Your thoughts on Chevy Cruze diesel

[ruSSrt]

I'm toying with idea of updating my daily driver.
Currently I have 05 VW B5.5 Passat tdi and I kind of eye-balling newer versions of VW TDi. But randomly came across Chevy cruze diesels. Anything good to say about those little cars?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Yeah the diesel Cruze hatch seems cool

 

[oggb]

Has there been anything good to say about small Chevys generally in the last decade? I wouldn't.

 

[2EHA]

the normal version of the cruze is a pretty reliable car. definitely not as nice inside as your old passat though

 

[atikovi]

Good luck finding one. Only 8 listed in the whole country on the dealer auction list. Almost as hard to find as a Liberty diesel.

 

[wwillson]

I had a '14 Cruze and put a lot of miles on it. I also have owned a '09 Corolla and a '10 Civic. My opinion is that the Cruze is simply a better car than either the Civic or the Corolla. I know, I'm going to get skewered, but hear me out. The engines were all good. The Civic transmission would drive you nuts. What made the Cruze the better vehicle IMO is it did an incredible job of deadening road noise compared to either the Civic or Corolla. To me, it was much more enjoyable to drive. Plus, the Cruze was still cruising along at 155,000 trouble free miles, until it got totaled. In all fairness both the Civic and Corolla are still on the road today with over 120,000 trouble free miles on each.

Put all three in front of me and give me the choice of which one I would drive and I'd pick the Cruze every time.

 

[mjk1967]

Not the diesel, but I had a p/t job a few years ago delivering vehicles from local dealerships. Our chase vehicles were the Chevy Cruz. Poorly maintained, worked hard and put away wet -- they were running at 250k. Not pretty, but they did the job.

 

[ruSSrt]

Thanks guys! It is true that hatches are pretty rare. I need a large enough trunk to fit some work gear and economic enough to fill up one a week. Everything else I can adjust to

 

[GMBoy]

I had a '14 Cruze and put a lot of miles on it. I also have owned a '09 Corolla and a '10 Civic. My opinion is that the Cruze is simply a better car than either the Civic or the Corolla. I know, I'm going to get skewered, but hear me out. The engines were all good. The Civic transmission would drive you nuts. What made the Cruze the better vehicle IMO is it did an incredible job of deadening road noise compared to either the Civic or Corolla. To me, it was much more enjoyable to drive. Plus, the Cruze was still cruising along at 155,000 trouble free miles, until it got totaled. In all fairness both the Civic and Corolla are still on the road today with over 120,000 trouble free miles on each.

Put all three in front of me and give me the choice of which one I would drive and I'd pick the Cruze every time.

You mean to tell me you NEVER had a coolant leak, NEVER had to change the valve cover due the PCV system? You must have had the 1.8L because every 1.4T has those issues.

 

[4WD]

1.4T … 145K and traded … dealer replaced some infamous plastic stuff under warranty.
Happy with the transmission … original rotors … and car was ran hard.

 

[wwillson]

You mean to tell me you NEVER had a coolant leak, NEVER had to change the valve cover due the PCV system? You must have had the 1.8L because every 1.4T has those issues.

Yes to both. I considered it to be an annoyance not a major problem. The rub is that they were both fixed less than a thousand miles before it got totaled at 155,000 miles. Just my luck.

The Corolla uses a quart of oil every 1,500 miles and has for its entire life. That also is annoying, but hasn't caused any problems.

 

[IveBeenRued]

Beyond the 60K mark these cars become needy. I have a colleague that calls his 2014 Cruze diesel a “leper” because of how often it goes into limp mode. Since hitting 60K he said that it costs around $1800-4000 a year in repairs on top of regular maintenance but looks at it as cheaper than a new car payment. Also, he recommends against this car unless your job has flexibility when it comes to unexpected days off.

P.S. Again because of the limp mode issues, my coworker commonly refers to his car as Nancy in reference to Nancy Kerrigan.

 

[wwillson]

Beyond the 60K mark these cars become needy. I have a colleague that calls his 2014 Cruze diesel a “leper” because of how often it goes into limp mode. Since hitting 60K he said that it costs around $1800-4000 a year in repairs on top of regular maintenance but looks at it as cheaper than a new car payment. Also, he recommends against this car unless your job has flexibility when it comes to unexpected days off.

P.S. Again because of the limp mode issues, my coworker commonly refers to his car as Nancy in reference to Nancy Kerrigan.

I'm curious how he uses the car, is it short tripped or used on a long commute? My guess would be short tripped.

My opinion is that modern diesels with particulate filters should come with a warning label that says:

"The owner of this vehicle needs to understand that if they operate the vehicle in a manner that doesn't mostly maintain relatively high exhaust gas temperature, that they will have troubles and high expenses with the exhaust after treatment system".

 

[Fattylocks]

You mean to tell me you NEVER had a coolant leak, NEVER had to change the valve cover due the PCV system? You must have had the 1.8L because every 1.4T has those issues.

Two work issued 1.4 turbo Cruz.
Both beat on like government mules.
One over 160k before turned in.
One totalled at 90k. Still drove it 200 miles back to camp going sideways down the highway with a door strapped partially shut.
No issues.
Occasionally (rare) 50+ mpg.

 

[IveBeenRued]

I'm curious how he uses the car, is it short tripped or used on a long commute? My guess would be short tripped.

My opinion is that modern diesels with particulate filters should come with a warning label that says:

"The owner of this vehicle needs to understand that if they operate the vehicle in a manner that doesn't mostly maintain relatively high exhaust gas temperature, that they will have troubles and high expenses with the exhaust after treatment system".

Long tripper only. His commute is 84 miles each way and it is his primary commute vehicle and he works 4 days a week. He is nearing 170K and that is with taking off nearly a full year because of COVID so he is averaging around 30K per year.

 

[RooflessVW]

I see zero reason to choose a Cruze diesel over a Golf or Sportwagen TDI.

The cruze wasn't better new and the extended emissions warranty from VW covers a whole lot of potential heartache.

 

[meep]

Chevy cruise diesel.... small car with a small diesel.... 50 miles on a few of cups of fuel... sounds fabulous to me....

i dont know the cruze well, but IMO the jettas are supremely comfortable inside with generally high quality materials. if the electronics and bodies in the vws hold up well, id gladly consider a jetta tdi.

 

[wwillson]

Long tripper only. His commute is 84 miles each way and it is his primary commute vehicle and he works 4 days a week. He is nearing 170K and that is with taking off nearly a full year because of COVID so he is averaging around 30K per year.

That's surprising to me and I think a warning to anyone looking at a Cruze diesel