A couple of weeks ago, grainy images portending GM's bright, small-car-driven future "leaked" onto the Web. "All hail the new Cruze!" shouted the GM Kool-Aid Klub, apparent fans of intentional misspelling. A compact come-to-Jesus from the higher-ups quickly followed, delivered by GM's Design Chief. "In North America, we never did a good small car," Ed Welburn mea culpaed. So things will be different this time, right? Just like they were going to be different three years ago, when the Cobalt was released? The Cobalt I rented this weekend? Bah, humbug, I say.
The Cobalt, you'll remember, was launched to similar fanfare in 2005. According to the buff-book bluster, "Lutz told engineers not to hold back on the good stuff and… they'll get that money back and more in reduced rebates." Another gem: "Lutz says being competitive isn't enough. The Cobalt has to be better than competing small cars to get the market to notice."
If you need a refresher course as to how that turned out, head down to your local Enterprise office and ask for the basic $20/day buzz box. Doing so got me a four-door Cobalt LS, resplendent (kind of) in Victory Red with plastic hubcaps, devoid of high mileage stress. It's an appropriate venue to meet the Cobalt; everything about it suggests that it was engineered so badly it Hertz.
So, where do renters go first? To the trunk, of course, to dump off their suitcases. There, they'll find 13.9 cubic feet of space (way more than a Honda Civic's rear cubby) and dainty gas struts, (which won't crush your luggage like the gooseneck hinges on a Corolla).
Slam it shut and run your eyes along the sheetmetal, and… well… you won't notice anything. The Cobalt's soft, flavorless lines are designed to be as inoffensive to Walter from Topeka as they are to Kelli from the Tenderloin. The only interesting design element is the… nope. There isn't any.
Step into the driver's bucket, and- hey, lookitthat!- the cupholders for your airport coffee are located ahead of the shifter, so you needn't bend your shifting arm around your java. Punch the "Info" button on the steering to cycle through MPG, distance-to-empty, outside temperature and tire pressure stats. Tourists will like the turn signal: it finishes each blink regardless of when you release the stalk, so you don't make amateurish half-blinks in traffic. Not bad for twenty bucks a day.
Trouble is, aside from these isolated attempts to surprise and delight, the Cobalt is the sort of relentlessly, oppressively average product that you couldn't possibly imagine buying on your own dime. The interior of my rental wasn't "sand beige," or "balsa beige;" it was waiting-room beige or linoleum beige. The Cobalt's dash is simple as dirt, with gauges scripted in the same font as my long-lost 1984 Cavalier. Once you've sat in the driver's seat, you'll never again wonder what burlap stretched over concrete feels like.
The "latch" for the driver's side dash cubby deserves special mention. It's a molded-in fake, concealing a raggedly-cut thumb hole underneath. Hey, if that's not sincerity, what is?
Okay, enough parking-stall pedantry. Let's put this puppy in motion.
"Do you want to purchase the optional insurance?" With 148 horsepower, no thanks. Twist the key and the 2.2-liter, four-cylinder Ecotec settles into a muted, liquid-smooth idle. Really. Rest your fingers on the wheel and give it some gas. While the noises get Kitchenaid thrashy, absolutely no vibration filters through.
The high-friction shift lever feels as though it spent a day at the beach and came back covered with wet sand. Clunk it into "D" and the four-speed automatic pleases with timely, seamless shifts. Unfortunately, it's still a four-speed, and its Bunyan-tall gearing smothers the Ecotec's wholly agreeable pep. I averaged 25 mpg, and that was driving like a grandma.
Insert handling joke here. Actually, the Cobalt is a fairly surefooted little piece, pouring steadily into turns with weighty, firm-feel electric power steering. The helm still has the foamy, spring-loaded feel endemic to electric-assist setups, but it's far better than earlier models' helmsmanship (the ultimate GM metric). Too bad enthusiastic cornering still scores you a one-way ticket to Understeer City.
The opinions of those who desperately want to believe in something are exceptionally malleable. How else to explain GM fans' short-term memory loss re: the Cobalt's already-broken promises? And now, once again, the Next Big– I mean, small thing are dangled before them..
When the Chevrolet Cruze arrives in 2011, it'll no doubt compare well with the generations of Civic and Corolla on sale during its gestation, just as the Cobalt did in 2005.
![This is the other shot they had, once again with either the outdoorsy background or a plain beige backdrop. Again, this is the \"Sport\" model, not the LS.](http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/x08ch_cb005.jpg "This is the other shot they had, once again with either the outdoorsy background or a plain beige backdrop. Again, this is the \\"Sport\\" model, not the LS.")
But will the General fail to lead a moving target, benchmarking rivals that already have one foot in the grave? "Time will tell," the faithful grumble. Trouble is, time's told this tale before.
134 Comments on “2008 Chevrolet Cobalt Review...”
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Local free newspaper here (Chicago Redeye) has an advertisement for 2008 NEW aveo for $8,499. The dealers must REALLY be hurting. I think the cobat is at 11,499 with 100 advertised as being in stock.
I wonder if GM isn’t in a branding triangle.
On the one hand, you have the people would buy the Cobalt. This sort of person tends to get upset if you suggest they’d be better off with a used foreign car. They probably couldn’t afford/wouldn’t understand a good small car. I can’t think of any reason to buy this car except wanting to have a new car but not really having the means.
Then you’ve got the people who’d sooner believe aliens killed JFK than that GM made a good small car, and wouldn’t touch it without a solid decade of GM not screwing the car up. And if they charge more for the car, their rental sales will dry up.
If they stay with the first group, they catch some sales. They go for the second group, they get left in the cold trying to work off a reputation for terrible small cars earned by decades of half assed work in the genre. They’ve dug themselves an ugly little hole.
I’m an avowed small-car and FWD fan. In 2006 I had a chance to drive a full-up, high zoot “sporty” version of the Cobalt at a press day. I was looking forward to it.
After flogging the critter around a road course for 3 or 4 laps, I remember thinking 1) this car has “adolescent” written all over it and is completely lacking in sophistication, 2) it does everything almost adequately but nothing well (go, stop, turn) and 3) it had a totally disposable feel to it. You could own the car for a year, wrap it into a ball and walk away from it without being saddened at the loss.
If that was the high end version, I shudder at the prospects of the base unit.
it sounds like other some bling and cornering prowess, this might be a good little car. I prefer hatchbacks, so i probably will not consider it. But at 8 large for a new car, i might look at it. Hope it comes with a 5 speed!
Nice review, P.J. – with each “all new” GM offering I have driven in the last 30 years, I kept hoping for evidence that they had at least driven competing cars as a means to set their design criteria. Only the Cadillac CTS suggested that the criteria went beyond an incremental improvement to the last mediocre GM product.
In fairness, I recently rented a Saturn Outlook and was impressed with the new 3.6 liter V6 and automatic transmission. The remainder of the car was no match for a Honda Odyssey (the Outlook IS a minivan-with-a-hood).
The Cobalt is another in a long line of GM small-car offerings which say to the buyer “Wouldn’t you really prefer one of our pricier vehicles?”
It’s not a bad car, but it’s not a great one. It needs to be a great one to beat the Corolla and Civic. I can’t see the Cruze being “great” either, in the same sense the Malibu isn’t “great”, but is about as good as the class leaders, give or take.
To give an example of what the Cruze needs to be: the Focus was (emphasis on “was”) a great car when it was released. Much, much better than the Civic or Corolla of the day. And the Civic and Corolla and succeeded them. And the current Corolla. If it had been reliable out of the gate, Ford would have managed a real coup: beating the Asians at their own game.
The Cruze needs to be better than the 2011 Civic by the same degree that the 2000 Focus was better than the 2000 Civic and Corolla, plus, unlike the Focus, the launch must be flawless. Good luck with that.
I, too, rented a Cobalt from Enterprise. I don’t know where you can rent one for $20/day, unless you have some serious coupons in your wallet. I paid 3 times that amount….I was EXPECTING to pay $20. Then again, I hadn’t rented a car since 1991.
I came away impressed on all fronts. Top-notch engine with class-leading power, good fit and finish, informative info center. Seats are a bit small (the Civic thrones are superior).
I’m not sure where the 2-star rating came from here. Author liked all major aspects of the car, save for some cheap bits inside. A 4sp automatic is inexcusable…but the top is geared high. (I saw over 35mpg hwy)
The Cobalt is not a failure and it has been a success for GM. It’s not quite as efficient as the Civic. But I’ll take the extra .4 liters displacement—they’ll come in useful with a full load of passengers and the defroster blasting.
Cobalt is cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to repair. And, unlike the Civic, you don’t have to worry about it getting stolen on a typical street.
What does need to be mentioned, though, is how good the Cobalt SS Super- and Turbocharged are. GM did a very good job with the high-trim versions of this car. The Ion Redline and HHR SS are quite good, too. I don’t think any of those cars get the respect they deserve.
Of course, this agrees with the point at the edgett makes: The Cobalt is another in a long line of GM small-car offerings which say to the buyer “Wouldn’t you really prefer one of our pricier vehicles?.
How does this car compare to a 90’s Neon?
car does everything well, can be bought for cheaper then the civic, and corrolla, will last you years. And yet its bashed.
Coblat = decent, afforadable transport.
So it has good fit and finish, a peppy engine, handling thats geared for the none drive (just like other imports). decent trunk space, and a low price.
Outside of better gas milage, and a 5spd tranny, that civic is buying you a brand, and free’s you from having to hear brand snoobs look down at you.
and if you are comparing knobs and printing, toyota’s hvac knobs are using in how many different products?
as an owner of a 113k sunfire thats whose only part failure was a 02 sensor at 60k miles. The blind swips at gm quality, and grounded in 1980’s thinking.
I will add my voice to the chorus and ask that you test the new turbocharged SS at the first available opportunity. I’ve read good things about the engine. And I like the styling of the coupe. With a firmer suspension and a better wheel/tire combo it might be good, cheap entertainment. Um, and better seats.
I too am a but surprised at the 2 stars, it seemed from the review to be worth of a 3 star rating. *shrugs*
I rented a fully optioned Cobalt LT (sun roof, leather, satellite radio) earlier this year in Atlanta. Apart from the somewhat numb steering I thought the car was fine. I’m looking forward to and will seriously consider buying the SS Turbo sedan when it comes out later in the year.
I hate to be paranoid, but I’m got this sneaking suspicion there are GM claques running around the site.
I’ve just seen way too many guys posting that they think that a GM product “has all the right moves” and otherwise acting like they have a copy of GM’s marketing materials on their desk.
everything about it suggests that it was engineered so badly it Hertz.
I gave the new Cobalt SS a try back in December of 2004. The test drive practically ended before it began. The car was completely lacking in comfort. I had no problems test driving a scion tC and found the Mazda Rx-8 and Mazda3 very comfortable. A Toyota Corolla and Mitsubishi Lancer, while hardly luxurious, didn’t send me straight from the dealer’s lot to the chiropractor either. Based on my other experiences, I think that it’s safe to say it’s the Cobalt not me. Other small cars fit me just fine.
Jerseydevil:
It’s the Aveo that is selling for between $8k and $9k ($8698 in my local paper this weekend); Cobalts go for $11k to $12k.
toxicroach,
Yes, GM does actually have an unofficially official astroturfing campaign.
That said, the Cobalt really isn’t that bad. It’s not that good, either, but this is a fair review (though not a fair star rating) for a car that’s about as good as the Corolla, Focus or Sentra, but not quite as good as the Elantra, Civic or 3.
I do think that we’re perhaps being a little to knee-jerk in our opinions of GM and it’s products–at least in our comments. Again, this car, for the class, isn’t really that bad.
(macarose a.k.a. Steven Lang not posting from home)
Personally I’ve driven different versions of the Cobalt and found it to be Corolla-esque in it’s blandness. However I have no doubt that a properly maintained version of one would easily last over 200,000 miles. Even the Cavalier/Sunfire/Saturn could hit that mark a decade ago.
The Cobalt reviewed here is not, I repeat, not an enthusiast’s vehicle. It’s an economic proposition. There are plenty of people who are looking at driving a compact until the wheels off, and so long as they don’t have an anti-GM bias, they should strongly consider the Cobalt along with the Corolla.
For a drive out price of 12 to 13k on a Cobalt, you’re more or less getting a comfortable and economical vehicle (33 to 35 mpg highway), that will have cheaper routine maintenance and parts cost than a Corolla. With GM incentivizing the heck out of em’, you can likely find a base model around the 10k to 11k range…. or a low mileage demo model for even less. That’s about 3k to 4k less than a comparable Corolla model.
I can see this being a two star vehicle given that the Corolla (it’s primary competitor) is also graded as a two star car. But it’s light years better than the Kia Rio I reviewed a month ago.
Look, there’s no doubt it’s capable transportation. But it begins and ends there. My elderly neighbors have the last model of cavalier, and it’s not given them a problem. It is what it is – cheap, effective transportation. The review was dead on with what I felt when I drove a 2007 late last year. If I was a college student working retail, and it’s between that and a more lux used car, it would be a tough decision. $250 a month on a 5 year buy with a warranty is a pretty good deal for a good enough vehicle.
But lets not pretend it’s a class-leader, spec or no, in any regard.
A quick warning:
TTAC’s posting policy is clearly stated above the comments box. Several commentators have ignored this warning. I have informed them that another flame will mean a permanent posting ban.
TTAC’s reviewers call it as they see it. I suggest that anyone who doubts this fact reads other reviews of GM products. BUT–
This is not the place for that debate. Anyone who wishes to discuss TTAC’s editorial stance or style may contact me directly: robert.farago@thetruthaboutcars.com.
To my eyes, the interior was nearly best-in-class when introduced. Compare the 2005 Civic and Corolla. Of course, they’ve both been redesigned since then…
The interior styling is heavily cribbed from the MkIV Jetta’s.
As implied here, the Cobalt is much more refined than the average small car.
So what’s not to like? The four-speed automatic does kill performance, and the rear seat is tight even when compared to other compacts.
On the reliability front, TrueDelta’s surveys suggest that the 2006 and 2007 have about an average repair rate, maybe a bit better than average, and about the same as the Honda Civic for those years. Not enough responses for the 2005. It’s the first year, so probably worse than the others.
To participate in this research:
http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php
Yeah I’m not trying to accuse anyone with with a pro-GM sentiment of being a shill. Far from it, actually.
It’s just when it sounds like someone is reading off a press release that I get suspicious. I forget what car it was but last week someone actually said “this car has all the right moves.” That’s just too stilted to be real.
What is the average small car? How is it more refined than the average small car if its not as refined as the Corolla & Civic? I’m confused.
The buzzy, unhappy drivetrain is the deal killer, and the big-eyed front grille doesn’t help. (If GM wants Chevy’s to have a family resemblance, they need some better looking relatives.)
It’s a great example of GM doing what it usually does, putting forth a second- or third-rate effort against first-rate competition. If this car had a great engine and a transmission and reliability to match, you might be able to get beyond the grille and some of the dash plastics. But they didn’t, so you can’t. They are cheap, though.
The exterior of this car is bland, yes, but I guess I like bland. It is less bloated then the Corolla-coaster, better looking than the Focus, and not too futuristic (i’m looking at you, the illegitimate child of a dust buster and a space ship – aka Civic). I guess it would be on par, exterior wise, with the Mazda 3.
Back in 2005 I went shopping for a new vehicle. I immediately went to my local Chevy dealer as I had purschasd my prior two vehicles ( a 95 Chevy S10 LS and a 99 Tracker 2dr 4wd)from them and was satisfied. I drove the Cobalt and the HHR. The Cobalt was not a stripper. The car was decent, nothing too negative or positive. The HHR was the same, although the remote startup wouldn’t work. I next drove a Focus wagon and coupe. Much nicer driving but I wanted to look some more. Test drove a PT Cruiser but the prices were unrealistic (Our local Chrysler dealer lives in lala land). Nothing on the Pontiac/Buick lot I wanted. Went to Toyota and drove a Corolla. Not bad and price was good. As a lark, I went to the Scion section and said what the hell, and drove an xB. Bought it on the spot. And have never regretted it. The best I can say for the Cobalt is that it was pedestrian.
So Michael Karesh thinks “the interior was nearly best-in-class when introduced” and “The interior styling is heavily cribbed from the MkIV Jetta’s”? Well, they may have tried to crib the interior styling from the Jetta but they failed pretty miserably on that account.
The Cobalt’s interior layout is full of abrupt juxtapositions, cheap materials, and unfinished edges. A pretty depressing place to spend a lot of time. On the other hand, when I rented one a few years back I was very happily surprised by the gas mileage — one area where the Cobalt far surpasses my Jetta’s miserable performance. The Cobalt seemed like a car that could get the job done, no more, no less. Pretty much on par with a Corolla, I guess, but not even close to the refinement of a Civic or a Jetta.
everything about it suggests that it was engineered so badly it Hertz.
Awesome!
@edgett: The Cobalt is another in a long line of GM small-car offerings which say to the buyer “Wouldn’t you really prefer one of our pricier vehicles?”
Perfectly said! I thought exactly the same thing when I rented a base Malibu. (I thought it had the 4cyl but it was a V6…)
@limmin: Cobalt is cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to repair. And, unlike the Civic, you don’t have to worry about it getting stolen on a typical street.
Excellent observation! Not sure the dealers will be able to use it as a selling point, though. If there’s no market to resell stolen ones for cheap – then no one wants your car. That’s not a good thing!
Leaving out all the alleged bargain basement sale prices one sees, if you compare a Cobalt LS with auto vs. a Civic DX, the Cobalt will be about $3,300 less to purchase comparably equipped. I suppose you might make that back over 10 years including resale value, but who can say for sure?
The wife and I currently own a Corolla as a commuter car, but we rented a Saturn Ion (same platform) for a week on vacation. The Corolla could last longer, but the Ion was a better car for comfort, room, drivability, and even fuel economy. I’d rather drive the Ion to work than our Corolla.
For a drone to work during rush hour kind of vehicle, it wouldn’t bother me to drive a Cobalt.
I had one of these as a rental last winter and apart from the sheer mind numbing “made for Avis” looks from the kitchen appliance school of design, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. I drove it in difficult winter conditions and found it surprisingly predictable. Would I buy one? Hell no, but at least they seem to have got the mechanical stuff right.
As a foot note, I would still rather have the Cobalt interior than the Honda Civic “space pod” design which is just a cheap and but also weird and badly designed as the AC vents are way too close to the steering wheel and thus mainly freeze your fingers.
I think GM’s main problem on the small-car front is that they lag behind the competition on the MPG front. They might be close (Cobalt puts up the same numbers as a Focus for a 2008 4-speed auto) but the 26/35 and 25/36 of the Corolla and Civic just seem so much better than 24/33, even though it might be just 1 or 2 MPG on the combined cycle.
The Aveo is just a turd when stacked up against the competition. 23/32? That’s worse than the larger Cobalt, and significantly worse than a (comparatively) big ol’ Corolla. So to move them they have to chop thousands off the price. The fact that they even put their badge on the hood of the Aveo causes consumers to view all Chevy vehicles as less efficient than the competition, and the people looking to spend under $18,000 on a new car are going to really care about efficiency.
If you hate cars, and hate to drive, and immediately forget about your vehicle the moment you walk away from it, and just need an appliance to get you from here to there for the lowest cost and aggravation possible, the Cobalt is the car for you.
It has earned this title by default, since the erstwhile champ, the Corolla, tripped and fell.
It won’t cost a lot (Civic), be crappy, uncomfortable and smelly (Rio), or use undue amounts of gas (Impreza, 3, Jetta).
I thought those interior shots looked pretty similar to my Jetta’s interior. It’s sad that it took about 5 years for them to steal a VW interior. (The Mark IV Jetta came out in late 1999).
My wife had a ‘94 Cavalier, and it just kept going. When I met her the car hadn’t been maintained all that well, so I did some basic maintenance like replacing the plugs and wires and changing the filters, and it did pretty well for fuel economy. Of course, that was when gas was $1.00/gallon. It was still an econobox, but she enjoyed it while she had it. The Cobalt seems like the logical successor. Mediocre and low priced, but updated to 2005 standards.
I test drove a cobalt from the chevy store for the express purpose of getting 250 bonus gm card dollars. Was unimpressed, and later bought a new civic.
On a recent trip Hertz gave me a cobalt. Was disappointed, but drove it off. I was surprised at the pick-up at highway speeds, and at the not-nearly-so-basic as I remembered steering.
I later noted that this was the Cobalt “sport” trim level- upgraded engine and handling. It showed.
Can’t imagine how the turbo is, but the livability of even the Sport vs the basic model was already night and day.
At only 2/3 the price of a Civic the balt seems like an honest package.
Hmmm.
Cross out the word “Cobalt” and put in the word “Corolla” (in red crayon of course) and I think what we’ve got here is interchangable transportation.
It’s a good small car competing against other good small cars.
Unfortunately, Chevy and “good small car” are not often mentioned in the same breath and a good effort just is not good enough. If they’re smart, they’ll take the Malibu and put in the wash and come back with a 3/4 scale version in 2011.
Two stars? What constitutes the 5-Star benchmark in small cardom and is the Cobalt only 40% as good as that?
All this talk of these supposed similarities between the Cobalt’s interior and that of the Jetta is laughable. I had a 2000 Jetta TDI, 5 spd, black with tan interior. It was a fantastic, fun to drive, comfortable car with a soft-touch dash and awesome ergonomics. The red and blue dash lights were dead sexy. The tranny was smooth and the mileage was between 38 and 50 (yes! 50!). Obviously I can’t compare a TDI to a normal gas burner, but still.
I rented a Cobalt two years while visiting North Carolina. All I’m going to say is there’s no comparison. None. Zero. It was a depressing, uncomfortable, beige box with an interior made of Fisher-Price grade plastics.
I don’t want to be ritualistically stoned to death but I have always liked the Cobalt. To me it’s simply a Corolla withy a Chevy bowtie. I haven’t purchased a Detroit product in over 25 years I currently drive an 06 Xb and had two Honda Accords before that so I am not some Detroit fanboi.
Remember it’s at the low end of the totem pole. A 12 or 13 thousand dollar car will never be as sophisticated or nice as a 20 or 30 thousand dollar car.
True the Civic is clear class leader in this category but I have always seen the Corolla and the Cobalt as virtually the same car.
I personally would almost always buy a Corolla because I trust Toyota for durability but I find the Corolla to be virtually indistinguishable from the Cobalt.
I have driven the cobalt several times in the last year and would like to chime in…
Usually I use priceline, so $20/day is about right. It is not the worst car you can get for $20/day – but it is down there.
On the subject of the trunk, I was amazed at how small the actual opening is to put your luggage into – this is a car designed for airport rental car lots, isn’t it? I could barely squeeze my soft shell carryon bag into the trunk. I’d never experienced this before, and was struck by this egregious design error. I don’t know how the current civic and corrolla compare, because they’ll never give them to me at the rental counter for rates like this.
I agree with the comment about the seats being slightly better than metal folding chairs. In addition, I couldn’t get the seat far enough back, and I’m not a giant – I have only a 32 in inseam. The thing that really bothered me about the interior was the awkwardness of setting the hand-brake. For some reason, I kept banging my wrist on something, but don’t remember the exact design problem. Regarding the HVAC controls, I was fairly happy to see something very nearly like what honda was using about 1980. It was very efficient and uncomplicated design. The backseat was adequately sized for my backpack.
The power is adequate for city streets, provided you gave yourself some extra time for merging, and I agree that brakes and steering were also adequate. I had the feeling that the car would have a difficult time on mountain highway, but was ok at lower speeds. I didn’t push the steering or handling – it was adequate for traffic flow but that seemed close to the upper limit. I was glad that no emergency maneuvering was called for at any time.
So, I don’t know if it’s the worst small car I’ve driven, but it’s probably close in terms of ergonomics, design, and driving experience. I would rate it considerably lower than the other frequent lowball renter, the PT cruiser. At these prices, however, considering current discounts, etc, is it the best value? Well, at least Enterprise thinks so, and that’s saying something.
Sorry, I don’t get the 2 stars in the rating. By what he wrote, I thought it got 3. He gave me the impression he drove a nice car.
Tha author liked most of the car save, the exterior where he made no comments on the assembly or paint which is difficult to judge given that is a rented car and may have suffered an accident; the interior (I prefer beige color over gray anytime) and the 4 speed auto.
On a compact FWD mainly family car, understeer is designed in as a “safety” measure. So no big deal on that.
The 4-speed auto… well, the Corolla does without it so… no big deal either (but the Civic has a 5-speed). The gearing must be configured toward fuel economy, maybe that’s why its tall. Previous Cavalier’s manual tranny got a 3.57 FDR… so it wasn’t a rocket.
The current Civic looks much nicer both inside and out than the Cobalt.
And I bet that fixing a Cobalt is less expensive than both Corolla and Civic.
As somebody said earlier, since the Corrolla only got 2 stars, and he wouldn’t recommend this above a Corolla, I guess the 2 star rating is generous really. The author is being somewhat tongue in cheek (imo), because at this point beating up on GM’s small car efforts is like making fun of a retarded guy for not being very good at chess.
Well, quite a lot of people are buying the Cobalt on their own dime so I guess it must be good enough.
I still say that anyone who goes on a diatribe against cars like the Cobalt or Focus has never owned one and is also not likely a customer of these cars. The really nice compacts are almost always $3-5000 more than the Cobalt.
busbodger- The Cobalt is quite a bit more reliable than the Neon. No disintegrating head gaskets here.
wstansfi:
I agree with the comment about the seats being slightly better than metal folding chairs. In addition, I couldn’t get the seat far enough back, and I’m not a giant – I have only a 32 in inseam. The thing that really bothered me about the interior was the awkwardness of setting the hand-brake. For some reason, I kept banging my wrist on something, but don’t remember the exact design problem.
Exact same thing for me to the T, except I was only test driving cars searching for my next car; o I wasn’t stuck with it for several days. Based on my past experience, I wold refuse to take a Cobalt.
No, but this place obviously has a firm line between criticizing a car (or a company) and criticizing the reviewer. I’ve crossed the line myself and learned to tell the tale… although my response obviously did not.
But keep in mind that some models truly live up to their billing. Aveos, Rios, GM’s full-sized vans and minivans, the Sebring sedan, and countless others are truly awful products. Yet they get a thoughtless free ride from most publications that are in the business of pronging revenue from the manufacturers.
It all comes to your ability to use your own judgment and discern the truth. TTAC is one of the very few places that can do it without the Pavlovian kow-tow of the modern automotive rag. Whether you think a car is a 4 star or 2 star product is your opinion… and like the ones posted here, others should be able to tolerate your opinion for what it simply is.
I am awestruck at the volume of comments generated by a Cobalt. What makes this car such a lightning rod? The typical GM comments – on both sides – are basically the same for most GM products reviewed. This is an entry level ride. Cut somebody on their choice of a Vette or Porsche I would understand but this? My take is this, for what it is worth: A Cobalt is good choice and a smart buy used when you need a basic ride. Period.
I’ve always been kind of sympathetic to the looks of the Cobalt. Compared to, say, the mind-boggling hideousness of the Sentra or Ion, or the dumpy, pudgy looks of the current Jetta, it’s not bad.
I think edgett is right on target, though, that the fundamental weakness of the Cobalt (and at this point, the Focus) is that its raison d’etre is really to fill a hole in the line-up, to lure people into the dealership in hopes that they can be persuaded to buy a Malibu instead. It’s not a question of specifications or even performance in any hard-numbers way, it’s a matter of feel and detail.
The way GM tends to approach small car design, going back to the Chevy II and the Vega, is to benchmark existing models and make a point of beating them in hard numbers. They generally achieve that, but often in aways that compromise the cars in more subjective areas (e.g., bigger engines — so they can advertise class superiority in size or power — matched with extremely tall gearing that neuters them in normal driving). There’s still the feeling that they’re building the cars because they’ve been reluctantly convinced they need to have a smaller car in dealerships, rather than any drive to make a satisfactory compact car.
I’m not sure you can even put the Civic or Corolla in the same class as this. Either of those Japanese cars will cost you 20-25% more out the door. As far as what you get, you get what you pay for, which is less.
Um, the Cobalt sounds like the perfect car for people who don’t care about cars (plenty of them around, judging by the popularity of Corollas), don’t care to go anywhere fast, and aren’t too picky about the details. I think the star rating isn’t backed-up by the actual review.
It’s a shame GM doesn’t stick with the Cobalt name, and show us that they have a semblance of a long-term vision. The Corolla wasn’t always “the paragon” it is today; I remember my grandma’s POS 1980 wagon as well as the super-POS ‘83 I drove in high school driver’s ed. But Toyota stayed with it, adhered to a refresh/redesign cadence, continued improving the product, and look at it now.
This kind of classic GM what’s new syndrome / attention deficit disorder is why TTAC’s GM deathwatch count approaches 200.
BTW, I’m glad Enterprise has “upgraded” to the Cobalt. Last time I rented a car from them it was a Neon that wouldn’t have rated ANY stars.
I question the comparison of this car to the much more expensive Civic and Corolla.
There are semi-premium compacts and budget compacts, and this should only be compared to the second group.
Corolla starts at more than 15K. The cheapest Toyota is the Yaris, which is about the price of this car, but with 106HP v. 148HP for the Cobalt.
I have driven the following very cheap cars, all 2005-2007 models:
Scion xA
Hyundai Accent
Kia Rio
Chevy Aveo
Chevy HHR
Toyota Corolla
The Scion xA was by far the best (and most expensive) of them and all around a fun car, and the Accent was the worst of the lot because it was so bumpy and jittery a short trip was almost painful on my spine. Substantially worse than a well-used late 1980’s Camaro.
The Rio, HHR, Corolla and Aveo were bland but acceptable basic transportation.
What are the best $10,000 to $14,000 out the door cars? “They all suck compared to cars that are $16000 to $18000 out the door” is not very informative.
gregw-GM seems to think it competes with the Corolla and Civic.
The Yaris is B-segment.
Bunter
I still say that anyone who goes on a diatribe against cars like the Cobalt or Focus has never owned one and is also not likely a customer of these cars. The really nice compacts are almost always $3-5000 more than the Cobalt.
I agree, but probably for different reasons.
Someone who goes on a diatribe like this about the Cobal (or Focus) probably doesn’t own one. He probably tested one, then went to the Honda dealer and bought a Civic. For the same reason, he’s not a likely customer, yet we know he’s a customer for the same class of car.
I looked at Cobalt at the same time I looked at Focus, last winter. I just could not see buying either of them. I’d rather have a used Civic.
The nice compacts are 3K more, and it’s worth it. This is why I never beleive GM when they say they can’t make money on small cars – if they made something as good as the Civic, they could make another 3K profit on each unit.
Regarding star ratings: I personally hate handing them out. Each writer interprets the scale differently (absolute virtue vs. rank within class, etc.), and readers often interpret below-average ratings as brutal condemnations, when the average new car is really quite good these days.
The other side of that coin is that they *all* shuttle occupants from A to B with adequate comfort, so that’s more a prerequisite than a selling point.
The Cobalt got two stars because a) three out of five implies a better-than-class-average product, which the Cobalt isn’t, and b) this was intended to be GM’s “premium” small car, and while the cash on the hood indeed makes it a bargain, it also indicates that GM failed to meet its own design brief.
After looking at the other reviews for small cars and seeing how most of those entries got two stars, I have to wonder: Does TTAC like small cars?