I know for one thing if you have a family that rides in your car daily then the Cruze is not the one you want. We had one as a rental and those things are small as heck. Also have heard of many problems with them.
No kids, 4'11" wife. Back seat is used for storage. Only requirement for storage space is ability to fit 4.5 ft. fishing rods in the trunk or backseat. The first gens had coolant and oil problems. the 2016-2017 had engine problems due to LSPI. The 2018-up got forged internals, different oil requirements and I think some different tuning to prevent this.
I had a 2016 kia optima sxl with the 2.0 turbo and six speend trans and so far its a great car. It gets great fuel economy, has decent power, rides well, and is very comfortable. I highly recommend the optoima especially the higher trim levels. I always thought heated/cooled seats where "hoity toity" but they are great especially in the summer. Reliability is fine so far I change the oil every 4k miles and Im about to do a trans dain and fill.
What are you getting on the highway and in the city? There are several 3013-2015 SX, SX-L, and 2.0T Hyundais in the area, around the price I'd pay for the Cruze, but with quite a few more miles. The HP reduction in 2015 on the 2.0T is confusing.
As long as the Cruzes are looked over (engine wise) and cared for, they should be just fine. I have a SIL’s husband who has a 19 Hatch LT. Has almost 50k on it now, and has been flawless so far. He does a great job of keeping up on maintenance, so I’m sure his Cruze will do just fine.
Bonus if the Cruzes are CPO. I like the Kia too.......
I'm looking for as low of a mileage as possible. Considering a hatch, but not really picky.
Of course he is, and no ideology meant
It just sounded like his only reservation against Toyota was the higher prices, so if some are within budget, then they're worth looking at, especially against the backdrop of other replies with various horror stories with the 1.4T and GDI Hyundais. Also, the Toyotas' engines are the BITOG-friendly non-turbo port-injected type.
I also forgot to mention the 13-17 Accord. They are great cars, flawless and seamless CVT, great gas mileage for a car of its size, lots of room. It's DI, but doesn't seem to have the problems Hyundai has with theirs.
I have been looking for Accords, but they are like the Toyotas. We've got Honda and Toyota plants in the area.
That idrive dealer that has the Optima you're looking at also has this
Camry
I also found this
Camry
this
Corolla
and if it's within your budget, this
CPO Corolla iM
I want to stay under 75K miles, but I do like the styling of the first Camry. I'm not sold on the 2.5. We had the previous generation at work with the 2.5 and I can't say I was impressed.
We have the second Camry at work now, and it's a good ride, but the styling is not for me, and the touchscreen hasn't worked in a long while.
We've had several Corollas from all recent generations and they've been blah to me.
The Chevy Malibu is a pretty solid car these days. The 1.5T did have some issues at first but it’s had constant tweaks and revisions and it’s been solidly reliable since the 2018 model year. The 2016-2017 models have had some issues.
The Fusion 2.5 NA engine is also very reliable. The Sonata/Optima are a very good value when you consider the lifetime engine warranty on the Theta II 2.4/2.0T.
The 2018-up Malibus are around $15K+TTL on Facebook Marketplace. The comments I've seen are that it is underpowered and tinny in the Malibu. Only .1L larger than the engine in the Cruze.
I'm not sure why, but I just don't feel like having the "base" engine like the one in the Fusion. I've never really wanted the base engine for whatever reason.
The family has had 6 or 7 Hyundais, and my mother has a 2.4 Santa Fe currently. I know that a domestic would be "better", but yes, the lifetime engine warranty would be nice if whatever I buy applies.
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