thaicruze

This weekend, the Chevrolet Cruze got a very positive review in the New York Times. In both build quality and interior styling, it was compared most favorably to the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. Can anyone confirm that the Cruze model that was reviewed and is sold in North America is substantially the same model that is sold by GM here in Thailand.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/automobiles/autoreviews/chevrolet-cruze-review.html

Also, anyone bought one and care to comment on their purchase?

As you know I bought one and I agree with the New York Times when they say

New York Times

On the road, the Chevy feels terrifically solid and composed, like a midsize sedan in a smaller wrapper. Its interior tops both the Honda and Toyota with its pleasing design, good-quality materials and precise workmanship.

That has been pretty much my experience so far. Solid, quiet, composed and the interior TRUMPS anything out there now.

^

I answered that already.

I'll try again.

I had a great experience with my Honda City. I was a happy Honda user for almost 7 years. The car was cheap and small so we wanted to upgrade to something better, more comfortable and bigger. Our initial plan was to get a Civic. It was the logical upgrade. Then, one day, they brought the Captiva and the CRUZE to a mall we frequent. We checked out the CRUZE and were amazed that it was priced the same as the Civic but the interior and overall quality seemed 100 times superior to the Civic. Civic felt cheap in comparison. But the real test comes from driving them. So, I went on the net to find out what a Chevy CRUZE was.

We took one day and made one appointment at our local Honda for a Civic test drive and one at the Chevy dealer.

After test driving them both, we were sold on the CRUZE. It had the quietest drive, more comfort and the cabin felt light years ahead of the civic. All premium nice solid built materials.

That's how we switched.

The opinion that matters is MINE. It really doesn't matter what JD powers says. As I've posted before, many will contradict everything in JD powers. So, who do you trust?

Between JD Power and you, JD Power, most definitely..

Actually, between a barking dog and you, I'd take the barking dog's opinion first.

Missing the point again I see.

The opinion that matters to ME is MINE.

The opinion that should matter to you are the opinions of the 140,000 people who have a CRUZE and keep going month after month to get one.

Chevrolet Cruze Remains Best Selling Compact Car in U.S.

DETROIT – For the fourth month in a row, the Chevrolet Cruze is the best-selling compact car in the United States, recording a total of 21,807 sales in August. It is also the fifth-consecutive month of Cruze sales exceeding 20,000 units.

Calendar year to date, Chevrolet has sold a total of 169,427 Cruzes. Due to sustained customer demand, Chevrolet dealers have about a 30-day supply of Cruze sedans, roughly half the industry average.

“The Cruze has been a great success story for Chevrolet,” said Alan Batey, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Sales and Service. “In less than a year, the Cruze has become one of the most-popular cars on the market, and it is successfully bringing new customers to Chevrolet showrooms.”

The Cruze contributed to Chevrolet’s overall growth in August, when the brand sold a total of 152,779 vehicles, an increase of 16 percent over the same month a year ago. Much of that growth has been fueled by car sales, which increased 22 percent over last August.

It's amazing how people go in droves month after month to buy such a shitty car

Amazing.

The opinion that matters is MINE. It really doesn't matter what JD powers says. As I've posted before, many will contradict everything in JD powers. So, who do you trust? Why do some say it is shit and some say the CRUZE is one of the best I its class and goes on to outsell the Toyota Corolla?

How come such a shit car is the best selling in the USA?

Again, answer is, you go drive one yourself.

For what it's worth, the Cruze gets a pretty rough going-over and and overall negative review in the current Pattaya Trader magazine. The basic theme being it's over-priced for what one gets, the petrol engines are under-powered, tinny and poor-handling ride, and likely poor resale value compared to Japanese and Euro competitors. It does score well in basic safety and powerful air-conditioning.

You've never driven one I guess. Seems to be the going trend on here. The point I made was, I've quoted and cited plenty of professional reviews on the CRUZE where the car gets glowing reviews. The exact opposite of what you just said. How is that possible on the same car?

Basically, you have to drive one and be honest about it and not troll. Anyone who describes the CRUZE as being "tinny" has never been inside of one. The car is solid as a rock. If you talk about tinny, that would be the Civic.

Well. Over a month now and I love the car. We went on a long trip to another province. Ride was smooth, quiet and well, just a really nice car to drive.

As far as the price, as I said, it's the same as the Civic and you get a much higher quality car.

3,000KM now. The car has been a joy to drive.

I would wait for the new Chevy AVEO CNG.

Looks nice, but surely won't hold its value like the TOYOTA after 5 years.

All cars here pretty much hold their value.

I would wait for the new Chevy AVEO CNG.

My future son inlaw has a new current model Chevy Aveo CNG, says it's crap, when he can he is getting rid of it.

There's a poster here who has one and loves it. Forgot his name. Matter of opinion I guess.

I would wait for the new Chevy AVEO CNG.

Under 300,000 baht

1986 Nissan March

130,000 baht. A crap box

You can find out by going out and taking a taxi anywhere. Most of them are the 1.6CNG. Ask the driver how he likes it.

I'd stick with local made cars, Brio or March.

I own a March and love it top of the line with push-start, took a look at the Brio a few weeks back and wasn't too impressed. Though I did not get to test drive the Brio. I'm guessing the Brio's engine would be smoother, being it's a 4 cylinder. The March is a 3 cylinder and it can get quite noisy if you rev the engine a lot. It's an eco car and if you rev the engine a lot then you bought the wrong type of car... I did scare the living shit out of a Porsche owner when I tried to race him from the red light... of course I won the race.

My last oil change and check up costed around 900 baht, every 10k or 6 months. I'm getting double the fuel economy compared to my CRV, which I drive on rare occasions. I live in Bangkok, so I really like how nimble it is.

I voted for the March too. Brio is crap.

my City is E20 - so presumably it's already been modified to cope with ethanol

Honda City's have been able to do ethanol forever. It's called Gasohol 91 (this is E10). Most cars here can do Gasohol 91, unless you have a high performance vehicle that only takes 95 regular.

If my car was Gasohol 95-E20 compatible, I would save 71 baht when filling up. Not a biggy.

why aren't more performance cars running this type of fuel seeing as it's cheaper and delivers more power?

Because the engines aren't E85 compatible.

Honda finally decides to give people something competitive.

i have a fortuner and a pajero........

the fortuner is better

I ate a piece of bark and the sole of a shoe. The bark was better.

Seriously. Comfort with cheap but overpriced SUVs? An oxymoron

A mitsubishi, Toyota or Honda truck for $45,000? That's good value? You could get a Lexus for that.

I currently have 2005 Honda CRV which has been a great car, I also had one in Sydney when I was there and never had a problem with it apart from the normal wear and tear. If anyone was looking to buy a second hand car I would highly recommend getting one, My wife bought it as new and with a little care it has lasted.

But now we want an upgrade, we want to get a Toyota Fortuner. I drive to work everyday and drive through bumpy roads, love going on road trips and I think it would handle it better than the CRV. I have a friend who has one and he loves it, but would like to know from other people who has one, any common problems? etc. I test drove my mates one and loved it.

So whats the fuel consumtion like?

Any known faults?

Anything else would be nice regarding advice.

If it's comfort you want, why would you get a Fortuner? It's a pick up truck with seats in the back.

Get a nice full size sedan.

There is a guarantor insurance you pay for. It covers the guarantor up to 400,000 baht.

I forgot to put this one here

2012 Honda Accord

From consumer reports. ROAD NOISE gets annoying (Cruze is way quieter for less)

and look at how badly it handles. It knocked out all those cones. Cruze even handles better. for less.

Accord - another pile of shit from Honda.

Wow, great post! Can you do us all a favor and put up the videos of them putting air in the tires and fuel in the tank of your new ride? Is it done the same as in an much inferior Honda or Toyota? They must have a better way, right????

Wow.

You= get a life.

For most people, behind purchase of a home, a car is the most expensive thing they will ever buy. For me, that's what makes it different from a washing machine or a refrigerator, which when i buy, i write off the money spent. With a car, it's level of depreciation will to a degree, determine the money i have available for the next buy.

Car manufacturers producing cars that become virtually worthless after a few years must love it when customers like you come through the door.

Point is, in the end, if you keep cars 10 or more years they're ALL worthless. Especially in Thailand, it's really hard to get less than 200,000 for a used car, unless it's a really bad super old crappy tin can. As I've said before, they gave us 190,000 baht for our 15 year old Accord. That's pretty much the bottom you'll get regardless. 200,000 is good for a down payment. My City was only 6 1/2 years so I got 300,000, but if I had waited to 10+ years it would've been much less.

I agree with FarangBuddah. Why buy a crap Civic when the Chevy Cruze will give you a much better ride, comfort and feeling during its lifetime? Seems like you are one of those people who will get the plastic tin can Civic just because it has a high resale value here and you buy cars every 4 years.

Any comments about the Cruze's resale value in 4-5 years is complete speculation since it is a brand new car. You have no idea what will happen in the next 5 years.

The Cruze's superior handling is very apparent, for example, avoiding obstacles. The Civic moves side to side and you feel like you're inside a washing machine. The Cruze stays planted and solid. The ESP works perfectly. I'm getting a much better and safer driving experience, 4 year resale value be damned.

Not to mention, when you open up the hood of a Civic, they still have those 1980's batteries that you have to open and fill in battery fluid. Jesus.

Not to mention, when you open the hood it feels like you're opening a can. The hood is thin and light. The same with the doors. They are light, thin, tin can feel and they don't even open and close smoothly. If you get hit from the side, you're dead. The Cruze's doors are heavy like a truck, and open and close very smoothly. Feels safe, solid, quality, complete opposite of the Civic.

The Civic inside is cheap thin plastic and the cloth is that 80's toyota tercel cloth. Everything about it is shit. But, GREAT resale value!

Very strange thing, it's like Chevy suddenly remembered how to design a car that doesn't look like crap. That actually looks pretty nice. Even the Captiva has improved, at least on the front where it got some Cruze elements. And surprise, people buy it!

Interesting to hear it's good inside too. Now if they get the quality right then it should be a winner for years to come. Quality being a bit of a sore point for GM cars, at least historically.

One thing to remember is that GM, at least as you knew it, is dead. That GM or General Motors Corporation is now called Motors Liquidation Company.

The GM that made the Cruze and all the other models coming out is General Motors Company, technically a new GM. That's why the cars seem so radically improved. The New GM also killed many brands, including Daewoo. Someone here said the Cruze is just a Daewoo. No. It's a Chevy Cruze. In Australia is a Holden Cruze. Daewoo is one of the many that are no longer living. GM has GM Korea.

They've re-badged it, you fool!

GM are producing new cars like the Volt and Sonic but the Cruze isn't one of them.

Yes. That's what I said. Daewoo is no more. The Cruze has been sold (current model) in Korea as the Lacetti. But the fact remains, Daewoo is currently dead. GM Korea makes and designs many cars. If demand grows for the Volt, where do you think they will build it? And where do you think the batteries for the Volt come from?

Also, you show your ignorance by saying the Chevy Cruze is NOT one of the "new vehicles produced by the new GM" but that the Volt is.

Let me educate you. GM new models, present and upcoming models (that means models that aren't out yet such as the Orlando, new Malibu, etc) are all based on their new Platform which at the NEW GM is called "DELTAII", also known as Global Compact Vehicle Architecture. It replaces the old T and J platforms.

Cars produced by GM under the NEW Delta II platform are

Chevrolet Cruze

Opel Astra

Buick Excelle XT/GT

Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Orlando

Buick Verano

Opel Ampera

Opel Zafira

Among others.

To say the only real Chevy is the one built in the USA is ridiculous. Very few things nowadays are built in the USA. The Chevy Cruze is also built in the USA. It's the same car. Nobody here implied it was somehow a better car, but it's the same one sans the 10 airbags. Name me 1 car in Thailand that comes with 10 airbags.

When someone in the USA walks into a Chevy dealer and buys a Colorado, where do you think that Colorado was built?

GM is a global company. They build cars all over the world. The cars are the same (structurally the same car), but they do tweak them to fit the market. The Cruze in Australia for example has a stuffer suspension. In Thailand, like the Civic, it comes with 4 airbags and it doesn't have the option of a 1.4L turbo, but the car itself, whether it's built in the USA, or Thailand, Korea or Brazil or Russia or India or China, is the same car.

Just coming here to lunch.

BTW, Chevys as taxis are no news. Some companies use Optra. The Cruze replaces the Optra. But no, the Cruze won't become Thailand's Taxi. Just like this Tida I just saw 10 minutes ago won't either.

It's always the guys who hate, the ones who can't afford to get a new car. I think we know who they are

Generally the Non Totyota cars mentioned are used by Hotels or Airlines. I had a new BM7 series Taxi. of Korean Airlines take me to my Hotell. Not as quiet as a Cruze, but what is.

Are you saying that all those Nissan Sunnys and the Lancers were all just special hotel taxis?