[renaissanceman]

Assume no warranty (not sure how long it lasts on a non-Chevy certified car after the 1st owner...) and I will be DIY'ing all maintenance and live in an emissions testing state. I'd like to know opinions in general on both generations.

Specifically, the two vehicles I'm looking at:

2014 Auto, 77k, ~$10,000

2017 Auto, 24k, ~$15,500

The 2014 had the DPF replaced at 29k.

 

[pandrad61]

Both automatic? And same features?

 

[renaissanceman]

Both Auto. Let's say for the sake of argument the features are the same. I'm not really concerned about features (could care less about Carplay and all that BS), I'm more concerned about the mechanicals, driveablity, reliability, mileage, etc.

 

[jblackburn]

Drive both and see which you like more.

The Gen 1 is heavy, super quiet inside, and sounds like a small diesel truck outside. It's not "fast", but there's a noticeable rush of torque from the 2.0. They are based off the 2LT [gasoline] trim level, so have most of the interior features the Cruze had to offer at the time.

The Gen 2 feels exactly like a gasoline car to me. The engine is quiet and has minimal clatter at idle, there's not 500 lbs of heft over the regular 1.4T models, and there's not as much power/tq as the Gen 1, although it's about the same because of the curb weight. The 9 speed auto is a much, much smoother operator than the Gen 1's Aisin, and interior space is used much better in the Gen 2 IMO.

Neither model really had any glaring reliability issues besides the emissions system junk (Gen 2 is a little better in this respect), and Gen 1 autos tend to get clunkier with age. Gen 1 has a 100k timing belt; Gen 2 uses a chain.

 

[boraz]

just get a volt

itll be cheaper in the long run

assuming your use is 60% hwy 40% city

dpf replaced is good....but theres 11ty sensors to go wrong, they add up fast.

 

[renaissanceman]

just get a volt

itll be cheaper in the long run

assuming your use is 60% hwy 40% city

dpf replaced is good....but theres 11ty sensors to go wrong, they add up fast.

Nah, I'm not really into hybrids. Electricity is so expensive in CA that the plug in feature probably doesn't save much anyway.

 

[MRO1791]

Drive both and see which you like more.

The Gen 1 is heavy, super quiet inside, and sounds like a small diesel truck outside. It's not "fast", but there's a noticeable rush of torque from the 2.0. They are based off the 2LT [gasoline] trim level, so have most of the interior features the Cruze had to offer at the time.

The Gen 2 feels exactly like a gasoline car to me. The engine is quiet and has minimal clatter at idle, there's not 500 lbs of heft over the regular 1.4T models, and there's not as much power/tq as the Gen 1, although it's about the same because of the curb weight. The 9 speed auto is a much, much smoother operator than the Gen 1's Aisin, and interior space is used much better in the Gen 2 IMO.

Neither model really had any glaring reliability issues besides the emissions system junk (Gen 2 is a little better in this respect), and Gen 1 autos tend to get clunkier with age. Gen 1 has a 100k timing belt; Gen 2 uses a chain.

I have both in my fleet of Diesel Cruzes, and probably can't add much to this excellent assessment. jblackburn covered it well.. I would say this, given the 2 choices you presented, I'd not hesitate to go for the Gen 2. Sure, the Gen 1 is $5 cheaper but it also is approaching expensive maintenance, like timing belt. My Gen 1 is at about 78K, so I still have a little time.

Oddly, my Gen 1 had a new DPF in the first week after we bought it, but has been fine ever since, there appears to have been some bad DPFs that got out there. I've thus far had almost no issues with my 2017 auto, only thing that has hit multiple cars, and not isolated to diesels is the door buttons for unlock, I've had 2 replaced, and now have another that is acting up, and they require color matched painted handles to replace, so it's a bit of a hassle, and out of warranty an expense to deal with that, which seems to me is a clear design flaw to have that many fail. On my manual I've had a failed flywheel, but you are not looking at any manual transmission cars.. I love the manual, but I would caution anyone looking at one to be aware of the dual mass flywheel impending doom.

Also, seeing as you are CA and emissions testing, the Gen 2 system is much more reliable than the Gen 1 for emissions stuff, and it shares considerable share of parts with the higher numbers produced 2.8 Duramax diesel, so going forward parts and maintenance will be less of a concern. The Gen 1 was a very low numbers deal, it's engine and emissions system, even the programming is unique, as are many of the parts.. so that should not be ignored.

 

[MRO1791]

Oh, one more thought.. the 2014 is over priced at $10K, the Gen 2 is value priced at $15.5K. Another good reason to go with Gen 2 on your selection.

 

[pandrad61]

I would go gen 1 regardless of me owning jt. A 2.0TD to me makes more sense then a smaller displacement TD. one will be a under stressed engine while the other is pushing more power on less displacement. The timing belt on gen 1 really isn’t bad. To me the gen 1 just looks sharper and more distinguished bs the gen 2 looms like every other corrola. Gen 1 also has stock z link while the gen 2 I’m not sure if it’s included. I like gen 2 gets projector halogen but kinda peeved they didn’t just do **** HID. Also I think the aftermarket for the gen 1 is better since chassis wise it’s the same as the gas Cruze so bilstien 14 coil overs and white line sway bars and bars fit.

 

[MP81]

Nah, I'm not really into hybrids. Electricity is so expensive in CA that the plug in feature probably doesn't save much anyway.

Even if you don't charge it, it'll do like 55 mpg in the city running the engine and the motor on and off - in the Gen 2 at least.

And it is outrageously quick right off the line up to about 30.

Don't confuse it with a "regular" hybrid, it doesn't drive like what you might have driven before.

 

[boraz]

for the gen 1 is better since chassis wise it’s the same as the gas Cruze so bilstien 14 coil overs and white line sway bars and bars fit.

do you have?

cuz the chassis isnt the same as cruze, its buick chassis cuz of the extra weight

 

[pandrad61]

do you have?

cuz the chassis isnt the same as cruze, its buick chassis cuz of the extra weight

Yes I have a Cruze diesel gen 1. Last I checked it’s the same chassis the delta 2. Is the same from the cruze to Buick Verano to the opel. Changing hubs and engine doesn’t mean different chassis overall.

as for parts the gas Cruze and diesel has the same coil overs and white line stuff. Called and confirmed with bilstien before I bought the B14

 

[Cruz15]

2014 Option stereo is miles better than the Bose in gen2 according to my ears. Handles better and I got better mileage overall in the gen 1.

 

[Carpentree]

I bought my 2014 2.0l TD Cruze about this time last year and so far I haven't really had anything break yet I did replace the MAF sensor and the MAP sensor because the check engine light would come on and was throwing a code and I think that fixed it. It does sometimes randomly come on still and then goes away after a day or 2 but it never drives funny so I just kind of ignore it lol. But anyway I live here in Northern Colorado at around a mile above sea level but in the grass lands where it's flat, it's about a 35-40 mile trip of 65 mph highway (not that I always fall the speed limit lol) into town but I can usually get 40-50 mpg driving it fairly and I've never reset trip 2 on the car with 15k miles driven so far with idling, winter time, summer time winter tires summer tires in town driving everything and it has according to the computer averaged 36.5 mpg which I think is pretty good considering I drive it like a race car half of the time. Does great in the snow (Not that it matters for California) I think it rides great mine has 116k miles on it now everything still works AC works great heater works I have not replaced the timing belt yet but it hasn't given me any issues I'll probably do that this summer though when it's nice out.

I think at 10k dollars you might be over paying but for California that might be normal. I bought mine at 101k miles for $7,600 from an auto broker guy so not really a 'dealership' but not a private sale either, this guy just finds people cars and then sells them to them. So mine came from an auction the guy bought it to kinda keep for himself and he then decided to not keep it so he sold it to me. But it also came with brand new Bliiztrac Winter tires that were like $400, it has a trailer hitch on it so I can pull my little boat around and I think he said he replaced an injector on it. So I don't know if 10k is a great deal I'd probably try to talk them to around 8,500-9k because the miles are fairly low for the year assuming it has good tires and everything works good. But these cars are also fairly rare so you kinda just have to buy what you can find. I overall like the gen 1 and I plan to keep it for basically ever I switched all of my fluids to Amsoil so hopefully I can get another hundred thousand miles or more out of it.