Personal Review :2010 Cobalt Sedan

[Domman56]

So this last weekend since we had a free rental car from Enterprise We decided to pick one up since we were taking a few trips out of town. Here's some of the analysis of this car

Build/Quality: I get out of my El camino into the passenger seat of this "Chevy" and instantly was dissapointed HARD seats No lumbar ajustment i feel the dash.. Weird synthetic like plastic hard and ugly the whole interior is this low quality plastic. Room was horrible in there too

Driving Impressions #1
riding with my dad and 8 year old broteher in the car only. Dad constantly picking out all the problems with the car: The things brand new and already has little rattles in it, seats are horribly uncomfortable,Fuel economy (by just watching the fuel gauge) seem Horrible Doing quick math in my head i say this thing cant be doing better than 27MPG. Went to get my sister from dance, Even she complains about the comfort of the car ride is harsh and the car seems to wander on the road with little bumps and imperfections in the road.

Engine : 2.0 Ecotec right? or 2.4 Ecotec Either way GREAT powertrain for a track car, Very surprising acceleration, accelerates something like our 91 mercedes 190E Pulls easily up to 70 and 80 quite respectively. As my dad puts it it does Tec a whole lot better than ECO haha

Driving Impressions # 2 going down to universal studio hollywood 5 people in the car.... Very little room but we'll skip that . Amazingly the car rode aWHOLE LOT better with 5 people in the car Less bouncy over bumps and alot smoother. Dad got on it a bit Still performed well for having 5 people in it.
On the way there... cruising 70-80 the whole time on the freeway 27.1MPG (onboard computer) On the way back Playing around with traffic running the car harder 75-85 and accelerating harder Mileage 27.3 MPG made no sense to me

Suspension: Great set up for the track with the harsh springrate but sloppy on the highway

Overall Analysis
Playing around Just me and my dad 27MPG
Cruising with 5 people in car 27.1 MPG
Playing around with car with 5 people in car 27.3 MPG

(Dad's 1986 Mercedes 420SEL same trip 26.8 MPG)

That means Horrible car for MY family My dad's fullsize V8 can get almost identical mileage, but since it's a V8 it goes with his driving style a whole lot better
Plus why pay 20grand after taxes and such when we could have 8 benzes for the same price that get better mileage and are overall more fuel efficient?

Maybe a good enough car for some of you on this forum but for us we like our classic cars that were actually built and had to go through some form of testing before going on a showroom

On a brighter note my dad decided the only way to drive this car was with 5 people in it Very quickly So it earned its nickname Zippy

[stevet47]

Pretty poor numbers. I rented one (I think it was an 09) for a trip from PA to TN, and averaged 33-35 for every tank. That was cruising between 65-75mph, all highway, but a lot of rolling hills.
Not the best car, but I had no real complaints, it is an entry level car after all.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by stevet47

Pretty poor numbers. I rented one (I think it was an 09) for a trip from PA to TN, and averaged 33-35 for every tank. That was cruising between 65-75mph, all highway, but a lot of rolling hills.
.

How does it compare to a metro?

Also very few cars get very good FE going 85mph, rather foolish to drive that speed as well.

And as usual manual transmission is the only way to drive.

At 85mph my buick is lucky to get 24mpg.

[stevet47]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

How does it compare to a metro?

Also very few cars get very good FE going 85mph, rather foolish to drive that speed as well.

And as usual manual transmission is the only way to drive.

At 85mph my buick is lucky to get 24mpg.

I assume you meant to quote the OP?
I never drove a metro, nor did I drive 85mph.

[Domman56]

Originally Posted by stevet47

Pretty poor numbers. I rented one (I think it was an 09) for a trip from PA to TN, and averaged 33-35 for every tank. That was cruising between 65-75mph, all highway, but a lot of rolling hills.
Not the best car, but I had no real complaints, it is an entry level car after all.

YEah i agreee Not the best car but the wird thing is a few weeks ago we rented a 09 Pontiac G5 which is the 2 door version of the cobalt and that car was ALOOOT Better Not a wonderful car but alot bettter built than the sedan.

Yeah i see where you're coming from but my dad's idea of a "Entry level car is his and my sisters 88 and 91 190 E's which are AMAZINGLY well built cars

Like i said it's a personal review i just thought some of you might like other's reviews of certain cars

For example i love my el camino but my buddy martin hates it cause he's a ford guy so everytime he gets in it he finds something to complain about haha

[cfg83]

Domman56 -

Originally Posted by Domman56

...

For example i love my el camino but my buddy martin hates it cause he's a ford guy so everytime he gets in it he finds something to complain about haha

I understand car-brand religion, but who can complain about a cherry '76 El Camino? Sheesh!

CarloSW2

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Domman56

YEah i agreee Not the best car but the wird thing is a few weeks ago we rented a 09 Pontiac G5 which is the 2 door version of the cobalt and that car was ALOOOT Better Not a wonderful car but alot bettter built than the sedan.

The cobalt comes in several trims including a two door MT variety, from what little time I spend looking it seems that although the trims may cost the same some are still better than others and GM has a lot of "Variance" from one cobalt to another. Compare a couple of different years and you will find rather tremendous differences.

They must have the, so long as it passes mentality on the cobalts to keep costs down which means one car is very different from the same car depending where on the mark it was.

Cheers

[RH77]

Great review!

I'll be brief and brutally honest...

Over the years, I have rented a fair share of Cobalts and G5s since their debut. The line is a huge improvement over their Cavalier and Sunfire predecessors. With that said...

It still doesn't say much. Of all of the cars rented over the years, the Cobalt remains my least-favorite. I have had more problems with them than any other vehicle: ranging from a failed power window to a leaking fuel rail (and many other issues in-between). The driving experience and comfort are also lacking (unless you opt for the sporty SS version, which isn't really fuel efficient). Hopefully the 2011 Chevy Cruze will be a better vehicle and equally as affordable.

For the money, the Ford Focus is a solid Domestic alternative. I say to shop around, compare what's out there, and check reliability records.

RH77

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by RH77

Great review!

For the money, the Ford Focus is a solid Domestic alternative. I say to shop around, compare what's out there, and check reliability records.

RH77

Alternative yes, but the MT Cobalts can get upwards of 50mpg driven gingerly, current Focus from what I remember cannot be driven to 50mpg easily.

Also once things get out there and used a while whats left gets more reliable as all the needed repairs are done over time.

That said my Buick can get 35mpg driven slowly highway only (actually a couple MPG higher sometimes) So if you are willing to tolerate lower 30's there are a relatively large number of "relatively" reliable vehicles out there.

[gone-ot]

...just wait for the new Cruze to replace the Cobalt...a transition from American-designed to Korean-designed.