Hi all
I have been looking into owning a Cruze diesel - first gen used. I've owned an '81 Rabbit diesel, an '84 Jetta turbo diesel, and an '02 Jetta TDI. My experience with them has been mostly very positive, but only because of diesel characteristics. I've never gotten over the wonderful torque curve, especially of modern turbo diesels. My wife and I currently have a 2002 TrailBlazer with 200K miles, and worn out ball joints, bushings, and transmission. I only drive it when we need to be in two different places. "Her" car is a 2008 Toyota Prius. We bought it a couple years ago as it was price competitive with non-hybrids of similar size and age, and I had personal familial experience with high-mileage 2nd gens, and this one is living up to our expectations. We love the economy which is currently averaging 44.8 MPG, but I really have grown tired of the overall powertrain performance. When the hybrid battery is on the low side, the gas engine has to work very hard to keep the vehicle moving, and especially hard to get the car moving from a stop. You also have to be very careful and plan ahead for power needs. It can take an honest 2 seconds for it to determine how to give you the power you need when you give it heavy throttle while already moving. It's like the worst turbo lag you've ever experienced. We drive to the Dallas Texas area from Utah two times per year, and the frequent revving, not tied to ground speed due to the CVT, is so very tiring to drive. Up any hill, the engine is revved high, or right at red line, and it's sound is anything but pleasant. Not to mention that any long hill will have you out of battery after the first mile, and the 74 horsepower of the gas engine struggling to maintain speed. I made the mistake of going the route of I-70 east to Denver. We spent the majority of the climb at 40 MPH with the throttle wide-open. It was NOT a pleasant ride for anyone in the car.
Onto the diesel. I really think that the Cruze behavior would be about as opposite to the Prius experience as I can get. My 02 TDI only needed to downshift from 5th to 4th if I lost a lot of speed, or if I wasn't traveling fast enough to be in 5th. I don't know how the Cruze is, but I imagine that it only downshifts for some of the steepest hills when at freeway speed. Do any of you own the 1.4T? How much different is it? I know that is has a fair amount of torque as well. It's certainly easier to find, almost as good on fuel, and parts and general know how would certainly be easier on it. Still, it's a gasoline engine, and even being turbo, I imagine still likes to rev to get much usable power from it. I have considered a Volt as our trips are typically within 20 miles, and about 200 total per week, we could drive on electric for the most part. Long trips, I'm thinking, would behave very similar to the Prius - with an engine frequently running at high RPM to keep up with energy requirements.
I'm really partial to GM after having relatively good experiences with them. I've owned 1 Nissan, 1 Mazda, 2 Toyotas, and the 3 VWs mentioned. I've owned 2 Saturns, a '96 S10, the '02 TrailBlazer, and an '08 GMC Acadia. They haven't all been reliable, especially the '08 Acadia, but I've liked them more than most of the imports. My '02 TrailBlazer is my favorite vehicle I've owned, it just isn't practical for most trips due to it's poor economy.
How do you feel about your ownership? Would you buy it again? I am seeing 2014 with mid-20K miles for around 15-16K. It's a little more than we normally spend on vehicles, but we aren't typically buying this new either.
My '02 Jetta left such a bad taste in my mouth for VW reliability, that even if there had been no emissions issue, I don't think I could buy one. My Jetta came with a faulty instrument cluster, had a bad injection pump that after 10, yes 10, dealership visits, misfiring, and very difficult to start, finally replaced the pump, and then at 55K the turbo shaft broke. These repairs would have cost me more than $6K. It's not just the cost, but the amount of time it spent at the dealership that really irritated me.
I have been looking into owning a Cruze diesel - first gen used. I've owned an '81 Rabbit diesel, an '84 Jetta turbo diesel, and an '02 Jetta TDI. My experience with them has been mostly very positive, but only because of diesel characteristics. I've never gotten over the wonderful torque curve, especially of modern turbo diesels. My wife and I currently have a 2002 TrailBlazer with 200K miles, and worn out ball joints, bushings, and transmission. I only drive it when we need to be in two different places. "Her" car is a 2008 Toyota Prius. We bought it a couple years ago as it was price competitive with non-hybrids of similar size and age, and I had personal familial experience with high-mileage 2nd gens, and this one is living up to our expectations. We love the economy which is currently averaging 44.8 MPG, but I really have grown tired of the overall powertrain performance. When the hybrid battery is on the low side, the gas engine has to work very hard to keep the vehicle moving, and especially hard to get the car moving from a stop. You also have to be very careful and plan ahead for power needs. It can take an honest 2 seconds for it to determine how to give you the power you need when you give it heavy throttle while already moving. It's like the worst turbo lag you've ever experienced. We drive to the Dallas Texas area from Utah two times per year, and the frequent revving, not tied to ground speed due to the CVT, is so very tiring to drive. Up any hill, the engine is revved high, or right at red line, and it's sound is anything but pleasant. Not to mention that any long hill will have you out of battery after the first mile, and the 74 horsepower of the gas engine struggling to maintain speed. I made the mistake of going the route of I-70 east to Denver. We spent the majority of the climb at 40 MPH with the throttle wide-open. It was NOT a pleasant ride for anyone in the car.
Onto the diesel. I really think that the Cruze behavior would be about as opposite to the Prius experience as I can get. My 02 TDI only needed to downshift from 5th to 4th if I lost a lot of speed, or if I wasn't traveling fast enough to be in 5th. I don't know how the Cruze is, but I imagine that it only downshifts for some of the steepest hills when at freeway speed. Do any of you own the 1.4T? How much different is it? I know that is has a fair amount of torque as well. It's certainly easier to find, almost as good on fuel, and parts and general know how would certainly be easier on it. Still, it's a gasoline engine, and even being turbo, I imagine still likes to rev to get much usable power from it. I have considered a Volt as our trips are typically within 20 miles, and about 200 total per week, we could drive on electric for the most part. Long trips, I'm thinking, would behave very similar to the Prius - with an engine frequently running at high RPM to keep up with energy requirements.
I'm really partial to GM after having relatively good experiences with them. I've owned 1 Nissan, 1 Mazda, 2 Toyotas, and the 3 VWs mentioned. I've owned 2 Saturns, a '96 S10, the '02 TrailBlazer, and an '08 GMC Acadia. They haven't all been reliable, especially the '08 Acadia, but I've liked them more than most of the imports. My '02 TrailBlazer is my favorite vehicle I've owned, it just isn't practical for most trips due to it's poor economy.
How do you feel about your ownership? Would you buy it again? I am seeing 2014 with mid-20K miles for around 15-16K. It's a little more than we normally spend on vehicles, but we aren't typically buying this new either.
My '02 Jetta left such a bad taste in my mouth for VW reliability, that even if there had been no emissions issue, I don't think I could buy one. My Jetta came with a faulty instrument cluster, had a bad injection pump that after 10, yes 10, dealership visits, misfiring, and very difficult to start, finally replaced the pump, and then at 55K the turbo shaft broke. These repairs would have cost me more than $6K. It's not just the cost, but the amount of time it spent at the dealership that really irritated me.