The 2011 Chevy Cruze didn’t make too much of an impact in the compact car market at the time of its release. But now, it stands as an underrated model—and a good option to buy used.
has largely dropped out of the sedan market, as many Chevy fans are probably buying a Colorado or a Silverado pickup truck instead of a sedan. With that being said, one of Chevy's most recent entries in the sedan market, the Chevy Cruze, still holds up in many ways. Here's a look at the 2011 Chevy Cruze and why it's a sneakily good car—especially for its time.
, the 2011 Cruze was the first model year of the car. And, while Chevy ultimately killed the car off in 2019, the Cruze still holds up quite well. In fact, it was even better than some notable cars of the same year.
However, one of the main issues with this Chevy had to do with its reliability. It only scored a 2 out of 5 in terms of reliability, which definitely hurt its overall score. The good news is that the Cruze makes up for that lackluster reliability score in other ways.
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The 2011 Cruze had an overall score of 8.1 out of 10, and its critics' rating was 9.2 out of 10. Two areas where the Cruze did very well was its interior quality and daily drivability. The Cruze wasn't as powerful as the modern Chevy Corvette that shared a space in Chevy's lineup at the time but driving the Cruze was still a pleasant experience.
For example, Chevy only gave the Cruze two engine options, a 1.8-liter I-4 that got 138 horsepower, and a 1.4-liter turbocharged I-4 that also got 138 horsepower. Neither was that powerful, but when combined with the Cruze's ride quality and handling, it made this Chevy a pretty nice car to drive. On top of that, the Cruze was fuel-efficient, and drivers could get about 34 mpg combined.
The best part about the Cruze was its interior, though. It was a compact car, and it started at $16,500. Despite that, its rear seats were quite roomy compared to similar cars. Plus, while it was a cheap car, it didn't feel cheap thanks to the materials that Chevy used for the Cruze's interior. It didn't come with many tech features, but it did have 15.4 cubic feet of cargo space, which is a lot for a compact car.
How the 2011 Chevy Cruze compared with its peers
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Thanks to all of those positive aspects, it was actually a better car than the Toyota Corolla at the time. Still, it wasn't the best compact car on the market at the time. The Mazda3 shared a lot of the positive traits that the Cruze had. In addition to that, the Mazda3 was and continues to be a reliable car.
Regardless, the 2011 Cruze remains a solid car that some may want to consider if they're buying used.
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