Review: 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Another one bites the dust.
Stephanie Wallcraft
April 6, 2019 wheels.ca
THE PROS & CONS
What’s Good: Good mix of available features.
What’s Bad: Needed some outside-the-box thinking.
Alas, poor Cruze; we hardly knew ye.
Just 10 years into its life, Chevrolet’s small sedan has met what some would consider an untimely end, borne at the hands – er, wheels? – of the increasingly almighty SUV.
Perhaps, like that bit of misremembered Shakespeare I just employed, it was always poorly understood.
I mean, it had an available diesel, for goodness sake. In a small car at a reasonable price point, that’s basically unheard-of. You’d think that the scorned Volkswagen devotees would have converted in droves.
Plus, the whole thing feels premature, doesn’t it? Small car sales were down around 8 percent in Canada in 2018, depending on how you count, and the Cruze was the segment’s fourth-best seller, losing only 2.4 percent. It was ahead in a downturn; plenty of automakers see this as a good thing. And we keep hearing that SUVs are going to be branded as old-people cars any time now and sedans will make a resurgence with a flourish.
Yup it's still a pretty solid little car, still a great car for the money if you get a deal on one. If GM would have tried a little harder they'd really have something, too late now it seems.
I still think it's a stupid idea to kill it. Throwing away 150,000+ sales away to Toyota and Honda isn't a way to becoming the best automaker in the business. GM needs to rethink that decision.
The Gen 2 Cruze was GM making a Korean small car. Now this update was GM further beating that with the ugly stick - whose idea was it to put a nasty fake chrome cross bar on what was an otherwise good grille? Otherwise, it's a good little car and it sold well. Not much else to say about it, just jaw dropping that this thing is dead.
A big mistake by GM to kill the Cruze. A further loss of confidence in the management of GM. The Cruze should be a global car carrying Chevrolet's name far and wide in both RHD and LHD variants, GM should have seen they cant depend on NA sales alone for this sedan as its competitors sells worldwide to amortize costs. The current Cruze platform still has a lot of potential in it including one more full body make over.
They better hope this stupid decision dont come back to bite them hard.
I used to rent a lot of Cruze's. I really like the 1st Gen, and they still look good to me. The 2nd Gen was a disappointment to me, and I opted for other cars to rent if I could. I don't know what they changed, but the 1st Gen ripped, shifted good, was a solid little car. And compared to the rental Focus's I drove as well, the 1st Gen Cruze was a winner.
I had the first Gen and it was a great car. Now I have a 2019 and I can tell you it's even a better car. I'd say it is probably the best car in it's class!!!
All it needed was a more aggressive American design and a way to turn off start/stop.
Apparently that was too much for lazy Mary, the worst CEO in a long line of incompetence
Very true. Take a bit of the overzealousness in body creases out , said start-stop, and a bit more oomph and it would have been a winner I think. They kill it just as I'm finally getting to kind of like it too I might add.
I simply don't like the driving dynamics of it, especially when turning left and have to stop at the light with my engine off, waiting for a gap in traffic. At the end of the day I am the customer, I am paying the $ and it is my level of comfort and safety. You want to buy it, go ahead. And BTW, this is a feature nobody really asked about, but everybody is forced to pay for, no matter what. Then you wonder why the prices are creeping up.
I am paying for the gas, let me turn it off. Don't shove it down my throat, give me the choice. Oh, the planet you say? The planet is fine and it will be fine many many many years after we are all gone, it's the people that are f&cked, like the GM beancounters.
edit: How much I dislike it ? Enough to make me go buy something else. It became a deal breaker. I am sure I am not alone.
Not gonna lie your post reads of "blah blah blah freedom!"...oh and your safety? You just mentioned a scenario in which you're making a left turn into oncoming traffic where the milliseconds it takes to start after stopping are the difference between life/death. Sounds pretty unsafe to me even w/o start-stop.
If the car want's to turn itself off at a redlight or whatever to save gas...doesn't bother me one bit as long as it starts back up on its own when i take my foot off the brake and as long as that happens, I can give a flying fart if the engine is not running when stopped. Just my .02.
GM's start-stop is seamless, unobtrusive, will restart automatically on hot days, and has not once delayed acceleration in any of my GM vehicles.
That includes the first generation start-stop on my 2007 Vue.
I live in the South down the road from gkr and not once did my air conditioning have any issues delivering cool air while the car is stopped.
This is just more anti-GM nonsensical blather as far as I'm concerned.
No offense intended to any blatherers or 24x7 whiners.
Anti-GM nonsensical blather? If GM simply included a disable switch for auto start-stop on certain Chevrolets, GMCs, and Buicks sold in the U.S. market, all of this supposed "blather" would go away. As I mentioned in my previous post, GM is alone among automakers in implementing auto start-stop in non-hybrid vehicles without a disable switch.
And also as mentioned earlier in this thread, GM added just such a disable switch on the U.S. market 2019 Cruze. In doing so, GM acknowledges that the concerns are legit.
I think GM needs to re-think killing the Cruze just improve it. What about making all versions look like the Premier trim which has the Watts link and a nice lestherette dash. They should also make one with more power. In regard to stop start, I'm leasing a 2019 Equinox, it doesnt bother me but their should be a disable button on it and every GM car like all other manufacturers.
Stop-Start is fantastic in my CTS. It's basically seamless and the A/C still blows cold air when the motor is off during 90* humid Summer days in Michigan.
For those who want to disable it and don't have the option to, try lifting your foot halfway off the brake and apply it again. It usually kicks the motor back on, at least it does so in my car.
Stop - start on my 2018 Terrain is absolutely imperceptible. AC stays on and zero shudder/shake/hesitation. It is just a non issue. Period. Weary of the interminable whining. As noted above, if it really bothers you and you would rather waste fossil fuel, just lift foot off the brake a tad, reapply. Motor back on.
my friend has an F150 and I had a BMW both with start/stop and it was so EZ to deal with and in the FORD it rarely activates due to temp
the BMW one was rough when it started and had a DELAY if you were quick on the pedals but a quick lift of the brake and BOTH engines would restart and not shut off again till next stop FOR ME I do not care if there is a an override switch because it is SO EASY to override
and you can get OBD port dongles that will disable start/stop IF you MUST have it gone
again FOR ME the CVT in Nissans would be a full stop due to MAJOR reliability issues and dealer/ warranty ISSUES
More oomph is available in Cruze if you select one with a 1.6L diesel. Stealth torque is available, especially on highway up hills. Discounts are likely. A stickshift is less likely. Some cruze diesels have sold for 30% below MSRP via "red tag".
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