No, I have had my jeep for almost 4 years, and it is an 02.  It was my mom and dad who bought it for me.  It was a good choice at the time because I only drove about 10 seconds to my high school.  I am looking to buy a new car now because I drive just a little over an hour to college.

Rarely does a manufacturer make one model that is signifanctly more reliable/better than all others in similar capacity. i.e. GM cars all suck, yet GM trucks/suvs are ok.

I'm not willing to bet a new model (the cruze) is any different than the other GM cars like the malibu and cobalt, etc. Its not like that model has been around awhile to prove its unique in the Chevy/GM line. Like the Ford Fusion has done in comparision to other Ford cars.

Whereas the Toyota Corolla has proven that its a 200,000+ miles driveable car over and over again. Especially if he is in fact buying new vs used. New cars lose a lot of value the moment you drive it off the lot. Toyota Corolla is one of the best cars in the world to retain value... far better than ANY GM/Chevy. While no car should be considered a money making investment, the Corolla would be by far the better financial choice in almost any way.

I don't know the prices of the cars you listed, but if you can swing it look at the scion TC. Its get 30 high way, and comes with 2 years of free maintenance. Motor for life, and i also got a warranty that if anything happens i can have it fixed for 200. And the problems can stack and get them all fixed for 200. Basically i don't have to worry about anything but breaks and tires for the life of the loan.

2012 chevy cruze

Yo support american cars. Plus they are nice. I had one when my Impala was in the shop and I loved it.

Dude you have no clue what you are talking about.  My moms Impala has over 170,000 miles and is running good. Plus GM has stepped up ever since they Stopped making Pontiac and Saturn.  Now My impala is newer but I love that as well. Love my yukon as well. O' they are easy and very cheap to fix. Imports are a joke to repair and expensive to fix.

Toyota is sh-t. They waited until there brakes and acceleration issue was killing a bunch of people until they recalled it. They knew about the problem before they shipped the product.

You ever work on a toyota< no you have not. So it is not a financially good choice.

Chevy will stomp all over toyota anyday. You are so full of it.

Chevy has also proved to be a 200,000 mile car. SO not sure what your point is accept you don't buy amercan and support our working americans that make a good product.

Toyota couldn't dream of making a engine like the 350. The 350 was on the best engines ever made. CHEVY destroys toyota.

saying rarely does the cars vary! Dude different engines vary. Then in this case ever single toyota is going to crash and burn. Cars all have different problems. You clearly have never worked on cars. My dad owned a successful mechanic shop for his whole life. Toyota is sh-t buddy. Hope yours never breaks down. My aunt patts back door lauch wouldn't close on her van after her sons wedding and they had to break the f'ing thing to close because they where in the middle of chicago and couldn't drive home with the lauch open.

I have never heard of this phenomenon before...

How is a car BORING?

Look at more than just reliability and mpg. Look at how hard they are to fix and get parts for too.

Well, I would never recommended a Kia based upon my cousin's catching on fire!! It was parked and brand new! My Ford Focus saved my life when someone rammed into me.... I'd get another Focus in a second.

Now, I like Mitsubishi Lancer Evo's. They have gas saving stock Lancers. Stylish.

Do you work for GM or something? Calm down.

I'd recommend you two great cars (if they were available in the US):

- Alfa Romeo Giulietta
http://www.alfaromeo.it/it/#/modelli/giulietta
http://www.caranddriver.com/photo-gallery/2012-alfa-romeo-giulietta-feature
(currently the world's best looking compact car imo; will probably be my next car; side note: they advertise the car in several European countries like Italy and Germany with Uma Thurman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiLxfSH8Oe8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDfYx9aoVJM )

- Skoda Octavia
http://www.skoda-auto.cz/cze/model/newoctavia/gallery/pictures/Pages/gallery.aspx
(a car with one of the best values imo; not ugly either; Skoda is VW's Czech daughter company; the Octavia is very popular in Germany - especially as station wagon - among people who don't want or can't afford one of the 5 most successful compact cars over here, which are VW Golf, Opel Astra, BMW 1, Ford Focus, Audi A3 - btw: the Opel Astra shares the GM platform with the Chevy Cruz, and the Octavia shares the platform with VW Golf and Audi A3)

- The C4 would have been my 3rd recommendation, but I just realised that Citroën is not on the NA market either, so I better stop here with recommendations of cars which are not available for you anyway.

There are many great European cars you NA guys don't get for some reason.

Man, the current Toyota Corolla iteration is incredibly ugly: http://www.toyota.com/corolla/
No wonder they don't sell it anymore over here. No one would buy it. The Auris is a comparable flop either over here and still looks way better than the current Corolla (which isn't too difficult). Toyota used to be very successful in Germany, especially with earlier Corolla models (the Corolla is extremely reliable), but today they're not really successful anymore over here. But even without the German market and with Hyundai/Kia on Toyota's heels the Corolla was again the world's bestselling car last year (and of course all-time with it's plenty of models and redesigns). It's still the world's consens car, even with the imo remarkably ugly current design.

Out of the 3 you listed I'd take the Kia Optima. But out of Kia I'd actually take the Cee'd (which is not available in NA). And out of Korea i'd take the Hyundai i30 (which shares the platform with the Cee'd but is the better car according to reviews). I think the i30 is called Hyundai Elantra GT in USA, but I'm not sure (btw: the i30 is the car which is most feared by VW as future most serious competitor to their - in Germany - overwhelmingly successful VW Golf).