Hello. My son has worked for 3 summers(high school) and has really saved his money through the years. He wants a Chevy Cruze. We may look at a 2012. I know Consumer Reports has its supporters and enemies but they say the 11-13 are a used car not to buy. Does anyone have any experience or opinions on the Cruze? He has about $11K to work with and ideally the car will last him through his Senior year of HS and all of college. Thank you for your time.

You lost me at Chevy lol. Sorry, couldn't resist...

They're pretty decent. I wouldn't spend but half that for a used one tho.

My daughter had a 2014 on a 2 yr lease. Never gave her any problems. We didnt buy it at the end of the lease though because the payoff was for more than it was worth.

Have several friends that have had them and more then a few have had problems after they passed the 75000 mile mark

If it was me o would look for a good used Toyota it is what you got for both of my kids and they out lasted them and were still a decent trade in the when they wanted something newer

Wife had one, 2012 traded it in with 85000 miles on it. Trade in $5750, was in great looking shap. Just kept having problems. Happy I purchased the extended insurance for $2500 when I purchased the car new.
I will never own another chevy. But that's just me.

Son in-law has one, good mileage

I am at heart a Chevy guy but I have a buddy that bought one new and all was well till it got some miles on it, then trouble. I'm with nightlife on this one. I would look at a used Toyota Yaris. These little cars will keep on ticking and if something should go wrong they are cheap to fix. Awesome for what your boy would be using it for and for around 4k with some miles on it. I hope he finds what he will be happy with and good on him for working and saving!

Have a 2012 with 158,000 miles on it. 6 speed manual transmission started making noise at 38,000 miles and was replaced under warranty. Changed a thermostat and housing around 112,000 as well as the timing belt. Hood has been replaced 3 times as it is one deer killing machine. Still averages between 36-40 mpg on a tank of gas.

Wife had a 2011, tons of recalls & major issues all the time. Thankfully warranty or recalls covered most of the problems. She traded it in with around 80k+.
Let's see if I remember all:
Throttle body, manifold gasket,turbo, thermostat, potential fire hazard with scrape plate (cut out a section), ecu, power steering, always leaked collant, rad cap, coolant hoses, big batteries.
There is much more just can't remember.

That's awesome of him. I would recommend foreign auto makers between Nissan, yota, honda.

Both of my daughters have 2015s with about 25,000 miles on them. So far so good.

ADC, that was hilarious!!

Had several. Awesome mileage. All ours were under 100 000 km before we traded in, or lease ran out, whichever it happened to be. Never any issues, but also not a ton of miles.

My 2013 has 95000 miles without any real problems. That is now my daughters car and I drive a 2018 Cruze.

I bought a 2013 new , put 100,000 miles on it , only problem I had was it started itself without a key in it. Dealer put an ignition switch in and it was fine.