VW Clean diesels.... how did they get them so clean?

[IslandTractor]

Interesting article in this morning. This is starting to make more sense as the result of battling egos within VW: VW Emissions Probe Zeroes In on Two Engineers. VW Emissions Probe Zeroes In on Two Engineers | Fox Business

 

[GreenCamo]

Thinking that maybe they were not compliant either with the current motor. Why would they drop it for one year..

My understanding is that sales have been slow enough - and inventory high enough - that they had enough to get through '16 and that the new 1.6 wouldn't be ready until then. That decision was made way earlier than the VW scandal coming out, but who knows?!? Mine is a '14 purchased this spring in '15 and they had 3 more on the lot. Window trim was a little faded but they replaced that under warranty.

IMHO Chevy has not done a good job marketing the Cruze Diesel at all. One of the issues was that VW already owned most of the market here in the US and their numbers (now shown to be deceiving) regarding power and mileage trumped what Chevy could do with a similar sized engine.

As I stated in an earlier post - I absolutely love mine with almost 42 mpg on mixed driving and I don't baby it. Tons of freeway miles at 75-80mph as well as in town driving. Average speed is around 41mph over the 17K or so miles on it so far.

 

[Garandman]

//IMHO Chevy has not done a good job marketing the Cruze Diesel at all. One of the issues was that VW already owned most of the market here in the US and their numbers (now shown to be deceiving) regarding power and mileage trumped what Chevy could do with a similar sized engine.
//

Nope: most VW owners won't buy a Chevrolet and did not even look at it let alone drive it. And Chevrolet didn't exactly trumpet the release: they wanted to start slow because of their 80's diesel debacle. There are a number of people on the Chevy Cruze forum that own both. In head to head tests like this the Cruze usually returned better mpg and is as fast or slightly faster, with a larger fuel tank. They are nearly identical in size: the current Cruze is heavier but more aerodynamic and while the front seats are great the rear seat is surprisingly small.

The Cruze TD was only offered with the 6 speed automatic in the U.S. so they ceded the manual market to VW. Currently moot as it was not offered for 2015. It will be back when the new Cruze is launched in the 2016 model year, supposedly with a 6 speed manual as well. The Cruze is a huge seller worldwide so the new model will be a big upgrade.

The Cruze is sold worldwide with three different diesels. The one in the U.S. car was an upgraded VM Motori manufactured in Germany. The transmission was an Aisin 6 speed. We drive ours 30-40,000 miles a year so they should break 100K next winter.

 

[IslandTractor]

Chevy has come a long way baby. The Impala is world class. The Volt is a technological and quality success. Their trucks are better and their world car, the Cruze, is certainly far closer to Toyota quality today than five or ten years ago. I hadn't heard they were "dropping" the diesel Cruze for a year but so long as they bring it back with a real marketing campaign I'm betting they will get a good share of the small diesel market. Go Chevy (from a Ford guy).

 

[3930dave]

Here (Canada), gearheads, techies, and long distance drivers (esp. those who don't expense-account their fuel) often gravitate to light-diesels in cars. Of course, many people originally from other countries will have enjoyed diesel Tq curves in small cars there....

We have the added benefit that some of the time, diesel fuel prices below gasoline here.

The above groups aside (I'm in there more than once....), how Chevy launched their mass marketing in the USA makes sense to me....... "Cruze Dzl is performance engine option, that happens to get good fuel mileage" or words to that effect.

Enjoy the Tq, and benefit from decent fuel mileage..... a good way to get many people who've never tried a diesel to at least test drive one, IMO.

Rgds, D.

 

[sseelhoff]

Chevy has come a long way baby. The Impala is world class. The Volt is a technological and quality success. Their trucks are better and their world car, the Cruze, is certainly far closer to Toyota quality today than five or ten years ago. I hadn't heard they were "dropping" the diesel Cruze for a year but so long as they bring it back with a real marketing campaign I'm betting they will get a good share of the small diesel market. Go Chevy (from a Ford guy).

My company car is a Malibu. Not a car I would consider buying personally, but from a quality standpoint, it is equal to or above the Accord and the Camry (I have friends who drive these). Have not had any issues with quality over the last seven years of driving multiple versions of the Malibus.

My farm truck (personal vehicle) is a Ford F-250. Also a quality vehicle.

 

[IslandTractor]

My company car is a Malibu. Not a car I would consider buying personally, but from a quality standpoint, it is equal to or above the Accord and the Camry (I have friends who drive these). Have not had any issues with quality over the last seven years of driving multiple versions of the Malibus.

My farm truck (personal vehicle) is a Ford F-250. Also a quality vehicle.

I didn't mention the Malibu because 1) I have bad memories of my 1967 Malibu, 2) I've rented a bunch of them more recently and the rental version is beyond plain vanilla. However, I'll add that I've never had a stitch of trouble with any Malibu (since I ditched the '67) and I can easily see why the rental fleets are full of them. I'm betting it will get the Impala treatment with the next cycle and then be a fully worthy competitor.

 

[sseelhoff]

I didn't mention the Malibu because 1) I have bad memories of my 1967 Malibu, 2) I've rented a bunch of them more recently and the rental version is beyond plain vanilla. However, I'll add that I've never had a stitch of trouble with any Malibu (since I ditched the '67) and I can easily see why the rental fleets are full of them. I'm betting it will get the Impala treatment with the next cycle and then be a fully worthy competitor.

I don't have a choice, so I drive what they give me. Hard to complain about a free car. If I had my choice I would drive something else. But I'm not a sedan guy, either. I prefer something more utilitarian (read wagon/hatchback).

 

[JWR]

Guess it kinda of would depend on where the car is registered... California has publicly said non-renewal is an option.

That's the left coast. They always take the lead in such matters. You are right though, this is big enough it is hard to tell what will be attempted. I just got a card in the mail today from ambulance-chasing lawyers already geared up to make money off the scandal. The card also lists 7 states (in fine print) in which disclaimers have to be posted on their mailing card. So 7 states (at least) have already acted to try and control the ambulance chasing lawyer's feeding frenzy. This may be more fun than the time granny caught her ...self in the wringer. This has been filtered to satisfy the censors on our happy forum of course.

BY THE WAY, note that VW did not sell Beetle diesels in the US for a period prior to 2013 (2010-12??) I'm betting that when the expose' book gets written on this scandal that we will find that:
The break during which none were sold here was also the period when high tech software bypassing of the tests was perfected and huge debates were going on internal to VW.

That break in sales was never really explained by VW in any way that made sense. When I bought ours in early 2013 the sales guy pointed out that it has 3 catalytic converters in series. The whole thing was not a quickie.

 

[IslandTractor]

... BY THE WAY, note that VW did not sell Beetle diesels in the US for a period prior to 2013 (2010-12??) I'm betting that when the expose' book gets written on this scandal that we will find that: The break during which none were sold here was also the period when high tech software bypassing of the tests was perfected and huge debates were going on internal to VW. That break in sales was never really explained by VW in any way that made sense. When I bought ours in early 2013 the sales guy pointed out that it has 3 catalytic converters in series. The whole thing was not a quickie.

If you read the article I linked earlier today you'll see that the software "fix" dates back to before 2009. Not sure why your Bug was different.