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:

http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/photopost/data/562/medium/Screenshot_2014-02-12-16-23-15.jpg

[More Power]

Great fuel economy!

My 1979 Yamaha XS750 motorcycle just gets 45-mpg.

Jim

[Yukon6.2]

Thats close to 55 MPG Canadian style:D

[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

[DmaxMaverick]

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

Bill

I read that early on, too. Nothing Italian, anywhere, now. The VM Motori engine was used previously in some international markets, with less reported economy and power than now. Most of the available articles (online) are not very accurate, and outdated, most of them published around February, 2013, before they were in retail production. The Italian reference may be related to Fiat's relation to the engine manufacturer, as they own some of it. I'll look further into it as time goes by. If it's Italian branded and German built, they sure did a good job of hiding it. Components and covers are all labeled "GM", with origins of USA, Germany, and Canada (plastic). I'd expect to see some Mexico in there, somewhere, but not yet. The build sheet doesn't mention any percentage originating in Italy, either. I'll be smarter, later.

[OIL BURN]

Good news for the cruze.Can someone tell me why we can't build the same high quality diesel engine and trans in the USA,we have to go overseas for high quality?More jobs gone,Hey OBAMA are you listening?
Not to get political,the cruze proves it can be done,it would be nice if the vehicle was 100% built in America. Govt.,get out of the way,unions stop being greedy,corporate take a pay cut.
Think of all the jobs that could be created manufacturing the parts for the cruze.This shows that the diesel can play a role in personal transportation and on the "clean" side of emissions. My only fear is now more personal vehicles will be diesel and you know what that means,higher diesel fuel prices due to demand and all of us who supported diesels for the last three decades will pay the price again.
One possible good thought,maybe I won't get dirty looks when I pull up to a stop light in my 6.2 with a diesel car next to me.

Good Day to all.

OIL BURN

[convert2diesel]

I read that early on, too. Nothing Italian, anywhere, now. The VM Motori engine was used previously in some international markets, with less reported economy and power than now. Most of the available articles (online) are not very accurate, and outdated, most of them published around February, 2013, before they were in retail production. The Italian reference may be related to Fiat's relation to the engine manufacturer, as they own some of it. I'll look further into it as time goes by. If it's Italian branded and German built, they sure did a good job of hiding it. Components and covers are all labeled "GM", with origins of USA, Germany, and Canada (plastic). I'd expect to see some Mexico in there, somewhere, but not yet. The build sheet doesn't mention any percentage originating in Italy, either. I'll be smarter, later.

Its very possible with the game of musical corporations that VM is building this engine elsewhere in Europe but VM Motori is a very old and respectable Italian engine manufacturer. Very big in the large industrial engine sector. The 4 cylinder version has been used for years in MoPar products in Europe (Caravan, Jeep, etc.).

Bill

[DmaxMaverick]

Its very possible with the game of musical corporations that VM is building this engine elsewhere in Europe but VM Motori is a very old and respectable Italian engine manufacturer. Very big in the large industrial engine sector. The 4 cylinder version has been used for years in MoPar products in Europe (Caravan, Jeep, etc.).

Bill

I'm familiar with VM, and have nothing against them. The quality of their engineering is on par with the best in Germany. The manufacturer disconnect, if it exists, is either ego (maybe they're not proud of it), or more likely a contractual obligation. I'm sure we'll know soon enough. The VM engine was reported, apparently incorrectly, to be used in the (US) Cruze, before the Cruze was available to the public. I'm still not smart on it, but I do know this: The Diesel engine in the Cruze is not the same as the previous VM Motori engines I've seen, and it appears to be more similar to the VW, Audi and Mercedes engine designs (currant TDI and BlueTec).

[Big Green]

As a Cruze Eco owner I have been watching the diesel cruze come to market with some thought. Although I love the Eco and the above epa rating MPG's I'm getting as well Im just not sure I can justify the extra expense.

Some of the extra $$ goes to the upgraded options such as climate control, heated seats, spare tire, etc. I could really care less about most of the upgrades, I drive a 1995 saturn as my commuter car) so the extra cost doesn't interest me. I also priced the bigger 18" tires and found that exact replacements were $320 EACH.

The computer mpgs of my eco are just like yours, spot on. On several occasions running a 400 mile round trip from home to see the kid at college, I've seen 25 mile rolling average above 50mpg. Unfortunately it only seems to go to 50 for the rolling average. The round trip, which included some around town stop and go plus the 20 miles of goat path to get to the highway impacted my overall mpgs but I still averaged 46-47.

Then of course there is the .50 to .60 cents more expensive diesel fuel issue...


For me the diesel just doesn't make sense however I'm still very interested in it's development

Big Green

[Mallthus]

The Cruze diesel isn't a VM Motori engine, but is is based on a joint Fiat/GM design. Fiat, of course, owns VM Motori, but the engine in the Cruze is based on the Family B architecture. That engine group was designed by Fiat and GM jointly and wasn't from VM Motori. Confused yet?

When GM and Fiat got divorced, each retained intellectual property rights to the designs and both have continued to develop engines based on the architecture.

The engine in the Cruze is built by Opel (part of GM) in Kaiserslautern, Germany, but is unique to the North American Cruze. Although there are 2.0l Fiat engines on the same architecture, they were developed by Fiat. The engine we get is exclusive to GM and was designed by GM. Not one single part interchanges with the Fiat engines.

Although it would be nice to have production in the USA, the number we buy, relative to the world market, makes that a non-starter. It'd be like Germans wondering why they can't have SBC mills made there. :eek:

[Kennedy]

GM needs to start marketing the Eco turbo and TD models for what they really are. Fun to drive.

[DmaxMaverick]

GM needs to start marketing the Eco turbo and TD models for what they really are. Fun to drive.

No doubt. Reminds me of the '88 Beretta GTU I had. Probably one of the most fun cars I've driven, and it was marketed that way. "Goes like stink", I think it was.

[Dubdoc]

It's all about the torque, not horsepower. I've been driving VW diesels for years now, and presently have a hotrodded 2.0 turbodiesel in a 1981 VW Rabbit pickup as a toy. Torque makes a car responsive and fun to drive. This Cruze is a very fine car and the turbodiesel just makes it all the more appealing. With mileage like this, it may be back to American cars for me.:cool: