Chevy Cruze diesel question

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Hey guys,

Here lately ive been scoping out a new vehicle and options for my commute to work. My civic in my sig is my daily driver for a 100 mile round trip commute and has been for the last 5 years. The civic is an absolute joy to drive both comfort and maintenance wise, but I know it wont last forever. So ive been looking at a diesel option in the chevy cruze for the longevity aspect of the motor. Now I know that diesel can be more expensive to work on when the time comes, but proper preventative maintenance will keep that cost down more so than not. Basically im curious about...

Is a diesel motor more of a proper choice for my situation in your opinion?
-Life of the engine is my primary concern because I already get great gas mileage from the civic so im really not hurting there. I blew through my warranty on the civic in 2 years from mileage and I will be keeping the civic regardless as a second vehicle since it is paid for.

What is the oil change situation like with a diesel motor? By that I mean, do they generally have a bigger sump to hold more than a traditional gas engine sump? -Ive been told that it will cost significantly more because of oil type and filters but idk. Also, I do my own oil changes.

If you do recommend a diesel in my situation, what do you recommend if not the chevy cruze? The cruze model im looking at brand new actually costs about $2k less than what I paid for my civic new 5 years ago. Budget wise the cruze is there, Volkswagen is more than what im wanting to pay and I haven't heard from anyone in regards to Kia`s diesels.

To sum all this up at the end, i am unable to relocate closer to my job and am just wanting to be proactive in my vehicular decisions on in to the future. If im over reacting by all means let me know.
 
From what I understand, the bulletproof reliability of diesel engines is somewhat a thing of the past now that they're more complicated and computerized. I don't have any specific information regarding the reliability of the Cruze diesel, but my thought is that if you're switching from a Civic to a Cruze diesel for reliability reasons, you're probably moving in the wrong direction. The Cruze diesel will obviously get better mpgs, and will probably be decently reliable - most new cars are. But you don't buy one if your #1 requirement is reliability.
 
What kind of prices are you seeing the cruze diesel for in your area? Around here they are far more expensive than gas alternatives. Which basically makes the fuel savings not really count for anything.
 
Originally Posted By: NateDN10
From what I understand, the bulletproof reliability of diesel engines is somewhat a thing of the past now that they're more complicated and computerized. I don't have any specific information regarding the reliability of the Cruze diesel, but my thought is that if you're switching from a Civic to a Cruze diesel for reliability reasons, you're probably moving in the wrong direction. The Cruze diesel will obviously get better mpgs, and will probably be decently reliable - most new cars are. But you don't buy one if your #1 requirement is reliability.


Thank you for the advice my friend.
 
Originally Posted By: Warlord
If it were me I’d be driving that civic for at least 5 more years before I even began to consider another new vehicle.


ive still got a lot of "goody" left in my civic and will drive it till the wheels fall off most likely
 
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
What kind of prices are you seeing the cruze diesel for in your area? Around here they are far more expensive than gas alternatives. Which basically makes the fuel savings not really count for anything.


going for $22,800 in the particular trim online at the dealer. of course this is minus fees and taxes and such
 
Originally Posted By: NavyVet88
Originally Posted By: Warlord
If it were me I’d be driving that civic for at least 5 more years before I even began to consider another new vehicle.


ive still got a lot of "goody" left in my civic and will drive it till the wheels fall off most likely


Your Civic is barely 5 years old and only 127k miles? I think you've got another 10 years on it....easy. Probably more. Drive it into the ground. You'll probably be retired before you get it to that stage.
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IMHO in North America you don't purchase a diesel for the fuel economy or the reliability. You purchase it for the powerful torque, and low RPM's at highway speed (sure beats listening to the Civic's hamsters screaming).

The fuel economy is just the added "bonus" (in reality, the cost of diesel specific maintenance negates any financial gains).
 
When you get car fever, any advice is useless,,,they are gonna buy what they want,imho..car fevr eventually goes away, but not until you have wasted your retirement money on a depreciating entity imho
 
I'm a GM Fanboy but switching to a Cruze Diesel for reliability? Your 127K mile Civic is probably just as reliable as any new diesel car from any manufacturer. When your Civic has 200K, come back here, then come back and start asking about a replacement car
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If I were doing a 100 mile daily commute, I would keep driving the Civic. That kind of easy mileage would encourage me to run that car to 300,000 miles or more.
 
This is Steven Lang. That's right. The world famous Steven Lang.

No, not the guy who did Avatar. The guy who writes about cars and... oh, never mind.

Your Civic is an ideal match for the Alabama highways. You'll get better fuel economy when you factor in the cost differential between diesel and gas. The powertrain on yours can easily last over 300k since you aren't straining the engine at all. Also, this vehicle isn't complicated to maintain. The Cruze has an expensive regimen every 100k that pretty much makes it more expensive to own along with the higher cost of diesel fuel.

As for the reliability of the Cruze, it's not so hot. But that's mostly because of the defect prone 1.4 Liter engine.

http://dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Chevrolet_Cruze.html

All the best!
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: NateDN10
From what I understand, the bulletproof reliability of diesel engines is somewhat a thing of the past now that they're more complicated and computerized. I don't have any specific information regarding the reliability of the Cruze diesel, but my thought is that if you're switching from a Civic to a Cruze diesel for reliability reasons, you're probably moving in the wrong direction. The Cruze diesel will obviously get better mpgs, and will probably be decently reliable - most new cars are. But you don't buy one if your #1 requirement is reliability.


X1000


Reconsider in 10 years when the Civic starts to get somewhat long in the tooth. You have the perfect car for your situation.

Last thing I’d be doing is getting a modern diesel.
 
Unless you want to throw your money away, I will stick with the 2013 Civic until it is gone or too expensive to fix.
 
A 2013 Civic with only 127K? In rust-free Alabama?? That thing is dangerous and SHOT-you need to send it to me right away, I'll give you scrap value for it!
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Seriously, the last thing you want is a DPF equipped modern diesel-any MPG svings you realize would be eaten up many times over by maintaining a modern diesel emission system (not to mention the 20-25% higher price of fuel)!
 
NavyVet88,

This is how I saw it when I was ready to buy a new vehicle.

I was dead set on getting a Golf. It was just a matter of choosing between a gasoline or diesel engine.

After thinking about the many emissions related items that could possibly go wrong (Urea injection/DEF system, DPF,) plus the added maintenance (Fuel filter, topping off the DEF, timing belt replacement) I decided to just get the GTI and just drive sensibly most of the time to get good gas mileage.

I am not sure whether the new Cruze has a timing belt or chain, but even if it has chains, you still have to worry about the emissions system which is an issue across all late model diesel engines.
 
Can you not live closer to work instead? 100mi round trip commute is high even for Alabama.
 
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