Per https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/avis...ars-class.html, the Golf is a CCAR and the Cruze is an ICAR. No idea if that's still up-to-date or if this particular franchise honors that.

Regardless, all this does is illustrate why rental companies are so hesitant to guarantee anything specific. As of several months ago, sure, maybe they thought they were getting a shipment of Cruzes in. Rental car fleets change all the time--perhaps the GDP vendor they were going to lease the cars from changed things, or the order mix they thought they were going to get from Chevy changed and they didn't get the Cruzes they thought but the fleet manager found a good deal on Volkswagens instead. Budget's mistake was even offering you the option to book a specific car class with winter tires in the first place.

When I managed things in Anchorage, we outfitted a small number of our compact cars and a small number of our fullsize cars with studded tires. They were absolutely first-come-first-serve only for a strict $20 per day upgrade fee. We never prebooked reservations for studded tires, because we simply didn't know how many we'd have on hand at any time (and there's no "out" like there is with regular reservations, where you could always just give them a free upgrade to a bigger car or even an SUV), and before the winter season started, we often didn't even know if we'd have any studded cars in the fleet that year at all.

Anyway, your solutions in this case are:

-Keep your existing reservation and prepare to make a demand at the rental counter that you need a partial refund for accepting a smaller car than reserved and prepaid
-Keep your existing reservation and prepare to make a demand at the rental counter that they provide you with your originally-booked car size with a partial refund for the fact it no longer has winter tires
-Keep your existing reservation and prepare to make a demand at the rental counter that they provide you with a significant upgrade at no extra charge to something roomy and safe enough to offset the fact you're not getting winter tires (like an SUV)
-Change or cancel your existing reservation now and accept that whatever changes you make are final and you won't be able to request a refund or discount later
-Attempt to work the issue out in advance with the rental office over the phone now (by calling the location directly, not Budget's central line, and speaking with a manager).

What isn't going to happen: they're not going to put a pair of winter tires on a Cruze just for you. So be prepared to either accept a downgraded vehicle with winter tires, an equivalent-size vehicle without winter tires, or an upgraded vehicle without winter tires. I would say that it would be fair to receive a refund for the first two of those three options. If the location isn't willing to refund part of your rental if they give you a downgraded car or a vehicle without winter tires, you can attempt a complaint to Budget's corporate offices after the rental contract is closed and if you state your case clearly, there's a good chance they'll give you something for your complaint (as it would be a valid and fair complaint).