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2013, 6 speed automatic, turbo. This forum has me scared, but it has a lot of speakers. Help.
May buy a Cruze in moments, change my mind
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Avoid using a forum to help you decide on a purchase......(car, tv, vacuum cleaner, anything). That is because a forum only draws the very happy AND the very unhappy operators.
A forum will give you the feeling that every car of the type describes has a problem, easily forgetting the MILLIONS of the same car going down the road with no issues at all.
If the car you are considering looks good, drives good, everything works........Buy it and put a warranty on it for piece of mind.......this applies to ANY used or new car.......I am a retired mechanic.....free labor, parts at cost plus ten percent......I STILL put a warranty on everything.
My cost on a lousy factory radio is over six hundred bucks.....a trans is over four grand.......buy a warranty.
Good luck and come back with the full story and pics!
Rob
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Yeah, I noticed after digging into Chevy, Nissan, and Honda forums that all cars seem impossibly terrible.
But, I like the Cruze too much to trust myself and this helps me drill down into reality, which is less dramatic.
Still a little concerned about all the electrical, thermostat, turbo complaints. Might be because I'm leaving behind a Hyundai with a bulletproof reputation. I left with pricing on additional warranty, so will probably take your advice. It's a 2013 Cruze vs 2016 Sentra at the moment. Cruze is cheaper and much more fun.
I will offer a counter to Robby's position. While I agree entirely there are likely many Cruzes out there with very few problems I will say there are a few questionably designed parts on the Gen 1 Cruze at least. Namely PCV valves, water outlet connectors and some transmission hoses.
Fortunately most of these problems are fixable fairly economically, especially if you like and have time to work on your own car.
Other modern cars may also have similar problems too.. I honestly don't know.
As to warranties.. Hmm, I never buy a warranty on anything. I think on balance I save money overall with that approach. It of course depends on where you are financially and how much time/ability you might have.
If you are wealthy then you might consider a Cruze to be a relatively cheap car and may not even pay for collision insurance.. I.e if you crash it you throw it away and buy a new one.
Also if you have time/ability and your transmission goes out, well you can get second hand transmission for around $400. If you can live without a car for a few days, maybe this might be a viable approach too.
This is the approach I take with our cars anyway..
As to the Cruze.. I like the car. Our 2LT is quiet, comfortable and economical. I have fixed the cheap issues listed above. Even a blown turbo would be a fairly trivial annoyance.. I might even buy another crashed Cruze one one day to rebuild myself..
I also have a 99 Dodge Neon that I rebuilt almost completely.. It cost me $350 and I love it..
Fortunately most of these problems are fixable fairly economically, especially if you like and have time to work on your own car.
Other modern cars may also have similar problems too.. I honestly don't know.
As to warranties.. Hmm, I never buy a warranty on anything. I think on balance I save money overall with that approach. It of course depends on where you are financially and how much time/ability you might have.
If you are wealthy then you might consider a Cruze to be a relatively cheap car and may not even pay for collision insurance.. I.e if you crash it you throw it away and buy a new one.
Also if you have time/ability and your transmission goes out, well you can get second hand transmission for around $400. If you can live without a car for a few days, maybe this might be a viable approach too.
This is the approach I take with our cars anyway..
As to the Cruze.. I like the car. Our 2LT is quiet, comfortable and economical. I have fixed the cheap issues listed above. Even a blown turbo would be a fairly trivial annoyance.. I might even buy another crashed Cruze one one day to rebuild myself..
I also have a 99 Dodge Neon that I rebuilt almost completely.. It cost me $350 and I love it..
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No experience with warranties here. While I don't think I can afford the time and hassle of replacing a transmission, I am someone who likes to change their own oil, brakes, etc.
I will likely be dipping into the DIY threads on this forum. The stereo on this Cruze needs some help. If that kind of work will void the warranty, I'll be skipping it. Should a warranty prevent this kind of work?
If you have the extended warranty. You can get that refunded. Depending on the circumstances.
I had the warranty on a 14 hyundai i traded in for 17 cruze. Got the full money back. And since the loan got paid off. The money came to me instead of paying towards the loan. I got the full $1700 i think it was. Plus $200 out of the $700 gap insurance. I don't think there was a way to negotiate terms to have the money applied to the original loan. Paying off and closing out the loan was much faster process then the time it took to refund the warranty and gap. And even if it was possible. I"m pretty sure i would have been stuck with 2 loan payments for a couple of months.
I had the warranty on a 14 hyundai i traded in for 17 cruze. Got the full money back. And since the loan got paid off. The money came to me instead of paying towards the loan. I got the full $1700 i think it was. Plus $200 out of the $700 gap insurance. I don't think there was a way to negotiate terms to have the money applied to the original loan. Paying off and closing out the loan was much faster process then the time it took to refund the warranty and gap. And even if it was possible. I"m pretty sure i would have been stuck with 2 loan payments for a couple of months.
I would suggest getting a Double-Din aftermarket stereo that supports Apple Carplay and Android Auto as well as SiriusXM since the vehicle is already past the manufacture warranty.
If you have unlimited data (up to the given limit) on your phone, you should be able to take advantage of the navigation using the app (Apple Carplay uses Apple Maps, Android Auto uses Google Maps and also Waze). If you don't want to use your data up, I would suggest getting a aftermarket stereo with built-in navigation.
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887 Posts
It's not so much that all cars are terrible ... just that you don't see a lot of people on a forum that are praising all the good things that go on with their vehicles. I've been lucky enough (knock on wood) to have purchased vehicles that were pretty much problem free, with the exception of factory recalls, or issues that the manufacturer knows about, but won't cover under warranty due to modifications that would in no way cause the failure they already know about! Even though the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act was supposed to help vehicle owners avoid these kinds of ridiculous warranty rejections. Apparently, the manufacturers have found a way around the MMWA, and can pretty much void your warranty for something as simple as putting in an aftermarket light bulb or air filter. I still have a beef with GM and my G8, but no resolution as of yet, so I'll keep trying.
If I were you, I'd pay for a thorough VIN check on the vehicle you're looking into purchasing, and press forward with whatever your gut instinct tells you. If you have second thoughts from forum posts, either ignore them, or be aware that most of the problems people have and report on here and other forums are things that can be and have been corrected, some of which have great details as to how to accomplish them yourself.
If I were you, I'd pay for a thorough VIN check on the vehicle you're looking into purchasing, and press forward with whatever your gut instinct tells you. If you have second thoughts from forum posts, either ignore them, or be aware that most of the problems people have and report on here and other forums are things that can be and have been corrected, some of which have great details as to how to accomplish them yourself.
Be careful when choosing the warranty company. Most likely you will get screwed over in the fine print. For example what happened to me they offer full warranty on the drive train and a head gasket is not covered, only a total engine failure (by what definition?).
I probably should have clarified: If you chose to purchase a extended service contract, only by one that is manufacturer backed.
That means a GM Ally program for GM cars (in this example) as opposed to aftermarket warranties that will fight paying claims by claiming 'Normal Wear'.
Rob
That means a GM Ally program for GM cars (in this example) as opposed to aftermarket warranties that will fight paying claims by claiming 'Normal Wear'.
Rob
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