Chevy won’t fix known issue with misfiring piston causing compression issues on Chevy Cruze

My Cruze’s 5 year 60k warranty expired last year, and the known defect detailed in Bulletin No. 18-NA-171 decided to materialize this past week. After spending nearly $900 on spark plugs and ignition coil replacements, I was informed that cylinder 1 has compression issues. The expected cost to fix is over $5k because the engine needs to be rebuilt.

It appears this is a known problem with 2016-2018 models (I have a 2018), but GM has not classified it as a recall and is requiring out-of-warranty customers to pay fully out of pocket. Has anyone had success complaining to GM about this? It’s frustrating to learn GM knows of the issue, and the dealership I bought from won’t stand behind their product or alert customers to inspect it while under warranty.

I’ve purchased three Chevy Cruze models in the last six years because I was satisfied with them, but now I’m considering trading them in for other brands.

The TSB was released on May 22, 2018, and they won’t classify this as a recall because it’s not safety-related. GM isn’t obligated to fix anything for free outside of warranty. You could ask your dealer to run the policy calculator to see if GM might cover part of the repair costs.

How bad is the issue? If it drives mostly normal and isn’t throwing a code, you might consider running it until it breaks down or trading it in.