[TDCruze]

It sounds like you have the main essentials covered. Keep following the manual for fluids, filters and plugs. As with any vehicle, keep an eye on fluid levels and watch for leaks. Eventually with higher miles other items such as brakes and suspension may need attention. If the dealer is servicing then they should be able to alert you during routine servicing.

 

[TDCruze]

Bleeding out the old brake fluid and filling with new fluid every few years is a good idea. Brake fluid will over time collect water and break down causing increased wear and tear on seals. Coolant also needs to be replaced every 5 years or 150,000 miles according to the manual.

Go with the severe maintenance chart, continue to change your transmission fluid every 45k miles. This is really the only big difference between the regular and severe duty charts.

Follow the Oil Life Monitor for engine oil changes, it is pretty reliable and accurate as long as the proper synthetic oil is used.

 

[TDCruze]

The high octane premium gas may save your pistons one day, with this turbo engine it is not a bad idea. Especially if you run the engine hard.
However, many do run regular gas and most get many trouble free miles from their car.

 

[TDCruze]

Also of note is that in Europe and other markets, the recommended fuel for the 1.4T is 95RON fuel, roughly equivalent to 91octane. Additionally GM has (kind of quietly) been petitioning to get the USA to use just one grade of fuel....95RON. They don't want there to be regular (85-87 octane ) mid grade and premium anymore, and have to deal with the issues it causes, additionally they report increased fuel economy and reduced emissions on cars with 95RON as the required fuel compared to 87 as ok.

The way engine design has been going for the past 20 years I don't know why it has not been loudly petitioned to get premium fuel only at the pump. Gas engine design has been constrained by low octane gas and prevents it from advancing into higher compression and higher boost OEM applications. Which would further increase engine output and MPG numbers. All turbo/supercharged and some N/A high compression engines now recommend and some require premium gas only.

OEM's want to make a vehicle "appear" cheap to operate, especially in the economy car/SUV segment. So, they try to design/program the turbo engine to "survive" on regular gas, but still recommend premium. It is always better to run the premium if it is recommended and as
Ma v e n stated above, you may find an increase in MPG that partly offsets the cost difference.