While helping a friend look for a new car I made sure to hope over to Consumer Guide for their comments and ratings. I was surprised by the car not getting a "Best Buy" rating because the score was so high. Upon closer review I found:

1. The Chevrolet Cruze showed an average of 29.2 mpg during the test cycle which gave it a score of 6, whereas the honda civic, which got 26.1 to 28.5 mpg, got a 7-8, and the mazda mazda3 which averaged 19.6 to 30.7 mpg got a 5-8.

2. The Chevrolet Cruze got a higher or equal overall score of 67-68 as compared to the honda civic (61-65), toyota corolla (55), mazda mazda3 (62-69), and VW Jetta (64-73) yet was not named a Best Buy like those vehicles.

I wonder how much more honda, mazda and VW had to pay for this to happen?

Hmmm..does the 'Best Buy' rating factor in price or value?

FromConsumer Guide

That's odd, cause usually CG (not to be confused with CR) loves GM.

I got an explanation from Consumer Guide over twitter after I sent them this thread.

@CheersnGears Excellent question. The BB is not strictly determined by our category points totals. The subject appraisal of our 10-man...

@CheersnGears comes into play as well. Cruze would have been a BB, but our experience with the odd trans behavior limited it to a Rec.

@CheersnGears Versa is a wonderful little car. No power, but refined ride, quietness and aggressive prices earn our BB.

@CheersnGears Elantra may yet earn BB or Rec. To date we have only had 1 ed. eval. the car. Policy is 4 of us must drive a car to qualify.

@cgautomotive thx 4 clarifying yr policy. Makes gr8 sense, but probly shld be posted more conspicuously so the reader knows why.

@CheersnGears Guys, thanks for asking. WIll look into clarifying. If it wasn't clear to you, it's probably not clear enough.

Just so you can understand the conversation. The name at the begining of the line is who the comment is address to.

Makes sense to me.

I got an explanation from Consumer Guide over twitter after I sent them this thread.

@CheersnGears Excellent question. The BB is not strictly determined by our category points totals. The subject appraisal of our 10-man...

@CheersnGears comes into play as well. Cruze would have been a BB, but our experience with the odd trans behavior limited it to a Rec.

@CheersnGears Versa is a wonderful little car. No power, but refined ride, quietness and aggressive prices earn our BB.

@CheersnGears Elantra may yet earn BB or Rec. To date we have only had 1 ed. eval. the car. Policy is 4 of us must drive a car to qualify.

@cgautomotive thx 4 clarifying yr policy. Makes gr8 sense, but probly shld be posted more conspicuously so the reader knows why.

@CheersnGears Guys, thanks for asking. WIll look into clarifying. If it wasn't clear to you, it's probably not clear enough.

Just so you can understand the conversation. The name at the begining of the line is who the comment is address to.

Makes sense to me.

I just read their report on the Cruze, and nowhere was odd trans behavior mentioned (that I could see).

Trans is going to be the smoking gun, I see....

Versa is garbage, and once optioned up, not a very good buy. Those guys are hacks.

I wonder which Cruze they drove. I drove the first one my dealer got in and it had some weird shifting habits, but the ones I've driven recently didn't. I wonder if they have fixed the trans and CG drove one that wasn't fixed/updated.

This still does not explain the gas mileage ratings.

My example: VW Golf vs Cruze

They show 25.8-27.6 mpg average when testing the Golf gas engine giving it a score of 7. The Cruze shows they got 29.2 mpg and it got a 6.

For the record, the Golf gets 24 mpg city and 31 mpg highway as noted by the EPA, compared the Cruze at 24 mpg city and 36 mpg highway.

The Hyundai was given an 8 without any testing. This can be considered fair, as the EPA ratings are impressive at 29 mpg city and 40 mpg highway.

Edited January 1, 201115 yr by Dsuupr

One editing error note for the group. They post that the civic is a Best Buy within the category for 2011, but do not show it as a Best Buy when viewing the rating of the actual car.

This still does not explain the gas mileage ratings.

My example: VW Golf vs Cruze

They show 25.8-27.6 mpg average when testing the Golf gas engine giving it a score of 7. The Cruze shows they got 29.2 mpg and it got a 6.

For the record, the Golf gets 24 mpg city and 31 mpg highway as noted by the EPA, compared the Cruze at 24 mpg city and 36 mpg highway.

maybe the score is from the combined...or avg. cruze's = 30 avg. so it almost made that...?

golf's =27.5. they actually got over than in a test. seems to make more sense now, right?

I wonder which Cruze they drove. I drove the first one my dealer got in and it had some weird shifting habits, but the ones I've driven recently didn't. I wonder if they have fixed the trans and CG drove one that wasn't fixed/updated.

As typical, there was an updated TSB issued regarding a new trans flash, applied to later production vehicles and available for update on any earlier Cruze's owners bring in commenting on odd shifting. Essentially, just like with every new GM vehicle and 6-spd, guaranteed to happen/expect. Edmunds has been talking about it on their long term Cruze LTZ they purchased.

I took another cruze out today, an LTZ, i just added my notes to my cruze test under reviews, but it must have been an older one because it still had the transmission BS going on. I sure hope they fix it soon. I believe they will figure it out.....

eventually......(like 2013)

Edited January 2, 201115 yr by regfootball

I sent a note to Consumer Guide pointing out your questions in this thread.

And I sent a note to the GM fleet provider to find out if the TSB has been applied to the Cruze being delivered on Thursday,.

Hey Folks,

Thanks for the questions about Consumer Guide.

Here's the deal on the Cruze fuel economy rating of 6.

In the text you'll see that the vehicle we achieved 29 mpg with was an LS. The LS comes only with the normally-aspirated 1.8.

The vehicles we rate--at the moment-- are an LT and LTZ, those come with the turbo 1.4.

We will be adding a full column for the LS next week.

The 6 for the LS and LTZ are based on EPA numbers until such time that we have sufficient in-office mileage.

We should not have listed the LS FE until we had all the ratings for one in place, though.

...

Note: We have driven the LS before and after the trans-programming update. Our experience is that it made little difference in shift behavior; we still think it acts a little weird.

-Tom

([email protected])

Edited January 2, 201115 yr by Consumer Guide Automotive

Hey Folks,

Thanks for the questions about Consumer Guide.

Here's the deal on the Cruze fuel economy rating of 6.

In the text you'll see that the vehicle we achieved 29 mpg with was an LS. The LS comes only with the normally-aspirated 1.8.

The vehicles we rate--at the moment-- are an LT and LTZ, those come with the turbo 1.4.

We will be adding a full column for the LS next week.

The 6 for the LS and LTZ are based on EPA numbers until such time that we have sufficient in-office mileage.

We should not have listed the LS FE until we had all the ratings for one in place, though.

...

Note: We have driven the LS before and after the trans-programming update. Our experience is that it made little difference in shift behavior; we still think it acts a little weird.

-Tom

([email protected])

Thanks for taking the time to reply, but I think what we find most interesting and of note is why the Cruze receives a 6 while a lower-mileage competitor vehicle in the same class received a higher score.

I think Tom is saying that it was an error on their part.

We should not have listed the LS FE until we had all the ratings for one in place, though.

Indeed.

Thanks Tom!

Any chance of the Cruze getting a Best Buy rating if the transmission issue was taken care of, especially since the score was so high?

CG taking the time out to personally address questions is very commendable!

Thanks Tom!

Any chance of the Cruze getting a Best Buy rating if the transmission issue was taken care of, especially since the score was so high?

Yes. Good chance. The pricing is a little North of thrifty, but transmission aside, Cruze is exceptionally refined.

I find it curious that Chevy effed up the powertrain programming on both the LS and the LT/Z.

Did they really have no time or take no effort or were they simply given the mandate to squeeze an extra 1 mpg outta the rabbit?

I can't wait to drive the Eco because i think it will actually be pretty zippy with that growly turbo.

29 mpg with an LS is not bad real world considering how heavy the car is. But I bet its slower than molasses.

Edited January 3, 201115 yr by regfootball