I was at the local Chevrolet dealer a couple of weeks ago waiting for my oil change to be done and decided to take a look at a row of brand new Cobalts on the lot. There were 8 Cobalts all together, and all but 2 were 4-door sedans. The least expensive was $14,000.00 and the most expensive was $19,600.00. I sort of expected the body fit & finish to be superior to my 2003 Cavalier coupe, but they weren't. All of the Cobalts had misaligned front bumper covers(right below the passenger side headlight, the bumper cover actually bowed up and away from the headlight above it) and all but 3 had uneven front door gaps (wider at the top and narrower at the bottom). The front mud flaps on all of the Cobalts is a flimsy piece of plastic that makes the front mud flap on my Cavalier look like premium upgrade. The interiors looked like there was fairly decent fit and finish, but the Cobalts with cloth interiors (6 of them had this type of interior) looked like they were lifted off the 2003 Saturn Ion. Naturally, the Cobalt in the showroom which was priced close to $20,000.00 didnt seem to possess any of the issues the cars for sale on the lot had. If GM wants to compete against the new Honda Civic, this is not a good start. There just isnt any excuse for the shabby build quality I saw. Has anyone else noticed this about the Cobalt?
"...nevermind maneuvers lieutenant, just go straight at them!"
-Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar
I agree with you on every aspect so trust me you are not the only one.
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-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----
And the Cobalt SS has had all sorts of issues with the drive train.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
So it may not be perfect... but I happen to like my Cobalt. Much nicer than the Cavy's I've seen IMHO. So what if the interior is a bit bland... it's got more muscle than the Civic. And who puts mud flaps on a street car anyways?
Any vehicle is gonna have issues its first year or two on the lots... it's just the way things go. Check out the Honda forums and see all the problems with the new Civic. I'd rather buy a "low quality" american car than any dime-a-dozen import anyways.
Everyone has their own opinions.
Oh I agree. I'd much rather have a Cobalt SS then a damn Civic any day of the week!
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
i'd rather the reliability of an older civic to a cobalt.
R.I.P. Brian St.Germain
MS Walk April 21 - I HIT MY GOAL!!! thanks to those of you who have supported me!
We had six brand new ford fusions for a promotion at the L'Oreal fasion show in Toronto and the overhead compartment type thing on every single one was so out of alignment it was impossible to miss and looked retarded lol. Looked like it was off the track but it really wasn't.
A cobalt is 100% a cavalier with a new name. It's a good car, and better quality than the car it replaced. But, having better quality over the J-body is not hard it was garbage. i love my SS just as much as i loved my Z24 before...quality issues and all. but it in no way competes with the Civic in overall engineering standard and quality of build...and IMO is not worth what they are asking. I'll say it right now 3 years from now even Cobalt SS's will have huge fat rebates on them.
mark my words
2007 Corvette Z51 | Suzuki Swift GTi SCCA racer | 2008 Edge
I'm using one as a rental in a couple of months.
I'm not looking forward to it... luckily I only have to spend a week in it.
I checked some out at the dealership and crap was broken all over the interior. They promised me if I bought it that they would fix it........ yeah, right......
GM has gone a long way downhill. Even my Camaro has a pretty good build quality... you could tell that whoever worked at the Van Nuys plant took care in their work... everything lines up, no sloppy welds, no mis-aligned interior pieces... everything fits together nice.
I don't get it.... they know they are losing the #1 spot to Toyota but they still slack off. It's not that GM doesn't know how to make a great car, it's just that they get too lazy.
the cobalt is a way better car the a cavalier and sunfire. its better built nicer looking and dont fold up in a crash. the cobalt is 2 years old so for you stupid people saying you want a import because there more reliab how would you no if the cobalt isint or not. its been out for 2 years you morons!. stop hateing on a car that took over for your out dated cars and move the hell on. its a better car better bulit nicer looking and comes with more things in it then a j-body had.
cya!
You, sir, fail at life. Please leave now.
Evol...??? wrote:A cobalt is 100% a cavalier with a new name. It's a good car, and better quality than the car it replaced. But, having better quality over the J-body is not hard it was garbage. i love my SS just as much as i loved my Z24 before...quality issues and all. but it in no way competes with the Civic in overall engineering standard and quality of build...and IMO is not worth what they are asking. I'll say it right now 3 years from now even Cobalt SS's will have huge fat rebates on them.
mark my words
bingo!
Cobalt is a step in the right direction, but there is still some way to come.
Quote:
Cobalt is a step in the right direction, but there is still some way to come.
yup thats what im thinking. the cars still got a few little things its got to get worked out but its going in the right direction. the cars been out for only 2 years and its selling really nice so they did something right
bob bobs wrote:the cobalt is a way better car the a cavalier and sunfire. its better built nicer looking and dont fold up in a crash. the cobalt is 2 years old so for you stupid people saying you want a import because there more reliab how would you no if the cobalt isint or not. its been out for 2 years you morons!. stop hateing on a car that took over for your out dated cars and move the hell on. its a better car better bulit nicer looking and comes with more things in it then a j-body had.
cya!
SpcmnSpff302 (The Link Master) wrote:You, sir, fail at life. Please leave now.
this site made me not want a J wrote:haha keep dreaming 
I was talking to him, not you.
further more i'd also like to add that this time next year i predict that the Cobalt SS will already have a decent rebate on it as the GM cars people will want to own will be the Solstice/Sky's and Saturn Aura/G6 GXP coupes. Trust me those cars ARE GM's future. The Cobalt will be nothing more than the Cavalier has been for years....the cheap entry level car, a notch above the Aveo.
And Bob Bobs....if you seriously think the Cobalt is a better "engineered" car than the new Civic your a crackhead. Nobody doubts it's a good car and a better car than a J...but the engineers at GM phoned this car's design in.
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
I really don't understand the point of this post.
We're talking about entry level cars here. You can't expect the world.
The Cobalt has a few issues, but no than worst the the new Civics sensor issues,
Rio5 strut issues, or Focus engine issues.
If you can't handle this level of car-then save your pennies and buy a real car.
If you think they are going to treat you special because you bought a compact,
then you are simply dreaming...
My point is that most of the car magazines were saying what a vast improvement the Cobalt fit and finish is over the Cavalier. Even GM advertised that they were building the Cobalt with stronger quality control and much tighter tolerances on the exterior body panels. At a $14,000.00 price tag, I wouldnt expect to see Lexus quality fit and finish. But when you are above say $16,000.00, I would expect fit and finish comparable to the direct competition. I havent yet seen a Scion tC with anything but even body panel gaps. To have a $19,000.00 Cobalt with poor body panel fit and finish is just unexcuseable. I am a big GM fan, so I am not in anyway bashing GM, just not understanding why GM backing up their stated goals.
"...nevermind maneuvers lieutenant, just go straight at them!"
-Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar
Blue Shark wrote:My point is that most of the car magazines were saying what a vast improvement the Cobalt fit and finish is over the Cavalier. Even GM advertised that they were building the Cobalt with stronger quality control and much tighter tolerances on the exterior body panels. At a $14,000.00 price tag, I wouldnt expect to see Lexus quality fit and finish. But when you are above say $16,000.00, I would expect fit and finish comparable to the direct competition. I havent yet seen a Scion tC with anything but even body panel gaps. To have a $19,000.00 Cobalt with poor body panel fit and finish is just unexcuseable. I am a big GM fan, so I am not in anyway bashing GM, just not understanding why GM backing up their stated goals.
I've seen both good and bad Cobalts....
As I have seen some good and bad tCs too...
When you see a lot of cars, you tend to see the good and bad
It simply depends....
i personally feel in love with the cobalts when they came out, i like the look and i love that little 2.0 supercharged 205 horsepower honda eating acura slaying motor that is under the hood of the ss supercharged ones, it is just like every other car out there that cost under 20 thousand dollars, they are some what thrown together in a sence, they still have to work some kinks out in them too.
fully built 2200-TO4E T3/T4-HP tuners-373hp @18psi
Dave Z wrote:I really don't understand the point of this post.
We're talking about entry level cars here. You can't expect the world.
If you can't handle this level of car-then save your pennies and buy a real car.
If you think they are going to treat you special because you bought a compact,
then you are simply dreaming...
Terrible mentality right there, worse thats the same mentality found at GM; hence the low quality of the Cobalt.
Since the car is "entry-level," it should be built in such a way that it makes you want to purchase their line of products. Say for instance you buy this p.o.s., then you got creaks, rattles, and parts falling on you, do you honestly want to buy the next model up? By going cheap, you loose out on your future repeat customers.
And this car's materials and build quality is same and sometimes worse then its predecessor. At least the Cavalier had some "soft-feel plastics" on the dash. The rest is rough hard plastic, which in due time is the plastic that will creak.
Now I will give credit where credit is due, it does have better creature comforts then the Cavalier, but that is not sufficient to make a dent on the competition.
Comparing at the asking price (MSRP) with others, there is no denying there is better, hell... check the Thrift-store priced Hyunadais and Kias and you will see quality and even Chevy's own Aveo has superior fit-and finish over the Cobalt. This is "backwards product portfolio" at its finest.
>>>For Sale? Clicky!<<<
-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----
Mr.Goodwrench-G.T. wrote:even Chevy's own Aveo has superior fit-and finish over the Cobalt. This is "backwards product portfolio" at its finest.
Heh... because it's not even a Chevy.
Jackalope wrote:And the Cobalt SS has had all sorts of issues with the drive train.
Oh it does? Really? Please...enlighten me.
Evol...??? wrote:A cobalt is 100% a cavalier with a new name. It's a good car, and better quality than the car it replaced. But, having better quality over the J-body is not hard it was garbage. i love my SS just as much as i loved my Z24 before...quality issues and all. but it in no way competes with the Civic in overall engineering standard and quality of build...and IMO is not worth what they are asking. I'll say it right now 3 years from now even Cobalt SS's will have huge fat rebates on them.
mark my words
Dude you own a cobalt. You should know that they are completly different platforms. The only thing that these two cars have in common is the engine. So how is a cobalt a cavalier?
Robert Heintz wrote:Jackalope wrote:And the Cobalt SS has had all sorts of issues with the drive train.
Oh it does? Really? Please...enlighten me.
Evol...??? wrote:A cobalt is 100% a cavalier with a new name. It's a good car, and better quality than the car it replaced. But, having better quality over the J-body is not hard it was garbage. i love my SS just as much as i loved my Z24 before...quality issues and all. but it in no way competes with the Civic in overall engineering standard and quality of build...and IMO is not worth what they are asking. I'll say it right now 3 years from now even Cobalt SS's will have huge fat rebates on them.
mark my words
Dude you own a cobalt. You should know that they are completly different platforms. The only thing that these two cars have in common is the engine. So how is a cobalt a cavalier?
dude you dont realise it, the Cobalt isnt any if much better than the cavalier. The same reasons that the cavalier was considered a piece of crap, are the same problems with the Cobalt. I honestly believe the interior of a cavalier is nicer than a Cobalt. Granit the cobalts interior might look better, the overall feel of it is actually cheaper than a cavalier to me. Not to mention the car is horribly priced atleast the SS S/C compared to the competition. They tried to make a performance car to compete with the SRT4 and all those small compacts. They made a high 14 second car! how in the hell does that compete with a high 13 second car? The new dodge caliber which is in the same price range as the SS S/C is gonna trounce this car for the same price.
The Cobalt SS S/C is a good start, but that car will die out really quick unless they do some major overhauling. Stage II should be what the car does stock. The dashboard that looks like the plastic used on Mcdonalds toys needs to be changed. And add something extra to make the car cool besides satelite radio. Everyone else is making cooled glove boxes, AWD, sweet sun roofs, Ipod access, and so forth.
2006 Black Cobalt SS Supercharged G85
13.91@102.77
