Used 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco 4dr Sedan (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M) Consumer Reviews
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If you need a commuter car, Run
medgeworth, Alpharetta, GA, 05/13/2011
Chevrolet Cruze Eco 4dr Sedan (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
27 of 28 people found this review helpful
I added the Edmunds id after I purchased the car, just so I could add my comments here. I got a new job that required a long commute. I was focused on the Elantra but they were not available for 20K with their popularity. I fell into the Cruze and was surprised by the ECO numbers. I Love the car. I drive in the fast lane, play in the corners and I still get 37MPG. Can't wait for a Road Trip. For the money and the cabin and the MPG - it's a deal Oh yea, i'm 6'4" 240, it fits fine with headroom.
Terrified for when the warranty runs out
Lee, Rosemount, MN, 05/10/2016
Chevrolet Cruze Eco 4dr Sedan (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
19 of 21 people found this review helpful
Purchased this car 3 years ago with 40,000 miles, now it's at 80,000. The experience has been miserable. When the car is running well, it can be a fun car to drive but it is still only a middle-of-the-road commuter with nothing noteworthy or outstanding. The shifting is notchy and the electric throttle leaves the revs hanging too high for too long to shift quickly. The 1.4T is very sluggish in low RPMs, especially accelerating from a stop. This becomes much more prominent in warm weather. I've driven manual vehicles my entire life and have still stalled this car several times, even in stop-and-go traffic, simply because there is no power to accelerate. GM states in the owner's manual that the car can run on 87 octane fuel, but from my experience anything above 70 degrees requires at least 89 octane. Even with conservative driving, freeway speeds (70mph) will return, at best, 32mpg. The only time I've come even close to 40mpg is on two-lane roads keeping to 60mph or below. This is very disappointing for the Eco trim. The steering is reasonably responsive but the electric power steering really does remove all feedback. In all, I would say the strongest feature is the exterior styling, which GM really nailed in my opinion. Reliability has been abysmal, unfortunately. In my time of ownership, the car has been serviced three times for climate control issues, including a recurring noise that involved the removal of the dash multiple times. The blend door also had to be replaced due to binding. The 1.4T (I'm not sure about the 1.8) has two PCV valves, one of which is built into the valve cover and is not removable without replacing the valve cover. This is a horrible setup, but I had it replaced under warranty. The plastic intake manifold was also replaced at this time as it was cracked, most likely due to excess pressure from the bad PCV valve. At around 70,000 miles the turbo had to be replaced due to a bad bypass valve that was preventing the turbo from building boost. At 75,000, I had to replace the water inlet valve because the plastic valves GM used tend to crack. I discovered this after I found a puddle of coolant in my garage. I am very worried about the experience after the warranty runs out this summer. I am constantly wondering what will break next or need addressing. There are numerous other small quality-control issues that I've just learned to live with over the years. I am currently about $4,000 underwater on the loan due to insane depreciation and a too-high initial purchase price (GM certified pre-owned, all Cruzes in our area were similar quality, mileage and price). I prefer to do all of my own work and, prior to owning this car, historically I have performed all of my own maintenance, large and small. GM has tried to make their new cars as difficult to work on as possible for the average shade-tree or indy mechanic so I suspect that once the warranty is up I will still be going back to the dealer every 6 months for a 4-figure repair. I cannot wait until the day this car is paid off. It will be going up for sale that same afternoon, provided it is still running by that point.
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I will never own another Chevy
Jane, 01/23/2021
Chevrolet Cruze Eco 4dr Sedan (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
This vehicle caused me nothing but problems, and Chevy's customer service will dismal at the best of times. I owned a 2011 Chevy Cruze Eco for just over three years and regretted my purchase frequently. Although I read some questionable reviews about this car before I bought it, I just assumed that overall the good would outweigh the bad. Unfortunately this was not even remotely true. Within 6 months of owning the car I noticed that when I idled my car smelled like burning oil. Took it in to get fixed, and they told me it was leaking from the crankshaft oil seal. Fixed that and went on my way thinking if that was the biggest of my problems I was laughing. About a year later I noticed that my RPM's were dropping extremely low while I was idling, to the point where I stalled my vehicle a few times sitting at red lights. Looked into it and it was an apparently very well known issue with the PCV valve which somehow has still not warranted a recall from Chevy. Your options for repair here are to either replace the entire intake manifold, or try out a handful of different aftermarket fixes. The problem with replacing the intake manifold itself (outside of the exorbitant cost associated with it) is that it doesn't actually solve the underlying problem which causes the mechanical failure in the first place, so the issue is bound to reoccur. I ended up going with an aftermarket fix that was relatively inexpensive, but very labour intensive. I moved on hoping I wouldn't find myself with any more issues, however about 8 months later, as I was driving on icy winter roads, my power brakes stopped working entirely. I was forced to quickly change lanes to avoid rear ending another vehicle and had to use my emergency break to come to a stop. At first I took my car to a local mechanic in town who was unable to diagnose the problem as my brakes had started working again, but I was later advised by the shop that they had discovered a recall existed for the 2011 Chevy Cruze for this power brake failure (an issue with the brake vacuum micro switch) and that I should contact the dealership. The dealership proceeded to test my car for the issue and diagnosed the problem as the same issue which warranted a recall on other 2011-2012 Chevy Cruze's with a turbo, however they told me that although there was a recall, it was only for the automatic, not manual, transmissions. I attempted to call Chevrolet Canada to see if they would help remedy the issue, and although I spoke with several supervisors I received absolutely no help or offers to see what could be done for this safety issue. The dealership kindly offered me a 15% discount on my quoted >$800 service for all my troubles. I had no sooner decided that I was going to get rid of this piece of garbage on wheels when my defrost broke in the middle of winter, requiring another pricey fix to get it into a position where I could sell it. The issue was the blend door actuator, yet another very common problem with these Chevy's, another safety issue, and another thing Chevy could not care less about. If it weren't for all the mechanical issues this car, I'm sure I would have loved it. The mileage you get from this car is amazing. It is roomy inside for the driver and front passenger and not terrible in the back for kids, although adults would probably find it a bit cramped. The car handles well in snow, although it is a bit light so sometimes if it's icy it is a bit more difficult to control but that is to be expected with a small car. Overall I had a terrible experience with this vehicle and an equally disappointing experience with Chevrolet Canada. I would not recommend this vehicle to anyone and have been actively dissuading any of the people I know from considering any Chevrolet vehicle.
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TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE THOUSAND MILES PLUS!
Love this car, Mendham, NJ, 07/21/2018
Chevrolet Cruze Eco 4dr Sedan (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
8 of 9 people found this review helpful
This car has been amazing and owes me nothing. Excellent handling on the road, excellent steering and the responsiveness is awesome. It handles like a small BMW I have driven. We have more than 245k miles on this car and it is still going strong! We maintain it and it has performed superbly well. We have put in two clutches and only 2 sets of brakes. Had a coolant issue that was not a major problem and other than that the car has been extremely reliable. We have used it to haul kids back and forth to college and have packed it full of stuff. I don't want to jinx it but it has never let us down. If you take care of this car it will last. It has saved us a ton of money on gas since we bought it. Can't thank Chevy enough for making such a reliable and fun to drive car!
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47.8 MPG on highway!
wi54545, Hudson, WI, 05/02/2011
Chevrolet Cruze Eco 4dr Sedan (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
8 of 9 people found this review helpful
We were looking for a car to replace my 1987 Mercedes 300TD diesel. My wife was driving our 2004 Suburban and averaging around 14 mpg mixed. It had to get good gas mileage, carry three kids, our luggage, and it had to be a manual transmission! We were interested in the new Focus (ugly even though I love Ford, no stick in upper trim levels) and Elantra (Alien looking and only stick in lower trim). We drove the ECO and fell in love with it's quietness, little turbo motor, and the slick shifting manual transmission. This car will be passed down to our kids in five years. The fact that they can't text and drive is priceless (manual)! On our first trip with 500 miles on it we got 47.8MPG