How many miles will a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze last?
NHTSA holds 115 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 11 past 150,000 and 4 past 200,000. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 865 complaints on this model year, 716 of them with a mileage, and half of those mileages are at or under 54,202 miles; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 716 complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze that list mileage, the middle half came between 29,000 and 84,000 miles; 115 (16%) came after 100,000 miles, 11 (2%) after 150,000 and 4 (1%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2012 Cruze last?
The 716 mileages owners gave run from 1 to 400,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 29,500 miles, half at or under 54,202, three quarters at or under 83,650 and nine in ten at or under 118,000; 115 (16%) came after 100,000 miles, 11 (2%) after 150,000 and 4 (1%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2012 Cruze wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Most of these reports came early in the vehicle's life: 601 of the 716 came at or under 100,000 miles. The 115 past that mark show the 2012 Cruze still being driven at those mileages, not how many reach them: NHTSA's file counts complaints, not the vehicles on the road.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 1 mile |
| 25th percentile | 29,500 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 54,202 miles |
| 75th percentile | 83,650 miles |
| 90th percentile | 118,000 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 400,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 115 (16%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 11 (2%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 4 (1%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 2,699 NHTSA owner complaints on the Chevrolet Cruze that list mileage came after 51,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Chevrolet Cruze last? →
Common problems with the 2012 Cruze
NHTSA's file holds 865 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. Owners named the engine most often: 268 complaints, and half of the 205 that list a mileage came after 66,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 268 | 205 | 67,000 |
| Electrical System | 196 | 160 | 50,000 |
| Service Brakes | 142 | 121 | 45,000 |
| Power Train | 137 | 112 | 56,680 |
| Electronic Stability Control (ESC) | 108 | 102 | 61,000 |
Of the 865 complaints, 62 report a crash, 18 report a fire and 21 report an injury (30 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2012 Cruze a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2012 is a good or a bad Cruze: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2012 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 865 complaints, the 2012 drew the most of the 9 Chevrolet Cruze model years from 2011 to 2019 with 10 or more complaints. The fewest: the 2019 (23).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Cruze | 733 | 580 | 55,000 |
| 2012 (this page) | 865 | 716 | 54,202 |
| 2013 Cruze | 587 | 415 | 51,000 |
| 2014 Cruze | 705 | 483 | 53,000 |
| 2015 Cruze | 254 | 173 | 55,000 |
| 2016 Cruze | 250 | 149 | 56,639 |
| 2017 Cruze | 203 | 116 | 28,000 |
| 2018 Cruze | 109 | 60 | 24,000 |
| 2019 Cruze | 23 | 7 | Under 10 mileages |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Cruze year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Chevrolet Cruze years to avoid →
2012 Chevrolet Cruze recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 7 recall campaigns that name the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 16V502000 | Jul 5, 2016 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION |
| 14V300000 | Jun 6, 2014 | AIR BAGS |
| 13V360000 | Aug 15, 2013 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:POWER ASSIST |
| 13V023000 | Jan 24, 2013 | AIR BAGS |
| 12V522000 | Oct 31, 2012 | AIR BAGS |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2012 Cruze lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2012 Cruze.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 149 of the 865 complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: CRUZE. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: CRUZE.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2012 Chevrolet Cruze questions
How many miles will a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze last?
NHTSA holds 115 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 11 past 150,000 and 4 past 200,000. Of the 716 complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze that list mileage, the middle half came between 29,000 and 84,000 miles; 115 (16%) came after 100,000 miles, 11 (2%) after 150,000 and 4 (1%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2012 Cruze that never had one.
What are the most common 2012 Chevrolet Cruze problems?
NHTSA's file holds 865 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. Owners named the engine most often: 268 complaints, and half of the 205 that list a mileage came after 66,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 865 complaints, 62 report a crash, 18 report a fire and 21 report an injury (30 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2012 is a good or a bad Cruze: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2012 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 865 complaints, the 2012 drew the most of the 9 Chevrolet Cruze model years from 2011 to 2019 with 10 or more complaints. The fewest: the 2019 (23).
How many recalls does the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 7 recall campaigns that name the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2012 Chevrolet Cruze before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2012 Chevrolet Cruze.