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Adjusting to life with the Cruze

by on 28. Jan, 2011 in Blog

It’s been a while since I’ve regularly driven a car and when I say a while, we’re talking at least 12 years!  As a lifelong snow belt resident I’ve become a fan of the SUV just to deal with the onslaught of snow we get each season.  So you can imagine that driving a Chevy Cruze on the regular has been quite an adjustment.  Even entering the car takes some getting used to. I’m a creature of habit and just the change of sitting down instead of climbing up thew me off my game.

As I’m getting used to life with the Cruze I have come to appreciate some of its finer points.  One being the ginormous trunk.  This little bugger has some definite junk in its trunk.  Over the weekend I went grocery shopping with my boyfriend making stops at Giant Eagle and Whole Foods and although we bought a ton of food, in the Cruze’s trunk it looked like nothing.

Another thing I’m loving is the gas mileage.  I live in area where highways are a pain to get to so I do a lot of city driving.  In my regular vehicle I’m lucky if I see 16 mpg so when I checked the average MPGs on my Cruze and saw 27, I nearly fainted.  One thing’s for certain, I won’t be at the gas station very much over the next few weeks.

Of course given the freezing temps of late the remote start and heated seats have been a blessing. Even when I forget to start the car in advance I use the remote start, just because I can. Last Friday, after dining at one of my fave Cleveland restaurants, L’Albatros, I ran out the front door to start the car and two women passing by exclaimed in unison that, “[They] want that!” Don’t we all.

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“Sunday Bacon” in the Cruze

by on 26. Jan, 2011 in Blog, Featured Bloggers

Hi, it’s Suzanne from Life on Mars.  Normally I post photos of my little pup on my blog so I figured that Bacon needed to be a part of the test drive of the Cruze.  Actually we are going on our first road trip in the Cruze this weekend to Pittsburgh—we’ll see how the Cruze is on a longer distance than just across town.

And yes, even Bacon is enjoying the Cruze.  Today he was checking out the spacious trunk.

It looks as if he is plotting something and I may or may not have caught him in the act of something (who knows what but he looks guilty).

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“Cruzing” Around on a Sunday

by on 24. Jan, 2011 in Blog, Featured Bloggers, Raves and Reviews

Hey guys, it’s Katrina from the blog Bite Buff. I’ve been driving the Chevy Cruze for just over a week now, and I continue to find little things that I like about the car. Unlike Suzanne and Michelle, I drive a small compact car that is similar to the Cruze so it has been easy for me to compare them side by side. I’ve been a Ford girl my entire adult life, but my loan will be paid off this summer and before I know it…it will be time to car shop again. I consider this month of driving the Chevy Cruze a very extended test drive! I have always loved driving a smaller car. I think it’s the zipping in and out of traffic and the ability to park in small, tight spots that I love. But the snowy roads (okay, unplowed at times) have had me considering a small SUV lately. I have’t taken the Cruze out on a really snowy day yet, so I’ll be interested to see how it handles the winter roads in Cleveland. Already, the windshield wipers are waaay better! They are keeping the windshield clean and dry for me, which is key when commuting around this city.

So I plan on taking you on a shopping trip to the West Side Market this Saturday (video and all), but I do have to comment on this past weekend’s errands as it relates to the Cruze. We headed out on Sunday to do ONE errand, which of course turned into six stops by the time we were done. I was in a shoe shopping mood, and demanded that we head to DSW. Three boxes of shoes later, we headed to a few more stops in the area…including purchasing new throw pillows for our living room furniture and a TV tray table. Yes, a small table. And it totally fit into the Cruze’s trunk even with all of our other purchases. Pillows may be soft, but they are dense and take up a lot of room. Of course, you can’t forget about my shoes (oh, glorious shoes!).

I didn’t capture any photographs of our errands, or the slightly packed trunk when we finished, but here’s an image that helps show you just how spacious the Chevy Cruze’s trunk really is…

Inside of the Chevy Cruze

Yes, that’s me inside of the trunk when we picked up our cars last weekend. My trunk is large in my current car, but I’m pretty sure that it can’t fit a human body. I even had room to spare in there!

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I wonder if we can put a body in there or why I need to watch less television

by on 23. Jan, 2011 in Blog, Featured Bloggers, Raves and Reviews

I am going to admit that I have been a Jeep girl all my life.  In the 18 or so years I have been driving (wow, that makes me feel a little bit old.  I have been driving more than half of my life—–cue tears and a trip to Sephora to buy some anti-wrinkle cream) , all but a few months, I have driven one Jeep or another.  A couple of the months not driving a Jeep were driving a mini-van (and then a few short months of driving a Civic in college that I think my mom wishes I hadn’t thanks to crashing it a few hours after trading cars with her) so driving a Chevy Cruze for a month was going to be a little bit different for me.  But since my current Jeep is over 5 years old, I am starting to think about a new ride.  And I am thinking about breaking up with Jeep.  So when I was contacted to drive a Chevy Cruse for a month, I hesitated at first.  Driving a car?!  In January?!  In Cleveland?!  Am I going to crash this within hours like I did the Civic?  But then I thought about how it’s like an extended test drive (and if I crashed it, that’s what they make insurance for, right?) and decided I was game.  Also, I had heard really good things about the Cruze and found out about the StabiliTrak feature.  (below is a screen shot from the Chevy site about some of the safety features of the Cruze)

So here I am cruising around in my Cruze. (Chevy peeps, you will be happy to know, it’s been more than a few hours and no crashes.  So you beat the Civic hands down so far)

I am used to the cargo space that an SUV provides. And this little Cruze has my Liberty beat in terms of space in the rear (junk in the trunk, if you will).  Sure I can fit Katrina in the back of my current car, but she has so much more room in the back of the Cruze….and since I am putting her in the trunk, it’s all about comfort.  Side note: if you were ever to actually be put in the trunk of the Cruze there is a handy dandy little handle that allows you to get out from the inside.  (Let’s hope Dexter isn’t around and you don’t actually need this feature but just in case you do, it’s there.  Safety first!

Disclaimer: The Girls On The Go campaign is being sponsored by Northeastern Ohio Area Chevy Dealers, who gave me a Chevy Cruze to test drive for one month and blog about my experience using the vehicle. The program has given us some fun “missions” to do and will be providing me with gift certificates to allow me to do this. Follow Gotta Love Chevy NEO on Facebook or on Twitter (#chevygirls).

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First thoughts on the Chevy Cruze…

by on 21. Jan, 2011 in Blog, Featured Bloggers, Raves and Reviews

Katrina here, from the blog Bite Buff, and I wanted to share with you my experience picking up the Chevy Cruze from the Northeastern Ohio Area Chevy Dealers and my first thoughts about the vehicle. The other two Chevy Girls this month, Suzanne and Michelle, and I showed up at the dealership at the same time. Which was fun! A Chevy representative showed us all of the car’s features….

Checking out the car's features

…including the trunk…..

Suzanne and Michelle checking out the trunk right before I climbed in

…which I then climbed into. Yes, into the trunk. Suzanne (after watching too much Dexter recently) wanted to know if the Cruze’s spacious trunk could fit a human body. So I showed her that it clearly could. Watch for pictures later, but I’m just glad that the other girls didn’t have time to whip out a video camera because climbing back out was a challenge. And quite entertaining for them, I’m sure. So after we learned about all of the car’s features (you know, the important things…like where the button for the heated seats was located), I took off on the highway in the Cruze for the first time.

Initial Thoughts:
- LOVE the heated seats
- LOVE the remote start
- Enjoying rocking out to the 90′s on 9 station on XM radio
- the engine is incredibly quiet, like so quiet that “R” and I couldn’t tell if the car had actually started once
- the tires are slightly larger than the tires on my current car (compact car, comparable to the Cruze), so that makes for a smoother ride over the many potholes and bumps on our city’s streets
- being able to see my speed on the display screen is helpful for this lead-footed girl

Keep that speed in check, yo!

Seriously, my driving instructor when I was 16 told me that I drove like a race car driver…and not much has changed. I blame my mother. I get my lead foot from her. Just ask my dad! So having my speed displayed large and “in my face” has been helpful. It is much harder to ignore in the Cruze.

So there are my initial thoughts on the vehicle, but there is a lot more to come. Check back throughout the month for fun stories, pictures, video, and more as I test drive the Chevy Cruze.

Disclaimer: The Girls On The Go campaign is being sponsored by Northeastern Ohio Area Chevy Dealers, who gave me a Chevy Cruze to test drive for one month and blog about my experience using the vehicle. The program has given us some fun “missions” to do and will be providing me with gift certificates to allow me to do this. Follow Gotta Love Chevy NEO on Facebook or on Twitter (#chevygirls).

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Meet Katrina

by on 18. Jan, 2011 in Blog, Featured Bloggers

Hi, I’m Katrina from the blog Bite Buff (http://bitebuff.blogspot.com). Even though I’ve only lived in Cleveland for three short years, it is “home” and I am here to stay. It did not take me long to fall in love with this city, and in particular…the culinary scene!

I lucked out moving to Cleveland, because I am a terrible cook. In high school, I ruined some of my mother’s best pots by trying to boil water for pasta and then walking away only to discover a burned, empty pot on the stove later. My college roommates banned me from the kitchen after burning toast (twice) in our toaster oven and setting off the fire alarm in the entire apartment building. Yup, I’m that bad. So I knew that as an adult, I had to quickly learn to love the art of dining out.

My inner “foodie” was born, and the blog follows my culinary adventures as I explore all that our local, independently-owned restaurants have to offer. This includes not only some amazing food and dining experiences, but some great special events as well.

I look forward to being a Chevy Girl this month, and I hope that you enjoy following my excursions around the city as I check out all of the Cruze features. You can also look forward to reading about some good eats along the way!

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Meet Michelle

by on 18. Jan, 2011 in Blog

Hi!  I’m Michelle, a 30-something native Cleveland gal representing the east side.  After working for the past 15 years as an accountant for my family’s business, I transitioned to a full-time blogger about a year and a half ago.  I turned my passion for nail polish into the nail focused beauty blog, All Lacquered Up, in 2007 as a colorful escape from my day job crunching numbers and as a way to connect with other nail polish fanatics from around the world.  All Lacquered Up has given me the opportunity to meet some fascinating people in the beauty industry, be a part of the fabulous world of beauty blogging and the ability to attend events like New York Fashion Week.  It’s truly changed my life and I’m so so grateful.

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Meet Suzanne

by on 18. Jan, 2011 in Blog

Hi, I’m Suzanne from Life on Mars and I am a native Clevelander who loves her city–for better or for worse. There was a brief few years where I lived in Columbus but for the most part, I have lived here all my life.  There are some great people, places and things going on here and I love being a part of this city.  And there are some amazing restaurants of which I am trying to visit as many as possible.  (ahhhh the cheese at L’Albatros is currently on my absolute favorite list).  I have an awesome Boston Terrier named Bacon who provides me with lots of laughs and lots of cuddles-he’s my little ham.  By day, I am a mortgage underwriter for a large bank. I judge people’s credit worthiness on a daily basis and either approve or decline their mortgage application so in other words you can say I get paid to judge people.  I recently bought my first house and am currently working on some minor home improvement projects that require some pretty embarrassing protective gear—safety first.  Besides all of that I like to work-out like a crazy person (and by crazy I mean I get up at 5am four days a week to work out), swim, watch too much reality television, read too many magazines, and attempt to enjoy running.

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Illuminating!

by on 16. Jan, 2011 in Blog, video, Videos













I love love love love love this feature on the Traverse. You should know by now that I’m not wooed by the big things (although they help!) but these little small things are what float my boat!

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So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

by on 15. Jan, 2011 in Blog, Raves and Reviews, video, Videos

My time in the Northeast Ohio Chevy Mom Squad has come to an end. *sigh* With that said, I wanted to thank Chevy and NE Ohio Chevy Dealers for this opportunity.  It was a BLAST!

When I accepted this invitation I was told that Chevy encourages self-promotion from their mom bloggers… and they certainly do! I decided that not only would I blog about the beautiful Traverse but would also include a smathering of local businesses. We all have to stick together in this economy, big and small businesses! This country supported Chevy in their time of need, and Chevy supported mom bloggers (especially one’s like me with small businesses!) by giving us a forum.

*All Star Window Cleaning (mention Mom Squad & get 10% off)
*Zen-Sational Living (my inspirational book-signed FREE at my site)
*Shanachie Greens (puttohio.com)
Brother’s Lounge (Cleveland)
Bella Toccare de Spa/Salon (Brecksville)
Little Ceasars Pizza (Pleasant Valley/Broadview)
The Flats (Cleveland)
Curley’s Body Shop (in Wooster)
The Barn Restaurant (Smithville)

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My favorite things about the Traverse? Wow, there’s many! The amount of seating and legroom is just incredible in this vehicle. The XM Satellite, OnStar, Rear heating ability… amazing!, ease of manipulating the seats to get more cargo room, the battery under the seat, self start, and the large wheels are my favorites. The sunroofs are a bonus as well as that dashboard storage – so very cool.   My FAVORITE FEATURE? I love how the car tells me important information like:

Saves time not checking each tire because it tells you which one is low!

Did I mention the gas mileage is pretty good? Pretty good compared to my Jeep that’s for sure. Since gas is at $2.90 a gallon, our recent trip to Wooster cost a bit less with 24 mpg rather than the 18 mpg my Jeep gets.

Things that could use improvement? Hmmmm. The blinker sound is a bit like a German clock. And it’s loud. The locking mechanism for the seatbelts are sometimes daunting. If the latch was higher above the edge of the seat, it would be better. But really, that’s about it!

All and all this was a great experience.  I’ve learned a lot about Chevy!  They designing great cars that are getting a bit better mileage and many new concepts are in use in their designs.   And with safety being the most important on my list, this Traverse is a great find!

Chevy is not affiliated with any of these businesses that I elected to mention throughout my month of blogging, and with the exception of my (*)own… I am not either.

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