by a specialist who might be able to give you a more concrete idea of where you stand. Obviously, throwing several thousand dollars at a car that’s about to break somewhere else makes no sense. Remember, too, that selling the car with a broken gearbox means it’ll be worth almost nothing.

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• Does my 2013 Holden Cruze have a transmission control unit issue?

  Yes, it could be something to do with the way the transmission is behaving. But it could also very easily be any one of a hundred other things. A faulty transmission can cause a car to surge while stopped, but so can a fault with the fuel, ignition and any number other systems found on a modern car.

  But work backwards for a moment. Did this new problem occur immediately after the plugs and coil-packs were changed? Or was there a full week of normal driving before the new problem set in? I’d be checking the connections on those new plugs and coils and making sure that nothing has been left loose. A poor earth connection can be the source of many problems that seem like something else initially. From there, I think an electronic scan is probably the best advice as this will help pin-point what’s going wrong. The car’s own computer should have a very good idea of what’s amiss and can alert you to it quickly.

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• Holden Cruze 2013 or 2010: Are they worth buying?

  The big difference between the two Cruzes you’ve nominated is that the earlier car was built in South Korea while, from 2011 on, production moved to Holden’s Australian production facility in Adelaide where it was built alongside the Commodore. There’s a school of thought that suggests the locally-made versions would be of better build quality than the Daewoo-made version, but in reality, there’s not much in it.

  That said, we’d go for the later, Australian-made car, as these had a much better range of engines from which to choose. Specifically, the locally-made Cruze could be had with a 1.4 or 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine either of which was smooth and pretty zingy. Or, you could opt for the two-litre turbo-diesel or the non-turbo 1.8-litre petrol as seen in the early, imported Cruze.

  The diesel is very frugal and offers a relaxed driving experience, but the two turbo-petrol engines are the pick of the crop for smoothness and performance. The one to avoid? The non-turbo 1.8. It was breathless, noisy and generally unpleasant.

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