Gen 3 Prius vs '12 Cruze Eco
 

2012 Chevrolet Cruze
$9,966
http://atcm.co/S2PVDP/18bfed86

2010 Toyota Prius
$8,799
http://atcm.co/S2PVDP/18976f61

Or keep the cts?



110 miles per day. I will save money with either one.

Vote is in. Have you considered trading the CTS in to lower the cost of whichever vehicle you get, if you do get one?

Yes, i would be trading in. I have student loan payments coming out soon and i can pay between 25 and 40% of the payment with the amount i will save.

You'll get about the same mpg hwy either way, so I say go with the funner vehicle

Good deal, that will decrease the price some.

The Prius is more geeky, therefore more funner :D

I don't think a Eco Cruze can touch a Prius in highway FE... Especially with a few aero mods.

Its a real toss up. Between payment and fuel i would save about an extra $40/mo. But the cruze would be more fun with the 6 speed.

My commute is about 40 miles straight highway with only 3 stops that i miss about 50% of the time and then another 15 miles at roughly 40mph limit with mostly roundabouts.

64.4mpg over 10,000 miles...
Chevrolet Cruze Eco sets 64.42 average MPG record - Torque News

64.4 MPG is good, but it's in the hands of (44) world record holding hypermilers.

I'm a hard core manual only driver, but the Prius has enough engagement for the hypermiler that you won't really miss it. I don't love the Prius, but it is ridiculously reliable and well built. I don't think any one can say that about anything GM.

At the same time, if you enjoy your current car and it's reliable you should probably keep it. A used car is always a gamble, so much so that I'll never buy used again unless it's Japanese.

I'd keep the Caddy and put a belly pan on it. That'll be a pretty big gain right there. Also go to the Amsoil low viscosity atf which will be a huge difference. Just do a drop and fill - no need for a flush. You'll notice a massive difference in how it coasts...

Cruze is okay and economical to maintain. Prius will hold its value better.

Save the environment by consuming less (including cars)

Plus the inside of the Caddy will be incomparable to either the Cruze or the Prius...

The Cruze has a lot fewer miles. The hybrid parts of the Prius are a wild card. If you are able to DIY and have a spare car to drive while fixing it, there's nothing to worry about. Make no mistake, they are reliable, but if something does break, it can cost you. The Cruze has less that can go wrong with it in theory, but their long term reliability isn't as well explored as the Prius. There's also the sedan vs hatchback aspect, I'm partial to hatches and wagons if you want a vehicle that can almost double as an almost-truck.

Really kind of a toss up. I would test drive both and go with whichever one you like more.

The cts has a fairly low front air dam, a pan would still help but not more than 3-5%. Transmission was flushed and filled along with a filter at 100k. Im very sad to be giving up power, leather, heated, memory seats... heated mostly now that it is winter.

Cruise is regarded as a lemon in Australia at least...

Dogs & Lemons: The Top 10 New Cars You Should Definitely Not Buy

Also on their list "All Sub-$100k BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes & Audis"

When in doubt, choose the vehicle with fewer miles. Or keep the Cadillac (you will miss it).
That site is painful to the eyes. Also, the Malibu isn't a Daewoo product.

Prius purely on MPGs, Cruze on fun factor, CTS lux+you own it.

Over all, I might opt for the Cruze. And a heated hoodie. =)

The 2016 Prius is off the charts.

I've owned both and the PRIUS is definitely a better FE vehicle. Only the *manual* Cruze Eco model gets decent milage, the 6-speed automatic definitely had problems in the 2011 vehicles.

Well the prius in the link sold before i got there and the cruze had a smell of something aweful i couldn't figure out. I then drove 2 hours to lafayette to find out they wanted to offer me 6500 for my cts...

Im now home and going to order a pizza and drink some beer.

Excellent choice (pizza & beer)!

Pizza and Beer, a far smarter investment than a Cruze:

Holden Cruze Reviews - ProductReview.com.au

One of the lowest rated on the site, along with complete time bombs like Minis and TFSI engined anythings.

Of the 200+ reviews, only fourty gave their Curze a 5 star rating, but more worryingly, 100 gave their car only 1 star. I'd hope US cars are MUCH better than the ones we get...

I drove 200 miles on just 1 beer today. Pretty good MPG I'd say.

I think i have settled on the prius. Just need to find the right one.

Thanks everyone

The only 5 problems with my 2011 cruze automatic are:
1- horrible entertainment system (buttons not working well). Can be changed with a $500 linux one.
2- tardy transmission (can be solved by shifting manually)
3- low performance over 95F ($500 intercooler replacement solves this).
4- exhaust heat radiating through the bottom center (not a problem in cold environments).
5- lousy AC (keeps up to about 85F. If outside is hotter than 95F, it gets uncomfortably hot inside no matter how you point or set the ac and fan)

Mpg wise I also get 34mpg avg, and 55mpg at 55mph.

Sounds like you had better luck than we did with our 2011 Cruze LTZ. Our specific "headache" problems:

1) Transmission randomly "stalled" engine when making tight lefthand corners, such as "U-turn" at intersection...GM couldn't/wouldn't "fix" anything, even though the 2012 transmission 'mysteriously' got a new/different shift-body calibration.
2) The cabin often reeked of antifreeze for no (apparent) reason.
3) The thermostat housing leaked like a sieve...GM repaired it once, but did nothing when the replacement housing/gasket began leaking (but, PEP Boys could fix the problem!!!)
4) The vehicle NEVER got above 32 mpg (and I'm a quasi-hypermiler!).
5) The Z-bar rear axle linkage "clunked" but GM claimed it's normal.
6) The A/C would suddenly quit while driving for no apparent reason; not good when it's 100F+ outside! GM couldn't/wouldn't fix.

GM is no longer on our shopping list for ANY vehicle.

Glad I have an xfe cobalt, 52mpg last tank and no components to break

(At times I wish I waited but now I guess I made the right choice)

Well since this was revived, I'll chime in with an update.

I kept the cts, 145k miles now trouble free since i bought it at 88k. Some lady rear ended me last month, it was totaled, and i bought it back. So once the paperwork falls i pay the salvage value and get to drive my dream car for $0 monthly payment.

1- never ever had to deal with that, or noticed
2- The coolant smell issue was fixed under my transmission warranty, so I didn't need to pay a penny.
3- I don't even know what you're talking about.
4- i never had it under 34mpg, and used to have 38mpg avg over 3000 miles when we still had a BP station around the corner (bp premium gasoline had 10% better performance. It would read 70mpg at below 40mph in 6th gear.
5- again, not sure what you mean. Never had it on mine.
6- my ac always works, but the compressor is the same one as the sonic and the spark. For the spark it cools too much, for the sonic it works well, for the cruze it can hardly keep up.

...and THAT is WHY some people have LEMONS and others have LEMONADES.