An authorized Chevrolet dealer diagnosed an electrical problem on my 2019 Chevrolet Cruze and found that the HVAC case/condensate drain was disconnected. The dealer determined that condensate water had been draining into the passenger compartment instead of outside the vehicle. According to the dealer's written diagnosis, the water soaked the body wiring harness and damaged the Body Control Module (BCM) and Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) module. The problem initially presented through door-lock/electrical malfunctions. The dealer confirmed the water intrusion and resulting component damage during its inspection. I am concerned because the affected components include the body wiring harness, BCM, and SRS module. Damage to the SRS module potentially affects a vehicle safety/restraint system, and extensive water contamination of the wiring harness and control modules could cause additional electrical failures. The dealer stated that repair would require replacement of the body wiring harness, BCM and SRS module, removal of the front carpeting, treatment for moisture/mold contamination, and approximately 42 hours of labor. The dealer estimated the repair at $14,314 and stated that the repair cost exceeds the value of the vehicle. I do not know when or why the HVAC drain became disconnected. I am reporting this because an authorized Chevrolet dealer confirmed that a disconnected HVAC drain allowed water to enter the cabin and damage multiple electrical and safety-related modules. I believe the federal safety agency should determine whether similar water-intrusion failures have occurred in other vehicles of this model.
Chevrolet Cruze airbag light comes on
43 of the 3,731 owner complaints about the Chevrolet Cruze describe airbag warning light, most of them for the 2011 model year.
- owner complaints
- 43
- worst model year
- 2011
- typical mileage
- 75,000
By model year
Often reported together
No deployment 3Steering lock-up 1Stalling 1Seat belt 1Fire or smoke 1Check engine light 1Brake failure 1
What owners say
My airbag light came on. My vehicle has less than 100K miles on it. I took it to the Chevy Dealership that I purchased it from. The dealership indicated that the passenger side rail air bag is the issue. Apparently, that airbag is no longer available. If I wanted to repair it, they can't, because there is no airbag. As long as the airbag light remains on, NONE of my airbags will deploy. My car is now a useless lemon. I don't feel comfortable driving it in the condition it's in, but I have to commute to work.
The contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while driving approximately 46 MPH, a Chevrolet Impala rear-ended the vehicle, causing the vehicle to flip over and slide into the woods. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was unable to exit the vehicle at first but was later able to exit through the rear window. The driver was able to walk out of the woods to the highway to obtain assistance. Upon research, the contact associated the failure with the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 14V372000 (Air Bags). The air bag warning light was turning on and off days prior to the failure. There was an abnormal odor coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that several air bags deployed, trapping the contact in the vehicle. The contact sustained an extremely deep gash on her leg from the air bag. Medical attention was provided at the hospital. There was no reported fire. A Police report was filed but was not provided to the contact. The vehicle was towed to an unknown location. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The failure mileage was not available.
My car smells like oil burning with white smoke .and the valve cover leaks and the head gasket is damaged I need help still an issue the air bag light on.this car is un safe.
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the front air bag warning light illuminated, and the message "Service Air Bags" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer that stated that the front passenger side air bags needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 137,000.
System failure…airbag light continues to come on and go off. It says service airbag. If John Elway Chevrolet repairs the airbag system will it impact the integrity of the airbags. The airbag light doesn’t say which airbag is defective. I want to make sure that my family and I are safe when we are in the car.
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and shifting into drive(D), the SRS warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact stated that the air bag warning light had been illuminated for months prior to experiencing the new failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who failed to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 91,000.
Recall on the airbag but not showing up in the Chevy dealership and my airbag light has been on for almost 2 years and it shows up on my app that I have a recall
In December 2020 my vehicle was involved in an accident where I hit a curb which cracked my rim and deployed airbags. My airbag light is on I'm passenger seat belt is stuck due to airbag.
The service airbag light came on, car has not been in any accidents or fender bender, service airbag message came on and took it to dealership and they mentioned that the sensor went out on its own and that the airbag will not deploy on the passenger side if we happen to get into an accident. Will not pass inspections and dangerous to drive like this.
Related recalls
Air bags: side/window
- What is wrong
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Buick Verano and Chevrolet Cruze vehicles. The left and/or right-side roof-rail air bag (RRAB) inflators located on the roof rails above the headliner, may rupture at the inflator weld joint.
- Risk
- An inflator that ruptures may partially inflate the air bag and cause sharp metal fragments to enter or exit the vehicle, increasing the risk of an injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the left and/or right-side RRAB modules, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 5, 2025. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1‑800‑521‑7300 or Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020. GM's number for this recall is N252530830. This recall is an expansion of previous the federal safety agency recall numbers 23V674 and 23V870.
Recall number 25V764000 · Recall details
Air bags: side/window
- What is wrong
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Buick Verano and Chevrolet Cruze vehicles. The left and/or right-side roof-rail air bag (RRAB) inflators may rupture at the inflator weld joint. This recall is an expansion of Recall 23V‑674.
- Risk
- An inflator that ruptures may partially inflate the air bag and cause sharp metal fragments to enter or exit the vehicle, increasing the risk of an injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the left and/or right-side RRAB modules as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 22, 2024. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1‑800‑521‑7300 and Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020. GM's number for this recall is N232425640.
Recall number 23V870000 · Recall details
Air bags: side/window
- What is wrong
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Buick Verano and Chevrolet Cruze vehicles. The left and/or right-side roof-rail air bag (RRAB) inflators located on the roof rails above the headliner, may rupture at the inflator weld joint.
- Risk
- An inflator that ruptures may partially inflate the air bag and cause sharp metal fragments to enter or exit the vehicle, increasing the risk of an injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the left and/or right-side RRAB modules, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 12, 2024. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1‑800‑521‑7300 or Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020. GM's number for this recall is N232408490.
Recall number 23V674000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Chevrolet Cruze vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the driver's front air bag inflator may have been manufactured with an incorrect part.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's air bag, the air bag's inflator may rupture and the air bag may not inflate. The rupture could cause metal fragments to strike and potentially seriously injure the vehicle occupants. Additionally, if the air bag does not inflate, the driver is at an increased risk of injury.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver side air bag, free of charge. The recall began on June 28, 2014. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020. GM's number for this recall is 14305.
Recall number 14V372000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles manufactured December 2, 2011 to July, 16, 2012, Chevrolet Cruze vehicles manufactured December 7, 2011 to July 25, 2012, Chevrolet Sonic vehicles manufactured December 5, 2011 to August 2, 2012, and Chevrolet Camaro vehicles manufactured December 1, 2011 to June 11, 2012. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
- Risk
- If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The recall began on July 25, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact GM at 1‑800‑222‑1020. Buick owners may contact GM at 1‑800‑521‑7300. Note: This is an expansion of recalls 12V‑522 and 13V‑023.
Recall number 14V300000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, Cruze and Sonic, and model year 2012 Buick Verano vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
- Risk
- If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, that air bag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel air bag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on February 13, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑521‑7300.
Recall number 13V023000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- General Motors is recalling certain model year 2012 Buick Verano, Chevrolet Cruze, and Chevrolet Sonic vehicles. The driver side frontal air bag has a shorting bar which may intermittently contact the air bag terminals.
- Risk
- If the bar and terminals are contacting each other at the time of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal airbag, that airbag will not deploy, increasing the driver's risk of injury.
- Remedy
- General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel airbag coil, free of charge. The safety recall began on January 11, 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑521‑7300.
Recall number 12V522000 · Recall details
Questions about the Chevrolet Cruze airbag light
Why does the airbag light come on in the Chevrolet Cruze?
Owners who report it most often also describe airbags did not deploy in a crash, steering wheel locks up and engine stalls while driving.
Which Chevrolet Cruze years have airbag warning light problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2011 (11 complaints), 2012 (7 complaints) and 2014 (7 complaints).
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Chevrolet Cruze?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history