I bought a Cruze diesel

[2QuickZ's]

As the topic says, I bought a Cruze diesel. I guess technically I haven't bought it until I sign the paperwork Thursday but essentially I already bought it! It is going to be strange switching from a Hemi V8 Charger R/T to the Cruze but I've never had a diesel and I thought I would give one a try. I just hope it is like most other diesel vehicles that retains a higher percentage of its value come selling time so I get some of the premium I paid back. Anyway, once I have it and have driven it for a little while I will start a thread with my thoughts and I'll try to keep it updated with gas mileage figures if anybody is interested. I'm not sure where to post the thread, though, so if anybody has any suggestions, let me know.

[ocnblu]

Cool man! I, for one, will be very interested in hearing about your experiences. You can post your thread down below in the "Member's Rides Showcase" section.

[David]

Awesome, Congrats, I look forward to hearing about your experience with the Cruze Diesel. So far what I have heard around here in Seattle is people are very happy with it.

[2QuickZ's]

Thank's guys. I must have been tired when I posted this. At least I will use that as my excuse. I didn't look hard enough for the right section.

If any mods out there want to move this to "Member's Rides Showcase," please feel free. I won't complain!

[daves87rs]

Very cool...waiting for the pics....

[2QuickZ's]

I brought it home last night. Here are a couple of crappy cell phone pics I took as it was getting dark. You can't see the color too well but it is Blue Ray Metallic. This morning was my first real drive in it. I was curious how it would start in the -7 degree weather but it remote started just fine. It also heated up fairly quickly and it blows much more heat than I expected so it must have a good auxiliary heater in it. It is surprisingly quiet inside and is a nice little cruiser. So far, I really like it. It's no race car but it accelerates plenty quickly and due to the low rpm diesel, it does so in a very relaxed manner.

My initial impression of the fuel economy is that it will be quite good. I have 78 miles on it, all but 3 of which I put on myself. Approx. 6 miles of that is on the interstate with the remainder on surface streets. It also has a 5 minute remote start on it. According to the trip computer, I am right at 37 mpg. The fuel gage is barely off full. My Charger would be at 3/4 tank after 78 miles. lol I'm guessing for my 50 mile round trip commute I am going to average around 40 mpg. That is with a 85/15 city/highway split, though admittedly 20 miles of my round trip drive has lights that are very well timed and I typically would only catch a half dozen red lights or so. For reference, my Charger R/T averages 19-20 mpg for the same commute.

[Drew Dowdell]

Get the engine block heater?

[2QuickZ's]

No but I want one. The dealership part department couldn't find it listed as a part and I did a quick google search last night and didn't have any luck figuring it out. I need to do a little more digging because I really would like one. Surprisingly only a couple of the cars in my area came equipped with them and they tended to be loaded cars. Mine is a base, no option car.

[ocnblu]

Blue Ray is a favorite color of mine.

[Drew Dowdell]

Sounds like a job for us here at C&G

[Z-06]

Congrats and happy oil burning miles.

Ahh if it only came in manual transmission.

[NOS2006]

Congratulations on the new ride! My girlfriend just picked up a 2011 Cruze LTZ a couple weeks ago and is loving it... I hope you do as well!

[2QuickZ's]

So far, so good. I really like driving it but until we sell the Flex the miles are going to go on pretty slowly. My wife won't drive the Charger in this weather and it is a lease that is up in October and I want to make sure we use all the miles.

It just hit 150 miles on my last drive and the fuel gage is still showing 3/4 tank! I'm liking that a LOT and it should only get better as it breaks in and as the weather heats up.

[Z-06]

Six years since and the Cruze has definitely aged well. The diesel in that vehicle is bulletproof. Keep posting us about your updates. I am really happy that someone bought a non-truck GM diesel to really understand the experience.

[David]

Awesome to hear, way to go.

[2QuickZ's]

The more I drive the car, the more I like it. I have driven a few diesels before but never owned one. I like the relaxed demeanor of the driving experience, even when you are driving aggressively. I have around 400 miles on the car and it still shows 1/4 tank and the VIC shows about 140 miles to empty. That is with three remote starts totaling 20 minutes of idle time plus a traffic jam that took me 15 minutes to go 1 mile. The tank will probably wind up in the 34 - 35 mpg range when it is all said and done assuming the latest snowmageddon in SE lower Michigan doesn't result in massive traffic jambs tomorrow. Pretty impressive for the first tank and with a split of somewhere around 70/30 city highway for the tank and a somewhat aggressive driver. I'll post the actual first tank MPG in a couple of days when I fill up.

[David]

Sweet, love this feedback on real world driving. I too am a Aggressive Defensive driver and have never owned an auto that actually got the MFG posted MPG.

[2QuickZ's]

I didn't wait to fill up after all. I just went ahead and did it tonight. Here are the details:

Mileage = 478.9

Fuel = 13.45 gallons

MPG = 35.6

I'd guess 75/25 to 80/20 city highway split. Per the VIC my average speed was 31.3 mph. That included my 25 mile drive this morning that took 1:20 because of all the snowy, crappy roads.

[David]

Still that is pretty awesome and will get better with age and spring summer roads, aka no snow.

[2QuickZ's]

I just wanted to provide some early feedback in regard to the Chevy MyLink infotainment system. I'll start by saying I don't use half the functions of a cars infotainment system. With that said, I am a little surprised Chevy MyLink has gotten as much bad press as it has. Maybe the latest software in my car was a big improvement over earlier versions but mine is pretty intuitive and functions well. It is tough to compete with the UConnect 8.4 system in my Charger as it is one of the best in the business but here are some of my comments:

- I like having buttons and knobs for full climate control and seat heaters. UConnect has many but not all the hard buttons I would want. My Cruze has them all.

- The soft buttons for the Radio stations are legible and responsive but they either need to be made bigger or moved further up away from the bezel opening.

- The voice recognition works 100x better than the Sync in our Flex but it still lags behind UConnect. UConnect rarely ever hears a command wrong. I have more frequent misunderstandings with MyLink.

- One other thing with the VR for MyLink is that if you have both the first and last name in your phone for your contact but you only say "Call Steve", MyLink has no idea who "Steve" is because you didn't say "Call Steve Smith." On my UConnect, you can still say "Call Steve" and it will know who you mean or if you have more than one Steve in your contacts, it will ask you which one you want to call. I'll have to try the latter with MyLink to see what it does. I have at least four "John's" in my contacts so I'll have to test it out.

- The car came with a quick reference card that told you how to pair a Bluetooth phone to MyLink. With the card, it was quick and easy (only a couple of steps) to pair a phone either with soft keys or VR. Even still, if I went out to the car right now to pair a phone, I would have to stumble around to find the right feature or to remember the voice commands. With UConnect, it is 100% intuitive and I paired my phone in a matter of seconds without even looking at any instructions. It was so simple through the touchscreen that I have never tried it through the VR. The Sync in our Flex (not MyFord Touch) is pretty abysmal for phone pairing. I had to pair a phone quite a number of times before I no longer needed to dig out the manual to do it. Even now after almost 3 years I still have to fumble around through the menus for a few minutes before I remember how to do it.

Overall I think MyLink is a pretty good infotainment system, at least without navigation. I still need to try some Bluetooth streaming and maybe some music off a USB flash drive to see how it does with those. I also need to dig a little deeper into the menus to see how they are set up. I just haven't had time to play too much with it yet.

Edited March 15, 2014 by 2QuickZ's

[David]

Very Cool, I have to agree that I think GM has gotten hit harder than needed about their system. But then it does push them to update it sooner and address concerns about the system.

[2QuickZ's]

Tank number 2 is now complete. It went 490.9 miles on 14.059 gallons for an average of 34.9 MPG. According to the VIC that was at an average speed of 32.9 MPH. That should be a 75/25 - 80/20 split city/hihgway. Not too bad! I have to say I'm really impressed with this car overall. I'm still hopeful that once the weather warms up and the car breaks in a little it will get high 30's for my commute but even if it stays where its at now, I can't complain.

I'm less impressed with the MyLink than I was before. It seems like the voice recognition has regressed. I can say "Call Mom mobile' and it will give me multiple options like "Call Mom mobile" and then something completely random that doesn't even sound the same like "Call Voicemail." As a follow up to my earlier comment on MyLink, if I have someone in my phone book as "David Smith" and I say "Call David mobile," even though that is the only David in my phone book it will tell my to try again using a name from my phone book. UConnect recognizes I only have on David on my phone and goes ahead and calls him. Strangely, MyLink does not do this when you have multiple entries for the same first name. In that situation, if you say "Call John mobile" it will bring up a list of all the Johns you have stored on your phone and ask you which you want to call.

[Drew Dowdell]

It's a diesel, it won't be broken in till about tank 20 or 30 at the rate you're going.

[ocnblu]

I think this spring and summer my fuel mileage is going nowhere but up. Yours should do the same.

[2QuickZ's]

Tank number 3 is now done. 486.3 miles on 13.58 gallons (at $3.96/gallon) for mileage of 35.8 MPG. Split was still probably around 80/20. It has over a thousand miles on it so I have been a little heavier on the throttle.

[A Horse With No Name]

Blue Ray is a favorite color of mine.

it does look good!

[2QuickZ's]

Tank #4 is now in the books. The warmer weather is helping. I went 508.4 miles on 13.563 gallons for an average of 37.5 MPG. A little more highway miles this tank but more stop and go during the city miles as well thanks to I-96 being shut down for the next 6 months. I'd say 75/25 split this tank. VIC said 32.4 MPH average. The VIC has also proven to be conservative with it's fuel economy estimates as so far it has been 1.5 - 2 MPG lower than I've actually calculated for the tank except tank 3 which was almost right on the money. :confused:

Now that I have some miles on the car and am a little more aggressive with throttle application, the transmission is starting to show signs of the strange behavior that I have read about in magazines. It gives a surging feel under light throttle applications in the higher gears that I think may be torque converter lockup and they just don't do a good job of managing the torque of the diesel.

It also got so confused on one occasion that had I not been cautious with my lane change it might have gotten me rear ended. Traffic in front of me started to slow down and I put the pedal to the floor to jump into the next lane over. It seems like it happened right as the trans was about to upshift and it didn't know what to do so the car literally did nothing. It just sort of fell on its face like I had just taken my foot off the gas, not just put it to the floor. Had I gone ahead and switched lanes I may have gotten crunched. I have had a similar issue in other recent vehicles I've owned so I chalk it up to the modern electronically controlled transmission. My Charger has even backfired through the intake a couple of times in similar situations but I chalk that up to the MDS deactivating at the same time as everything else going on.

That one unfortunate incident aside, the rest of the transmission stuff has been just unusual feeling behavior, not anything dangerous to me or the transmission. All in all I am still very happy with my purchase.

I forgot to mention - diesel fuel is the same price as mid grade gas in my area right now! Only because gas prices went up, though. I still paid $4.02/gallon.

[2QuickZ's]

Tank #5 --> 522.3 miles on 13.985 gallons = 37.35 MPG

Same 80/20 split as in the past but with better weather and worse traffic.

[Drew Dowdell]

that's really good for mostly city..... you need a road trip to try out that 750+ mile range

[ocnblu]

I filled up today. 41.6 on this tank. Going to turn over 20k miles this week. You can look forward to ever better mileage as the miles rack up, and with warmer weather approaching.

[2QuickZ's]

Well, unfortunately as the weather has gotten warmer the traffic has gotten much worse and I am stuck in stop and go every day on the way home. Here is where I stand now:

Tank #6 = 36.3 MPG on a 70/30 split. More highway this tank but far worse traffic off the highway.

Tank #7 = 513.8 miles x 14.198 gallons = 36.19 MPG. EVIC said 30.6 MPH average. Back to an 80/20 split but again, traffic has sucked thanks to I-96 being closed for the summer. There was a little A/C usage on this tank as well. The good news is I only paid $3.849/gallon which is actually only slightly more than mid-grade here right now.

Thanks to the traffic scenario, I think this is going to be my typical econ for the summer.

that's really good for mostly city..... you need a road trip to try out that 750+ mile range

We are going to take a trip to either Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach at the end of June but I don't think I will be able to talk the wife into taking this car. She thinks it's too small for that long of a trip with our two kids in the back seat. I'm betting we wind up renting a minivan.

Edited May 14, 2014 by 2QuickZ's

[2QuickZ's]

Filled up again on Thursday. I'd say 70/30 split with heavy traffic. Average speed per the VIC was 31.x MPH. 503.4 miles on 14.25 gallons = 35.2 MPG. I paid $3.84/gallon which is actually less than regular was thanks to the holiday weekend run up.

It threw a engine light on Friday. Per Onstar it is an O2 sensor code. I have an appointment to take it in on Wednesday to see what is going on.

[David]

Cool, thanks for the update, keep us informed as to what the code actually meant. Would be interested to know if you just had bad fuel or what.

[2QuickZ's]

Well, the dealership appointment went about like I expected it to. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. They found the stored fault (P0113) but couldn't find anything wrong with the O2 sensor. I also asked them to check if there was a newer program for the trans but the answer was no and they took it for a test drive and thought it was fine.

[David]

Well, the dealership appointment went about like I expected it to. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. They found the stored fault (P0113) but couldn't find anything wrong with the O2 sensor. I also asked them to check if there was a newer program for the trans but the answer was no and they took it for a test drive and thought it was fine.

Hope the gremlin in the code stays away from you. Appreciate the update.

[2QuickZ's]

We'll see what happens. I actually did a 100 mile round trip last Saturday that was mostly interstate. My putzing around in town in the middle of the round trip brought my overall mileage for the trip down to 40.5 per the VIC (which is usually 1.2 - 1.5 MPG too low) but it did show a 50 mile average of 48.5 MPG on the drive out!

Edited May 29, 2014 by 2QuickZ's

[2QuickZ's]

The next tank is in. I actually bought diesel for $3.84/gallon and regular right now is $3.95 so I'm happy. Anyway, thanks to my 100 mile or so round trip is was closer to a 60/40 split this tank but thanks to the dealer visit (I have no idea what they did but they managed to kill my mileage in only 15 miles of test driving) and extremely bad traffic, I wound up only averaging 31.6 MPH on this tank per the VIC. It went 467.2 miles on 12.12 gallons for an average of 38.55 MPG.

[A Horse With No Name]

Well, unfortunately as the weather has gotten warmer the traffic has gotten much worse and I am stuck in stop and go every day on the way home. Here is where I stand now:

Tank #6 = 36.3 MPG on a 70/30 split. More highway this tank but far worse traffic off the highway.

Tank #7 = 513.8 miles x 14.198 gallons = 36.19 MPG. EVIC said 30.6 MPH average. Back to an 80/20 split but again, traffic has sucked thanks to I-96 being closed for the summer. There was a little A/C usage on this tank as well. The good news is I only paid $3.849/gallon which is actually only slightly more than mid-grade here right now.

Thanks to the traffic scenario, I think this is going to be my typical econ for the summer.

that's really good for mostly city..... you need a road trip to try out that 750+ mile range

We are going to take a trip to either Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach at the end of June but I don't think I will be able to talk the wife into taking this car. She thinks it's too small for that long of a trip with our two kids in the back seat. I'm betting we wind up renting a minivan.

I really like renting cars for trips. Any mechanical issues are other peoples problems, and given the per mile cost of car ownership its often actually cheaper.

The next tank is in. I actually bought diesel for $3.84/gallon and regular right now is $3.95 so I'm happy. Anyway, thanks to my 100 mile or so round trip is was closer to a 60/40 split this tank but thanks to the dealer visit (I have no idea what they did but they managed to kill my mileage in only 15 miles of test driving) and extremely bad traffic, I wound up only averaging 31.6 MPH on this tank per the VIC. It went 467.2 miles on 12.12 gallons for an average of 38.55 MPG.

I think you will see more increases as the car breaks in some more. 40 on a regular basis seems entirely doable to me.

[2QuickZ's]

At the rate the car is going, we might wind up renting something for piece of mind. The engine light came on again. DTC is P0133, same as last time. I'll be calling the dealership in the morning to set up another appointment. They better do something other than tell me it is a stored fault and they can't do anything.

[A Horse With No Name]

Good luck sir. It is frustrating to have a broken car!

[Drew Dowdell]

but the car isn't actually down?

[A Horse With No Name]

Nor is it operating properly. I would be saddened if this did not work out well for GM and the Cruze diesel. VERY positive feedback I ahve gotten from people on the Cruise diesel.

[2QuickZ's]

For the record, there has been no noticeable signs of any problem other than the check engine light. The DTC is for a slow responding heated O2 sensor. Driveability wise, you would never know the light was on. The car acts 100% normal. I just don't like going through the hassle of taking the car to dealer, catching a shuttle to work and then back only to find out they didn't do anything because the DTC was stored in history and not a current fault. The light is already back out again. I already set up my appointment but I'm tempted to just cancel it. The only reason I haven't is because I will be going on vacation soon and I want to make sure the car is ready.

[Drew Dowdell]

Do you have onstar? You should be able to ask them what's up when the light comes on.

[2QuickZ's]

I have used OnStar both times. They are the ones that told me it was code P0133.

[A Horse With No Name]

Good luck sir getting this resolved. Car trouble is never any fun, even if the car remains working properly.

How are you enjoying the rest of the car? My co worker with a Cruze was raving about his over lunch the other day, after driving to Miami and back from

Columbus Ohio.

[Drew Dowdell]

I've always had very happy experiences with Cruzes.

[2QuickZ's]

Good luck sir getting this resolved. Car trouble is never any fun, even if the car remains working properly.

How are you enjoying the rest of the car? My co worker with a Cruze was raving about his over lunch the other day, after driving to Miami and back from

Columbus Ohio.

It has been a good little car other than this gremlin. Hopefully they get it fixed on this next visit. It is a nice driving little car. I am very glad I got the diesel. It accelerates well but at the same time is very relaxed doing it. It makes for a little more serene driving experience. I'm very happy with the gas mileage considering how much of my daily commute is on surface streets and am especially amazed by how little the fuel economy has dropped off in the especially heavy traffic I have been dealing with in the last couple of months.

[2QuickZ's]

In to the dealer again tomorrow. Hopefully they will do something about the code this time but since it has not thrown it again since a week ago, my guess is they'll clear the code and send me on my way again.

My next tank was also in. 440.1 miles on 12.73 gallons for a 34.58 MPG average. 75/25 split but abysmally bad traffic on a lot of the city driving. Couple examples: It took me 25 minutes to go 5 miles last Wednesday. I had another day where it took me an hour to go 28 miles. Anyway, the VIC said 30.3 MPH average for the tank and 33.2 MPG. It is always 1 - 1.5 MPG lower than calculated.

[2QuickZ's]

Well, I dropped the car off Monday and the dealership has had it ever since. They are trying to replace the O2 sensor but can't seem to get one. They finally called GM today to find out what was going on. Apparently this issue with the O2 sensor is a known issue but GM has not gotten the TSB issued yet. I guess it doesn't hurt anything but just keeps throwing the light. I have been in one of their Cruze LT's since I dropped my car off. It's a nice comparison for the mileage differences between the two cars since the drive is the same. Per the VIC I am currently getting 29.6 MPG. If it is low by the same 1.2-1.5 MPG my car is, that would put me in the 30.8 - 31.1 MPG range. I won't be able to calculate it because I forgot to set the trip odometer until after I had already put 50 miles on it. That would mean for my particular drive, the diesel is in the 4 - 5 MPG more fuel efficient range.

BTW - At this point they are not sure when the part will be in. They asked me to come pick my car up and drive it until they get the part. No complaints about the dealer so far. They have been very accommodating.

BTW BTW - I forgot to mention in my last post that I paid $3.78/gallon for diesel which was $0.10/gallon LESS than the price of regular unleaded.