Most people want a nice reliable car and after driving a Chevy Colbalt, I have come to the conclusion that the car is utter crap

My car is in the shop due to accident and I got this as a rental (24K miles on it) and this is what I came accross

The PLUS side

1. information center that tells you what's up with the car
2. engine is actually decent in performance.
3. good visibility
4. OK handling
Now for the NEGATIVE side

1. Seats are uncomfortable even for an entry level car
2. Steering wheel is thick but it feels like you are holding onto a rubbery plastic
3. front wheel bearing is out on the car (passenger side)
4. Gas filler tube in on the PASSENGER side of the car.
5. windshield wipers squeak like a mofo and these are small blades
6. bad interior lighting
7. poor headlights (bad beam pattern)
8. driver side seatback recliner is broke
9. cup holders are SHALLOW make a turn and your large coke/pepsi will definately wind up on the floor
10. Emergency brake is located under the center arm rest (WTF is up with that)
11. seatbelt is adjustable but even in it's highest position it is still hard to grab the belt
12. driving position feels cramped
13. awkward controls and some of the buttons are tiny and at the bottom
14. GM figured out how to make the paint thinner than Acura's not to mention softer so every single scratch stands out like a sore thumb

in mixed drivng I am averaging 28.4mpg for comparison in my CLS I get 25mpg, and in the TSX I had as a loaner I got 30mpg average

 

What did you expect? It's a Cobalt for crying out loud.

 

 

actually if GM had half a brain they would make their economy cars of good quality stuff. How many people went from a civic to an accord to an acura?

I did a quick search on the internet and it would appear that those wheel bearings are made out of glass or something..lol

 

I don't know where to start. So i'll stay quiet.

 

I had a similar experience with a rental, but reminded myself that it's a rental. People dog these cars out and the cheaper they are the less people respect them. I've also noticed that the rental stores don't care about these cars either. These two things have a lot to do with rentals being pieces of crap. I've had a dogged out, bottom of the line, Altima rental with ~12K on the clock. It was a piece of crap. As for the shallow cup holders, hell, my old CL had this problem.

 

Who pissed in your Cheerios? and who the hell compares a Cobalt to a CL and a TSX?

Admittedly it's not even on the list of cars I'd even consider. Cobalt SS... maybe for a track car. I don't know where to begin either.... most of your complaints are things that people normally adjust to, or aren't even all that bad. Loaners are usually pieces of shit to begin with.... I drove my brother's E90 325i loaner and it creaked and groaned more over expansion joints than my 8-year old Camaro

 

I tried, but can't bring myself to justify explaining some of these "negatives" in detail. Aside from complaints 1, 2, and maybe 9, 10 and 11, the rest are just proof that no one gives a crap about loaners, as long as they run with no/little liability, and (guessing here) that you may not had much experience with cars other than Honda/Acura

I don't even care for the Cobalt.... but seriously, take that tampon out of your vagina. The list started off decent, then you started grasping for straws. Seriously, gas cap is on the passenger side is a bad thing? If you drove the car for more than a week you'd forget all about it. Oh wait, it's another 5 steps extra to get to the gas cap...

 

#4 is a negative? Shit. Guess my 335 is a pile too.

 

so is this:



and this:

 

^^^And my G37S.


(not an actual pic of my car but just like it)

 

My uncle had this 1985 Cavalier. I remember it well. It was very well built and ran great. No issues what so ever in those days. In the 90's, things went really down hill.

 

most of the issues are maintenance.

its a fucking base model rental

 

And my FX...and Mazda3...

 

It's a base Cobalt rental with 24k abused miles on it and you expect perfection? Even GM knows it's a POS, that's why they are rolling out the Cruze, a car that is miles better.

#4 I have to agree is a stupid move but it's certainly not a reason that old GM failed. It's the same way on my CTS-V and for the first month of ownership I kept pulling into the filling station on the correct (for Honda) side.

 

The OP needs to spend some time driving a Dodge Caliber. That would make me long for Chevy Cobalt.

 

Gas filler on passenger side was explained to me as being a safety feature. If you're filling up on the side of the road with a gas can you won't be beside oncoming traffic.

 

Although, I think to be fair, point #4 for the OP is perhaps not his main beef with the Cobalt.

That being said, I think to get a better assessment, I would suggest YeuEnMaiMai to try out a non-rental vehicle. Also, consider trying out some of GM's other cars: G8 (which I absolutely love and is sad to see Pontiac go), Astra, CTS...Corvette...

 

 

Well even the corvette is a pos imo. Ive worked on many over the years being a car audio installer and they only seem to slighlty improve. The c4 is impossible to get in and out of without hitting your head, if you are over 6 foot tall, and the interior has the absolute worst platic components ever. No matter how gentle you are with takinig things apart, something always seems to break. Also, most of the interior panels become warped due to sun damage. More expensive plastic materials won't do that. The c5 is a little better, but it still has its issues. For instance, the seat frames are probably out of a much cheaper car. I worked on several straight from the dealer when they came out and the backs of the seats wiggle so much it is insane. There is at least 4 inches of play which is totally unacceptable for the price of the car. The fitment of the cheap interior is totally off as well. If you pop the hatch and look at the trim in the trunk area, you will know what i mean. Then the center console was poorly thought out because you invariably put your right arm on all the time and it doesnt stop squeaking. Most of the rest of the interior isn't much better and seems to squeak as there is not a barrier between the plastic components and where they are attached.

The c6 has the same issues as the c5 with the front seats still being my biggest gripe. I dont understand how a 10k kia rio has its front seats more solidly in place than the 50k plus vette. The hatch area is slightly improved but nothing seems to be fitted just right.

I guess with these cars it is about performance though, as they are all a blast to drive. Long term, I could not stand to have one of these knowing that they are so poorly constructed imo.

For the record, I owned a dodge srt4 for about 6 months before the dealer bought it back because it was a lemon. It warped 3 heads, and there were others that did that as well. I will never buy American again. I will likely only own any derivative of toyota or honda for the rest of my life.

 

It's a rental. Enough said...

 

noob to the world

 

i expected real problems and was told this.
youre just bickering because the same can be said for alot of other cars made by manufacturers worldwide, especially considering its a rental model.

either way, the cobalt is on its way out and the cruze is in, which is supposed to be much nicer

 

My Mini is on the driver's side

(Pre-drop)


That makes my car better than all of yours, so


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very nice!

 

I always love these threads where the OP will swear off a manufacturer because he had issues with their base model car. A rental at that!

 

I thought the Camry, Malibu and Pontiac Grand Prix rentals sucked, but the Mercury Grand Marquis wasn't bad.

 

Oh geez fail thread. As most others have already said, where do you even begin? My favorite negative though is:
"12. driving position feels cramped"

A. It's a frickin' small car and
B. Maybe you're just fat?

 

Thread Fail!

 

Dammit!

 

it seems the op realized how pity his dumbass remarks about the car were. its a lower class economy car. we all know its somewhat cheap and shitty but nothing sans the bearings really holds a justification as to why one should not buy a GM.

I taken you havent seen the camaro/malibu/cts(all variants)/whole buick lineup/ new suvs/ trucks/cruze at all have you?

 

^ Well, let's try not to get too personal...while the OP's comments are something the general mass does not agree with, you don't need to resort to insulting him. Keep it civil, mkay...





And ...you have an Aston Martin DBS...!??

 

lmao ive been waiting for someone to notice that. I put it in there just for you :wink:

 

at #4. God damn funniest thing I've read since the stupid door latch issue. The S6 and M6 are also total pieces of shit.


Edit - That is such a bullshit list to begin with. Wow.

 

I'm not defending GM, but...

The gas fill-up on my audi is the same.

And the emergency brake handle is under the arm rest on my Audi as well. It bugs me too because anytime I engage the brake, It hits the arm rest. But it's not a GM problem.

 

Ever make one of those threads that seems like a good rant to begin with, then you wish you could take it back later?

 

I like the direction GM is starting to go. Ford has been moving in the right direction for a while.

But aside from the CTS, G8, or the Corvette, GM doesn't have anything I'd consider.

 

A rant's a rant. Hence it's called a rant.


Please also see "diatribe".

 

the only item on that list that was a maint issue is the wheel bearing. So before I listed it, I checked to see if this was a problem with the car and guess what? It would appear that it is......because there are a large amount of complaints about it.....

 

by shallow I mean less than 2" deep and as for the CL at least you can remove the insert..... and they can hold a large Mc D's cup without spilling it over when you make a turn....

for the others claiming that the list is maint......

how in the world is a poor beam pattern a maint issue?

how is the fact that the car has poor interior lighting a maint issue?

the windshield wipes are not a maint issue. it is GM being cheap and using as little rubber in the blade as possible....


but hey that's OK you guys want to put up with crap like that, more power to you.........

You know today is 2010 and some of this things could have been a little more thought out and it would have made a huge difference in the overall impresson of the car....

btw just becuase the car is small does not mean the driving position should be cramped. even in a yaris you do not feel cramped like this car...