My over-all experience with the car has been nightmarish, but here is my review, and the last bit of drama for the saga.
Cliffs: I don't hate all Chevrolet's because of my experience, but I will never buy a low or mid-end GM car ever again due to poor fit/finish and component quality that is so apparent in the Cobalt after owning it for 3 months.
Pros:
Great power vs mpg *it got 37.6mpg on its way to its new owner on the Iowa border*
Alot of features available *7 speaker stereo, heated leather, MP3/CD Changer with Aux/Ipod, LSD,etc*
Good sized trunk despite the size
solid handling
Cons:
Transmission may be stout, but is VERY hard to shift smoothly all the time
Drive by wire has more hangtime than it should
rear seats are worthless for people over 5'5" in the coupe
stock rims are vunerable to curbs because they are 'flat fronted' and nearly flush with the tire all the way around
paint on bumpers chips CRAZY easily
Climate control and heated seat control buttons are garbage IMO (Service history showed both being replaced twice)
The Take-Away:
The REAL problems I experienced with this car I will be honest and say "Aren't because its a chevrolet"
The rear brakes seizing are the fault of the previous owner painting them almost certainly, and the 2 weeks it spent in the shop are the dealers fault for screwing up the car repeatedly.
The car was cheap, and powerful, and got good fuel economy, but my 10+ year old trucks both have better fit and finish as far as the interior is concerned, and I feel that was my biggest let-down above all others as I didn't expect the car to have more squeaks/rattles, and a rougher ride than my trucks..... I really feel that Chevrolet has 'dropped the ball' on interior quality of MANY of its new cars *Not always poor quality, but just bland* I drove a new Malibu and a HHR during the time the cobalt was in the shop, so I'm not just basing this on the cobalt.
All in all I 'lost' $280 on the car outside of the money I had spent on the payments, which isn't the end of the world, but I will never buy any low-end general motors product again. my 07 focus had far better fit and finish, and I traded it in with 10K more miles on it than the cobalt had, and it never gave me a single problem since the day I bought it minus a single random airbag light from a clockspring.
I also have come to terms that if I ever buy a 'newer' *2000+* Full-size truck, I would buy a GM hands-down.
--End Rant--
Cliffs: I don't hate all Chevrolet's because of my experience, but I will never buy a low or mid-end GM car ever again due to poor fit/finish and component quality that is so apparent in the Cobalt after owning it for 3 months.
Pros:
Great power vs mpg *it got 37.6mpg on its way to its new owner on the Iowa border*
Alot of features available *7 speaker stereo, heated leather, MP3/CD Changer with Aux/Ipod, LSD,etc*
Good sized trunk despite the size
solid handling
Cons:
Transmission may be stout, but is VERY hard to shift smoothly all the time
Drive by wire has more hangtime than it should
rear seats are worthless for people over 5'5" in the coupe
stock rims are vunerable to curbs because they are 'flat fronted' and nearly flush with the tire all the way around
paint on bumpers chips CRAZY easily
Climate control and heated seat control buttons are garbage IMO (Service history showed both being replaced twice)
The Take-Away:
The REAL problems I experienced with this car I will be honest and say "Aren't because its a chevrolet"
The rear brakes seizing are the fault of the previous owner painting them almost certainly, and the 2 weeks it spent in the shop are the dealers fault for screwing up the car repeatedly.
The car was cheap, and powerful, and got good fuel economy, but my 10+ year old trucks both have better fit and finish as far as the interior is concerned, and I feel that was my biggest let-down above all others as I didn't expect the car to have more squeaks/rattles, and a rougher ride than my trucks..... I really feel that Chevrolet has 'dropped the ball' on interior quality of MANY of its new cars *Not always poor quality, but just bland* I drove a new Malibu and a HHR during the time the cobalt was in the shop, so I'm not just basing this on the cobalt.
All in all I 'lost' $280 on the car outside of the money I had spent on the payments, which isn't the end of the world, but I will never buy any low-end general motors product again. my 07 focus had far better fit and finish, and I traded it in with 10K more miles on it than the cobalt had, and it never gave me a single problem since the day I bought it minus a single random airbag light from a clockspring.
I also have come to terms that if I ever buy a 'newer' *2000+* Full-size truck, I would buy a GM hands-down.
--End Rant--