Update: Almost 2 months now.

[DmaxMaverick]

I've been holding off an initial review, hoping to offer something fairly balanced. Waiting for negatives, I'm finding, is gonna take a while. So far, there simply aren't any. I haven't had much of a chance to drive it, actually. My wife won't let it sit still long enough for me to get in it, much.

Teresa, my wife, loves the car. So far, she's only had 2 complaints.

The first, we were driving back from a shopping trip, and she asked, "why isn't there an airbag indicator for that side (driver seat)?" I almost had to pull over. I explained, if the airbag is ever needed, there's a very high likelihood someone is in the seat. Her reply (after a brief laugh), "I didn't get too far out of the box on that one, did I?" She's blond that way, on occasion, naturally. (reported with permission)

The second, she says, "The next time that (B-word) tells me to wait for the beep or dials a wrong number again, I'm gonna shoot 'er!" Apparently, she and the "MyLink" voice lady don't get along too well.

The car has 2,838 miles on it, today. So far, it's been great, for what it is (a car). It doesn't ride like a compact, it's very roomy, quiet (nearly silent, actually), comfortable, powerful, and gets better than the advertised fuel mileage. The build quality is much higher than I expected. It also has the highest safety rating for a car in its class (5 stars, according to the gub'mint).

The mileage. Popular question about the car. What can I say? Not much, really. ....I still don't believe it. Rarely do any vehicles ever really meet their EPA economy ratings, let alone surpass it by more than a significant amount. This one does. Teresa's average for a week of commute to work has been 46 MPG, the EPA's highway estimate. The "commute" is about 20 miles each way, winding mountain roads, a little local highway, with some city mixed in, and a 1,300' altitude differential. On the 3 highway trips we've taken it, the highway-only average has been 52 to 58 MPG, varying 55 to 75 MPH. The lower mileage trip was over the Grapevine (I-5 in SoCal), at 52 MPG. It's just crazy-ridiculous, and the DIC mileage is just as accurate as my pen.

So far, I am very pleased and impressed with this car. A lot more than I could have imagined. GM may have jumped the shark with this one. Time will tell.

Here's a screenshot of the RemoteLink app on my phone. This is about a week's worth of Teresa's commute, with some city/shopping driving mixed in:

[More Power]

Great fuel economy!

My 1979 Yamaha XS750 motorcycle just gets 45-mpg.

Jim

[Yukon6.2]

Thats close to 55 MPG Canadian style

[ginger743]

I visited my Chevy Dealer yesterday and drove one !!! They only had one Cruze Diesel in stock .

It has amazing power !! Of course being a Diesel the Torque really shows up in acceleration at low rpm.

I'm seriously considering buying one ! I looked at the VW and I would rather stay with American even though the VW is probably made in the USA.

I really don't need a new car but it would be a fun thing .

The sales person was really great and spent considerable time with me. I learned that the Engine is German made and the Transmission is Japanese.

I jokingly asked, is the engine made by VW ? :>)

Also the Cruze Diesel only comes in the loaded version .

It's much larger than I had imagined it to be.

Anyway, it was a fun car to drive and has all the power I would ever ask of it :>).

Out the door it would probably be approx $30,000.00 , this factors in a nearly $2500.00 factory rebate .

Jerry

[DmaxMaverick]

Our "out the door" cost was a bit less than that, even with all but about $400 of available options (and CA sales tax and DMV). We used the Costco pricing, which evens out to about invoice price (invoice + $200, and included about $200 of gift checks/credits). The GM rebates were also included. We didn't use GM's financing, so we kept the rebates, which are usually in lieu of GM's financing.

The Diesel option up-rates the trim to about the LTZ level, which is a premium, and at the same time, disqualifies some options of the RS model. The additional expense (from the mfg's standpoint) of the engine, tranny, and management systems justifies it, I think. A similar priced VW will be a base model, and not at all impressive (we looked at/drove them all). We ended up comparing the Cruze with the Passat, feature for feature, comfort for comfort, and the Cruze won, marginally. The cost differential was more than 10 grand, not so marginal. Compared to the Jetta, it was no contest, and the Jetta would still cost more. If the long term quality is anything near the initial quality, it will be a real winner. I wasn't impressed with the used VW TDI's I looked at with miles on them. Don't get me wrong, VW makes a quality car, but we were not surprised at all. The Cruze has a much more impressive "finish" to it.

Engine. Yep, German made, top to bottom. A LOT of very familiar parts and markings, compared to the TDI's. My only reservation with it, is the use of a timing belt in a zero-clearance engine. It's probably nothing to worry about, or maybe I'm just old school. They've been used on the VW's for decades with very few issues. I dunno....

Transmission. Japanese, for sure. Aisin (Seiki), is Japan's HD tranny mfg, comparable to the US's Alison. Toyota has a majority ownership, but is operationally disconnected. Dodge is using them in the current Cummins powertrains (different model, of course). I'm actually very pleased they went this route. The transmission performance compliments the engine very well, and seems as solid as can be. It's no "slush box", by any measure. Firm, decisive, accurate and smooth.

The car is certainly worth a close look, if you're considering it.

[convert2diesel]

Thought the Cruze used the VM Motori? That's Italian.

Bill