[jblackburn]

I would encourage you to read up on the failure of the dual-mass flywheels in the Gen 2 Cruze diesel. They seem to have a higher failure rate on these than the 1.4 turbo - maybe from the higher torque or vibration put out by the 1.6 TD.

However, I've driven the 1.6 diesel with the 9 speed auto and was pretty impressed with how well they got along.

 

[jblackburn]

Thanks,

I guess it might be a little early to know the long term reliability of these but I haven't heard much about the diesels one way or another yet. I should mention I don't know much about diesels but I consider myself a pretty decent wrench for basic jobs and am pretty diligent about maintenance I just don't want to rush into something with serious design problems. I've kept my escape (2005) going on original engine and trans at 282k miles with no sign of slowing down its just at this point the rust is starting to win the war

If the diesels are going to be trouble I guess I could still consider the gas one (they certainly are cheaper and easier to find) but that's why I'm asking around now. Also in the back of my mind trying to figure how hard it will be to source parts in 5-10 years if I kept one for the long haul.

thanks

The main issue with modern diesels is the emissions control systems - mainly, the DPF (diesel particulate filter) sometimes clogging itself and not being able to regenerate to burn off soot - this happens if you do a lot of short trip driving or something like an air leak is causing lots of soot to build up; the car will give you warnings to "keep driving" if it fails to complete multiple times. Beyond that period, it will begin a mileage countdown to a speed limiter until you fix the emissions system. The urea injection has also been known to cause issues - freezing up, bad fluid, or bad exhaust sensors.

The Gen 2's have had LESS emissions issues around this forum than the Gen 1 diesels, but they are still new and not too many of them out there. The 1.6 diesel has been around for a couple years overseas before it came here, with a fairly good track record. The 9 sp auto is still quite new.

The Gen 2 platform of the Cruze has been fairly reliable overall - especially compared to the Gen 1. There have been a few electrical/build bugs, such as bad gaskets around the high stop lamp on sedans causing water to get into the battery tray, infotainment system glitches, and tie rods that seem to loosen up and clunk for no good reason before they were replaced with a revised part.

282K is darn impressive for that Escape if it's the CD4E automatic. We've had 2 in the family - great cars, but the automatic has failed on both ~150K. Rust is beginning to get the better of the '01 as well.

 

[jblackburn]

People keep saying this like it's something that frequently happens in passenger cars. Oh, yeah, someone put 300,000 miles on a car and then put the engine in for an overhaul to keep on truckin'.

No one does that. Or almost no one does that. These aren't semi tractors where rebuilt engines are frequently fitted to dodge new emissions regulations and the cost of buying new. Passenger cars routinely rust/fall apart around the engine. I can count two people I've known in my life that had an engine rebuilt. One was a Chevy Astro van that they had a guy do a ring job and light rebuild on a weekend because it was cheap enough to make it worth it for a vehicle that was otherwise fine. The other was a Chevy Equinox with the POS made-in-China engine that dropped a valve, so a Jasper rebuilt engine was in order for a vehicle with only 40,000 miles on it.

Everything else becomes worthless to say you're going to overhaul and engine and keep the same vehicle. Technology is advancing enough that people desire new cars to get the latest Bluetooth satellite radio whatever. Or their car has tons of rust. Or the brakes, struts, tires, etc. are also all clapped out and it's another $2,000 to fix all that.

These mythical engine rebuilds for long-term car ownership just don't happen.

Our 5-cyl Volvo finally blew up at 250,000, and my brother elected to just drop another engine in it.

Personally, I'd have crushed the thing years ago...for sure, the rest of the car falls apart around the engine if the body doesn't rust out first.