Cruze vs Focus

Cruze or Focus? That’s like asking would you rather have heart disease or cancer.

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Neither unless you get the Focus in a manual. GM 1.4s have a bad track record particularly with turbo failures. The automatic Focus has the worst transmission ever made, unless you get one of the few with the 1.0L Ecoboost which is reasonably reliable. Honestly I'd pick >2012 Jetta or Golf with the 1.8T or 1.4T anyday over either of those choices.
 
I met this girl that had an old Focus wagon with about 450,000 miles on it. That car was showroom clean!!
 
Focus with the 1.0L ecoboost. They were offered with a 6 speed manual or a torque converted automatic. Really neat setup.
 
The 1.8L N/A & 1.4L Turbo engines in the Cruze need plastic coolant parts about every 60-80K miles, Most of these meet their end because coolant loss causing severe overheat.

The 1.8L has a Timing Belt.

The 1.4L/T has PCV issues that can crop-up.

The 6T35E/6T40E transmissions run hot requiring frequent fluid changes.

Replaced quite a few turbos on 1.4L's


I own a 71,000 mile '15 Cruze 1.4L/T that I bought really cheap, Replaced all the plastic cooling parts & Performed 2 drain & fills with Dexron VI.
Seems to be a decent enough vehicle, Just got to keep an eye on it!!
If you want a low maintenance compact......Get a 1.8L Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic.
@clinebarger is right on with this assessment of the Cruze. My 2014 1.4T had 150,000 miles on it when it got totaled. The engine, trans, and body were very good, but the plastic cooling parts were weeping in a couple places and the PCV valve placement was just beyond stupid and expensive to replace. I have owned an 2008 Corolla, 2010 Civic, and the 2014 Cruze (kids cars) and I vastly preferred driving the Cruze over the other two. The Cruze was much quieter and smoother. My daughter still owns the Civic and it just keeps going and going with zero troubles.
 
If you can find a focus with the 5-speed manual, then that would be the way to go. If not, steer clear of the focus. But, I'd hate to have a manual (especially one with the focus' gear ratios) for commuting in any sort of rush hour.
 
Focus with the 1.0L ecoboost. They were offered with a 6 speed manual or a torque converted automatic. Really neat setup.
If going this route - only buy new and with plenty of warranty. These 1.0L are good engines when they run (in a properly sized vehicle that is), but they are known for melting pistons, overheating issues, fuel pressure issues as miles rack up, and early ones had issues with coolant hoses being routed wrong or being made from incorrect materials. Lots of conflicting information online, so not 100% sure which one is more of a culpit (routing vs material), but regardless - an issue with cooling hoses does exist in the early ones. And as a cherry to top off the pie - Direct Injection only... "Loss of engine power and serious valve damage is commonplace on higher mileage EcoBoost engines. The EcoBoost engine features only direct fuel injection with no fuel to naturally clean leading to a build up of carbon on the intake valve stems, which restricts airflow."
 
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If going this route - only buy new and with plenty of warranty. These 1.0L are good engines when they run (in a properly sized vehicle that is), but they are known for melting pistons, overheating issues, fuel pressure issues as miles rack up, and early ones had issues with coolant hoses being routed wrong or being made from incorrect materials. Lots of conflicting information online, so not 100% sure which one is more of a culpit (routing vs material), but regardless - an issue with cooling hoses does exist in the early ones. And as a cherry to top off the pie - Direct Injection only... "Loss of engine power and serious valve damage is commonplace on higher mileage EcoBoost engines. The EcoBoost engine features only direct fuel injection with no fuel to naturally clean leading to a build up of carbon on the intake valve stems, which restricts airflow."

The issue with the 1.0L is the lack of parts for that motor/trans in the US for the focus. OEM parts for common issues were becoming rare when I got rid of mine last Nov but the only common issues I've heard of on the 1.0L were the two wet belts (timing and oil should absolutely be changed every 100K as I found out) and the dual mass flywheel. The purge canister replacement was a common thing too - I had to replace mine ~4 times in 230K miles - luckily only $40 and 30 mins to change but not replacing this can cause the fuel tank to collapse in itself and then becomes a $3000 issue.

The coolant line connectors are definitely weak though. I broke several trying to replace the thermostat housing.

Plus side is, if you manage to find an automatic 1.0L focus, it's a traditional 6-speed auto from Europe and not the horrible DCT.
 
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The issue with the 1.0L is the lack of parts for that motor/trans in the US for the focus. OEM parts for common issues were becoming rare when I got rid of mine last Nov but the only common issues I've heard of on the 1.0L were the two wet belts (timing and oil should absolutely be changed every 100K as I found out) and the dual mass flywheel. The purge canister replacement was a common thing too - I had to replace mine ~4 times in 230K miles - luckily only $40 and 30 mins to change but not replacing this can cause the fuel tank to collapse in itself and then becomes a $3000 issue.

The coolant line connectors are definitely weak though. I broke several trying to replace the thermostat housing.

Plus side is, if you manage to find an automatic 1.0L focus, it's a traditional 6-speed auto from Europe and not the horrible DCT. Minus is a 2005 F150 towing a camper and 5 bikes on the back will accelerate faster than you lol.
How long have you had yours to rack up 230k miles?
 
How long have you had yours to rack up 230k miles?

~ 6 years, October 2015 until the factory timing belt broke in September 2021. I got lucky it broke at my mom's house 600 miles away from my home. Was still on the factory rotors too lol.
 
~ 6 years, October 2015 until the factory timing belt broke in September 2021. I got lucky it broke at my mom's house 600 miles away from my home. Was still on the factory rotors too lol.
Lots of time on the highway I assume?

Seems like GDI-only engines experience less GDI-related issues if they are mostly highway driven, but daily driven examples or short-tripped examples seem to need a clean up every 60k-100k like clockwork, assuming no intake-spray products are used regularly to aid with intake valve cleanliness.
 
id suggest going with focus. although i know people that have over 100k miles on their cruze, ive had bad experiences with them.

my wife bought a brand new cruze. broke down 10 minutes after driving off the lot. car had 28 miles on it. transmission was shot. dealer paid for us an overnight stay at local hotel. got a new cruze the next day. that car was in and out of the shop for 2 years with faulty transmission issues & various engine problems until i gave up and traded it in. we went with hyundai and all is well. i think the cruze is a nice looking car but complete junk IMO.
 
Lots of time on the highway I assume?

Seems like GDI-only engines experience less GDI-related issues if they are mostly highway driven, but daily driven examples or short-tripped examples seem to need a clean up every 60k-100k like clockwork, assuming no intake-spray products are used regularly to aid with intake valve cleanliness.

Yea, I'm not sure if there's any other 1.0L in the US that had as many miles as mine did but it was 90% highway. The car did have a lot of issues keeping up to temp below freezing but I did notice better warm up after I changed out the thermostat/sender unit. It was great on gas though, averaging 40mpg at 70mph and 33 city.
 
FWIW - Have a '13 Cruze 1.8l with MT. Thermostat issue @35K replaced under warranty, no issues other than that. Just preformed other work per manufacturer schedule. 113K miles. Boring and relatively small interior but has been a good car.
 
I bought a new 2015 Focus 1.0 EcoBoost/6M and it was possibly my favorite car I’ve every owned. 87,000 miles and literally not a single issue. The Getrag 6-speed was the best manual transmission I’ve owned as well. It also had a better chassis than my current MINI Clubman (BMW X1).

54 MPG was the best tank I saw. It would do 45 MPG routinely at 70 MPG. If it had AWD I would still own it.
 
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Mom had 1.8T Cruze. It overheated several times, leaking coolant and left her stranded. She got rid of it as soon as it was out of extended warranty.
 
Honestly despite cheap build quality a 2010 Cobalt Base with a 5 speed is good for 200-300k
weakness
1. Rusty fuel lines
2. Timing chain
3. Oil consumption/ coolant mixing with oil

They are under appreciated due to folks assigning certain small issues as being more critical than they really are.

If you need a beater with fair economy a Cobalt is a much better option than an older Saturn
 
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