The price of these cars is remarkably low in the base version only. I was offered my choice of either one for less than $12,000 plus tax. THat includes freight. It’s about 30% less than a Civic LX.

You get power windows and doors and spoiler on the base G5. Not on the Cobalt, which is a few dollars less. The G5 does have some rather odd looking faux carbon fibre, but it has nice upholstry.

I thought the stick shift was quite entertaining and the radio with FX sounded pretty good. I thought the suspension was definately better than the Civic EX I drove for a while, too.

THe Cobalt calls it’s suspension “soft-ride”. The G% calls its “HIV 1 touring” or something like that. I think the G5 has a slightly shorter axle gear, so that’s the excitement.

What I don’t understand is how dramatically the price increases if you get any options on either of these cars. It moves quickly up to $20,000 by the time you get cruise control because you can’t get cruise control without first getting everything else. Are you sure GM really wants to stay in business? They still think they’re going to con you by luring you into the showroom with a $13,000 car and then selling you up to a $20,000 when they explaine that the $13,000 car doesn’t include cruise control. THey think you’re that stupid.
It really defeats the purpose to get anything above base model, at all. As it is, on the Chevy, you’re rolling your own and fiddling with the mirrors all the time. Point, Pontiac.

I have an old Malibu with 150,000 miles. It drives like a new car (a new Chevy car) and better than several Hondas and Toyotas with similar miles that I’ve tested. It has more solid steering and front end than my old Lexus LS400 with 140,000 mi. I think the GM cars are reliable, just noisy, under damped and poorly designed visually. And I don’t understand “high effort feel” power steering, at all. I’d prefer the one finger steering of the 1959 Lincoln Continental, any day.
But I had a lot of fun for a new car that’s less than $12,000 and I think the author of this review writes better than she evaluates cars rationally. But she probably drove the automatic, which spoils everything. It can’t be that quick if it ain’t got a stick.

Corolla 28/37 – Base coupe w/5spd man.

Civic 30/38 – Base coupe w/5spd man.

If you’re going import fighting, why offer a 5mpg penalty in city driving? At this end of the market MPGs are important.

1) The backseats are worthless. Also, the trunk opening if very narrow.
2) You will get little traction with the stock setup. The tires suck. The mounts and bushings need completely replaced if you don’t want to ruin the car.
3) The supercharger doesn’t compare to a turbo, even if you try to modify it some. You are looking at nearly 100 less horse power.
4) The car needs about 10 grand of work. It isn’t a 20 grand car, it is a stripped down sport car. Most of your parts will need replaced if you want to keep driving it. Look at that GTO, Mustang, Charger… do you want it? Don’t be fooled, that is how much you will end up spending in the long run. You aren’t saving by buying the cobalt instead.
5) Ultimately, if you want cheap and fast get a neon srt-4. If you want a nice car get something in the next price range up. It is worth waiting and saving. This is coming from an owner. The car just doesn’t have any strong points other than looking nice, but who spends 20k just for looks.

The same could be said of a corolla.

This would be an excellent daily driver for someone on a budget who wants comfort, intuitive controls, and good gas mileage without the need for fancy-shmancy hybrid technology.