Wife got a new car

[sparkles]

Picked this up yesterday after looking at the Focus and the Civic:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk276/ericksonb06/2011%20Chevy%20Cruze/DSC_4308.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk276/ericksonb06/2011%20Chevy%20Cruze/DSC_4304.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk276/ericksonb06/2011%20Chevy%20Cruze/DSC_4310.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk276/ericksonb06/2011%20Chevy%20Cruze/DSC_4283.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk276/ericksonb06/2011%20Chevy%20Cruze/DSC_4285.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk276/ericksonb06/2011%20Chevy%20Cruze/DSC_4287.jpg

We have had a GM card for a while and the money that we got off because of it was pretty nice. Compared to the Civic we looked at, I like the looks a lot better. Especially the butt. And with the direct injected turbo motor, there's some potential there if we ever decided to mod it in any fashion, although highly unlikely. I love the fact it has max torque at 1850rpm on compared to the 4900rpm on the other cars we looked at.

[ZacFields]

Is this a Chevy Cruze?

I will say that out of the three cars I drove (Focus, Civic, and Cruze), I easily liked the Cruze 2nd to the Civic I ended up buying. There were a lot of little things I did like more about the Cruze, particularly the shiftable automatic, and I also thought the Cruze was a much quieter ride. I also agree that the Cruze looks a lot meaner.

For me, I don't have a big garage and the little bit I used to know about cars has faded a lot, so I couldn't get past the fact that the Cruze is a new car and a new engine for GM (though they have been selling this car for a couple years in Europe, to be fair). For someone more mechanically inclined than I am, it's a much easier decision to go with the Cruze.

Congrats on the purchase! There's a reason GM is selling the Cruze like hotcakes - they're pretty impressive cars!

[AutoMods]

when is the sparkles vs zac race going to happen?

[Deimos]

Dude take it back. I liked them and the whole gas mileage thing until I looked at it in person. Looks very cobbled together. PS pump on rack fly by ire is expemsive. Hoep ya have good luck but should have went with a focus or fiesta

[sparkles]

Zac-Yessir, brand new off the showroom floor. Was the only one that was inside during all the hail storms we had a couple weeks ago, so it was spared. Only one in the area I could find with the 2 tone interior too. Might not be the cats meow for some, but to us, I love it and think it gives the interior a little more appeal. It was a pretty hard decision between the Cruze and the Civic, but in the end, the fact we had free credit to buy a GM vehicle, we didn't have to wait a few weeks to actually take delivery, and the dealer was actually willing to negotiate compared to the Honda Dealer, it just wound up being the right fit for us. I liked the Civic a lot, don't get me wrong. Their financing was way better (.09% compared to GMs 2.9%). Resale will probably be better with a Civic too. I just really think the platform is a great base to make some decent power for a DD and still stay reliable. The Ecotec platform in the 2.4l variant has been around a little while and IMO is pretty decent for reliability. I've heard few complaints on the turbo models.

Ryan-We're a little ways away. I could bring it to the next T&T for shits and giggles if Zac wanted to though. 140hp I-VTEC vs 138hp Ecotec Turbo...sounds fun.

[sparkles]

Dude take it back. I liked them and the whole gas mileage thing until I looked at it in person. Looks very cobbled together. PS pump on rack fly by ire is expemsive. Hoep ya have good luck but should have went with a focus or fiesta

You've got to be high. The power steering assist is what seems like everyone is going to to help fuel economy. No PS pump no more. Just an electric motor. The wife had one on her G6 too, but it was actually mounted on the steering column instead of the rack. In terms of underhood space, there's TONS of room. I'm actually really impressed in that matter. You can see the ground all the way around the motor. Drive by wire throttle body...yeah, I got nothin. It sucks, but same thing on the Fords and Mazda's as well. That is one complaint I have.

[sparkles]

Zac-You got the EX-L with Nav right? What did you give for it?

[Deimos]

Hey man not knocking your buy but I just hope this untested car that has already have a problem with the steering wheels falling off treats ya good. As for am I high? I wish its been a very very long time.

[tylers88]

I like the Cruze alot and when compared to GM previous eco-cars they did great with a reasonalbe price to. I do have to say you got the best color on it to, the red metalic is a close second but that black granite is SWEET


Hey man not knocking your buy but I just hope this untested car that has already have a problem with the steering wheels falling off treats ya good. As for am I high? I wish its been a very very long time.

Untested? They put standard gauges in a car that has been for sale in Europe for a couple years atleast

[ZacFields]

Zac-You got the EX-L with Nav right? What did you give for it?

About $23k even - it had about $600 worth of accessories preinstalled as well (wheel locks, mud flaps, etc etc). They budged a little off the sticker (sticker was something like $24,500) but not as much as I'd have liked.

[Domestic Disturbance]

Hey man not knocking your buy but I just hope this untested car that has already have a problem with the steering wheels falling off treats ya good. As for am I high? I wish its been a very very long time.

Is there more than 1 reported cruze having that happen? At least congress didn't have to make them inspect the issue ... toyota...

I like them. Ford compact is the top dog at the moment but these cars are still leaps and bounds from the cobalt.

[Batwood]

ZZ Performance is making all kinds of Cruze parts. Not sure when they will release for sale though.

P/S on the column had quite a few problems on the G6's, but I imagine they fixed it with the Cruze if its on the rack now or something.

[sparkles]

Hey man not knocking your buy but I just hope this untested car that has already have a problem with the steering wheels falling off treats ya good. As for am I high? I wish its been a very very long time.

I know you're not, but I'm not really getting what you're saying? Drive by Wire is expensive? Untested car, yet you through out that I should look at a Fiesta and a Focus? As far as I knew, all those are new as well. And just like a lot of other cars in GMs lineup, this is just new to the US. They've actually had great reviews over in Europe. They even have a diesel model in Denmark I know of.

[snickerlicker]

Nice looking car, I like it.

[Deimos]

I see it being expensive for a cheaper car when it breaks. The steering columns in the G6's were like 1200 if memory serves and were big problems. Kitch apparently the steering wheel problem has been known of for 2 years. Google the Cruze problems and a lady in europe was pissed off at her diesel turbo cruze although I think it would be sweet. Minus the other stuff.

[c_mart_28]

I think the front end looks like a few year old 5 series.

[sparkles]

The steering columns in the G6's were like 1200 if memory serves and were big problems.

$986...but it's covered under recall.

[Drifte]

Interior looks good. Drive by wire TB is fine, you can tune it differently too if you really wanted. Even my bike is drive by wire throttle.

[sparkles]

Even my bike is drive by wire throttle.

Seriously? Damn.

[Krumm]

i think its time to trade in the wifes exploder. that interior looks nice.

[85XR7Project]

The new mustang has DBW throttle as well, I read that the response tuning on the Boss 302's throttle is so instantaneous it would blow you away.

[sparkles]

i think its time to trade in the wifes exploder. that interior looks nice.

For something that starts at 18 for the ECO model, it's a pretty decent deal if you ask me. It's not because I'm a Chevy person either. My wife is DIE HARD Chevy and hates Ford. I insisted that we looked at the Fords and drive one and research it a bit as well as the Civic. By the time we were done, she said she actually really liked the Focus. Her was pretty set on buying that to be honest, until it came time to crunch the numbers and compare it to the Civic and Cruze as far as cost, warranty, features, quality of assembly, etc. GM definitely got their shit together with it.

The Cruze was actually the #3 top selling model last month behind the F-150 and Silverado and followed by the Malibu.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/07/junes-top-10-chevy-cruze-is-best-selling-car-in-usa-/1

[ZacFields]

^ I'm surprised there were no Hondas on that list at all. If you look at the most recent JD Power initial quality rankings, Honda literally destroyed every other car manufacturer. I believe they had 8 models ranked #1. In fact for the compact car class it was a tie between the Civic and the Insight.

To be fair, the most recent JD Power rankings were for the 2011 models I believe so the Cruze isn't a part of it yet.

I still say I'd be perfectly happy if I bought a Cruze instead of a Civic. I love my car and I have zero complaints about it, but Chevy really has done a good job with the Cruze to make it competitive.

[sparkles]

Gotta keep in mind though, that Earthquake in Japan really screwed with inventory. Granted, there's probably some parts on the Chevy that were from Japan, but the Civic is pretty much all from Japan and assembled here from what I read. Lack of parts=lack of cars to put together=more demand=less to sell. Least that's how the salesman put it. Said it really messed with their sales and lost some business due to other manufacturers having things in stock as opposed to waiting.

[black88gt]

^ I'm surprised there were no Hondas on that list at all. If you look at the most recent JD Power initial quality rankings, Honda literally destroyed every other car manufacturer.

Japanese manufacturers have been getting destroyed in sales since the earthquake. Hell Chrysler outsold Toyota.

http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/06/graph113.png

Sparkles what'd you think of the Focus compared to the Cruze? My parents were just looking at the same two and thought the Focus was head and shoulders better, but ended up going a little different direction.

[sparkles]

I thought it was put together decent. Wasn't impressed with the engine or handling by any means, but that's not what this car is marketed for. The Cruze, imo, was put together better, had the same if not more features, was sportier, and cost less. I really didn't see how they were getting $25k out of a comparable equipped Focus. I paid $5k less than that and got a better warranty.

[sparkles]

I debadged the back last night. Couldn't get rid of the Bowtie though due to it having aligning pins in it, thus holes in the trunk. Thought about doing something like this instead:
http://cgi.ebay.com/TAIL-CAR-BADGE-LED-LIGHT-Emblem-Chevrolet-Cruze-/220715248810?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3363a76caa
I'll get pics up later.

[Phish]

That would fit you perfect. If you cant have it sparkle, why not have it glow

[sparkles]

We'll see. The wife was the one that found it actually.

I just want to hear a little more turbo noise. Airbox mod and done as far as I'm concerned.

[sparkles]

Debadged the back. Damn Chevrolet for putting alignment holes in the trunklid. Really wanted to ditch the bowtie too.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk276/ericksonb06/2011%20Chevy%20Cruze/DSC_4339.jpg

[Drifte]

Black vinyl the inner portion of the bowtie. Thats what my s10 is getting.

[sparkles]

Probably gonna paint the middle of it black actually. The Gold just doesn't belong on it.

[ZacFields]

I thought it was put together decent. Wasn't impressed with the engine or handling by any means, but that's not what this car is marketed for. The Cruze, imo, was put together better, had the same if not more features, was sportier, and cost less. I really didn't see how they were getting $25k out of a comparable equipped Focus. I paid $5k less than that and got a better warranty.

This is sort of how I felt about the focus. I got the top of the line (non-SI) Civic with navigation to boot for $23,000. All-leather interior, sunroof... the whole works. The closest a Focus could come to those features would have cost me $25,000. On top of that, none of the Ford dealers in the area had a Focus in stock that even came close to the features I was looking for. And that was the biggest reason I gave them for not seriously considering it. All they had were stripped down base models... I never even got to sit in or drive one of the nicer models.

[sparkles]

This is sort of how I felt about the focus. I got the top of the line (non-SI) Civic with navigation to boot for $23,000. All-leather interior, sunroof... the whole works. The closest a Focus could come to those features would have cost me $25,000. On top of that, none of the Ford dealers in the area had a Focus in stock that even came close to the features I was looking for. And that was the biggest reason I gave them for not seriously considering it. All they had were stripped down base models... I never even got to sit in or drive one of the nicer models.

Same situation here in Des Moines

[AutoMods]

those little cars are seem up there in price. We got our Subaru Legacy gt for $25k new from the dealer. 2.5L boxer 250hp AWD turbo, little bigger car. runs low 14's. I think it was a lot of bang for the buck. but that was 5 years ago so maybe pricing has changed.

not a mpg king but awd is nice in the winter and nice to have power on tap when someone pisses you off on the road

[sparkles]

You can thank Cash for Clunkers

[c_mart_28]

nice to have power on tap when someone pisses you off on the road
honestly, with what I've encountered with your temperment...I can't even imagine you getting mad. Ever.

Don't get mad that I just said that :)

[Subaru mama]

Oh trust me, I've seen Ryan get mad on the road plenty of times. Someone was following us pretty close and when they went to pass us, Ryan down shifted and gunned it. Mind you, the whole family is in the car and we're doing 100mph in a 55 just so we can show this guy whats up!

[c_mart_28]

Lol!

Good thing I drive a faster car than he does just in case I piss him off on the streets.. :)

[sparkles]

Yeah, by a hundreth of a second

[AutoMods]

cmart you'd be toast without your death launch. lets go from a roll yo

[Phish]

cmart you'd be toast without your death launch. lets go from a roll yo

Can you do that at the track?

[AutoMods]

Can you do that at the track?

hopefully next year I have the a 31 spline ford rear so I can do some nasty launches too. real question is your rx-v8 going to be there phish?

[Phish]

It will be there next year for sure. Question is is with what motor. Rebuild is looking pretty good at the moment. Still no hits on sellin my kit. Could have the motor gone though if i wanted.

[c_mart_28]

cmart you'd be toast without your death launch. lets go from a roll yo

Not if you're having traction issues all the way into 4th :)

Actually..I would want no part of your car from a roll. My car is actually moderately un-impressive from a roll..

And sparkles, that one 100th of a second is all that matters!!

[sparkles]

True, true.