Consumer Reports Says The 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Is The Best Used American-Made Car For Under $10,000

2017 Chevrolet Cruze
Credit: Chevrolet

The Chevrolet Cruze may have cruised into the history books in 2019, but it’s still an excellent car to buy according to the latest Consumer Reports roundup of used vehicles.

The organization named it the best used car for under $10,000, which is exciting for American Cars And Racing because not only is Chevy an American brand, but it was made in the USA.

The compact Cruze was built at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio factory until 2019 after a decade of service as a fuel efficient budget offering that helped GM through the post-bankruptcy era until the market took a hard swing away from cars to SUVs.

Its best sales year was 273,060, but that dropped to 142,618 in 2018.

2017 Chevrolet Cruze
(Chevrolet)

The Cruze was redesigned for 2016 and the Consumer Reports pick is specific to the 2017 version, which sells in the $7,300 to $9,700 price range today. Its original road test, safety, price and reliability — which improved in the second year of production — all factored into the decision.

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Consumer Reports highlighted its spaciousness, efficiency and the performance provided by its 153 hp 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Features like heated seats, keyless ignition and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration can all be found in cars listed under the $10,000 threshold. The 2018 and 2019 Cruzes are just as good, but harder to find at that price right now.

2019 Hyundai Elantra
(Hyundai)

Consumer Report’s best used car under $15,000 was also made in USA, but by Hyundai. The 2019 Elantra was primarily supplied from its factory in Montgomery, Alabama, although some were imported from South Korea. Today they can be found for $10,750 to $15,175.

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The Elantra was a direct competitor to the Cruze and updated for 2019. Consumer Reports praised its spaciousness and efficiency along with the high level of standard safety features that came on all but the base SE trim, which included automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist and a blind spot warning system. Those are common features today, but were less so at the time in low-priced models.

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