Ok, it seems a concern was not fully addressed in this comment, so I'll chime in on this old thread. The Gen 2 (all of them, note: while in a Gen 1 thread, the comment here is from a guy with a Gen 2 GAS Cruze) have the battery inside the passenger compartment, basically in the trunk. That means they MUST have and continue to have an AGM type battery (it certainly helps with start/stop, but that is not the only reason). A flooded cell battery puts out gasses that you do not want inside you trunk, where it's not vented. A failed or failing flooded battery will off gas even more than normal, and that again is a problem. All Gen 2s need AGM. Now on the Gen 1, the Diesel has the AGM factory installed, but under the hood. I think the early battery deaths can be attributed to heat under the hood. The big weakness of AGM is these batteries do not do well in heat, and especially being charged when hot, and there is no temperature compensated charging system in the Gen 1 Cruze.. so I think that is the issue. Also note the Gen 1 Diesel charging system permits periodic battery drain while driving, then rapid charging also, on acceleration or high engine load, it basically shuts off the alternator, then when engine braking, it spikes the voltage and charge rate. This kind of thing is something an AGM battery can do well, due to lower internal resistance, but I caution, a traditional flooded cell battery is not going to like this behavior, and traditional cars that had flooded cells run basically a constant voltage with a running engine, so there is not charge/discharge while driving. For that reason, despite the under-hood heat concern, I'll stick to AGM in my Gen 1, I'd advise others to do the same.
