Chevrolet's Cruze is quirky but commendable Misgivings over its stop/start technology are among the few cavils that might prevent the Cruze being rated as a pretty good buy. Another is the Kia Cee'd Sportswagon. Oh, and the Hyundia i30 Tourer, and the Ford Focus Estate. The Cruze is, therefore, up against some formidably good rivals in the small family estate car bracket; and the only obvious advantage it has to offer is the price on the windscreen. Like the Kia, the Cruze has pretty lines that follow the classic shape for a stylish estate car with a long nose, low roof and tapering tail. Few people will look at it and jeer, "Isn't that a jumped-up Daewoo you're driving?" though the slight would be entirely deserved. General Motors did away with the disgraced Daewoo name and instead debased Chevrolet's noble history by sticking that badge on cars it hawks in Europe that come out of the old Daewoo factories. Despite that distasteful exercise in branding jiggery-pokery, the Cruze has quite a lot to commend it. Load space is less than the Cee'd and the Focus, but it is protected from prying eyes by a cover that runs neatly on rails. There is plenty of space for five adults and the instrument panel is sensibly, simply planned. Less powerful engines in the range are said to lack drive but this can be said of the Cee'd and, in the 130bhp 1.7-litre VCDi version of the Cruze that I borrowed, performance was perfectly adequate. Where it could not match its rivals was in its primitive ride, for both the Kia and the Ford are superb in the chassis department. You might be willing to live with that deficit, however, in exchange for the money you could save on buying the Cruze. Even though its five-year warranty matches Hyundai's, the Cruze's £15,375 starting price makes rivals look extravagantly expensive. Perhaps the best way to keep costs down on this station wagon would be to eliminate optional extras. You might start by knocking start/stop off the list - though you'd be missing a good laugh.