2013 Chevrolet Captiva Sport Owner Complaints

I was driving down the highway when it started losing power. The engine light came on. I had got this car at a dealer, so I took it to them, and they wouldn't do anything. It was low on oil, so I got a gallon of oil and started home which was a half hour away. I could only drive a little way and had to stop and put oil in it. I took it to a mechanic, and they checked the motor and changed the oil. The oil pan had shavings in it. The mechanic said the motor had to be replaced. We found out later that the motor was getting bad when it was traded at the dealer. I had it less than a month. If I had been on the interstate and this happen, I could have been hit. The Better Business Bureau couldn't get anywhere with the dealer either. I talked to a gentleman at General Motors, and they wouldn't help either.

9/7/2023

These vehicles are known to use an excess of oil in the engine, when the engine oil is low there is no warning light/system to notify operator of this, I have talked with many other owners and it is the same story. Mechanics report this engine uses oil burnt by the catalytic convertor, they say it can only be fixed if you have a major engine repair, then it will be normal in oil usage. This seems to fit under the lemon law. Chevy knows about this problem, both the usage of excessive oil and also no low warning when oil is low. This can lead to a major cost or damage to the engine. Again this is a known issue. Let me know if questions. [XXX] [XXX] thanks. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

9/26/2023

When describing what happened, try to answer these questions as specifically as possible: What component or system failed or malfunctioned? Is it available for inspection upon request? the engine, when I am at a traffic light or in line at school to pick up my daughter, the car starts to shake suddenly, what I have to do is put it in NEUTRAL so that the movement decreases. Also when I'm driving on the highway they change speeds unpredictably. The engine light comes on intermittently. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? It puts my safety and that of my family at risk because if I don't put it in NEUTRAL it can accelerate and collide with the car behind or in front if the distance in the school line is tight. And on the road, having this unpredictable change in speed puts our lives in danger since many cars go at speeds of more than 75 miles per hour. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by an independent dealer or service center? The problem was confirmed by an independent mechanic. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No Were there warning lights, messages or other symptoms of the problem before the failure and when did they first appear? When the engine light came on.

11/28/2023

On [XXX] while driving this vehicle owned by the state of Arizona I was involved in a collision at 40 mph. The airbags did not deploy and I sustained serious brakes and internal bleeding. There were no warning lamps. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

4/21/2025

Reporting for my Mother in law. Confirmed by me several times. First incident occurred while she was driving, dry roads, normal traffic at approximately 65 MPH the front brakes locked up and abruptly bought the car to a stop. She was half in the traffic live lane and half on shoulder. She called me and I went immediately. I got there in about 30 minutes and there was several people trying to push the car off the road and all said it wouldn’t budge. I felt the heat of the left front brake was extremely hot. I sat in the car, started it up, attempted to get it to move, it wouldn’t. I figured it was electronic as there was no DTC/MIL lights. I thought the quickest thing I could do was remove power which I did for about 3 minutes. Started up and it drove to shoulder. We switched vehicles, I drove hers, I was traveling 65 mph when the stabilitrek service message showed on display and two minutes later the car stopped on its own again, I was barely able to get off the highway and people were honking swerving around, one yells to fix my brake lights! Still no MIL Check Engine light. This is IMO a safety issue as there is no warning! I was able to drive short bits to get it home. Only after I got home, car cooled, went to try and drive with scan tool hooked up it threw a code for ABS/TCS system pressure circuit malfunction, DTC C0131-5A! It has cleared a couple of times and each time you drive it and the brakes lock up, front left-rear right and vice versa, no brake lights, just uncommanded brake pressure! Oh and the stabilitrek service comes on after as well. It’s been to two shops and not fixed yet, one place quoted $2500 because he said it could be anything and his state of the art equipment can’t pin point the actual issue but he did confirm the locked up brakes with indicated partial pressure applied for no reason. This could definitely cause an accident!

8/9/2023

I was driving down the highway when it started losing power. The engine light came on. I had got this car at a dealer, so I took it to them, and they wouldn't do anything. It was low on oil, so I got a gallon of oil and started home which was a half hour away. I could only drive a little way and had to stop and put oil in it. I took it to a mechanic, and they checked the motor and changed the oil. The oil pan had shavings in it. The mechanic said the motor had to be replaced. We found out later that the motor was getting bad when it was traded at the dealer. I had it less than a month. If I had been on the interstate and this happen, I could have been hit. The Better Business Bureau couldn't get anywhere with the dealer either. I talked to a gentleman at General Motors, and they wouldn't help either.

9/7/2023

When describing what happened, try to answer these questions as specifically as possible: What component or system failed or malfunctioned? Is it available for inspection upon request? the engine, when I am at a traffic light or in line at school to pick up my daughter, the car starts to shake suddenly, what I have to do is put it in NEUTRAL so that the movement decreases. Also when I'm driving on the highway they change speeds unpredictably. The engine light comes on intermittently. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? It puts my safety and that of my family at risk because if I don't put it in NEUTRAL it can accelerate and collide with the car behind or in front if the distance in the school line is tight. And on the road, having this unpredictable change in speed puts our lives in danger since many cars go at speeds of more than 75 miles per hour. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by an independent dealer or service center? The problem was confirmed by an independent mechanic. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No Were there warning lights, messages or other symptoms of the problem before the failure and when did they first appear? When the engine light came on.

11/28/2023

Within 3 days my vehicle stopped working with no warnings (check engine or other warnings) the vehicle made a rattling noise and then would not turn on. Upon inspection mechanic informed me that the engine would need to be replaced. There were no oil leaks or issues that would have caused the engine to die. The vehicle did not give me any signs of warnings that there was a problem. This cost would be more than the total I purchased the vehicle for. The engine has 85,000 miles and vehicle was well cared for. The vehicle is unsafe to drive and unreliable and when researching this car thousands of other people have experienced this same issue. There is a recall on the 2011 and 2012 captivas and this same issue is occurring in the 2013 captivas.

3/15/2024