# New to this forum-looking into purchasing a cruz diesel?



## ramblinman13 (Apr 10, 2014)

Hi Everyone, I am a new member and have been doing a lot of research on diesels in general. From looking at volkswagen(bad word) jetta, passats, and golfs. After doing a ton of research and reading a lot of horror stories with the vw tdi's as far as icing up intercoolers-causing hydro locking of the engine, issues with gelling of the fuel and issues with the high pressue fuel pump to top it off. I started to look at the chevy cruz diesel, and wanted to know if those same issues i listed with vw's are the same with the chevy cruze? I currently live in Ohio, so my winters are long and brutal. I currently drive an 09 outback with 130,000, the car is very reliable, but having to deal with blown head gaskets, failed cat, broken rod due to a failed cam seal i am basically done with this car. However, I do a lot of driving where i am doing 80 miles a day round trip for work, which equals 400 miles a week and 1600 a month on my car. So, that is why i am loooking into diesels, but i wanted to know if the chevy cruz is a very reliable car that doesn't seem to have the same issues as vw does? Thanks for all of your inputs and i look forward to learning as much as i can about the chevy cruz diesel.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Hello, I own a Diesel Cruze but it has a different engine to the US Cruze. However there is one guy on here who has written a report on his 50,000 miles here is the link.

[h=1]50000 Miles in a Cruze Diesel[/h]


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

We have members here from Canada who don't have any troubles starting their diesels. 

If you consider your Subaru to be reliable than this car will blow your mind. 

Take one for a test drive and let us know what you think.


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## DieselMan33 (Oct 13, 2013)

I live in Michigan and this past winter was horrible. I had not problem starting mine in the below 0 temps. Go drive all the cars you are interested in and pick the one that fits you best. I preferred the Cruze over the VW's because of interior style.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

There are a few NEOH CTD owners here, from the snow description it sounds like you are in our area of the state. The Cruze is no Subaru (I have a 05 Legacy GT) but you will get massive amounts of MPG over your current one for sure. Have you located and test drove one yet? Up this way there is usually 4 on the lots hidden in between LS models.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Hey Ramblinman, 

Welcome! I am sure you will get great advice from the members here. If you need assistance locating the Cruze of your choice in your area, please let me know. You can reach out via private message. Happy hunting!

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## titanman2789 (Oct 27, 2013)

Haven't heard of any issues with the Cruze diesel, aside from an emissions system problem that was just a loose sensor. Fuel gel will depend on the quality and temperature. Be mindful of what mixture of fuel (#1/#2) you need for the temperatures and you'll be fine. Although, in Ohio, your stations will probably just have a winter blend beginning in October or November. That should be good for most of the winter, but if it's going to get extra cold, a splash of anti gel and you should be good. Be sure to pick some up BEFORE it's going to get cold though. If you wait until the forecast says it's going to be -20f, stores will be sold out of the stuff

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## c.rod (Apr 6, 2014)

I'm also contemplating getting a cruze diesel. I'm in MI so our winters can be nasty. This last one was incredibly bad. #2 in history. 

Any links to the additives and how/when to use them? This would be my first diesel anything


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. Started my car with the standard option remote start ( love this feature that most new cars don't even have the option for) in -25°c temps without any problems. The aux electric heater works flawlessly and quickly, it starts clearing my frosty windshield within 1 minute.


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## titanman2789 (Oct 27, 2013)

c.rod said:


> I'm also contemplating getting a cruze diesel. I'm in MI so our winters can be nasty. This last one was incredibly bad. #2 in history.
> 
> Any links to the additives and how/when to use them? This would be my first diesel anything


It's just the power service recommended by many on this site. The white bottle. It has directions on how much to use on the bottle. I bought mine at Walmart. 

Always buy quality fuel though. I got some good 50/50 #1/#2 while on a trip to Canada this winter. No issues

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I am up to 56K miles now. Still running beautifully!


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## ramblinman13 (Apr 10, 2014)

Thanks everyone who has replied. I plan on test driving the cruze diesel. I was considering vw's, but after reading a lot of horror stories with those, decided that is not for me. so, as long as everyone here says that there are pretty good with the cold starting and no issues with the fuel pump and or inter-coolers if they have them. I will definitely test drive one, for those of you who live in winter states, do you put snow tires on? if so, what kind do you use? Also, i work for a well known parts store part time, so i can definitely save money on any additives if need be. The car if i do decided to get it, will be outside most of the time. Not in a garage, it does get cold here in Ohio, this year it got down to -15, subaru handled just fine, no issues at all. Owning diesels in general, do they tend to be a pain with just making sure you get good fuel, or have to keep either some diesel kleen or some other additives with you. What does the dealer say about adding additives to your car? does that void the warranty. I know vw dealers don't recommend you adding any additives to their cars. any thoughts? sorry for all of the questions. trying to learn.


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## ramblinman13 (Apr 10, 2014)

Erica, how does the chevy dealers feel about consumers putting additives into the diesel cruze to either help with issues with starting or to prevent gelling of the fuel? Also, have you heard of any issues with the hpfp?(high pressure fuel pumps or inter-coolers freeing icing up? your thoughts would be appreciated.


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## ramblinman13 (Apr 10, 2014)

Also, i wanted to know what everyone is getting in mpg's?Currently i am only getting 28mpgs, but having to fill up twice a week. So, that is 8 times a month, that equals 300 in fuel cost. I drive 99.9 percent all highway miles, i drive 80 miles round trip everyday, so that is 400 miles a week, 1600 miles a month on my car. Having to fuel up twice a week is killing me, however being that i have a subaru outback, it is extremely reliable. Other than dealing with head gaskets, failed cat, failed cam seal, results in a few thousand dollars to fix which didn't sit nice with me. Now, i have a oil consumption issue at 130,000 miles and it is only an 2009. So i wanted to know how reliable is the chevy cruze diesel? i have been looking at ford focus titanium model also. there are a lot of gassers that are getting high 30's and even some hybrids that are getting high 40's to low 50's? what you would say to someone who is considering a chevy cruze diesel? what are the maintenance cost associated with the cruze diesel compared to vws? thanks in advance.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

With the sort of driving you do a hybrid is out of it's depth, their best is in city driving. 50+mpg is quite normal highway in a diesel Cruze and when you consider how quiet and comfortable it is you would really find it hard to find a better car for this type of driving.


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## ramblinman13 (Apr 10, 2014)

I am from hiram, ohio


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

ramblinman13 said:


> Thanks everyone who has replied. I plan on test driving the cruze diesel. I was considering vw's, but after reading a lot of horror stories with those, decided that is not for me. so, as long as everyone here says that there are pretty good with the cold starting and no issues with the fuel pump and or inter-coolers if they have them. I will definitely test drive one, for those of you who live in winter states, do you put snow tires on? if so, what kind do you use? Also, i work for a well known parts store part time, so i can definitely save money on any additives if need be. The car if i do decided to get it, will be outside most of the time. Not in a garage, it does get cold here in Ohio, this year it got down to -15, subaru handled just fine, no issues at all. Owning diesels in general, do they tend to be a pain with just making sure you get good fuel, or have to keep either some diesel kleen or some other additives with you. What does the dealer say about adding additives to your car? does that void the warranty. I know vw dealers don't recommend you adding any additives to their cars. any thoughts? sorry for all of the questions. trying to learn.


If the Diesel is like us 1.4 turbo gassers, the IC is sandwiched between the A/C condenser and radiator. To even add to that the lower shutters are closed pretty much indefinitely in the winter time. Yesterday is the 1st time I caught a glimpse of the lower part of the A/C condenser.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

ramblinman13 said:


> I am from hiram, ohio


I am from Sydney Australia, so I have no idea about most places in USA as they are only names and sometimes a movie or news clip to me.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Aussie said:


> I am from Sydney Australia, so I have no idea about most places in USA as they are only names and sometimes a movie or news clip to me.


To give you a brief weather pattern here at least in the very northern Ohio (NEOH) area for this time of the year. You can see 75-80*F weather for like 2-3 days letting you fight a long line of cars to get to the car washes around the area and wear shorts and no jackets maybe. 2 days later it becomes 48-50*F and rainy. The very next day or even later that same rainy night it can be 33*F and snow 4 inches and stick to the ground. 3 days later it rains at a sunny 66*F and melts all the snow again. Once we hit May it may snow/rain mix or do a few hail storms...


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Merc6 said:


> To give you a brief weather pattern here at least in the very northern Ohio (NEOH) area for this time of the year. You can see 75-80*F weather for like 2-3 days letting you fight a long line of cars to get to the car washes around the area and wear shorts and no jackets maybe. 2 days later it becomes 48-50*F and rainy. The very next day or even later that same rainy night it can be 33*F and snow 4 inches and stick to the ground. 3 days later it rains at a sunny 66*F and melts all the snow again. Once we hit May it may snow/rain mix or do a few hail storms...


We are half way through Autumn (fall to you) and as I work from 3:00pm to 12:30am 4 days a week tonight at about 8:00pm I put on a light sweater for the first time since November. The temperature around 0C will happen around June or July, but no snow and these temperatures only happen at night. It is a 5 hour drive to the ski resorts from Sydney although sometimes it snows about 1 hour's drive but not every year.

I guess Florida weather is fairly close to Sydney.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

ramblinman13 said:


> Thanks everyone who has replied. I plan on test driving the cruze diesel. I was considering vw's, but after reading a lot of horror stories with those, decided that is not for me. so, as long as everyone here says that there are pretty good with the cold starting and no issues with the fuel pump and or inter-coolers if they have them. I will definitely test drive one, for those of you who live in winter states, do you put snow tires on? if so, what kind do you use? Also, i work for a well known parts store part time, so i can definitely save money on any additives if need be. The car if i do decided to get it, will be outside most of the time. Not in a garage, it does get cold here in Ohio, this year it got down to -15, subaru handled just fine, no issues at all. Owning diesels in general, do they tend to be a pain with just making sure you get good fuel, or have to keep either some diesel kleen or some other additives with you. What does the dealer say about adding additives to your car? does that void the warranty. I know vw dealers don't recommend you adding any additives to their cars. any thoughts? sorry for all of the questions. trying to learn.


I used Michelin X-Ice xi3 and they are fantastic in the snow. For the first half of the treadwear, they are pretty quiet too. I've never used any kind of additive in mine and I've not had any issues starting below zero. I try to stick with high volume stations for fueling. I am 41 MPG overall, including all types of driving and a heavy foot.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

ramblinman13 said:


> Thanks everyone who has replied. I plan on test driving the cruze diesel. I was considering vw's, but after reading a lot of horror stories with those, decided that is not for me. so, as long as everyone here says that there are pretty good with the cold starting and no issues with the fuel pump and or inter-coolers if they have them. I will definitely test drive one, for those of you who live in winter states, do you put snow tires on? if so, what kind do you use? Also, i work for a well known parts store part time, so i can definitely save money on any additives if need be. The car if i do decided to get it, will be outside most of the time. Not in a garage, it does get cold here in Ohio, this year it got down to -15, subaru handled just fine, no issues at all. Owning diesels in general, do they tend to be a pain with just making sure you get good fuel, or have to keep either some diesel kleen or some other additives with you. What does the dealer say about adding additives to your car? does that void the warranty. I know vw dealers don't recommend you adding any additives to their cars. any thoughts? sorry for all of the questions. trying to learn.


i live half way between seattle and alaska, i drive 500 miles over the rocky mountains 3 or 4 times a month, car started perfectly in -51f

nokian hakkapeliitta 7 studded tires have been on the car for 11,000 of the 13,000 miles i have driven

ive avg'd 44 us mpg for the life of the car, 80% hwy....i set the cruise to speed limit plus 5 and drive, i dont try to hypermile or start slow, etc...i just drive

i dont use any additives, dont need them. fuel in northern canada is proper for the temps


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## ramblinman13 (Apr 10, 2014)

Before purchasing the chevy diesel cruze, has anyone thought or considered any other diesels like volkswagen or ford? if so, why? just curious to know. thanks in advance.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

ramblinman13 said:


> Before purchasing the chevy diesel cruze, has anyone thought or considered any other diesels like volkswagen or ford? if so, why? just curious to know. thanks in advance.


where i live, there is chevy, ford, chrysler dealer

90 miles away is toyota and honda as well

200 miles away in a direction that i never go is everything else

made no sense to me to buy a car with a dealer so far away, so i limited myself to ford, chevy, chrysler so it came down to focus, cruze and dart

i would have bought eco cruze had it come with sunroof...i hummed and hawed for a couple of mos whether i could live w/o one or not, then tested the diesel (with sunroof) for 100 miles and bought it 2 days later


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

ramblinman13 said:


> Before purchasing the chevy diesel cruze, has anyone thought or considered any other diesels like volkswagen or ford? if so, why? just curious to know. thanks in advance.


We have a huge choice of diesel powered cars in Australia, but I bought the Cruze because the V6 Commodore was out of my price range and the Cruze already had a good reputation in diesel form. The Ford Focus is also a nice car in diesel form and the 1.6TD Hyundai is great on fuel but the engine was a bit too small for my taste.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

boraz said:


> i live half way between seattle and alaska, i drive 500 miles over the rocky mountains 3 or 4 times a month, car started perfectly in -51f
> 
> nokian hakkapeliitta 7 studded tires have been on the car for 11,000 of the 13,000 miles i have driven
> 
> ...


Not sure what I would do in those climates. When we hit -20*F here in Cleveland my 1.4 started right up but the 6MT trans with factory fluids would not shift into gear for quite some time. I almost pressed OnStar and called for a tow but managed to finally get the car into gear to move it off the street into the driveway to avoid it being ticketed.


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

I looked at all the different makes and models but when it comes to the cruze diesel you cannot beat the price for all the things your getting at a good quality.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

Merc6 said:


> Not sure what I would do in those climates. When we hit -20*F here in Cleveland my 1.4 started right up but the 6MT trans with factory fluids would not shift into gear for quite some time. I almost pressed OnStar and called for a tow but managed to finally get the car into gear to move it off the street into the driveway to avoid it being ticketed.


the -51f is once a year....-40s f for a couple weeks at a time

not had any issues in any car ive owned with all dino fluids


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## ramblinman13 (Apr 10, 2014)

I think if the diesel cruz was offered with a manual, i think i wouldn't be on the fence so much about buying it. I do plan on test driving it, but i prefer manuals over automatics. I am also going to look at the volkswagen sportwagon which is a diesel and a 6mt. I will be very busy this summer that is for sure.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Make sure you grab a 14 before the 15's are all that's left on the lot, lol!


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

ramblinman13 said:


> Erica, how does the chevy dealers feel about consumers putting additives into the diesel cruze to either help with issues with starting or to prevent gelling of the fuel? Also, have you heard of any issues with the hpfp?(high pressure fuel pumps or inter-coolers freeing icing up? your thoughts would be appreciated.



Hey Ramblinman, 

These are great questions! Unfortunately, since I am not a technician, I am unable to answer. I can reach out to your Chevrolet dealership and discuss this with your Service Manager for you. Please private message me your name, phone number, and zip code. I will locate a local Chevrolet dealership in your area. Hope to hear form you soon. 

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

ramblinman13 said:


> Before purchasing the chevy diesel cruze, has anyone thought or considered any other diesels like volkswagen or ford? if so, why? just curious to know. thanks in advance.


I had a Mercedes GLK250 before I got the Cruze. Nice vehicle, but the Cruze was a better choice for me and the amount of driving I do. The MErcedes was $12K more than the Cruze so not really in the same class, but the Cruze is plenty nice for me.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

The vw has the same interior they had in 1992, plus vw is known for wiring issues and fuel pump failures on their diesels which can be upwards of $7000. Which small diesel car does ford have?


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## TheDog (Mar 27, 2014)

ramblinman13 said:


> Before purchasing the chevy diesel cruze, has anyone thought or considered any other diesels like volkswagen or ford? if so, why? just curious to know. thanks in advance.


I previously owned a 2004 Jetta Wagon TDI with 5 speed manual transmission (base GL trim). It was an enjoyable car overall for the 100K miles I had it. I especially appreciated the fold flat (very very flat) rear seats which made cargo carrying a breeze and the range was amazing. I consistently got over 40 MPG on every single tank and it didn't really differ much from tank to tank. Naturally when I was car shopping this year I made sure to check out the VW dealerships. 

Not much has changed in wagon land. It felt like a gently evolved version of my car. Still available with a manual transmission which I like and still kind of spartan and simple. Most VW Golf and Jetta Wagon trims have manual seats and at least for the wagon, automatic headlights aren't available at any price. The VW RNS 315 nav system (all but the highest end VW's have this unit) is awful. Very dated and a tiny screen and a very bright almost shrill sound that a little playing with the tone controls didn't seem to fix. Overall the radio (nav or non nav, both had issues) seemed like something that was a few years past its sell by date. Also I found the VW seats to be pretty tight. The wagon seats were tolerable but just barely. The Golf seats I felt 'too fat' in and I am 6 feet tall and weight about 210 so by American standards pretty average. 

Drive wise, the Jetta and Cruze compare well I think. They (VW) still get a spare tire (full size even on the Golf/Jetta wagon at least) and no DEF. I think VW uses either non Low rolling resistance tires or not AS low rolling resistance because I've never seen a review call out their tires as being a weak point. The Cruze Fuel Max tires are reported to be very long lasting but multiple reviews have said they squeal and howl under aggressive turns earlier than other Cruze tires. So far (not yet 2000 miles) I haven't found the Cruze tires to be lacking but I'm sure I'll replace them with non LRR tires when they wear out because I don't place enough value on achieving an extra MPG or 3 (especially when talking about 37-46 MPG range) to give up even a little bit of traction or quietness.

To sum it up, I think the VW cars are good vehicles. They drive and ride well and the drive train is well proven, probably more reliable than any of their gas turbos. Feature wise the VW vehicles are seriously at a disadvantage. There just aren't as many widgets and fun toys to be had. The simpler emissions system (last year for that maybe) is probably a plus for VW right now. The Jetta sedan (which I didn't really consider) has a MUCH bigger back seat than Cruze. The wagon sunroof is huge.

Cruze is probably a better choice for a car that will usually have 1 or two people in it most of the time (back seat being small). The premium audio, though panned mercilessly by some in the forums here for it's lack of balance, sounds good for front passengers. The iPod integration with My Link is very well done though it could be faster to respond. Then there are the text message reading, Pandora app and XM travel link features (gas prices, weather, traffic) that have no VW equivalent at all. Auto headlights and leather are standard. The option packages are more flexible on Cruze. VW has 3 trims of Wagon (base, base with sunroof and base with sunroof and nav) and beyond that there are almost no choices to make. Cruze lets you choose to pay or not pay for extra safety features, navigation, sunroof, Pioneer speakers, etc. Oh and Cruze has a huge variety of color combinations including interesting 2 tone leathers whereas VW gives you just tan or black.

How is your shopping going?


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## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

ramblinman13 said:


> Before purchasing the chevy diesel cruze, has anyone thought or considered any other diesels like volkswagen or ford? if so, why? just curious to know. thanks in advance.


No question...when I started looking for a diesel, we had just battled a deer with our VW Passat sportwagon and the deer won. We loved the Passat gasser very much and thought we would just take our insurance money and go buy a Passat Diesel. Being a Chevy guy through and through, I was really surprised to learn that the Cruze was out with a diesel. I searched and found the prices higher on the VW Passat than on the CTD and, the nearest VW dealership is 60-70 miles away. I didn't spend another minute looking at the VW even though the dealerships I had contacted called back with unbelievable discounts. I headed straight for the Chevy guys and spent a full week searching for a loaded Cruze and found my Black Granite beauty. My best mileage for the 25 mile increment has been 65.5...I made the right decision and it's an awesome driver.


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