I went this morning with @Gurdonark sensible sedan shopping.  He has a long daily commute to work, and needs a large compact or small midsize sedan for a daily driver.  He had already tested the Ford Fusion.

I offered to drive, since this was also a great excuse for a day out in my Cadillac STS-V.

Today we started at Tony’s Cafe for breakfast.  My Wife joined us, so that made a pleasant outing, then she headed for her day and we headed to the car dealers.

Here are photos of the Cruze and the Malibu.  They look very similar to me but I think I have them captioned right.

Chevrolet Cruze

Chevrolet Malibu

For Car Shopping, we went to Huffines Chevrolet in Plano.  @Gurdonark wanted to check the Cruze, Malibu, and Equinox, then head over to Huffines Hyundai to check their comparable offerings.

The Chevrolet Cruze replaced the Cobalt.  Although it is smaller than a Malibu, it still had acceptable rear leg room.  The Cruze has a smaller engine, and higher MPG, and the Malibu has more interior room.  Among the base models, the Cruze appears to have better infotainment access, with bluetooth, USB, and ipod ports.

Chevrolet Equinox

The surprise choice of a sensible sedan for me was the Chevrolet Equinox, especially since it is a Crossover SUV and not technically a sedan.  With good gas mileage, plenty of room, a higher driving position, and a mid-20s price the Malibu-or-Cruze comparison quickly changed to an Equinox-or-Cruze comparison.  Since the Cruze is around $5K less money, I think the deal on each would be the way I would decide between these two for a daily commuter.

2.4L Ecotec Engine in the Chevrolet Equinox

Huffines has a Hyundai lot on the same property, where we test drove the Elantra and Sonata.  @Gurdonark’s current car is a Sonata. Although they seemed very roomy, they did not test drive as well as the Cruze or Equinox.

We drove around the corner to a Chrysler dealer where we tested the Chrysler 200.  Although it seemed a handsome car it also seems a car waiting for a bottoms-up rewrite and not just the current make-over of an otherwise basic vehicle.

Lunch at Dickey's - beef, turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, roll

After car shopping we wrapped up with Lunch at Dickey’s BBQ which worked well.

Summary

Among the sensible sedans, I would choose the Chevrolet Cruze.  Among the cars we shopped, I would choose between the Cruze or the Equinox and decide based on the price level I was able to get each one at.

@Gurdonark & Chevrolet Corvette

Among the rest of the cars we saw, I would get the Chevrolet Corvette, or a Camaro SS.