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Jammer · 09-14-2009, 03:19 PM

Here is my story, for anyone that cares:

I had an insurance settlement after the brakes failed me in a 4x4 pickup truck and I ended up crushing the truck- Thank God I was fine! My insurance company gave me enough $$ that I could not even argue with the amount they gave me. But I decided I no longer needed a pickup truck, and the high center of gravity was part of the reason I flipped over during my wreck. So this time I wanted a Eco-Box that I could out right buy out using my check.

I was lucky. I found a sales guy that knew my family and located me a 2009 Cobalt LS COUPE XFE in another state! The car was stripped except for the rear spoiler (wing) and a spare tire. I got back $2,000 cash back from G.M., $1,000 cash back from the dealer that had the car on his lot for too long (motive to push the product), AND I qualified for a GM's employee discount (my father is a retiree). So, I managed to buy the XFE for about $13,000 TOTAL, everything, all tax, registration, tags, bottom line out the door.

I have less than 3,000 miles, and I suddenly noticed that about a week ago my XFE suddenly started getting better and better mileage by gaining a few tenths a mpg every-time I drove it in the past week. I'm at 37.6 right now, and I live in the foot hills of the mountains of east Kentucky. I know thats not a high MPG YET, but I have to say that it seems the more broke-in this XFE gets, the better it's MPG gets. If this trend continues I have little doubt that over 40MPG is within sites. I would be excited if I could get 50 plus MPG like the O.P did here!! - So, I paid off a $13,000 car that can very well do better than a $20,000 Honda Insight HYBRID- 43MPG! - More customers need to calculate the price of a car before looking at the MPG sticker- Why pay $40,000 for a car with 60MPG if you have to pay $37,000 MORE to buy it??? $27,000 is a lot of fuel!!!!! -- And I truly hope the Chevy VOLT does NOT have this problem, but I fear it might.

I keep my tires at the recommended amounts of 30PSI COLD. Truth is that when I pushed the tire pressure to 44PSI (MAX) I got WORSE mileage than I am now getting, but it may be because of the break-end period.

My Driving Method:

I'm not there yet, but I truly feel I will get my car to a much higher level of avg MPG as soon as I can, and the trend right now is I gain 1/2MPG everyday I drive it- it's going up up and up. I should point out that I am driving like a grandma to get higher MPG. While I do gear-down for stops to keep from smoking my breaks out early, I also tend to shift to Neutral whenever possible so I can coast miles down a mountain top, or glide for a mile to a stop-sign. The XFE tires really help, it's like these cars roll with the puff of a wind. I try to drive under 50MPG. Whenever I go the posted speed limit on the interstate of 70MPH there is no way my mileage will not suffer (But, I go the speed of traffic to be safe!!).

I have read some tire pressure debates, and there seems to be some debate as to the wisdom of pumping in the MAX amount in tires. I now prefer to only add the recommended amount of air to my tires because I feel it handles and takes curves much better. Also, as soon as I let out 14psi from my tires and left them at 30psi as advised, my MPG WENT UP NOT DOWN (' go figure?)!

I agree that XFEs are a rare breed of Cobalt. Here in east Kentucky in the foot-hills, I see hundreds of Cobalts, but as far as I can tell, I must be the sole owner of a Cobalt XFE in this county!! It seemed the XFEs were sold out on most local car lots in mid 2009, and the ones that had them in stock seemed to only of had the color YELLOW, which is not the most popular color in this area.

I keep thinking: If The Lords Town Ohio plant is going to switch from the Cobalt to making The Cruise, and The Cruise gets 41 or 43 EPA MPG.... Well I keep wondering about all of these drivers that claim they get 40to 55MPG in their Cobalts. I mean, really, will The Cruise be all that different, or perhaps they will rate the fuel economy better than on the Cobalt XFE. Oh- My 2009 Cobalt LS Coupe XFE had a sticker EPA ratting of 25/City 37/Highway with a note that some conditions could bring up to 44MPG. I feel cars like these could really close the gaps with the current Hybrid technology. And they sale for any $$$ less too!

09-14-2009, 03:19 PM	#15 (permalink)
Jammer Chevy and CB Radio Lover Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Kentucky Posts: 302 Thanks: 13 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	2009 Cobalt XFE - I LOVE THIS CAR! Here is my story, for anyone that cares: I had an insurance settlement after the brakes failed me in a 4x4 pickup truck and I ended up crushing the truck- Thank God I was fine! My insurance company gave me enough $$ that I could not even argue with the amount they gave me. But I decided I no longer needed a pickup truck, and the high center of gravity was part of the reason I flipped over during my wreck. So this time I wanted a Eco-Box that I could out right buy out using my check. I was lucky. I found a sales guy that knew my family and located me a 2009 Cobalt LS COUPE XFE in another state! The car was stripped except for the rear spoiler (wing) and a spare tire. I got back $2,000 cash back from G.M., $1,000 cash back from the dealer that had the car on his lot for too long (motive to push the product), AND I qualified for a GM's employee discount (my father is a retiree). So, I managed to buy the XFE for about $13,000 TOTAL, everything, all tax, registration, tags, bottom line out the door. I have less than 3,000 miles, and I suddenly noticed that about a week ago my XFE suddenly started getting better and better mileage by gaining a few tenths a mpg every-time I drove it in the past week. I'm at 37.6 right now, and I live in the foot hills of the mountains of east Kentucky. I know thats not a high MPG YET, but I have to say that it seems the more broke-in this XFE gets, the better it's MPG gets. If this trend continues I have little doubt that over 40MPG is within sites. I would be excited if I could get 50 plus MPG like the O.P did here!! - So, I paid off a $13,000 car that can very well do better than a $20,000 Honda Insight HYBRID- 43MPG! - More customers need to calculate the price of a car before looking at the MPG sticker- Why pay $40,000 for a car with 60MPG if you have to pay $37,000 MORE to buy it??? $27,000 is a lot of fuel!!!!! -- And I truly hope the Chevy VOLT does NOT have this problem, but I fear it might. I keep my tires at the recommended amounts of 30PSI COLD. Truth is that when I pushed the tire pressure to 44PSI (MAX) I got WORSE mileage than I am now getting, but it may be because of the break-end period. My Driving Method: I'm not there yet, but I truly feel I will get my car to a much higher level of avg MPG as soon as I can, and the trend right now is I gain 1/2MPG everyday I drive it- it's going up up and up. I should point out that I am driving like a grandma to get higher MPG. While I do gear-down for stops to keep from smoking my breaks out early, I also tend to shift to Neutral whenever possible so I can coast miles down a mountain top, or glide for a mile to a stop-sign. The XFE tires really help, it's like these cars roll with the puff of a wind. I try to drive under 50MPG. Whenever I go the posted speed limit on the interstate of 70MPH there is no way my mileage will not suffer (But, I go the speed of traffic to be safe!!). I have read some tire pressure debates, and there seems to be some debate as to the wisdom of pumping in the MAX amount in tires. I now prefer to only add the recommended amount of air to my tires because I feel it handles and takes curves much better. Also, as soon as I let out 14psi from my tires and left them at 30psi as advised, my MPG WENT UP NOT DOWN (' go figure?)! I agree that XFEs are a rare breed of Cobalt. Here in east Kentucky in the foot-hills, I see hundreds of Cobalts, but as far as I can tell, I must be the sole owner of a Cobalt XFE in this county!! It seemed the XFEs were sold out on most local car lots in mid 2009, and the ones that had them in stock seemed to only of had the color YELLOW, which is not the most popular color in this area. I keep thinking: If The Lords Town Ohio plant is going to switch from the Cobalt to making The Cruise, and The Cruise gets 41 or 43 EPA MPG.... Well I keep wondering about all of these drivers that claim they get 40to 55MPG in their Cobalts. I mean, really, will The Cruise be all that different, or perhaps they will rate the fuel economy better than on the Cobalt XFE. Oh- My 2009 Cobalt LS Coupe XFE had a sticker EPA ratting of 25/City 37/Highway with a note that some conditions could bring up to 44MPG. I feel cars like these could really close the gaps with the current Hybrid technology. And they sale for any $$$ less too! Last edited by Jammer; 09-14-2009 at 03:32 PM.. Reason: Added comments, corrected mispellings.