So while it was true the next sales guy did not know anything about the Cobalt XFE, he was honest with me and treated me much better. Because of this I stuck with him. However when I rated the dealer’s performance I gave him all high marks but was honest and checked NO- he was NOT knowledgeable about my car at issue. I don’t blame the dealership, I blame G.M. I seen plenty that showed me that G.M. was making it very difficult for the dealers to get information on this car, and they set up their website in a way the dealers did not know how to search for the car on other lots!

As far as a Hatch Back goes- This applies to the Coupe for sure: The answer is Yes and No. While it’s not technically a hatch back, it is the next best thing. See the trunk has plenty of room, and a spare tire and tools can be store below a false compartment. If one does not need to use the back seats, the owner can push the back seats forward which makes for a larger storage area from the trunk to the back of the front seats. It’s perfect for my needs. Oh, I find the $275 spoiler option really makes the back end look like a sports car! I like that option a lot.

I’m very happy with it, and I disagree with most reviews of the car. I like it better. Standard features are great, yet some simple things, like a spare tire can cost extra ($75). I got the car at the bottom of the line all included price of $12,6XX. Not too shabby a price for a brand spanking new fun to drive car with almost 37MPG REAL performance Just today I averaged 36.5 miles per gallon after I noticed my tire pressure was low and fixed the problem- I have no doubt 37mpg is possible.

If you can wait, in mid 2010 the same plant location in Lordstown Ohio will start building The Cruise which is supposed to get about 41 or 42 MPG. It looks a lot like the Cobalt and should sell for the same price. At this rate hybrids will have to come down in price to be competitive. I’m happy to see American cars finally compete better with the imports. Maybe GM has finally “smelled the coffee”, at least I hope they have. I’m happy they pulled out of bankruptcy so soon.

I had the same trouble in ‘99 when we bought our CR-V AWD. The salesman argued that there was no such thing as a 5-spd CR-V. I argued there was and I had to show him the corporate website. Needless to say I didn’t buy a car from him (that and the 14% interest rate he was pushing. We got a ~6% later from our credit union). He went on to say he would (not wanted or could I) come get my car and demo the 5 speed for customers and wash it before he returned it. Ahhh – no you won’t. Had he promised me some absurd low price and interest rate – maybe… I could have cut off his access to the vehicle if needed and still had the low cost.

Anyhow – can the Cobalt be purchased as a hatchback? I had a 1987 Accord hatchback and it was a GREAT car for my needs then or now. 325K miles on it last I saw it.

A coupe hatchback version of the Cobalt like that Accord would be a really great small car that I would consider buying.

HOWEVER: My dealer (sales person) had almost no idea what the XFE was and had none on their lot. To make matters worse he could not figure out how to search for ONLY XFE Cobalts. I was the one that discovered that one only need search for a manual transmission and in every case it was an XFE. He knew almost nothing about the car right down to him swearing to me the car did NOT have a cd player in it- But as I knew, when the car was delivered I pointed out that, just like I thought, the car comes standard with an AM/FM CD stereo with XM radio. I was quick to show him his mistakes too.

But all around he was the best sales guy I could of bought from, he was most honest in not trying to pocket the extra $1000 cash back. Also I got a GM employee discount, so all in all I got a $16000 car for under $13,000. It cost a grand total of $12,6XX and that is counting all options,all taxes, registering etc. A couple weeks I got my back tag in the mail, then a few days latter the dealership sent me a container of fresh cookies in thanks of the purchase. Man, ‘ wantta talk about feeling appreciated? A great buy, it cost me far less than any other subcompact with this high of gas mileage- EPA 37MPG Highway, it even beat the imports in it’s class (non hybrids) yet just like others here, my sales guy knew almost nothing about this model and GM corporate was not calling him back, I had to figure out and show him how to search for XFE- it’s done by searching for a Cobalt with a 5 speed stick.. in every case I seen they all are XFEs.

Also GM’s site never got around to sending my online request until weeks after I bout my car. Indeed GM is showing very poor relations when it comes to the Cobalt XFE, it’s almost like they don’t want it to sell. The don’t advertise it, they don’t help their dealers with info. The customers have to tell them what they want and were lucky if the dealership even knows what one is talking about. Then their hard to find on most lots.

I love this car more than anything else I have ever drove. I have never got under 34 mpg, and often get the high mark of 36.3 MPG. This is the best mileage in the subcompact non hybrid class at this time. For those that can not afford a hybrid I will say Im in love with this car. It’s note worthy to say this car can coast for a long ways in neutral. I have traveled for miles off of a small hill in neutral and coast right in to my driveway. A real gas sipper that’s American made.

There is also the 2LT option code for the enhanced option package. There is no option code or description for the XFE. Therefore it is not a model nor an option code, but rather a designation. This was likely a running change made to the 5MT equipped vehicles. XFE is purely for marketing (even if it is done poorly).

Correct, but that’s for the 2009 model only.

Fueleconomy.gov lists two naturally-aspirated 2.2L manual combos for 2008, one is an XFE and the other is everything but the XFE. Heaven forbid the Chevy website would actually clear up this confusion.

Chevy had a slam-dunk winner to use as a fuel economy “halo car” and they demonstrated once again that they are capable of incompetence and ambivalence that are simply unmatched by any other company in the world!!!

Its the Fiero GT, Northstar-powered Allante, etc all over again: finally making a noteworthy car and completely neglecting it.

GM will never learn.

Maybe GM has learned from its mistakes and is not going to actually produce it since nobody will buy a POS Cobalt even if it gets decent mileage.

Sorry, but the sales figures prove otherwise!

In June (last month), the Cobalt was the #8 best selling vehicle in the U.S. with 20,888 units sold. That figure represents an increase of 21.6%.

Initially, Chevy only expected XFE models to account for two to three percent of total Cobalt sales. In actuality, XFE models represent eight percent of Cobalt sales volume.

The most likely explanation for GM/Chevy’s silence and total lack of marketing is very short-sighted and ill-informed planning decisions- perhaps GM’s greatest skill?!?!

They made a surprisingly good move in creating the Cobalt XFE. It’s far from the best in the compact class, but it’s all they had to work with. Suddenly, one of the more mediocre entries in the compact class looks much better when it can top all it’s competitors in fuel economy!

Sadly, they chose to “aim low and we won’t be disappointed” in estimating the market for the XFE. As a result, the demand for the car is approximately three times greater than the number they planned to sell. Long story short, they aren’t shouting it from the rooftops at the moment because dealers don’t have them to sell right now!

When they manage to align production with demand, I fully expect a full-scale marketing and PR blitz…

It took me quite a bit of digging and numerous internet searches to piece together the story when I first heard of the XFE. In my mind, it’s kind of like a PZEV emissions engine in that XFE is a designation or even a “rating” for the models tuned for max fuel economy. I thought all 2.2L 5-speed manual models were XFEs until on of the earlier postings to this very article explained that the ‘08 LS and 1LT trim levels with manual transmission are XFE equipped. Selecting the 2LT trim package with manual transmission just gets the regular 2.2L identical to the one used pre-XFE. A 2LT manual only gets 33mpg highway vs. 36mpg for the XFE, but it likely has slightly better acceleration due to the different (less efficient) gearing.

In any case, I checked a few sites including FuelEconomy.gov and the regular Cobalt only has EPA ratings for a 2.2L automatic and the 2-liter turbocharged manual for the SS models. The Cobalt XFE is listed separately with only the manual 2.2L- from that, I infer that all 2.2L manuals with be XFEs for 2009- even the 2LT.

Then again, the 30 or so of us who’ve posted remarks to this article are apparently the foremost Cobalt XFE experts in the world…

Chevy had a slam-dunk winner to use as a fuel economy “halo car” and they demonstrated once again that they are capable of incompetence and ambivalence that are simply unmatched by any other company in the world!!!

Every Chevrolet dealer I’ve been to in the greater Denver area has had at least two XFEs on the lot. The stickers in the windows all say 25/36 on them as well. I could take one for a spin and say what’s what if you’d like.

Still, the problems with the XFE program are a) finding a stick Cobalt, appropriately equipped for the alleged 36mpg highway and b) the auto still has an EP sticker that says 31mpg and it’s the autos that sell in the far larger numbers.

And a Yaris is short, narrow, light, low-drag, has a small (although apparently lively) engine and is far more likely to get better actual mileage under more conditions than the Cobalt.

And then there’s the Prius… GM may have a model or two that’s competitive but Toyota’s got the mindshare.

If I see it again, I’ll have to snap a photo to prove its existence, and no, it won’t be like a picture of the Loch Ness Monster.

Nothing wrong with throwing out anecdotes. That’s usually appreciated. The problem is when folks then draw a conclusion from them, and try to argue that a car is good or bad because of what they or their friends experienced when there are ten of thousands of cars just like them.

The standard for quality is so high now, that you just can’t use anecdotes.

Sorry if I offend anyone offended by anecdotal anecdotes.

Yes.

On what grounds? An unclear website, dealer misunderstandings and an all around feeling of XFE-gnorance? For all of GM’s branding dollars and market research, you think they’d at least make the XFE an understandable package and recode the website to follow suit.

Its more of the same from GM, their engineers make lemonade out of lemons (let’s face it, the Cobalt isn’t a Civic) and the bureaucratic infrastructure ensures it’s lost in translation.

No truth about cars and all false GM sensationalisms.

“Nancy Libby, a spokeswoman for Chevrolet, says that demand for the car surprised the automaker, as it had estimated that the XFE would make up just two to three percent of Cobalt sales. In actuality, the XFE model accounts for eight percent of sales and sits on the lot for just eighteen days on average — lowest of any Cobalt model.”

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/07/22/cobalt-xfe-selling-faster-than-planned/

Perhaps a retraction is on order.

In comparision, 63% of Rabbits were sold with manual transmissions, as were 47% of Mazda3’s, 46% of Fits, 30% of New Beetles, 19% of Civics, 14% of Focii, 10% of Corollas and 5% of Calibers.

Were all of those numbers just for the US market? It would appear so, but I just wanted to clarify.

My nine year old 3300 lb AWD CR-V five speed has consistently gotten 25-26 mpg in mixed use for 161K+ miles. The ‘balt needs a better engine – or something.

Does GM have better engines in their European divisions or in South America? Does the Astra get better real world mileage? Does it get the same engine as the Cobalt?

Uh… Aveo sales were down 19.7% in June and down 1.7% for the first half of the year. Not exactly what I’d call “flying off the lot.”

Wards shows only 11.2 percent of 2007 Cobalts had manual transmissions. That works out to about 23.3k units with a left pedal. Of course, rental companies only want automatic transmissions, so that probably explains the low number. Interestingly, 14.6% of G5’s had manuals.

In comparision, 63% of Rabbits were sold with manual transmissions, as were 47% of Mazda3’s, 46% of Fits, 30% of New Beetles, 19% of Civics, 14% of Focii, 10% of Corollas and 5% of Calibers.

Maybe not. I saw something on Autobloggreen that made it look like it’s doing so well, it caught GM by surprise.

As for the confusion, its all gm’s fault. A mid year refresh that actually changes epa numbers, on a model that no one has.

i looked in my are (northen illion/southern wisconsin) found a total of 2 stick cobalts, but no idea what the production date is.

but if we go by this edmunds piece
http://blogs.edmunds.com/strategies/2008/07/where-are-all-the-stick-drivers.html

it looks like toyota has 2% of its sales in sticks, and honda is less then 10, I would bet the average overall is somewhere around 5%. So that range means that out of all the cobalts out there somewhere between 2 and 10 out of 100 come with a stick. And most of those are probably the SS/Sport version.

IOW good luck trying to find a stick of any car on the market