If your budget is around 6 lakhs, go for a well maintained Vento/Jetta/Octavia if driving pleasure is what you seek. If reliability and comfort comes first, go for a City/Corolla.
BHPian Sowgandh.Bellam recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
This is my first post on teamBHP. I wanted it to be an ownership review of our cars but looking at your predicament I couldn’t stop myself from posting. Mainly because I purchased a 2009 model Cruze LTZ in July 2021 for 4 Lakhs. Yes I paid a fair bit more for a car that is 12 years old and has run 1,25,000 Km. But it is purchased from a close relative of ours and he does take good care of his cars(He owns 7 of them, 1980’s Ambassador to Mercedes GLE).
I always thought a car which is taken care of with preventive maintenance will run long without throwing tantrums which is proven by our 10 year old VW Vento 1.6TDI that has run 1,75,000 Kms with not even a single mechanical or electrical issue. But I was proven wrong in case of both Chevrolet Beat(Turbo failure and AC issues, bought in 2012 and sold in 2017) and Cruze.
My Cruze’s BCM failed which lead to multiple electronics(including horn and headlights) not working and the Bootlid just wouldn’t close as it is electrically operated. A new BCM with programming was quoted at Rs. 80000(20% of the cost I paid for the car). I researched a lot on forums and this BCM issue is a widely faced one worldwide. I imported a repair kit from China and got the BCM repaired here which costed me Rs.25000. Next the clutch failed (Clutch pedal sank completely and we cannot engage a gear) abruptly in the middle of an Intercity journey which left me stranded. I thought the Master Cylinder failed, but what I saw baffled me. The clutch plates friction material was completely worn off exposing the metal disc. Clutch replacement without flywheel costed me Rs.30,000. Flywheel costs RS.50,000. I am not a driver who does half-clutching even in terrible traffic. My Vento ran on stock clutch for 1.65 Lakh kilometres and even then there is a fair amount of life left. I only changed because it has become a bit hard and the car will be primarily driven by my 60 year old father. Apart from these no issues to report in the past 1 year. The car effortlessly Cruzes at unmentionable speeds and that is where her positives end.
Now coming to your case, if your budget is around 6 lakhs go for a well maintained Vento/Jetta/Octavia if driving pleasure is what you seek. If reliability and comfort comes first, go for City/Corolla. But do not go for Cruze as the spares are very expensive and Chevy ASCs will try to rip you off. The car isn’t known for reliability either. Moreover lack of experienced and honest technicians compounds the problem. Chevy Beat is mechanically a very simple car but Cruze isn’t. So your mechanic might not be able to solve all the issues. By the way you described it, the car isn’t worth 6 lakhs as other members also rightly pointed out. You mentioned brakes felt weak and that is probably because brake pads are not OEM. Cruze has very very good brakes. A brake job replacing all four discs and pads with OEM parts will cost Rs.44,000. I doubt if anyone will purchase it for 4 lakhs and to purchase it one has to be as naive and stupid as I was a year ago . There is not a single USP of this car now, except for the strong engine and looks (again subjective). I am keeping it and enjoying it just because time travel isn’t possible and selling it now isn’t financially prudent. I have put forward the costs incurred just so that you’ll get an insight regarding the ownership costs associated. These costs are not too high but definitely high for someone with a budget of 4 to 7 lakhs. I didn’t foresee myself spending so much on a well maintained car(1.8 lakhs in the past 1 year for various part replacements) because our Vento has been extremely reliable and I only spent on fuel and general wear and tear items. That is why I felt the ownership costs to be high for Cruze.
I am attaching a few pictures of my 35,000Kms ran (in my ownership) 13 year old Cruze just because the post was lengthy, part of it is out of context and this is my first post.
Keyword: Bought a used 2012 Cruze for 4L: Spent Rs. 55K on unscheduled repairs