There are several Cruze diesel discussion threads.
I considered one. I did not like the packaging on the urea system, no spare tire, tight rear seat room, and initial cost vs. predicted residual value. On the plus side it was very quiet in the cabin, overall nice interior and good radio and gauge/switchgear layout, decent handling and it felt surprisingly solid including the doors which reminded me of VW and other German vehicles.
There is a new diesel engine planned for 2017 Cruze and a hatchback version in late 2016 or early 2017.
I'll try to locate the other threads..
If I had the SCR VW car (DEF) I'd be keeping it, with an eventual CP3 HPFP conversion at some point.. but with that and the LNT, knowing it would not be good.. well made the switch.
It is a smaller car, smaller back seat, smaller trunk.. there is not way to deny that.
I also am old fashioned a bit, I don't even like the small donut spares and got a real rim and real spare tire in the old Saturn, its now getting to about 20 years old and 200K, but I've never needed it (great, having said that watch me get a flat today!
).
Come to think of it, I can't recall using a spare since I began driving, modern tires are really pretty good.. so I won't worry too much, it does have the "fix a flat" and inflator kit.
Initially I was against DEF, like many.. but it has been around a while, and proving to be a better system by nearly all accounts than the LNT.. and at some point reality sinks in.
I hope GM continues to expand its diesel offerings, the new V6 Duramax for the Colorado will likely sell well and get over 30MPG on the hwy, and that would be huge for a pick-up, not to mention V8 Torque ratings and towing.
Oh, lastly, I never buy for residual value, understand many do.. way I look at it, I drive the car until it falls apart, the only cheap way to have a car is like that 20yr Saturn, gets near 40MPG.. and long past paid of, cheap insurance, yet still pretty darned reliable. I got 175K on the original clutch even. I would have done same for VW, but a shaking HPFP (already showing metal in the fuel filter) then the "fix" that is sure to come, and cause durability issues.. and it seemed time to punch out, and I was seeing a rapid drop in residual value for sure!
As far as a deal goes, I might well have done much better than average, but the Jetta in 2012 worked out to about 25K, for the S, the least equipped car.. but the Cruze is fully loaded, I don't think there is an available option it does not have, and with the high end of range on MSRP that seems to line up.. yet just on the car, I was at about 23K to start.. that is pretty amazing, and 3 model years later from the 2012..
