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Just wanted to let all yall know my experience trying to just get a price on a 2011 cruze eco!

I spent all of 2 days at the chevy dealer that I originally went to order a new cruze eco. First, they could not give me a price because there are none to get a price on and they will not get me a price unless they know from GM that one will become available. They tried to get me to buy a regular cruze with auto that only gets 36 mpgs. I refused. Then they told me to come back the following day which I did just to hear that they absolutely cannot get the car and they absolutely will not get me a price. They said a ballpark price is $18,000 to $21,000. I told them that is not sufficient and asked them if they were trying to get me to buy a Ford or Hyundai. They did not even deny it they were silent. The inventory manager told me only 170 were to be built all together by the end of 2010. He also said he checked and there is a shortage of some specific part that only the eco needs. He said he would notify me probably in the near future of the availibility of the 2011 Cruze Eco. I told them i was going to test drive a new 2011 Hyundai Elantra today and they did not seem to care. I did test drive a regular Cruze 1LT with auto it rode nice and was very quiet and tight handling. You could not hear any rode noise. I mean 0% or motor noise 0%. There is 1 glaring problem with the 2011 Cruze auto/turbo 1.4L. The transmission shifts very hard and the rpm's are around 3000 when the car will shift! I could not make it shift any sooner and neither could the salesman! THE 2011 CRUZE AUTO WITH 1.4L TURBO CANNOT GET ANY CITY MPG'S BECAUSE OF THAT HORRIBLE 6 SPEED AUTO TRANSMISSION THAT SHIFTS LIKE A 1978 TRANSAM WITH A TURBO 400 TRANNY AND A SHIFT KIT! The tranny sux! p.s. I then went to the Hyundai dealer just down the road and drove 2011 Hyundai Elantra Auto. It was not as quiet as the 2011 Cruze and not quite as sporty handling but it was a much smoother car at 60 mph on interstate the rpm's ran at about 1900. It shifted very easy and effortless. It looked somewhat better and suprisingly had more room in rear seat. The trunk had plenty storage and the base 2011 Elantra GLS with only floor mats and ipod cable was msrp of $17,950.00. I spoke with the saleman and he came down to $17,500.00 on first visit. I can probably get the car for $17,400.00 pretty easy and get 3.9% financing. I told him it wasn't if I was going to deal its when. Probably middle january when he said I could probably get .9% financing!

Where was this dealer?

Gotta clear out the Cobalt's

I believe thud is just an availability issue vs trying to move older cars. The newer cars usually help to bolster end of year sales. This is just what I've come to expect of GM. I cannot honestly say that I am surprised.

[QUOTE=msirach;292066]Where was this dealer?[/


the chevy dealer is in meridian,ms

the hyundai dealer is john oneil johnson in meridian,ms

I believe the release date for the Eco is January 2011 and the slated price is $18,895.

It's a bummer that they were less than honest with you. I would search out another dealer or make online inquiries.

Unless you plan on getting a Cruze with a stick, the Eco with automatic isn't that far ahead of the LT/LTZ version. It does better around town, but highway mpg is only 1 higher. The Elantra is rated at 29/40 whether you get the stick or the automatic, whether you get the GLS or the Limited. While the Cruze Eco 6MT has less sound insulation, no navi or moonroof available, no Watts link on the rear axle, and no rear armrest, the Elantra Limited with premium package offers navigation, moonroof, heated leather seats (front and rear), and a 6AT for less than the price of a Cruze 2LT with nav and moonroof, and 29/40 on the EPA sticker.

The parts issue could be a real limitation - meaning the dealer isn't fibbing too much. The Eco uses some Volt parts, and some unique components of its own, like the air shutter in the front bumper.

Even if the parts availability changes, you won't find too many 6MT versions with that 42mpg rating. I just scanned dealer inventory in my area. Out of 50 Cruze LS cars in the list, only one is a stick. The other 49 are automatics. There is little reason to suspect that the Eco numbers would be much different. They will advertise 42mpg, but any Eco stock within 100 miles of home will be 6AT cars with the 37mpg number on the sticker.

The GM transmissions are adaptive, and the shift behavior you're describing suggests the last few test drivers beat the heck out of it. Drive it for a few trips and it starts to act more "normal". The Hyundai transmissions are also adaptive, but the Elantra you tested probably wasn't beat up so bad during the test drives.

Periods, punctuation, and capitalization really make a posting a lot more readable.

I will admitt that as far as handling goes the CRUZE beats the hyundai. The CRUZE also wins in the quiet ride category and interior noise is nonexistant. The transmission was the big problem with the Cruze! The version of the CRUZE i drove was 4 mpg's less than the hyundai and the price of the hyundai was about $1000.00 less on msrp for the same equipped car! In my opinion the hyundai looks better but that's also close! At 60mph on interstate the hyundai ran between 1900-1950 rpm's while the chevy cruze ran between 2250-2300 rpms! the reason that was important to me was that 90% of my driving is interstate between 55-60mph!

The higher rpm on the Cruze is offset by the smaller engine displacement, so you can't compare directly between the two.

If 90% of your driving is 55-60, and you want/need an automatic, the only current option is the 2011 Elantra. Depending on the time frame for buying, the 2012 Focus is coming soon and will offer a hatchback body style along with a projected 40mpg. If you want a 40mpg Hyundai with a hatch, wait until about a month from now because one is on the way and is scheduled to be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show.

If your budget allows up to about $21k, I am seeing that Toyota retailers are making deals on the Prius, including 0% financing. The Prius is rated 20% higher on highway mpg than the Elantra. And in traffic or around town, it just gets better. When I saw the Cruze Eco at the NY Auto Show back in March, advertised as "hybrid mileage without the hybrid price", I figured it'd be an inxpensive car. The sticker on a Cruze Eco with automatic and connectivity pkg (to be equipped like a Prius Pkg2) is $20345. The Prius is moving off lots for around $21-22k. Add in the fuel savings over the life of the loan and the Prius wins.

Depending on the time frame for buying, the 2012 Focus is coming soon and will offer a hatchback body style along with a projected 40mpg. If you want a 40mpg Hyundai with a hatch, wait until about a month from now because one is on the way and is scheduled to be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show.
Both excellent news items!

palemaleasian, how and what car was you driving when you pulled off 1133 miles on a tank of gas? how much fuel will your tank hold? is your car heavily modified? wow dude your are in waynes class!!!

palemaleasian, how and what car was you driving when you pulled off 1133 miles on a tank of gas? how much fuel will your tank hold? is your car heavily modified? wow dude your are in waynes class!!!

Honda Civic DX sedan: The biggest mod is driving style. He has a grill block.

Mike got it right - driving style. It's an "11.9" gallon tank, I got 13.8 that time from sputtering dry to topped off.

Most of what I do is outlined in Beating the EPA (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510), especially the Pulse & Glide part. I don't ever NOT p&g.

Hi Joe; From what you have described, I would wait about 1 month, then do a nationwide search and locate a Cruze Eco 6MT, fly to that city and make your best deal. I've studied everything I can about this vehicle; for your highway driving I believe it has super potential if tires are aired up and it's driven steady & smooth at 55 mph.

I ran an inventory search within 999 miles of zip code 39301, and the closest Eco 6MT is in Altavista, VA. There is also one in Nashville, IL, one in Manheim, PA, three in Wisconsin and two in Minnesota. All the others are automatics. To be fair, it's not officially on sale yet. But there are some out there already.

I bet the Prius would also win on reliability and resale value.. no AT to break or clutch to wear out. I believe Cruze Eco does not have a watts link in the rear suspension, apparently it was deleted to save weight, this is not a sports car anyways.

The Eco doesn't have the Watts link (the "Z-Link", in GM advertising), but the only difference is in ride isolation. Removing that "track bar" means they need to use stiffer trailing arm bushings, which allows more noise from the rear axle to intrude into the passenger area. Adding a Watts link means they can soften the trailing arm bushings and get a more isolated ride. Handling is a non-issue, since the LRR FuelMax tires will scream and give up their grip before the rear axle squirms enough to make a difference in chassis composure.

The Volt also omits the Watts link, and uses more aluminum in the suspension, and those Volt parts are what they use on the Eco.

bad news, i was looking at this car and the sonata hybrid, but if it will be that limited maybe the ltz is a better option for me...

This past week was at some chevy dealers and was really surprised by the pricing. Higher than US prices are normal here but $24,000 for the LS model and $37,000 for the LTZ are really too much. Specially the LTZ, MSRP of $22,000 maybe $23,000, more than $30,000 is overpaying. Now i'm really afraid of the cost of the Sonata Hybrid, not known by the dealers 3 weeks ago, but they were expecting it to be over $30,000.

It is Hyundai's first step in the hybrid market. I expect them to stay with the Sonata sales momentum and just put a small price on the hybrid. They can win a lot of customers if they price it right. The vice-president Chung said said at NAIAS that they want to make their cars more affordable so that more Americans can afford to own them.

True, but down here dealers always try to get the most they can out of every car bu.....ting you around. The Cruze is a direct competiton for the corolla, focus, etc and the salesman was trying to get me to believe that the Cruze is in the league of the "low-end" Lexus, BMW and Mercedes. Maybe $37,000 is fair for a Sonata H but for Cruze it is too much. The MSRP for a Volt: $62,000-$65,000.. for less than tat i can get a base Corvette...