Managed to get a reasonable 'go' in a Cruze diesel yesterday afternoon - hope its OK to post impressions here.
The first immediate impression I had was that it is smaller than I was expecting on the outside, I hadn't noticed one on the road before. The second impression was that the interior is a blatant attempt to copy the current European Honda Civic, but (and maybe this is just my opinion) it does it better. The build quality on the interior of the current Civic is not all that good, this isn't perfect but is less as cheap looking and fewer rattles.
The Diesel engine is as smooth and as quiet as most CR Diesels these days. Standing outside (it was running before we got in) there was only the slightest diesel noise at tickover. I fiddled with the trip computer and reset the MPG before setting off. Not scientific I know
Quick blast round the Bypass (sort of mini motorway) at speed. There is little lag at all, the engine remains distant although there is a gruff roar at higher RPM. No smoke visible on full chat and plenty of go uphills and at (ahem) speeds above 80. Performance is close to a VW 140 and it felt as good and more refined. Ave MPG read 41 at the other end of the bypass.
On the trip back a bit more ecodriving. The gearchange felt very nice. The engine will happily take the next gear on the flat at roughly 1K and holds a steady speed on a light throttle. I tried a bit of P&G and it works well on the G part - probably better if the big nose was blocked off more. Weight and momentum help here but the P bit seems to put no strain on the engine at all.
Wind and road noise were very well controlled for a smaller car, the ride was good but not perfect on some broken roadway surfaces. Handling not as good as a French car, say a Megane or C4, but as good as a Golf for most people. It rolled quite a bit (mind you I drive a hot hatch every day) but grips well - the dealer guy was happy to 'hard corner' it on a roundabout with confidence.
Ave MPG at the end of the journey was 51, and that was with only a little ecodriving effort (none at all on the way out).
So I would give it a 7/10 overall.
Would I buy one ? Possibly although not ever new. The best deal I could get was around 15K GBP for a new one with a trade in. Compare that to a dealer price in the states and look at the exchange rate and then explain to me why ? But Chevrolets as a brand is not strong and they lose so much value in the first year it is just not worth the risk. But the same is true of their main competition which is the Kia C'EED (aka Top Gear's new sensible priced car) and the Hyundai i30 which also comes as an estate.
Objectively it is as good as the established market players here (as is the Kia and Hyundai) but they have an image issue, so most people would go conventional and buy a Ford, GM*, Renault, Peugeot, Citroen, VW, Skoda, SEAT equivalent unless the deal you get is really super good.
Next test will be the i30 or the C'EED. But that will wait until after my hols.
*EDIT - Just for completeness, Chevrolet is not sold as the main GM brand here - that is Vauxhall (Opel in the rest of Europe) which sell very similar (in some cases identical) cars to Chevrolet. In other words they have to compete against themselves.