The Mazda was starting to nickel and dime me. Just little stuff. Engine mount, brake rotor, wheel bearing, did the wheel bearing and discovered that I had a CV boot on the verge of rupturing....every weekend I had another job. Nothing major. Just little annoyances that occur on 10 year old cars approaching 200,000 miles.
My wife is really happy with her 200 S. I found I could buy its sister car, the Avenger, very cheap.
...yeah, there's a reason why the 4 bangers are cheap. The 3.6 is better but most of the Avengers are 2.4s and the 3.6es aren't much less than the 200. Neither can be had with a manual. Naturally, I checked out the Dart
I liked the Dart quite a bit, but 1.4t Multiair Aeros with manual transmissions are in short supply. The only one that was in a reasonable price range for me was a manufacturer buyback vehicle.Yeah, I know, the problem has been fixed but I still don't like it.
I found a Certified Pre-owned Cruze Eco manual for $3,000 less than similar year Cruzes. 12mo/12K bumper to bumper : 5yr 100,000 mi powertrain warranty.
Why was it $3000 less? The manual transmission. The salesman said that his manager did not like manuals on the lot and from what I can tell, that must be the case. They also had a Rabbit that was about $1000 less than it would have been on another lot and a Veloster that seemed a little low too.
The EPS isn't terrible. It feels better than the Sonata or Corolla's EPS. It still doesn't have the on center feel of the Mazda's hydraulic unit but it's decent.
Handling is good for low rolling resistance tires. Brakes are good even with drums out back. Shifter feels pretty good for a cable shifted unit. You could even say that it is Honda-like as long as you are talking about a 3rd generation Prelude shifter. It doesn't have the accurate "snick-snick" action of a newer Honda of course. Few cars do.
I like the seats too.
I can't believe that it has a 8+ 0-60 time. It pulls very hard for such a tiny engine. Spools up quickly. It feels more powerful than the Dart did even though the Dart has more power and torque Don't even look at the 2.0 Dart. That thing gets embarrassed by both the 1.4ts. It feels slow because it is slow.
I don't like the clutch pedal. It engages quickly and then it seems like there is 2 feet of dead travel. I'm going to have to look into that.
0% (CPO Cruze LaCrosse and Terrain) interest and I will still have 2 years of powertrain warranty left when it is paid off
I don't have pictures yet. I am still undoing the dealership detailer's work.