46.2mpg! + Cruze Eco in future?

[Northstar]

So I took a trip to visit a couple of my friends who live 85 miles from where I am. Ended up taking the Civic, which my brother drives, because I don't trust the '95 LSS on the highway for that long, and I figured I'd save quite a bit of gas... On the way there I went 80-85 most of the time with a group of cars. The tank wasn't full to begin with and the Civic does not have a mileage calculator onboard, so I have no idea what mileage I got on the way there.

However, on the way back I filled up about a mile from the interstate, set the cruise to 61mph (I decided I should cruise at 2000rpm, don't know why I thought that was a good number to pick, just did). I was by myself, but had 3 sets of golf clubs in the trunk (I don't know why he left them in there, but he did), so it was probably the equivalent of 2 people in the car, with no luggage. After the 85.5 mile trip back, I pulled into another gas station to fill up again and see what type of mileage I got. I was hoping for 40, since the car is rated for 36. I only needed 1.849 gallons to refill the tank, resulting in 46.2mpg. I was quite surprised and very impressed. Would be interesting to see what I would have got at 55mph.

After telling my sister about this and explaining that I was confident the Cruze Eco could do similar, she decided she'd go look at one. The Alero only gets about 20mpg (don't know how, guess it's not running too well or something) from what she calculated on her last tank, despite driving the majority of her miles at 55-60mph to work, 250 miles each week. If she could double that she'd save $80-100 on gas.

Anyways, she liked it quite well and my parents are going to add her to their GM card so she is able to use their GM card points if she goes ahead with the purchase. I'm guessing she will pull the trigger this week. She didn't want white so they're going to locate her some other colors with the options she wants (Driver's convenience package, connectivity and cruise package, automatic transmission). MSRP was $21,130, but they had a price of $20,500 on it, plus an additional $500 off because of an auto show in a city that's nearby. We have $3700 in GM card credits, and a $500 bonus for that as well, which she may or may not be able to used because it may only be eligible to anyone who lives at the address the bonus coupon was mailed to and she does not live with my parents. Plus she can trade in the Alero.

Anyways, she's looking at something in the $250-280 out the door (60 months), which considering she will save $80-100 a month in gas cost is somewhere around $150-200 extra cost for the vehicle. Considering the Alero is falling apart and has had a lot of problems in the last 18 months, I think she will end up pulling the bullet this week, as the auto show cash expires a week from today.

When in the Cruze with my sister and parents, we got 42.2mpg over about a 5 mile stretch going 60mph. With break-in and with only 1 person in the car most of the time, I hope she will be seeing 45+ mpg.

[regfootball]

cruze eco is a fun car, and the tranny and engine are matched for best taking advantage of each other. i would bet 45 mpg is possible in certain conditions. plus its comfy and well made.

here's hoping that pans out for your sister.

[ocnblu]

Now you have me itching to take a lengthy highway trip, just to see.

[daves87rs]

NIce!

[regfootball]

Now you have me itching to take a lengthy highway trip, just to see.

well perhaps C&G needs to obtain a press Eco for you to sight see and visit the rest of the C&Gers with..........

[loki]

i bet with a tad of tuning and DI added to this engine it could hit 44 on the EPA test....?

my car is rated at 29 hway.. i've gotten 36+ once before.

[vonVeezelsnider]

i bet with a tad of tuning and DI added to this engine it could hit 44 on the EPA test....?

Give it a DI and a Twin Turbo and they could bump down the displacement again and replicate the power of the 1.4T maybe?

[Northstar]

Well, she may end up taking the car home today. We haven't finalized anything, but she decided she likes black granite the best for color, and the dealer got a call from another dealer wanting one of their vehicles. Amazingly this dealer had a black ECO with everything on it that she wanted, and with us in mind the local dealer traded for that vehicle.

So we will see what happens, but she will most likely be purchasing the ECO either today or Saturday. Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures of it.

[Croc]

Well, she may end up taking the car home today. We haven't finalized anything, but she decided she likes black granite the best for color, and the dealer got a call from another dealer wanting one of their vehicles. Amazingly this dealer had a black ECO with everything on it that she wanted, and with us in mind the local dealer traded for that vehicle.

So we will see what happens, but she will most likely be purchasing the ECO either today or Saturday. Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures of it.

Nice!!

[Northstar]

She took the car home last night. Dealer closed at 7 but the salesman, manager, and financial person who did all the paperwork on the sale and loan stayed until 9 to get the deal done. We essentially got the car for invoice minus $3775 in GM card credits, minus $500 GM card bonus on Cruze, minus $500 auto show bonus cash, minus $2000 trade (for a vehicle that has had a ton of problems and has 105k miles on it, 2001 Alero). So basically she got the car for $6775 less than invoice after trade, bonus cash, and GM card + bonus. My parents also decided to give her $500 for the vehicle as additional down payment, so she's only going to be paying $240 a month for 60 months for a vehicle with sticker price of $21605.

[Croc]

Congratulations to her!!

[Drew Dowdell]

That's a good lot of car for that monthly payment. The gas savings alone should offset a lot of it.

[Northstar]

That's a good lot of car for that monthly payment. The gas savings alone should offset a lot of it.

Yeah, she calculated that she got about 18mpg on her last tank in the Alero, and that is mostly highway driving, too. Pretty bad. The Cruze should get about double that, considering we were getting 42mpg with 4 people in the car, and before break-in. If gas stays at about $3.80, she will be saving over $1300 per year on gas if she gets double the mileage of the Alero in the Cruze, and I don't see why she shouldn't be able to get close to double that. That's more than $100 per month in savings. So the car should cost her no more than $150 a month, unless gas drops drastically, when factoring in the savings she will see from using half as much gas. That, and if she kept the Alero I wouldn't be surprised if it had another $500-1000 in repairs in the next year.