Chevrolet vehicles that were discontinued in the USA are still very popular. Everyone remembers the legendary and dependable Chevy Impala, but the Chevy Cruze was also an excellent sedan for its time. It was even available with a turbo diesel engine, which had fantastic gas mileage.

This is why people are talking about the Cruze again even though it was canceled years ago. GM Authority reports that the Chevy Cruze almost had its own diesel gate, but the situation appears to be resolved. Why did the Chevy Cruze cause enough controversy to warrant a lawsuit?

Everything about the late Chevy Cruze

The Chevrolet Cruze was first released for the 2011 model year and was available with just one engine. A turbodiesel was optional on the 2014 and 2015 Chevy Cruze, but was removed for the 2016 redesign. This engine was reintroduced for the 2017 model year, but could not be combined with the hatchback until 2018.

For its last model year, the Chevy Cruze was equipped with a pretty peppy turbo four with 153 hp as standard. It was paired with a traditionally responsive six-speed manual transmission, but Car and Driver said it actually turned out to be a downside. The editors were more impressed with the available turbodiesel, which had less horsepower but got an automatic nine-speed gearbox.

The turbodiesel has a deeper growl than the turbo four-engine, of course, but Car and Driver says it behaves on the freeway. The turbodiesel Cruze is all bark and no bite, so don’t expect overly athletic maneuvering. Even so, the Chevy Cruze has a smooth driving feel and responsive steering, no matter what engine it has.

The Chevy Cruze diesel model is also notable for its gas mileage, which is rated for city and highway driving up to 31/48 mpg. The car and driver managed to get 52 mpg on the highway, four points above its EPA rating. In contrast, the Cruze’s standard engine actually fell short of its EPA rating.

The Diesel lawsuit against Chevy Cruze is officially closed

In 2016, a lawsuit was filed against Chevy alleging that 2014 and 2015 Cruze diesels were equipped with “defeat devices.” This is software that can temporarily limit a car’s emissions while it is going through EPA tests. General Motors adhered fully to the case handlers, allowing the lawsuit to move into the investigative phase.

Even after years of investigation, the judge was unable to find any evidence that GM was involved in illegal activities. A single Cruze was found to have sub-par emissions and a plaintiff’s attorney owned it. It appears to be either an isolated incident or an elaborate attempt to get money from GM.

While the case is now being set, it was a pretty big deal years ago. Premium diesel fuel isn’t cheap, so many consumers rightly felt cheated after purchasing the car. In addition, many environmentally conscious buyers were annoyed by how many tons of C02 they produced with a supposedly cleaner vehicle.

Despite the Cruze’s bad press, the diesel engine reportedly played no part in its demise. According to Detroit News, Chevy wanted to move away from the compact car segment and focus on larger SUVs. Because of this, the Chevy Sonic, an even smaller vehicle that is popular mainly because of its low price, has been discontinued.

What was “Dieselgate” anyway?

In 2014, the EPA found that 482,000 Volkswagen models across their product line were equipped with defeat devices. According to the BBC, this enabled the cars to produce 40 times more pollutants than permitted by the environmental authorities. This scandal was called Dieselgate. VW later admitted that up to 11 million cars worldwide were affected. The Chevy Cruze is a fine little sedan, especially with the turbodiesel, so we’re glad its reputation was restored.

RELATED: Lawsuit Settled: Volkswagen Paid More than $ 9 Billion to Its Dieselgate Victims