I've had the car now for 3 months. This is my first new car purchase in 20 years since I usually by used vehicles. I'll try and break down my review by the catagories listed above. Let's start with comfort: Being on the taller side (6'2") I find the Cruze to be pretty comfortable. It has a multitude of positions that should suit your needs. The seat is a bit on the narrow side though. The arm rest on the console slides forward to help make it useful but it does not lock in place and can find its way back to the home position if you put unknowing pressure on it to push it back. I heard they fixed this on the 2012 model but am only going off of hearsay. Performance: I bought this car for it's mileage claims and not performance. The car can get out of its own way when needed though. The little 1.4L turbo-charged engine produces some constant torque from 1800 RPM's and on. By no means a racer but I feel performance is adequate with the manual transmission. The mileage is phenomenol. I can get every bit of the 42 MPG's the manufacturer claims and more. At 63 mph and the flat lands of the midwest, I am very impressed and pleased with mpg's of this car and my combined mileage (city/hwy) is around 36+. Exterior Styling: This is subjective but I like it. To me it looks like a smaller economy version of a Cadillac. Interior Design: I'm again pleased with where the controls are for all the features. I only have one option and that is the Connectivity Package. That includes the cruise control and bluetooth hands free calling along with mp3 player connection and a leather wrap steering wheel with controls. I recommend this package if you have the i-phone or Droid and need to talk on the phone while driving. Once you sync your phone to the car, it is virtually flawless in answering or calling with it. The cruise control is a must for those top mpg's too. Not overly sure about fitting 4 adults in there comfortably for too long but you can do it. It is a smaller car but has surprisingly alot of room. The road noise is minimal too. You don't feel like you are in a Cruze when on the highway because it is relatively quiet. Value for the Money: I thought it was fair in price. Different models and different options can bring your car cost to $25K but I only paid $19K for my ECO model. You have to work your own deal at a dealership but you can barter a little. At 36-42 mpg's and only $19K with a pretty well equipped new car, I think that is quite a good value. Reliability: I've had the car for 3 months /3000 miles and haven't had any issues. Does that mean it's reliable? No, but everytime I've gone to turn the key and asked it to get me from point A to point B, it has done so. Right now my reliability is sitting at 100%. Overall: So far I'm extremely satisfied with the car. My purchase was for a work vehicle and a trip vehicle with the rising gas prices. Going to and from work has been a pleasure and the mileage on my short highway trips is outstanding. Comfort is pretty good and the driveability/handling has been nothing but impeccable. Hope this helpful.........