The (other) new hatchback nobody is buying...but are they any good?

There's been some discussion recently about how Chevy is slashing prices on the Cruze hatchback because nobody will buy them. Around here $5-6k off MSRP isn't uncommon. Jalopnik even did an article about this craziness. It's something I've thought about in my quest for a Fit replacement, but I've just heard too many GM horror stories to get over, even in the "new GM" era. However, there's ANOTHER forgotten hatchback that nobody is buying you can get a hold of for about $4-5k off MSRP. And this one's an import.

The "oh yeah, they DO make that" Toyota Corolla iM.

I guess they sold a whole ~5000 of these for the year it was a Scion and I'd imagine it's selling pretty poorly as a Toyota too, given the way dealers will shove them out the door. I know Toyota no longer builds the kind of cars it became famous in the early 90's for, but could these be that bad? Aside from being pretty slow these seem like a decent little package. Independent rear suspension and rear disc brakes (which you can't get on a Corolla sedan IIRC), solid list of standard equipment, non-sunroof body (huge plus for us taller folk) and an honest to goodness 6-speed manual. New. For like $15-16k financed at 0% APR.

Has anyone driven one of these? Seems like a heckuva deal if you could figure out a way to get more power from the wheezing 1.8 2ZR-FAE. Locally they are all the soul-sucking CVT though there is a manual one not too far from town...

I want one.

I honestly don't hate these, probably one of the better styled cars in the Toyota/Scion lineup

The new Matrix/Vibe. Seems great to me.

I had no idea of slow sales on the Cruise hatch. I have seen a few on the road but in retrospect, they could have likely been rental cars, the dumping ground of car manufacturers.

For what it's worth I've had good luck with my 14 Cruze 1.4t 6 speed.

At about 120k now and aside from a pcv valve and negative ground cable I haven't had any issues.

Greg Voth wrote: For what it's worth I've had good luck with my 14 Cruze 1.4t 6 speed. At about 120k now and aside from a pcv valve and negative ground cable I haven't had any issues.

Had a valve cover that was whistlin' Dixie, did ya? That's likely about the only unexpected issues you'll have too, maybe a leaky water pump too. The Cruze gets a lot of E36 M3, but they're pretty solid.

I drove an iM loaner when it was still a Scion. It was adequate. Coming from an FR-S, it didn't wow me, automatic and all, but I could definitely see it as a good people mover.

If only we got the Cruze wagon instead over here. I mean, it wouldn't sell either, but I'd be happier with it.

In reply to NickD:

Yep. Had to replace the whole valve cover to do the valve apparently.

I looked it up at the time in case I have to do it again. Part is less than $100 and seems to be a pretty easy job.

In reply to Greg Voth:

Yeah, I can do them in less than 15 minutes.

I'm on the fence between one of these (used) or a used Prius for my next car. Aside from the manual transmission and the independent rear suspension, the Prius seems to be a better car in every other measure.

I'm watching the depreciation curves on both so I can decide which to buy in 2019 or 2020.

There's a Cruze hatchback?

search

$32k??? Hell to the no.

Knurled wrote: There's a Cruze hatchback? *search* $32k??? Hell to the no.

I think you have some numbers backwards there...MSRP on a fully loaded manual is $23k and lots are listed for sale at $17-18k.

In reply to pointofdeparture:

I did a search on Autotrader. The first hit was $32k. I refined the search for manual trans and the first hit was still $23k.

The funny part is the price range statistic at the bottom of the page said that there was one hit for $40k. I didn't go to the second page to find it. Searching for new cars on Autotrader throws my computer into a massive tizzy, all of those dealer sponsored ads make my computer crawl. And I have Adblock.

B.b.b.but they ran that commercial during so many football games about these hatchbacks with those attractive young people saying the Cruze hatchback was like "business in the front party in the back"....

Oh wait. So the (manufacturer-claimed) "mullet car" doesn't sell well?

I braved the molasses effect and dug up that first one:

Man, Autotrader links are long!

Just for lulz, I'm going to try to find the $40k one.

Edit: Might be a typo, transposed numbers?

Speaking as someone who recently bought a used Chevrolet, don't buy a new one unless {a} you really want a warranty and {b} you plan on driving it forever.

The depreciation borders on absurd. I bought a 3 year old Sonic with 30k for 60% of the MSRP.

Regardless of the Cruze (which by all accounts is a very nice hatchback that unfortunately drives like a rolling isolation chamber) I might have to figure out what the deal is with the Corolla iM. There's a semi-local Carmax that also has a Toyota franchise with a stick iM on the lot. Maybe I can get an appraisal on the Fit and take the iM out for a drive to see if they're any good.

In reply to pointofdeparture:

i believe that the iM chassis is the second generation mazda2 that wasn't brought stateside by mazda outside of the cx3 and it's autotragic goodness.

No idea those were going for so cheap. My GF is going to be in the market come summer, and after sitting in every possible option at a recent auto show, the 3 finalists are the iM, the Impreza, and the VW Golf Sportwagen. Requirements are hatch/wagon and manual. She's 5' on a tall day and fit seems to be priority #1.

In reply to captdownshift:

Wrong the iM is a ROW Corolla Hatch the iA is the Mazda 2 sedan that the ROW gets

captdownshift wrote: In reply to pointofdeparture: i believe that the iM chassis is the second generation mazda2 that wasn't brought stateside by mazda outside of the cx3 and it's autotragic goodness.

That's the iA. The iM is a Toyota Auris which is literally just a Corolla hatch.

Is it actually IRS? I thought the Corolla reverted to twist beam at some point.

In reply to BrokenYugo:

The iM is indeed IRS. The Corolla isn't. It's weird that Toyota would make the Corolla beam axle only and the iM IRS only but it is what it is. Probably has something to do with its original purpose as a Scion product and subsequent "one trim level, no options" offering.

Not really. Only the US Corolla sedan has a solid axle. Corollas everywhere else on the planet have IRS. Since the Scion/Corolla iM is based on a ROW Corolla, it has IRS.