Cruze Diesel = 46 MPG Hwy

[WesternStarSCR]

So as far as you know, it is not going to offered manual, and not even with the "Eco"s mods of belly pans and active front grill shutters etc?

I had a "bit" higher hopes for the new GM to be more in tune and current with trends, and not lagging behind so much what would make sense.

They need to hire Dr. Spock as a logic consultant.

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by tjts1

And its not hard to beat the EPA rating with the gasoline engine either.

Agreed... look at my fuel log in my sig (Eco MT). This is with careful driving, but I'm still averaging above the HWY figure of 42 MPG. The combined rating of 33 MPG is the same as the Eco.

Originally Posted by WesternStarSCR

So as far as you know, it is not going to offered manual, and not even with the "Eco"s mods of belly pans and active front grill shutters etc?

The Cruze TD will have all of the Eco's toys, including the active shutters, belly pans, LRR tires etc. Some reports claimed the aero of the TD was even better than the Eco, but I have yet to see any details to back this up.

The TD will weigh more than the Eco. It is a loaded model with an automatic transmission, leather, even more sound deadening than a standard Cruze (the Eco has less), and a urea tank in the spare tire well. There's also no mention of special wheels, so I'm assuming the car has heavy cast wheels like the other Cruze models (the Eco has 17.8lb alcoa forged wheels, 17x7).

Originally Posted by tjts1

Nobody buys a $26000 cruze. In a couple of years after these cars languished on dealer lots with cash on the hood for months and months, GM is going to point at the diesel cruze and say "SEE? Americans don't want diesels and thats the end of that".

This is my fear as well. Very few people go looking to spend $26k on a Cruze, especially those who are looking for fuel savings... people who want a high tech "luxury car" are, unfortunately, not lining up at Chevy dealerships (yet).

My greatest fear is not that GM will give up on diesels, but that other manufacturers will based on GM's experiment. Let's face it; fuel efficiency is not the #1 concern of the average buyer in our markets. At $26k there are MUCH nicer cars available than a Cruze, especially since the Cruze TD LOOKS the same as a base model... they could have at least dressed it up a bit with the LTZ RS body bits to make it look a little better! It doesn't even have fog lights!

[ciderbarrel]

No MT is a huge deal breaker for me, even if I looked at one in the used market 3-5 years down the line.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Blue Angel

GM is benchmarking the price of the TDI Jetta. With an automatic transmission the Jetta TDI costs about $900 less than the Cruze TD; GM justifies the difference by including lots of additional features, like a leather interior.

The Cruze TD has two major flaws:

1. It is offered as a loaded line topping model only
2. It is not offered with a manual transmission

If they offered a TD option with manual transmission on the Cruze Eco for $1500 extra they would have a hit on their hands... it would cost appreciably less than the Jetta TDI and offer better fuel economy. Instead they have gone the BMW E90 335d route and made it the highest spec and most expensive model in the range.

It's almost like they don't want to sell them...

While GM is worse than VW in this regard, VW does it too. You can't buy a base model Jetta or Passat with a TDi. The TDi is based off the SE which has more options and then has a few others thrown in there too.

I suspect that they do this because the actual additional cost of a diesel that meets our stringent EPA requirements isn't recouped by the price of the diesel option alone. So, it gets packaged with other "options" to get the margins to acceptable levels.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by darcane

While GM is worse than VW in this regard, VW does it too. You can't buy a base model Jetta or Passat with a TDi. The TDi is based off the SE which has more options and then has a few others thrown in there too.

I'll take this opportunity to thead-jack since you sound knowledgeable...

I recently came to the conclusion that I need a Jetta Wagon TDI manual gearbox in the 2003 or similar model year. Was such a vehicle even offered in the US? I can't find any.

[gone-ot]

For a period of time, VW did not (could not) sell diesels in USA because they didn't meet the newly tightened EPA emission requirements. Look in the EPA Fuel Economy listings and you won't see ANY small VW diesels listed for certain years.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'll take this opportunity to thead-jack since you sound knowledgeable...

I recently came to the conclusion that I need a Jetta Wagon TDI manual gearbox in the 2003 or similar model year. Was such a vehicle even offered in the US? I can't find any.

Well, I won't claim any real expertise here. I'm actually somewhat anti-VW, but there are tons of them around this area.

Anywho, a quick search on ye ol' list of Craig found four near me:
2005 VW Jetta tdi wagon 5speed manual GLS diesel only 92k mi
VW TDI WAGON, 2003 5spd manual trans, Baltic Green w/Black interior
2005 VW Jetta Wagon tdi - Rare 5 speed manual - Inspected & Serviced -
2005 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI Wagon - 5 speed manual

So, looks like they are available. Funny, three of those are also in Portland Craigslist (local to you?).

[UFO]

If this diesel has a urea tank, perhaps it can be fueled with B100 unlike the new VWs. If that's the case, I will consider getting one because it is one of the only options to use 100% renewable fuel. I will never get another gasser, even a hybrid, but I am considering an all-electric.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by darcane

Well, I won't claim any real expertise here. I'm actually somewhat anti-VW, but there are tons of them around this area.

Anywho, a quick search on ye ol' list of Craig found four near me:
2005 VW Jetta tdi wagon 5speed manual GLS diesel only 92k mi
VW TDI WAGON, 2003 5spd manual trans, Baltic Green w/Black interior
2005 VW Jetta Wagon tdi - Rare 5 speed manual - Inspected & Serviced -
2005 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI Wagon - 5 speed manual

So, looks like they are available. Funny, three of those are also in Portland Craigslist (local to you?).

I'm almost as anti-VW as they come, but it's hard to pass on a 50 mpg oil burner with good interior room. Many of the Golf models are considered reliable cars by consumer reports, although the Jetta generally isn't for some reason.

Maybe I'm looking for a year 2002 or 2003 Mk4 TDI; one that doesn't have a lot of emission control devices and gets the best fuel economy. Fueleconomy.gov shows the '04 and later models getting 4 less mpg.

Portland is my market, so that is convenient, but Seattle is within the range I'm willing to travel. Besides, I haven't been to Sea-town since I was a kid.

As much as I dislike VW, I absolutely loath stealerships. I'm going to avoid them if at all possible, but sometimes that is the only option when looking for a rare vehicle. I still don't know why trading in vehicles is more popular than selling private party. All of my experiences have been very easy and pleasant. I made $1000 from purchasing an Outback, driving it for a month, and then selling it. I'd like to see someone pull that off with a dealer purchased vehicle.

I'm basically sold on either the TDI wagon, and old Subaru Legacy, a Corolla, or a 2nd gen Prius.

[PressEnter[]]

Good luck redpoint...have you started shopping around? If not, don't be surprised by high prices, especially in areas that don't use a lot of road salt.