Thinking of a Chevy Cruz, thoughts?

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Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Originally Posted By: rjundi
The MPG #'s are abysmal for a car the size of Cruze with 1.8:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2014_Chevrolet_Cruze.shtml


The Cruz weighs in @ 3100lbs, the same as the Camry and gets about the same MPG, but the Camry IS a bigger car....still, I wouldn't call those numbers abysmal, just disappointing.


A Camry gets 25MPG around town and 35 on highway with nicer engine and same goes for Accord in far more comfort/room/etc. Even larger/better Malibu does better. They are abysmal for a smallish car. Thankfully the nice but IMHO potential expensive to own latter in life 1.4t is a nice motor.
 
The ECO has a gas tank 3 gallons smaller due to spacing of something in the tank (can't remember off hand, just remove it and gain the extra gallons back), no spare tire, but convertable for about $500, and rear drum brakes. I have seriously considered one, but having to spend $1000 off the bat is a big stumbling block.
 
Originally Posted By: Shaman
The ECO has a gas tank 3 gallons smaller due to spacing of something in the tank (can't remember off hand, just remove it and gain the extra gallons back), no spare tire, but convertable for about $500, and rear drum brakes. I have seriously considered one, but having to spend $1000 off the bat is a big stumbling block.


That's for the Cruze Eco manual transmission model only. All the other Cruzes get the regular fuel pump and spare tire.

I own that exact car. Both of those have been non-issues so far. On the highway it'll go farther than my bladder by a good long ways, and goes about a week between fill-ups driving about 50 miles a day.
 
Originally Posted By: glock19
Well you're going to have to wait to buy it due to the airbag recall.


Yes. The same Japanese Supplier that is the root of the other recalls by Toyota/Nissan/BMW etc.
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: glock19
Well you're going to have to wait to buy it due to the airbag recall.


Yes. The same Japanese Supplier that is the root of the other recalls by Toyota/Nissan/BMW etc.



Yep, it affected Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Chrysler, and Ford. Seems like Takata has a monopoly on the airbag business.
 
Originally Posted By: Mykl
What is the recommended fuel grade for the Eco model?


All Cruze models will run on 87 octane.

During the summer, some owners in warmer-weather areas have found that going to 89 octane noticeably helps their 1.4T powered LT/Eco/LTZ. That's not universal, as it depends on the quality of the fuel in the local market.
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: glock19
Well you're going to have to wait to buy it due to the airbag recall.


Yes. The same Japanese Supplier that is the root of the other recalls by Toyota/Nissan/BMW etc.



Everyone expects cheaper and cheaper, then eventually it gets so cheap that quality control goes out the window...
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
All Cruze models will run on 87 octane.

During the summer, some owners in warmer-weather areas have found that going to 89 octane noticeably helps their 1.4T powered LT/Eco/LTZ. That's not universal, as it depends on the quality of the fuel in the local market.



That's good to know. I've added the Cruze Eco as a possible replacement for the GTI as I can find used once for about what I can sell the GTI for.

The thing is, to make it worth the trouble I would have to see nearly 40 mpg consistently. I've seen somewhat diverging fuel economy reports on the car. Some get what I want, others are low 30's.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: glock19
Well you're going to have to wait to buy it due to the airbag recall.


Yes. The same Japanese Supplier that is the root of the other recalls by Toyota/Nissan/BMW etc.



Everyone expects cheaper and cheaper, then eventually it gets so cheap that quality control goes out the window...



I agree and here we are. Used to be cheap just meant flimsy plastic trim cheap steel wheels but now we've effected safety.
 
Originally Posted By: Mykl
Originally Posted By: sciphi
All Cruze models will run on 87 octane.

During the summer, some owners in warmer-weather areas have found that going to 89 octane noticeably helps their 1.4T powered LT/Eco/LTZ. That's not universal, as it depends on the quality of the fuel in the local market.



That's good to know. I've added the Cruze Eco as a possible replacement for the GTI as I can find used once for about what I can sell the GTI for.

The thing is, to make it worth the trouble I would have to see nearly 40 mpg consistently. I've seen somewhat diverging fuel economy reports on the car. Some get what I want, others are low 30's.


The Cruze Eco can be had in either manual or automatic. The automatic ones aren't much better than a regular Cruze. The manual ones are noticeably better. I'm mad if my manual Eco doesn't get at least 40 mpg loaded down with the A/C blasting and cruise set to 65 mph. I rarely get the opportunity to be mad at it, though. On my mostly-highway ~20 mile commute that sticks to about 55-60 mph and no A/C use unless necessary it will easily get 45-47 mpg. Some days it flirts with 50 mpg if the lights and traffic are right. It's all in how it's driven!
 
Don't wonna offend anyone but Cruze is about the worse compact car you could buy in Europe.I know you guys are patriotic American and i understand that,but buy Focus instead.It is one of the best you could buy and it's American.Opel is the worst brand in Europe by far and GM just make poor cars.Only good thing about GM in Europe is a diesel that is made by FIAT and that will end soon.
 
Originally Posted By: chrisri
Don't wonna offend anyone but Cruze is about the worse compact car you could buy in Europe.I know you guys are patriotic American and i understand that,but buy Focus instead.It is one of the best you could buy and it's American.Opel is the worst brand in Europe by far and GM just make poor cars.Only good thing about GM in Europe is a diesel that is made by FIAT and that will end soon.


Given how Chevrolet marketed the Cruze in Europe, I'm not surprised it fell flat on its face there. Europe didn't get the pretty good gasser 1.4T found in other markets, and didn't get the big 2.0 liter diesel found, again, in other markets. Plus only having the sedan available in a fairly low trim level was silly. Add the woeful dealer network, and it's no wonder the Cruze was a flop in Europe despite success in many other markets. All that, and IIRC the European Cruzes were mainly assembled in Korea. So for Europe it was just another cheap Korean car from a brand known for cheap Korean cars.

Chevy marketed and equipped the Cruze to be a bit more up-market here in North America. Additionally, all the N. American Cruzes come from a N. American factory in Ohio. So the "cheap rebadged Korean car" stigma wasn't present since the N. American Cruze is assembled in N. America with mainly N. American-built components. All but the lowest-trim Cruze have the better 1.4T engine instead of the gruff and gutless 1.8. So in America, the Cruze is a competitive car.
 
Thanks for clarifying things about Cruze.I was reading this topic from the start and been wondering what's the fuss about this Korean runabout.Now i know better.
 
As far as the reviews I've read it seems that the chassis is quite good. It's the base engine that lets it down.
 
Originally Posted By: chrisri
Thanks for clarifying things about Cruze.I was reading this topic from the start and been wondering what's the fuss about this Korean runabout.Now i know better.


From the reading I've done, different markets have very different Cruzes and different impressions of them.

Originally Posted By: Mykl
As far as the reviews I've read it seems that the chassis is quite good. It's the base engine that lets it down.


Agreed. The coarse and thirsty 1.8 really doesn't do the chassis justice. Nor does the obvious cost-cutting on the LS indicate what the rest of the lineup is like.
 
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