What Made you Decide to get a Cruze Diesel over a Jetta TDI?

17499 Views 85 Replies 46 Participants Last post by diesel, Nov 2, 2014

Cruze2.0TD

Discussion Starter · Jun 16, 2014

So, there may already be threads on this, but I'm bored and felt like having a conversation as to why people decided to go with a Cruze diesel. Here are my reasons:

The fully optioned out Cruze was cheaper than the fully optioned out Jetta, felt more solid, has a better fuel economy rating, has more power, and is more enjoyable to drive. If I had a family that I had to drag around and often had people in the back seat, I would've probably taken the Jetta for it's superior leg room in the back, but to me it is irrelevant. I also trust the Cruze more for reliability than I do the Jetta. I often think to myself if I'd be happy if I had gotten a Jetta, and normally I start to think, "well I like how it looked more, and wow was it spacious in the back, and there is something that sounds better about owning a German car" but then all I have to think about is how it felt like all power was lost past 3800 rpm in the one I test drove, and I'm reminded of why I like the Cruze so much more. Honestly if the Jetta had more power, I may have gone with it, but the way it faded out on the top end, I felt was an instant dissapointment.

So why did you guys go with a Cruze diesel instead of a Jetta TDI?

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Danny5

· #2 · Jun 16, 2014

I owned a lot of Chevys.

Yah, brand loyalty.

Reactions: 2

MOTO13

· #3 · Jun 16, 2014

I had heard that TDI's, and VW's in general, are a maintenance nightmare. Both in cost and just finding a dealer. Also, I found out this weekend that my CTD will stomp a mudhole in a TDI from a stop light. Plus, TDI's, let's face it, they're unbelievably ugly. CTD's on the other hand are a darn good looking car with a vastly better better interior.

Reactions: 3

Cruze2.0TD

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 16, 2014

MOTO13 said:
I had heard that TDI's, and VW's in general, are a maintenance nightmare. Both in cost and just finding a dealer. Also, I found out this weekend that my CTD will stomp a mudhole in a TDI from a stop light. Plus, TDI's, let's face it, they're unbelievably ugly. CTD's on the other hand are a darn good looking car with a vastly better better interior.

Interior, I'd probably tie, but exterior, I think I actually like the Jetta better. It is all opinion though. And I had heard that too. Although I'm scared to know what the timing belt, water pump service, belt pensioner, and idler pulley service costs for the CTD. That service is probably 10 years and 152,000 km's away for me though

MOTO13

· #5 · Jun 16, 2014

The TDI looks horrible to me. They look like the way did 15 years ago, horrible. Nothing changed. Honestly, they look like a girl car. The CTD at least looks like a car a man would drive. It's far better looking. All in all, the TDI is one repulsive car. I never even considered a diesel car because they all looked like crap...then came the Cruze.

diesel

· #6 · Jun 16, 2014

I test drove the Jetta TDI several times, but just never felt compelled to buy it. It just never had anything that stood out to me in the "buy me!" sort of way. The Cruze was different. I instantly liked the car from the moment I first heard the engine fire up and I liked everything about it on the test drive. There were a lot of little things that made up my decision, but hard to really itemize. I just simply liked the Cruze better and it very clearly said "buy me!". 67K miles later, I am still very glad I did.

Reactions: 4

Cruze2.0TD

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 16, 2014

diesel said:
I test drove the Jetta TDI several times, but just never felt compelled to buy it. It just never had anything that stood out to me in the "buy me!" sort of way. The Cruze was different. I instantly liked the car from the moment I first heard the engine fire up and I liked everything about it on the test drive. There were a lot of little things that made up my decision, but hard to really itemize. I just simply liked the Cruze better and it very clearly said "buy me!". 67K miles later, I am still very glad I did.

I was kind of the same. I drove the Jetta once, and decided it'd be a "practical" buy, then I drove the Cruze. Not only was it a "practical" buy, but I fell in love with everything about it.

Reactions: 3

Danny5

· #8 · Jun 16, 2014

You know, it's a good thing I never considered the VW. I would rather wagon!

Cruze2.0TD

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 16, 2014

Danny5 said:
You know, it's a good thing I never considered the VW. I would rather wagon!

I had a weird list for cars I was considering.

2014/2015 WRX
2014 Cruze Diesel
2014 Jetta TDI
2014 Fiesta ST
2015 Focus ST

I loved the WRX, but I was looking in February and production on the 2014's stopped in December, and they hadn't gotten any 2015's in yet. It also felt cheap. Quite liked the Jetta, and no Ford dealership seemed to be able to find me a Fiesta ST or a Focus ST. So the Cruze was an easy decision. I think I would've liked the Focus and the Fiesta, but I think the Cruze just is an all round better buy.

TheDog

· #10 · Jun 16, 2014

I had a VW Jetta TDI Wagon (2004) and it was a good car so I made sure to check out the current ones when it was time to car show. For me the Cruze won out because My Link was more modern and useful than the RNS 315 radio in the Jettas. The navigation especially was pretty dismal in the VW. Besides the display and interface of the VW radio, we also couldn't make it sound the way we wanted.

Other than the radio, I was annoyed that automatic headlights were completely unavailable on a TDI wagon or Golf. I would have preferred the VW manual transmission to the Cruze Auto but it wasn't enough to sway the deal. Road noise seemed louder in the VW also though back in the day my 2004 seemed relatively quiet for a compact car and I don't they got any louder in the last 10 years so I'm not sure what that was about.

money_man

· #11 · Jun 16, 2014

I don't like electrical issues and having to buy tools I'll only use one one make of vehicle. Therefore vw wasn't even an option from the start. I also like to drive alot , its what I do when I'm bored so having the highest mpg of any non hybrid car was a huge selling feature to me.

oilburner

· #12 · Jun 16, 2014

I`ve been repairing cars for so long an I hate seeing them come in the shop. all VWs!

Reactions: 3

money_man

· #13 · Jun 17, 2014

Yup. Then you go to the snap on truck for a tool and they don't have one in stock because they're only used on vw's! !!!!

Reactions: 2

hulkss

· #14 · Jun 17, 2014

Danny5 said:
I owned a lot of Chevys. Yah, brand loyalty.

What's a Jetta TDI? I would never consider one.

Zenturi

· #15 · Jun 17, 2014 (Edited)

I was gradually nudged into it.

I liked my Olds Intrigue just fine and had even plowed about $2000 into it in the fall of 2013 for new motor mounts, valve covers and tires. However it was becoming a bit old and unpredictable for a daily driver - and the 4th gear did not work anymore which hurt fuel economy.

I was still planning to hold off until the Colorado debuted. But by early this year, enough information had come out to discern that there would be no manual V6 in it for a few years (if ever) and the diesel was 2 years away.

Right about this time GM dumped a fat "top off" reward on my Card. Even this didn't quite get me off the fence - I tried to persuade my mother to buy a Chevy to replace her 1999 Contour, but she liked her car enough to put some more money into clutch repair and fresh tires, so I still had that topoff tingling on me.

So.... I persuaded myself to go ahead and use the topoff.

I decided on the CTD without even test driving one. I felt like the reviews all hit the marks for what I needed - fuel economy, power to spare, good headroom for a tall driver.

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Su8pack1

· #16 · Jun 17, 2014

We're just a Chevy family. Always have had good service out of my Chevys.

Reactions: 1

boraz

· #17 · Jun 17, 2014

chevy dealer in my town

vw dealer 6hr round trip away.

Reactions: 1

BradHerr

· #18 · Jun 17, 2014

CruzeTalk>TDI Club

-Brad

Reactions: 4

titanman2789

· #19 · Jun 17, 2014

I ignored the Jetta TDI because of price and fuel economy rating. A Dodge dart has almost the same fuel economy rating with gas. Granted, the Jetta gets better mileage than its sticker says, but so will the Cruze. For the price, power, and interior features, the Cruze cannot be beat by the Jetta.

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q2bruiser

· #20 · Jun 17, 2014

I like the Chevy interior better than the TDI (my last car) plus the CD feels better on the road. A very sold feel.

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