2011 Chevy Cruze

ZeeOSix

ZeeOSix

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Looking at a 2011 Chevy Cruze with the 1.8L 4-cly (non turbo) for an inexpensive commuter car with good gas mileage. It's also an automatic transmission. It only has 67,000 miles. Can get it for ~$7500. Local car (no salted roads to rust), clean title, no accidents on Carfax.

How's that engine and transmission for reliability?

Anyone have one around the same year that can give your experience with the Cruze?
 
1.8 is fine for the most part. However you can get a more precise answer by searching for a 'Chevy Cruze enthusiast forum'. They should be able to help you with figuring out what are the little problems before they become big ones.

All the best!
 
1.8L is a timing belt motor. It might be due based on age? Quick look indicates 100k(?), but it might set a maintenance light for when due.
 
After owning its predecessor (Cobalt) for over 300k miles that were mostly trouble free, I would have zero issues owning the next generation Cruze. Had them as rentals a few times and always liked them. Always rode and handled well, much better than a Corolla or Civic from that era. And I am not usually a GM fan at all, but they got the small cars right for a few years.

Owning this car taught me there was often a difference in ACDelco and Genuine GM parts. If Genuine GM, it was typically a better part.
 
2011 was the first year for the Cruze so be aware of first year issues. I bought a new 2011 Cruze with the 1.4T and had to trade it in because of coolant odor/loss issues that my dealer refused to admit existed (despite hundreds of pages on the Cruzetalk forum detailing the issue). I don't think the 1.8 had this issue so you might be OK with it.

I agree that the Cruze rode well and probably was better than Corolla's and Civic's of that era in that regard. What I can't understand is why GM stopped making the Cruze after getting the bugs worked out?...seems like a poor business decision (as usual) as many people prefer a car for commuting etc..
 
The Cruze was a very nice car and I have to agree that it was a nicer car than many in its segment.
Good riding, quiet, comfortable. That it had so many issues is a shame for such a nice car.
 
We have a 2013 Cruze with the 1.8L engine but MT - 115K on it now. As supton indicated timing belt due at 100K. Also as pbm indicated the 1.4L, particularly in early model years, had some coolant loss issues. I believe that is far less common on the 1.8L from what I have seen on cruzetalk but the 1.8L was sold a lot less.

Personally we had one thermostat issue that was replaced under warranty and everything else has been normal maintenance. Ours lived as a commuter car (15K - 25K) a year through ~110K miles and doesn't get driven much now. For what it is and what we paid it's been a good car. IIRC the typical mpg in the auto for highway is meh and was said by many to get a little worse mpg then estimates. Ours (again MT) has averaged a little over 37 mpg.
 
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We just sold our 2014 with 121k on it to our son. He was adamant about buying it from us after the 2 yrs we had it (a lot has to do with all the work and maintenance I did while I had it) He needed a good commuter car for work. Ours had the 1.4T and I did chase a couple of coolant leaks. The thermostat housing weeped a little but only required snugging up the screws holding it down. The turbo coolant line had the rubber portion replaced before I got it. There is a metal to rubber connector that commonly goes bad due to its proximity to the turbo shield. That just needed a clamp replacement and of course the water neck on the left side of the engine cracked around 110k. I think it was $30 and took me about an hour to replace including cleaning the engine compartment and the tools.
I think these cars suffer a reputation problems because many of them are owned by people who tend to just drive them into the ground. Ours was stupid expensive to insure and my agent said it was all about the claims history (which means nothing to me since I have never had a chargeable accident or a moving violation in well over 40 yrs of driving)
 
The 1.8 feels anemic in a relatively heavy compact car. Think 0-60 in over 10 seconds. The 1.4 makes it enjoyable and gets better gas mileage. I was getting 40 mpg highway.
 
My brother had one that was ragged out when he bought it. He replaced a head gasket and did some transmission work and drove it to about 250,000 miles and when he sold it the car was still running great. If the previous owner or owners took care of it the car should last a long time. Good luck!
 
I'm pondering the Chevy Cruze again. Found a 2014 LS with 45K miles. No accidents, 1 owner. Always lived in the PNW area (not rust concerns).
Transmission 6-Speed Automatic
Engine 1.8L I4 16V MPFI DOHC

Is that 1.8L engine a turbo ... I'm betting it's at least Direct Injection.

Are the newer 2014+ Cruze more reliable?

White (pearl/metallic ?) with black/gray cloth seats. Looks pretty nice actually.
 
ZeeOSix said:
I'm pondering the Chevy Cruze again. Found a 2014 LS with 45K miles. No accidents, 1 owner. Always lived in the PNW area (not rust concerns).
Transmission 6-Speed Automatic
Engine 1.8L I4 16V MPFI DOHC

Is that 1.8L engine a turbo ... I'm betting it's at least Direct Injection.

Are the newer 2014+ Cruze more reliable?
Click to expand...
What's your budget Zee?
My brother has a 2016 and it has been stellar and he is a car destroyer....
 
Zee09 said:
What's your budget Zee?
My brother has a 2016 and it has been stellar and he is a car destroyer....
Click to expand...
$13K ... the low miles, 1 owner and no accidents (per the Carfax) is attractive and the car looks pretty good, styling wise to me.

I'd upload a couple of photos, but the board is busted right now for photo uploads it seems.
 
ZeeOSix said:
$13K ... the low miles, 1 owner and no accidents (per the Carfax) is attractive and the car looks pretty good, styling wise to me
Click to expand...
The last one I had was a 84 model new and I got 300k out of it and sold it and it ran fine. And that was the time when as new they used a qt. of oil every 1500 miles.. Didn't put big money in it either.
 
ZeeOSix said:
Is that 1.8L engine a turbo ... I'm betting it's at least Direct Injection.

Are the newer 2014+ Cruze more reliable?
Click to expand...
The 1.8L is not a turbo, no direct injection.

Chevrolet Pressroom - United States - Cruze

media.chevrolet.com media.chevrolet.com

I do think the coolant issues were much less widespread in the 1.8L if that is your concern. It’s a plain Jane economy version and being pokey compared to the 1.4L (and for the timing belt and interference engine, although I don’t recall seeing that there ended up being timing belt issues).
 
The 2014.

2014 Cruze-1.JPG


2014 Cruze-2.JPG
 
ZeeOSix said:
$13K ... the low miles, 1 owner and no accidents (per the Carfax) is attractive and the car looks pretty good, styling wise to me.
Click to expand...

You could get a 2nd gen for not much more.

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