[doomz78]

I always think of overall cost of operating a car and the initial price.

1. Size of tires. smaller the better. Cheaper to replace.

2. I live in Canada so the smaller tires have cheaper winter tires and rims.

3. Insurance is a consideration.

4. The difference in fuel cost between the cruze eco and my new car yearly is about": 300$ per year if you drive 20000 miles yearly like I do. So it would of taken 10 years of ownership of the cruze eco to pay off the difference. If everything else was equal. Which it isn't. 100$ more per new set of 4 tires for Eco. Ins would of been about 200$ more per year for Eco. So my conclusion is that in reality the Cruze Eco would of never paid for the difference in price even in 20 years of ownership. When you take into consideration The Insurance, tires, and extra initial cost. And lets not forget that you can't engine off coast the Cruze Eco. Engine off coasting will probably save me 200$ per year with my base model.

I will apply a grille block in the winter. As of now im a bit paranoid of overheating the engine. I assume you meant the upper grille??? Its over 30 degrees in ontario as of now. the engine temp was at 216 in the car yesterday according to scan gauge 2. it was 34 degrees however.
You are correct it is a massive grille.

Here is a comparison of both cars estimate of ownership cost bought with 0$ down and financed for 5 years. Here is the 1 year cost of ownership

Cruze Eco

4368$ car payments
2700$ Fuel (Factory number)
240$ extra insurance per year
20$ extra cost of tires divided by 5 years. (17 inch tires) vs base 16 inch
300$ oil changes and tire rotation estimate
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7628$ to own for 1 year while financed.

Cruze LS base..

3828$ car payments
3075$ fuel (factory number)
300$ oil changes and rotation
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7203$ per year while financed.
-200$ a year with engine off coasting
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7000$


So lets say for easy figuring 7600$ vs 7000$ per year while financed. Even if the financing was taken out of the equation the Cruze LS is still cheaper to own. With hypermiling techniques the Cruze LS is still 85$ a year cheaper to own when financing is not involved. And engine off coasting is taken into equation. The Cruze LS is the clear winner.

It would cost you 4000$ more to own the Eco over 10 years.

The fuel savings mean nothing at this point. And if you were comparing a hypemiler vs a regular person that gap would widen even more in the base models favour.

And this model could be applied to other cars like the focus vs the focus sfe. And when comparing 2 different cars from different classes. Auto or standard tran. When buying new or used these comparisons must always be done if on a budget like myself. I would rather spend that money on a good steak and beer or on my son or invest the money... Just my 2 cents. If my LS could have the Eco mods with 16inch tires that would be a hypermilers dream!!!! IMO