2013 Chevy Sonic LT Hatchback

2013 Chevy Sonic LT Hatchback

26 city/35 highway mpg <-Edmunds.com

I had been in a Chevy Sonic in the past, but not this particular model, the ones I had been in before were not hatchbacks.  There is not much of a difference when you’re sitting in the driver’s seat, but the back is different, obvs aka obviously.  The Chevy Sonic is a sub-compact with the likes of the Hyundai Accent and Toyota Yaris, so it is teeny tiny and so adorable.  This car is so cute and so if you’re anything like the Brawny Man then this car is probably not a good choice for you.  As always this car has all standard features, deal with it.

The exterior of this car looks pretty funny; because it’s a hatchback it’s very stubby and looks like someone cut a larger car in half to get this one.  It is shorter than the compact Ford Focus hatchback that I reviewed but it is a bit taller.  It has a rear windshield wiper, which I have deduced comes standard on a hatchback, because apparently I don’t want to see out of my rear windshield if I don’t own a hatchback.  For some reason I am pretty bitter about the fact that only hatchbacks and SUVs get rear windshield wipers.  I have lived long enough in an area of the country that gets snow to know that this is a valuable feature.  The last thing about the exterior of this car is that the rear door handles are in an odd spot, they are near the top of the vehicle next to windows, not under them.  I have seen this in some SUVs like the Jeep Compass and Nissan Pathfinder, but this is the first time I have seen them on a small car.

It's so stumpy and cute.  The back door handle is in the blue oval.

 

The trunk space is pretty big for such a small car, definitely not huge but comparable to the compact Ford Focus Hatchback, and like any other small hatchback, you sacrifice trunk space for back seat space.  And let me tell you, these are the smallest back seats I have ever tried to get into, and you read right, tried.  I couldn’t even get my legs comfortably in there and I am five foot five, a very average female height!  I could get in there if I put my legs over both seats, but I don’t think that’s how Chevy intended your passengers to sit, or did they…?  The back seats do go down, giving you more trunk space, and I think it’s probably worth it to just always have the seats down because they are pretty pointless.

Either that is a body bag for a little person or the car mats came wrapped up.  I'm going with body bag.

The material of the seats seem pretty standard, a fabric that is kind of rough and would soak up any liquid in an instant, so they are very easy to stain.  There are two glove compartments, one that opens on the top and one that opens on the bottom of the dash board.  The bottom glove compartment is just a standard glove compartment that is pretty small, but the top compartment is odd.  First, it is really small, and second, it is divided into two parts with a horizontal line, which makes it even smaller!  I don’t know why Chevy did this, it would have been much better to keep it one space because as it is you can’t really fit anything in there.  In the top glove compartment you will also find an AUX and USB port.  I have such issue when car companies do this, why put theses ports in such an odd place that is literally hidden behind a lid?  It is not as a big of a deal in this car, though as it is in others cars (like the Ford Focus) because 1) the ports are right in front not all the way in the back, so at least they are easy to see when you open the lid, and 2) there is another AUX port on the radio, but begs the question why do you need 2 AUX ports? 

I couldn't find a picture of the glove compartments open, but this at least gives you an idea of where they are located.

Like the sub-compact Hyundai Accent, the middle section in this car is very narrow and very basic.  Starting at the back and moving towards the front of the vehicle you find one big cup holder (probably for the one person who is stretched out across the back seats), two cup holders with plastic pieces lining the insides so that they are somewhat adjustable, a funny looking button that has a picture of a padlock with a baby in it (presumably child locks, maybe…), a 12 volt AC jack, the shifter, and to the left of all of this is the parking brake.  I told you, very basic.

The middle console looks a lot like the Chevy Cruze, and starting at the bottom there is a small opening that could fit like a phone or mp3 player.  The temperature control panel looks exactly like the Cruze and has the large, easy to use temperature control buttons, and it also has the master lock/unlock button.  Like the Cruze, the doors in this car do not have physical lock/unlock buttons on them and the master button is not found on the driver’s door.  This is something I have seen in other makes, not just Chevy, like some Fords have this as well.  I’m not so sure I’m crazy about the idea of not having a lock lever/button/whatever on the doors.  What happens if you lock the keys in your car?  Or what if something with the electricity goes crazy and you can’t get in or out because the lock/unlock button isn’t working?  Something my worrisome mind takes into consideration. 

I have seen some pictures online that show this car with a touch screen radio like the one that’s in the Cruze, but this one does not have that.  The radio controls are physical buttons and above them is the radio display that is long and narrow.  A lot of cars that just have a standard narrow radio display use a font/text that makes it look really old, but not in the Sonic, which is good because it would have looked so out of place.  Also like the Cruze, on the right side of the radio controls there is a button for the Bluetooth.  On either side of the radio there are two tall, narrow compartments and I really have no idea what you would put in here, your guess is as good as mine.  It seems that Chevy has fallen into the trap of including a host of pointless openings/spaces that are merely for design aka useless.  The last thing I want to note about the middle console is that there is a small dish on the top, a spot that seems much more practical than the openings by the radio, at least this one can easily fit change or you sunglasses.

Gives a good idea of how narrow the middle section is

I want to move on to one of the most eye-catching features of this car, and that is the dashboard display.  The first time I got into a Chevy Sonic it kind of felt like a tiny spaceship and the dash display does take some getting used to just because it is very different than any other that I have seen.  It is all digital except for the large, round RPM meter on the left side.  The main digital display shows the fuel level, compass, odometer, speedometer, and miles to empty (I like that feature and really wish my Kia Forte showed my miles to empty.  Guess I have to do it the ol’ fashioned way and use math, gross).  You can change the display to show you the engine oil level by pressing a button that says “MENU” on the turning signal stick. On that same stick there is a knob that you can turn that also shows average MPG. Although the display is pretty straight forward, the controls are not very intuitive and I had to play around with them for a while to even discover that you can change the display, and I’m not sure if there are any other screens it can show, you would have to get off your lazy butt and look in the manual for that info.  After you get use to display I think it’s pretty neat, definitely for the younger crowd though, I couldn’t imagine my grandma behind the wheel of a Sonic.

The circles above and below are where the different warning lights appear

The steering wheel is a carbon copy of the wheel in the Chevy Cruze, and I’m pretty sure it’s just their stock steering wheel.  The size of the wheel works in the Cruze but I think it’s just a bit too large for this vehicle, although it doesn’t get in the way like the steering wheel in the Ford Focus.  The left side of the wheel has the cruise control settings integrated in it and Bluetooth and audio controls on the right side.

The red circle is the MENU button and the yellow circle is the knob that changes the display

A couple of honorable mentions are that 1) the Sonic does have OnStar equipped in it, but I know nothing about it except that you have to pay for it, those jerks. 2) The front doors have large round openings in them that could definitely fit a bottle, but do not try to put a Starbucks-esque cup in this space – this is true for all door cup holders but especially for these ones because they are so large, but the size does make the space very easy to clean because it is big enough to fit a vacuum hose down in it. 3) There is no designated holder for your sunglasses, not strange for this car class, but the dish on top would probably do just as well. 4) There is an armrest that can come down on the right side of the driver’s seat, an odd addition that can also be found in the Hyundai Accent, so I wonder if it’s just a sub-compact thing? 5) The right and left side air vents are round and look a bit strange to me, adding to the spaceship feel of the car.

A good overview of the what the driver sees.  The weird round air vent is on the left and you can clearly see the tall narrow openings beside the radio.  The lock/unlock button is in the red circle.

I really like the way this itty bitty car drives.  The steering wheel gives a little resistance, it is not as fluid as the compact Kia Soul but it better than the Ford Focus.  What is surprising is that this tiny car actually drives really smoothly, granted I did not take it on the highway so I’m not sure how it feels when you are going 75 mph, but when I compare it to the Hyundai Accent, which is in the same car class, the Sonic is a much nicer drive.  The Accent feels like a go cart, but the Sonic does not make the driver (I can’t speak for the passengers) feel like they are in such a small car.  The Sonic also accelerates very smoothly (a pleasant surprise) and has a great turning radius.

I really like the Sonic and if you never plan on having people in your back seat then this might be a good choice, but if you don’t want something that can really only fit the driver and one passenger comfortably, or if you are tall then you should probably look elsewhere.  As far as sub-compacts go, this is one of my favorites, it’s much nicer than the Hyundai Accent but I’m sure it comes with a bigger price tag.

2012 Hyundai Accent

2012 Hyundai Accent

 30 city / 40 highway <- MSN auto

A couple of years ago I used to drive an Accent, it wasn’t a 2012 obviously and I didn’t drive it for very long because I was involved in an accident (totally not my fault) and it was totaled (and of course the lady who hit me had only like a scratch on her dumb car.).  Since it was a while ago I don’t remember exactly what the interior looked like but I do remember it feeling bigger, although I just might be the one who is getting bigger.  This car is used in a rental company so there are no fancy options found in it, although I can’t imagine there are too many fancy options even available for the Accent.

The rental company I work for classify the Accent as a sub-compact aka teeny tiny.  Other vehicles in this class are the Toyota Yaris and Chevy Sonic.  Most people will book themselves into a sub-compact because they are the cheapest and then when they get here to rent it, they get all pissy because the car is so small and I won’t give them a larger one for the same price.  So, people, knowledge is power.  Moving on, the first thing you are bound to notice about this car is its size and of course the smaller something the cuter it is, so this car is a cute little thing.  Hyundai has rounded the edges out and given it a line through the middle which makes it look pretty sleek.  Besides that though, there’s not much else to say about the exterior.

Look at that sleekness

It's so teeny

The trunk is surprisingly roomy and is comparable to a midsize trunk and the back seats can go down making the trunk even larger.  But when you actually see the back seat it becomes pretty clear that they have sacrificed the leg room for the trunk.  I think that Hyundai should have made the trunk smaller and given more room to the back seats; I am of average female height and I fit back there but it would not be comfortable on a long ride and anyone over 6 feet would not even be able to get their legs in there.  When you buy a car like this I don’t think you are expecting an exceptionally large trunk, so I think Hyundai should rethink their priorities. (I hope you got the Harry Potter reference there.)  One interesting (ok, probably mildly boring) thing to point out is that there is still a clothes hook that is near the ceiling door handle on the back driver’s side seat.  I didn’t know they still put these in cars and it is definitely the first one that I have seen in a while that isn’t in a Lincoln Town Car.  There is nothing else in the back of this car, very basic.

The front doors have cup holders in them that are intended for bottles only and even have a little diagram depicting that (so don’t go and try suing Hyundai if you burn your leg on hot coffee), and the glove compartment is relatively large, smaller than the compact Nissan Versa but larger than the small SUV Jeep Compass.  The driver’s seat has an armrest on the right side that can go up or down, but this is only found on the driver’s side – an odd addition that seems pretty superfluous.  The middle section is pretty standard but it does not have a lidded cubby that you find in almost all vehicles.  Starting at the back of the middle section is a good sized compartment that could easily hold a phone and/or GPS or whatever tickles your fancy.  Moving towards the front there are two cup holder where one is larger than the other, and next to those you will find the parking brake and then goes the shifter.  Like I said, very basic. 

The bottom of the middle console is a compartment where you will find the AUX and USB ports and also a 12 volt AC jack.  If you are at all familiar with the interior of a Kia, here is where you will start to see the similarities between the two and then you remember that Hyundai and Kia are owned by the same people.  You will find this little space with these features in almost every Kia.  The space is also pretty big and you could easily put your phone or mp3 player in it.  I like when the compartments in vehicles are actually useful and not just for design, too often the size, shape, or placement make them just stupid (ie the Ford Focus Hatchback I reviewed).  Above this little opening are the temperature controls which are very easy to understand and use, and above that is the radio.

You can see the ports on the bottom

The radio is another area that looks startlingly similar to the radio you can find in a Kia, and it is in fact almost identical to the radio in my Kia Forte.  There are some small differences like that the buttons in the Accent are on a slant and that the button for the hazard flashers is found on the bottom of the radio in the Accent not the top like the Kia Forte.  But even the placement of the buttons are the same, I could easily control this radio without needing to look at it too closely.  If you are not lucky enough to drive a Kia then this is not a big deal, and even if you are used to driving a Kia it still isn’t a big deal, but I still thought it worth mentioning.

So similar it's eerie! (Totes exag obvs lolz)

The steering wheel does not have any controls integrated in it like volume control or cruise control settings, and in fact this car does not even have cruise control.  It is not uncommon for a car of this size to not have a cruise control, and that is important to know because that can be a make or break feature for some people.

There is a digital display on the dashboard that is (thankfully) very easy and straight forward.  It has your trip, odometer, engine temperature, and gas level.  It is not the labyrinth that is found in the Ford Focus.  The older I get and the longer I work in this field the more and more I appreciate simplicity when it comes to the controls in a car.  I don’t want to have to memorize the manual just so I can tell a customer how to turn the lights on or where the miles can be found.

There are a couple of things I want to point out and I didn’t know where else to put them so here goes.  First, there is not a holder for your sunglasses, a feature that is commonly left out of very small cars.  Second, there are electric windows but no electric locks, and again, that is not uncommon for this size of car.  Last but not least, is the fact that there is no key fob for this car, which makes sense considering it doesn’t have electric locks.  It makes your key ring less bulky but also less convenient.

Raw and uncut, just how I like 'em

I expected this car to be, what I like to call, zippy. To zip around corners and handle really nicely like the compact Kia Soul, but unfortunately I was wrong.  The steering wheel gives a lot of resistance that I didn’t anticipate, it’s not as bad as a Nissan Altima but definitely not as good as the Soul or the midsize Kia Forte.  I also expected the Accent to be able to take corners like a boss, and here too I was disappointed.  By no means does it have as large a turning radius as a Chevy Impala or some other full size, but it doesn’t turn as sharply as the Soul or even the midsize Chevy Cruze.  This is definitely one of those cars that makes you feel like you are driving a go cart so it’s not at all surprising that you feel the road throughout the car, but a nice surprise is that the acceleration is not at all jerky – something you might expect in such a small car.  All in all I was pretty disappointed in how this car handled, not cool Hyundai.

Ultimately this car is extremely basic, so if you are looking for something affordable that doesn’t eat too much gas, and if you don’t care about certain options and you do not need to haul around a lot of people or things this could definitely be a good choice.  It’s very economical and you could fit in pretty much any parking spot.

2012 Nissan Altima 4DR

2012 Nissan Altima 4 DR

 18 - 23 city / 27 - 32 highway <- MSN Auto

Where to being with the Nissan Altima?  I’m just going to put it out there and say, straight up that I do not like this car.  Obviously I’m going to go into those reasons in this review, and I hope my opinions can help you if you are seriously looking to buy this car, but if you absolutely love the Nissan Altima and do not want to see me throwing shade on it, then perhaps you should not read this.  While perusing the All Mighty Interwebz I noticed pictures of the Altima with lots of different options, this car does not have those options.  This is a disclaimer I have included in all of my reviews and I will say it again, the model that was used in this review is used in a rental fleet and even though we only keep them for a short time (yes, you can purchase used rentals cars but I would not recommend it) they still do not have special options included, we get the standard models.  And with the price tag that is associated for just the standard options who could afford anything special in it anyway?  Definitely not a twenty-something who is just trying to figure out how to pay all the bills… D:

In the shady underbelly of the rental car world the Nissan Altima is classified as a full size car, so you would expect it to be big and it does not disappoint.  The exterior of the vehicle is rounded on all sides which I suppose could be considered giving it a sleek look, if something big and cumbersome can even be sleek.  The car is long but what really stands out to me is how long and wide the front end of this car is.  I suppose comparing it to smaller cars is not fair because of course the front is smaller if they are in a smaller category but the hood is like three times larger than the hood on my Kia Forte.  But it does look a lot like the hood for the large Ford Crown Victoria (the cop car, for those of you who don’t know).  This large and wide front end obviously has some consequences when getting behind the wheel but we will get to that later.

Look at how long and wide that hood is. Ugly.

The trunk is not as large as you may think, it is not by any means small, but it is still the same approximate size of the trunk on the standard size Ford Fusion and the midsize Chevy Cruze.  The back seats do go down and that will give you a larger trunk, but for a vehicle that feels as big and cumbersome as this one, I think they should have made the trunk bigger.  The seats and other parts of the interior are made from suede or a suede-like material, a fabric that is nice to touch but could you imagine if someone spilled a milkshake or something equally as disastrous?  It would be a nightmare to get out of those seats, and even if you could get it all out, I don’t think you would be able to do it without leaving a terrible scar where you would be forever reminded of the traumatizing event.  That being said, at least the seats are comfortable.  The back doors have a small open space that looks like you could use as a cup holder but it doesn’t seem like it has been expressly put there for this purpose – some cars have little diagrams so you get the picture (pun intended!).  Like many cars that are a midsize or larger, there is an armrest/cup holder that can be pulled down to sit between the two back seats, and then… that’s it.  There is nothing more in the back seats, not even one 12 volt jack for the passengers to fight over.  With the prices that are associated with Nissans they should have at least put some more pizazz in the back, I’m not impressed.

Moving on up the ladder brings you to the front; the seats are still made of the suede fabric and to be fair they are large and comfortable, but they should be in this class, so it’s really nothing special if it’s to be expected.  The glove compartment is actually pretty large, a good quality if you have lots of beanie babies to hide so no one smashes your window to get to them (remember when that actually happened?), and it also locks, which seems to be a common feature in this car group.  An uncommon feature that you find in this glove compartment is a small lever that sits on the left side, it is a trunk lock button.  If you want to make it so the trunk does not open even if you press the trunk button in the car or on the key fob.  It is an interesting feature that I have not seen before, but I wonder what is the point?  If someone has your key or is inside your car then that is not going to stop them from getting into your trunk.  Maybe if you kidnapped someone, put them in the trunk, but their brave yet stupid friend chased you down, got a hold of your key, tried to open the trunk , and in the time it took for them to realize the trunk isn’t opening you hit them in the face and take your key back.  Although I’m sure there are plenty of other possibilities.  Because we are already talking about the trunk and trunk related things I want to bring up the button to open the trunk that is actually in the car.  I bring it up because it’s difficult to find.  It’s not on the bottom by the gas button, oh no, that would be too easy.  The trunk button is actually located on the bottom left side behind the steering wheel.  It is a little black lever that has a picture of the trunk on it, but because it is placed near the bottom of the board it is difficult to see the picture.  It took me a while to find this dumb button. 

The front doors have cup holders in them that are intended for bottles only so I don’t suggest suing Nissan if hot coffee spills all over your leg.  The middle cubby is a pretty good size, I’ve seen bigger, and trust me, size does matter.  The middle has two sections, the top one is shallow where the bottom one is deep and inside there is a 12 volt AC jack.  Directly in front of the cubby is another lidded section and you have to press down on the lid to open it.  Inside you will find 3 distinct dishes and two small carved out areas.  Two of the dishes are obviously cup holders, one being larger than the other and you can make it even larger by taking a plastic piece out (finally, a place to put my giant Slurpee!), but the third dish is not so obvious.  It is too shallow to effectively hold a cup, possibly a cup of ice cream?  Who knows, you can put whatever the hell you want in there, I don’t really care.  I can only assume the small crevices are made for coins, what else would fit?  But I have seen this in other cars, and I just hate it, the only way to actually hold any coins in there is if you took the time to line them all up on their sides, ain’t nobody got time for that.  One thing I do like about this middle unit is that you can take the whole piece out, whether you’re supposed to or not is probably a good question, but it makes it super easy to clean the whole unit and if you don’t want to put it back in then you another lidded compartment.

See the 2 spaces on the right?  What are those for??

Moving towards the front of the car, above the cup holders is the shifter, and then you hit the middle console.  On the bottom is yet another lidded compartment that you have to press on the lid for it to open.  This space is felt-lined (fancy) and is actually a nice size, most of the time the little compartments here and there in cars seem small and pointless, but you could fit a GPS or GPS-sized item in this one. 

Above this compartment are the temperature controls which are basic and easy to understand, always a good thing.  From the temperature control you find the radio controls where you will find the AUX port to the right.  I applaud Nissan for putting the AUX port in an easy to get to and obvious place, unlike other car makers who feel it is their solemn duty to hide this port (like in the glove compartment, wtf Ford?), but I still shake my head at Nissan because there is no USB port.  When even a teeny tiny Kia Rio has a USB port, the hulking Nissan Altima does not have one?  How does that make sense and why would you pay so much more for something that isn’t even as well-equipped?  Above the radio buttons is the actual display, it is long and narrow and pretty simple.  The whole middle console is simple but so incredibly ugly!  It looks like this would be found in the Flintstones car, even the font on the radio looks ugly and antiquated.  All of this would be fine if it weren’t pricey.  Why in the world would I shell out the cash for a car that looks this ugly?  It seems to be a full size problem though, because the interior of the Chevy Impala is also less than impressive, but the Toyota Camry is nice, so it can’t be all of them.

So ugly

Moving on to an important feature is that the Nissan Altima is keyless (I will get to the key soon) and therefore it does not have the tradition ignition; in the place of the key hole is the start/stop button which even says START/STOP on it.  This button is almost exactly where the key hole usually is so I don’t know why it is so hard for people to find this button (which even lights up in a Nissan), but wonders never cease and customers just have the hardest time finding it.

You can see the Start/Stop button pretty clearly on the right side.

Like I explained, this car is keyless, but that does not mean you can just hop in and drive it away.  You do still need a key but it doesn’t look like a traditional key.  It looks like another cars key fob, like the fobs that come on some Kias, and it has all of the same buttons – lock, unlock, trunk, and panic.  To start the car you only need the key inside of the car, it can be in your pocket, bag, etc. and you will then put your foot on the brake and press the start button at the same time.  You need to have your foot on the brake and pressing the button at the same time or it won’t start.  There have been countless customers who just don’t get this concept even after I have told them what to do, and there is even a little diagram that pops up on the digital display (where it shows the odometer) that tells you that you need to have your foot on the brake.  I don’t know why this concept is so strange to people, but they just can’t fathom it I guess.  To turn off the vehicle you just do the same thing – foot on the brake and press the button.  I also explain this to people because there have been some who have just walked away not realizing the car was still on.  This little fob is hiding a secret though, there is still a physical key hidden in it.  On the back of the unit there is a little tiny lever you pull down and the key pops out from the top.  You can use this key to get in and out of the car, but if you need to start it then you are SOL.  Some people could then ask, what do you do when it runs out of batteries?  Well then you have to pay out the $300 (yes $300) to get a new one.  I’m not sure how long the batteries last, but I have to imagine it’s pretty long although I really don’t know.

To Nissans credit the steering wheel is not actually too big and cumbersome, something that happens far too often in my opinion, but that is overshadowed by how lackluster it is.  There are only cruise control settings that are found on the right side of the wheel, that’s it, and (surprise, surprise) it’s ugly.  I feel like a broken record with this car; why would I pay money for an ugly car that isn’t even as nicely equipped as so-called “cheap” brands that at least have media and Bluetooth controls integrated on the wheel.

Still ugly.

I think I have made it pretty clear that I do not like the important parts of the inside of this vehicle, but what I hate the most about the Nissan Altima is how it drives.  First, the wheel is not smooth, fluid, or any of that, it is the exact opposite.  This is the steering wheel that feels like you are pulling it through molasses, and I know it has nothing to do with the size of the vehicle because the full size Toyota Camry steers like a dream.  Second is how it moves – this cars is so unwieldy (a customer called it clumsy) and because the front end is so long and wide it makes you feel like you will have to drop anchor when you park.  For real, it feels like you are driving a Ford Crown Victoria and this car is a step away from an old man car.  The turning radius on this car is also really poor, not quite as bad as a Lincoln Town Car, but definitely up there with the Crown Vic.  If you’re going to buy this car you might as well just get a Crown Vic and be done with it.

So there you have it, I don’t like this car.  The interior is ugly and boring, the exterior is long and wide, and it is cumbersome to drive.  If you want a full size go with a Toyota Camry; a Chevy Impala isn’t much better but for some reason I don’t dislike it as much, maybe because it doesn’t seem like Chevy is going for the wrong audience.  Nissan seems to be marketing the Altima to a younger crowd, not people in their 20s, but more like professionals in their 30s, when they should be going for people in their 60s.  My biggest beef is that Nissans are supposed to be nice cars and are marketed as such, but in reality they are clunky, ugly, and unequipped. 

2013 Chevy Cruze LT

2013 Chevy Cruze LT

 26 cty/38 hwy mpg < - Edmunds.com

When I used to think of Chevys I would think of either big stupid pickup trucks or the Impala, neither of which are my favorites.  I didn’t really care for any Chevys until I drove two of their smaller cars, the adorable Chevy Sonic and the midsize Chevy Cruise.  I like the Cruise, enough to look into buying one when I was shopping for a vehicle myself, but the price tag, although not unreasonable, was too high for little ol’ me.  All that nonsense being said, I introduce the 2013 Chevy Cruise LT!  As with all of the cars, this one is intended for use by a rental company, therefore there are no fancy shenanigans going on with this car, all features are standard.

Like most midsize vehicles the exterior is pretty standard, pretty cute and pleasant to look at, but it is not flashy and doesn’t stand out too much – which is probably a good thing because as long as you’re not an attention whore or a me-monster, I’m sure you don’t want to attract any unwanted attention from the wrong kind of people aka carjackers. 

 

The Cruise has a large trunk and could probably fit two big suitcases or two treasures chests for, you know, whatever.  The seats are made of leather or pleather, I couldn’t really tell if it was real leather because of the texture, either way it is easier to clean than fabric and still looks nice.  The back seats can go down, making the trunk space larger (three treasure chests!), and there is an armrest/cup holder that can be pulled down between the back two seats.  This is not unusual in a midsize car, but the actual piece is pretty short making it both adorable in its stubbiness but also pretty useless as an armrest.  One last thing to mention about the backseat area is a 12 volt AC jack that is located on the bottom of the middle cubby so it faces the back seats.  There is only one, so if I were you I would make my passengers fight over it, only champions are allowed in my car.

Look at how cute/useless that armrest is!

Moving towards the front there is a medium sized glove compartment, similar sized to other midsize cars like the Kia Forte.  I had a theory that the smaller the vehicle the bigger the glove compartment, which held true for many of the cars I had reviewed so far, but was then broken by the claustrophobic 2012 Ford Focus Hatchback 4DR, but that might have just been an exception, only time will tell…  But I do think the glove compartment should be bigger because the lidded cubby in the middle is very small, exceptionally small for any sized vehicle, so if you have a GPS and something that is similar in size to a GPS (two GPSs? I don’t know you, I don’t know your life, maybe you have, like, 5 GPSs) then you will not have room to hide both of them away out of sight so get ready for some smashed windows.  Inside the cubby you will find AUX and USB ports, one of the dumbest places to put these things.  USB maybe because it’s just a stick, but the AUX is a cord!  Why not just put it right by the radio controls?  It isn’t the dumbest best place though, that would be in the glove compartment like the Ford Focus.  But it still makes it difficult to find, so from the rental point of view it’s just absurd because you have so many customers who just complain about not being able to find it.  Directly in front of the cubby is both the parking brake and two “adjustable” cup holders where one is larger and deeper than the other.  Adjustable meaning that there are pieces of rubber around the cup holders that allow larger or smaller drinks, a nice little detail that probably adds to that nice big price tag.  Above the cup holders in another 12 volt jack and next to the jack is a little, for lack of a better word, bucket that is small and deep, making it a good place to put coins even though it’s probably hard to get the coins out and it’s definitely hard to clean, so don’t even think about spilling any soda or coffee or food crumbs down there.  Moving up the middle console is the shifter, nothing special about it, but above the shifter is another open space, like the bucket below, but this one is long and narrow, so it’s good for like… your phone?  Sometimes I wonder why car makers even put these little crevices in cars that seem so useless, if you put them in at least make them large enough is hold something.  Above the useless space are the temperature controls, which I like because they are nice and easy to use and not too clunky, ease of use is pretty important to me, why buy a confusing car?  Instead of the master lock/unlock button being on the driver’s side door it is on the middle console, next to the temperature control buttons.  Why car makers have decided go move this button is beyond me because I have seen it in other car makes as well like Ford. 

The red circle is the lock/unlock button, usually found on the driver's side door, and the blue oval is where the long narrow space is found. 

The radio display is touch screen, so you can control it with the touch screen, but there are still physical buttons that sit below the display.  In this particular model the touch screen display only controlled the radio/media, not anything else.  From some of the pictures I have seen online there are other Cruze models that have other controls integrated in the touch screen, but this is not one of them.

The dashboard on this particular Cruze used a mix of plastic and a fabric that looked like small honeycombs (hexagons for you smart folks), which does little to nothing for usefulness but I decided to mention it because it looks pretty darn cool.  Something surprising about the Cruze is that there is no designated holder for your sunglasses.  In most midsize and larger vehicles there is the little compartment by the rearview mirror that you press and it comes down, creating a nifty spot for your sunglasses.  It is rare, but not unheard of that a midsize or larger car does not have this feature.  What this car does have, though is small, square compartment that sits on the top of the dashboard and opens by pulling a little lever on it.  I tried to find a picture of this, but for some reason on the vast internet I could not find one.  It is very similar to the one that is on the Ford Fusion (there is a picture of that one in that review), it is located in the same spot but the one in the Cruze is a lot smaller, so pretty much only your sunglasses and an iPod would fit in there. 

The dashboard display is pretty straight forward, and includes both the normal speedometer with the needle and also a digital display that shows the speedometer and the odometer.  I like digital speedometers, so much more accurate than the needle but so much harder to try to lie to cops about your speed.  I like the steering wheel in this car because it is not too large for the size of the car (like the Ford Focus) and also not too small, although I haven’t yet come across a steering wheel that is too small.  Integrated on the steering wheel are the cruise control settings on the left and the volume controls and also Bluetooth controls on the right.  Since I have really started to pay attention to the features on the cars, I like how Chevy has laid out this particular steering wheel a lot.  My favorite so far is the steering wheel in any Kia (they are all the same), but this is a close second.  I like that it is not too big (Toyota Camry) and also not too cluttered (Ford Focus) and it’s also not ugly (Ford Fusion).  The controls are easy to use and also easy for your thumbs to find when you are driving, you don’t need to take your eyes off the road.  Important things to think about and that you don’t really get a feel of when you are doing the short test drive.  Two honorable mentions that I didn’t know where to place are that 1) there are cup holders in the front doors that are intended for bottles, do not put a Starbucks-like cup in these if you do not want a big mess, and 2) the seat controls are electric.

Close-up of right steering wheel details.

I really like the way this car drives, the steering is very fluid (maybe even more fluid than my beloved Kia Forte) and turning radius is wonderful, definitely not hard to park in this car.  It accelerates smoothly with no jerking and it also drives smoothly, the wheel does a lot of the work and you don’t have to keep a tight grip on it, which is obviously comfortable for long rides.  Although the driving is smooth you do still feel the road in the pedals, not uncommon for something smaller than a SUV or full size car, but it does not move up into the steering wheel.  The brakes in this car are not sensitive, so if you are used to an older car with older brakes then no problem, but if you are used to sensitive brakes then you will really want to make sure you are aware of this, unless of course you like rear ending people.

All in all, this is a nice midsize vehicle but you will be paying for the little extras like a touch screen radio, electric seat controls, etc.  If you can afford it then by all means go for it, but if you are looking for the same amount of room with less gadgets then go for something a bit simpler like a Kia Forte.

2012 Ford Focus Hatchback

2012 Ford Focus Hatchback (5DR)

26 - 28 city / 36 - 38 highway <- MSN auto

The compact Ford Focus seems to be a popular car considering I see them everywhere, this particular one is the hatchback model, which I see less frequently then its 4DR counterpart.  This model is also a 4DR but actually falls under a 5DR classification.  Apparently whoever makes up these classifications thinks that people should enter through the trunk.  I always say this but it bears repeating, this model is used in a rental fleet, therefore there are no super special options, we don’t have enough money for that.

The first thing I noticed about this car (besides that it is a hatchback) is how low to the ground it is; I am 5’5” and I could very easily hop on top of this thing it’s so small.  With that said, it also looks very cute, cuter than the 4DR model in my opinion.  It’s so cute you just want to put a little bow on it, but considering the smaller something is the cuter it is, this isn’t surprising.  If you are big, burly, lumberjack man then this might not be the right choice for you.  The rear windshield has a wiper, and I’m starting to see a trend with hatchbacks that they all have the rear wiper.  I don’t know why hatchbacks only get this goody, the rear windshield isn’t even that much larger than a regular 4DR car, but apparently hatchbacks are better and therefore they deserve better features.  An exterior feature that definitely deserves a mention is the fact that this particular Focus does not have a gas cap.  The gas lid opens by just pressing it and there is a yellow ring around the hole explaining that there is no need for a cap and that you can just go ahead and put the nozzle right on in.  I want to explain this to everyone because customers just do not understand this – you don’t need a gas cap!  It even explains that on the yellow ring; so please, people, if you are renting a car and see this don’t come back in all confused saying someone stole the gas cap, just use your eyes and read.

So cute <3

Not surprisingly the trunk is large, but what I did find surprising was that this trunk was larger than other hatchback trunks I have seen, including the midsize Toyota Prius.  For such a small car the trunk is quite large, but upon moving inward you see why – the backseats are so tiny and give very little leg room.  In smaller cars and even smaller SUVs this is a common trade off, if you want a large trunk space you better hope you don’t drive around tall people.  You can make the trunk even larger by putting down the back seats, a common feature in all cars. 

You can put a lot junk in that trunk!  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

The fabric that is used for the seats was surprising because at first glance it looks pretty cool.  It is difficult to explain but they look like what I imagine race car (or even jacked up, fast and furious-style drag race car) seats look like.  In this model the seats were two-toned with black on the outsides of the seats and gray for the middle of the seats.  The gray, middle section was made out of some tightly woven fabric, which I think is what gives them the race car appearance.  They are also surprisingly comfy and the woven part feels quite nice on the skin.  So at first glance you think “wow, this looks really nice!  It might even hold up well,” but stop there because they do not.  The back seats look just fine, but when looking at the front seats (which utilizes the same material and design, obvs) you can see that there are many places where the middle, woven parts have been almost pulled out, like a snag in a sweater.  It seems that things like to catch on this material, like pocket details on jeans if you wear fancy jeans or safety pins if you are a punk cruising around in a Ford Focus, and that causes the material is get pulled out of the seat.  It doesn’t look very nice and if it’s happening in a 2012, imagine what it will look like in 5 years.  A fabric that looks nice but will not last is not worth the trouble.  Odd features in the back seats of this car are two small carved out spaces near the middle and bottom sides on the seats, closest to the doors.  They are shallow and oddly shaped so I don’t even know what you could put in there that wouldn’t just like, fall over and make a mess.  There is the possibility they are strictly for design, meaning they are useless.  One last thing to mention in the back is that there are small plastic pieces in the back doors that are supposed to make the area a cup holder, but they do not look very secure and unlike most door cup holders they are not carved out, creating a nice shape to fit a bottle, so it doesn’t even seem like a bottle would fit in this area.  Door cup holders are made exclusively for bottles, not actual cups, and I don’t recommend putting something like a Starbucks cup in one of them if you don’t want liquid all over the side of your leg.

Inside the red circles are where the little spaces are located.  Seriously useless.

Moving on to the front of the vehicle there is a small but long glove compartment, making it pretty shallow.  This disproves my totally scientific hypothesis that the smaller the car the bigger the glove compartment.  In other compacts like the Kia Soul and Nissan Versa the glove compartments are huge, while in SUVs and larger sized cars the glove compartments tend to be small.  I thought I had detected a trend, but sadly I am proven wrong.  Inside the glove compartment you will find the AUX port, which is one of the most stupid places to put it and it took quite a while for me to find the dumb thing for a customer, and ultimately someone from another rental car booth next to mine had to go out there and help me find it.  This isn’t the first time Ford has put the AUX port in strange places, it is almost hidden inside the middle cubby of the 2012 Ford Fusion, and I bet the engineers get some sort of sick satisfaction by imagining people looking all over for it, why else would they make it so hard to find? 

You’ll notice that the middle section is very compact.  It includes a lidded cubby that is quite small even for a compact and directly in front of it is a covered 12 volt AC jack with two small carved out notches that look like they might be for change, but are practically useless because 1) you would have to line the coins up on their sides so that they are standing straight up and who has time for that when driving down the highway away from a toll, 2) the only way the change would stay up is if it was all full, and 3) it is large enough for quarters which means it is too large for dimes.  I wish I could have found  pictures of this so you could see it because I might be wrong about the whole thing but if it’s not meant for change I have no idea what it could be used for.   There are also two, shallow cup holders that seem too shallow to effectively hold something in place during a turn, the parking brake which is very short and small therefore very cute (as cute as a parking brake can be), and the shifter is above the brake and takes a quite a bit of space for such a small area.  On the left side of the shifter is another carved out area, much bigger than the alleged change holder, and more like the size of the pointless spaces in the backseats but this one is longer and narrower, like an oval.  Why, Ford, did you include all of these totally pointless areas?  The shape, the angle, and the placement make this particular spot totally useless!  On the bottom of the middle console you will see that the temperature controls are large but straight forward and easy to use, and directly above them is the lock/unlock button for the whole car.  None of the doors have a physical locking mechanism (the little tab you push or pull), and there is not even a lock/unlock button on the driver’s side door, there is only the one in the middle console.  I don’t like this idea because it makes it more difficult to get into the car if you lock yourself out (but maybe it makes it more difficult to steal, so that’s a plus), and what if there is a blown fuse and makes the electricity go nuts?  You wouldn’t even be able to physically lock your car.  It was also difficult to find, hiding in plain sight if you will. 

Inside this red circle is another carved out space.  This also gives a good idea of the two-toned seats, and before anyone calls me a lying liar who lies, the colors in this model are inverted from the one that I was in.

Moving up is the radio/media control that has a strange/interesting lay out where all of the buttons are on a slant either to the right or the left.  When you first look at it you think “whoa,” but I actually like it because it doesn’t look too clunky to me, you can quickly get used to it, and it’s easy to use.  Above the controls is actual radio display which is nothing special. 

I little goofy looking, right?  Notice the lock/unlock button near the bottom center, above the hazard flasher button.

There are a few miscellaneous features that deserve to be noted.  First, the dashboard is very long, and that gives you a longer and larger windshield, but I feel like that space could have been utilized better.  Second, there are no cup holders inside the front doors, and I only point this out because it is one of the only cars I have been in so far that has something of a cup holder in the back door but nothing in the front.  Third, there is no spot for your sunglasses, and I am finding that most compact and smaller cars do not have a designated place for these.

The thing I like the least about this car is sitting behind the steering wheel, which is definitely not a good thing if you actually like being comfortable while you drive.  First, the steering wheel is large and the front door opening is rather small, so it makes it difficult to get in and out of this car for a large and in charge individual like myself.  The passenger door opening is also small, but without the steering wheel in the way it’s easy to get in and out.  Also, because the car sits so low it almost feel likes pulling yourself off of the ground when getting out; not bad for a young person with good knees, but if you do have chronic knee/leg problems or pain this is something to consider.  The small door obviously leads to a small driver’s side window and creates a blind spot on your left side that you don’t normally get in cars.  In fact, it was a lot like a blind spot that was in a big stupid Dodge Ram pickup truck I used to drive.  Getting past blind spots is obviously something everyone has to do to drive, but if you are used to driving little cars this particular spot might take some time to get acclimated to, so proceed with caution.  The large steering wheel has pretty standard features integrated in it, including the radio/media controls on the right hand side, the dashboard display controls on the left hand side (I will get to those shortly), and on the bottom left hand side are the cruise control settings.  I like that the cruise control settings are buttons (I hate the dumb stick controls), but I don’t like the design of these ones, they are so unnecessarily big, awkward, and take up a lot of space.  The only good thing about cruise control settings being so large is that customers can find them easily and they won’t call me when they are on the road already asking where they are, because I know every little detail about every car we rent without even looking at it.  All of these features combined creates a claustrophobic feeling that makes it quite uncomfortable (at least for me) to even sit behind the wheel.  Maybe a petite person might not feel this way and maybe it is a feeling you will get over after a while, but why even go for a car that makes you feel that way to begin with?

First, the red circle on the radio section is the location of the lock/unlock button.  The red circle on the steering wheel is where the clunky cruise control settings are, and I have no idea what is in the blue circle, hence the red question mark.  Possibly some feature you can upgrade to?

I want to take a sidebar and talk a bit about the dashboard display.  In the middle of the display is a little box, where if you are lucky enough to figure it out, it shows the odometer and trip meters, but the stupid interface (is that the right term?) is a freaking labyrinth, press the wrong button and you are face to face with the Minotaur.  As I mentioned, the dashboard display controls are found on the steering wheel and using those you can move through the countless menus and try your best to get to the information you’re actually trying to find.  Features that are needlessly complicated are not good for rental cars and if you are looking to purchase this vehicle then you will have to sit down and read through the manual to be able to properly utilize this display, and who knows, there might actually be some useful information buried in there somewhere but I will probably never know.  The display itself is quite small and digital but in our fast-paced, high-tech world this particular display is looking ever more antiquated because it has an analog feel.  I have been in other Ford Focuses (Foci?) that have a more modern looking display but they are equally, if not more, complicated.

The combination of the car being so low to the ground and so small makes driving it feel like you are driving a go-cart, but that’s not too out of the ordinary for a compact or sub-compact (i.e. Chevy Sonic, Hyundai Accent).  Not surprisingly you feel the road through the pedals and the steering wheel, but maybe combined with the seats it could be fun to go really fast and feel like are driving a race car (but you have to make the gear shifting noises, too. rrrrRRRRRrrrrr).  The car accelerates very easily but it’s not smooth and it jerks you around a bit.  The steering wheel doesn’t move as freely as some other compact cars (not even close to the Kia Soul), and it feels just like moving the wheel in the standard size Ford Fusion.  It’s not bad, but I would have liked it to be easier to compete with some of the other compacts, but the turning radius for this little car is great, getting into parking spots would be no problem.

Ultimately I would not get this car and it’s because of how claustrophobic it makes me feel, and why would I shell out the cash for a car that makes me uncomfortable?  The features are also too complicated and many are useless (all of those pointless nooks and crannies). But if you are looking for something small that can still fit a lot of stuff in the trunk (just not people) it could be a viable option.