1,000,000th Chevy Cobalt

[156n3rd]

Just announced that the millionth Cobalt was built. I have read many on-line and paper magazines regarding this car. Time after time it's been said that the Cobalt is just a cheap, small Chevy. Buzzy engine, not very good on gas, small interior, etc. So, how do the keep selling it? Every time I see one, I think about how it disturbs me that they sell so many.

[rmc523]

Just announced that the millionth Cobalt was built. I have read many on-line and paper magazines regarding this car. Time after time it's been said that the Cobalt is just a cheap, small Chevy. Buzzy engine, not very good on gas, small interior, etc. So, how do the keep selling it? Every time I see one, I think about how it disturbs me that they sell so many.

 

Rental fleets and fleet sales....that's my guess.

[Paul Selby]

Enterprise....we'll pick you up. The lot of our local Enterprise is dominated by Cobalt's.

[aneekr]

Exactly as rmc523 and Paul Selby noted, about the only thing that's class-leading about the Chevy Cobalt is its popularity with rental car firms.

[SkapeGote]

Sup,

 

Piece of poo like this sell well because of price and nothing more. Same reason in the UK the sell so many Ka's and Fiesta's. They may be good cars, but the fact is people buy them because they are cheap. Think about it, buy a Cobalt, drive it until just before the warranty dies and ditch it. Think about it, Japanese cars started doing well because they were cheap. Cars like the Escort, Sprint, Lynx, K car, Tempo, Topaz, Omni, Cortina, Pony, Civic And the lot are all, examples of cheap, crappy cars that sell on nothing more than price. Now this is not to say some of these are good cars, but the ones I listed are nothing but cheap, throwaway transport. Europeans love econo boxes because of the roads they drive on. Most stuff is close, they have decent public transit, big Cities are old, have narrow streets, crap like that. Americans, classically, love larger cruising cars. New roads, vast spaces between cities. You know.

 

Anyway the point is cheap, crappy cars sell because of price point. I cannot think of a single person, at say 40 years old that ever aspired to own a Hyundai Pony.

 

Skape

[RangerM]

Rental fleets and fleet sales...

They (Cobalts and enemas) have much in common. You don't want to be seen buying one, and the more you sit in/on it, the more of a pain in the ass it becomes.

Edited September 16, 2009 by RangerM

[Mark B. Morrow]

They do have much in common. You don't want to be seen buying one, and the more you use it, the more of a pain in the ass it becomes.

 

In reality the Cobalt is just the modern day Cavalier very cheap disposable transportation. A spiritual descendent of the Chevette.

[V8-X]

 

In reality the Cobalt is just the modern day Cavalier very cheap disposable transportation. A spiritual descendent of the Chevette.

Exactly! My wife had a '98 Cavalier prior to getting married, and that was the biggest POS in the word. Worse than the '85 Tempo she owned prior, and that thing should have been a lemon. And the Cobalt is simply a refreshed Cavalier, that I actually think is uglier than the Cavalier was.

 

But like most everyone else stated, it's a cheap, fuel efficient throw away car. Good for teens & early 20 year olds, for rental car companies and maybe for a business persons daily commute (save miles & fuel on the nice car in the garage at home).

 

I will never and would never purchase one, heck I won't even let the rental car companies give me one. The fact they are too small isn't the point, more the quality and reliability of these cars. Sure it's improving, but not to the standards I'm used to.

Edited September 16, 2009 by V8-X

[156n3rd]

 

In reality the Cobalt is just the modern day Cavalier very cheap disposable transportation. A spiritual descendent of the Chevette.

That's a huge insult to the Chevette!

[97svtgoin05gt]

A worse car than either the Cobalt or Cavalier was the Citation and its sister car the Cadillac Cimmaron. Never before had I seen a bigger POS than those vehicles.

[fordmantpw]

 

In reality the Cobalt is just the modern day Cavalier very cheap disposable transportation. A spiritual descendent of the Chevette.

 

My wife actually had a Chevette AND a Cavalier.

 

The Chevette was her first car in high school. Nothing to it, but it got her around.

 

The Cavalier was actually a decent car. She bought it two years before we got married and she/we had it for 6 years and 70k+. The only thing done to it other than oil changes was new tires and a new water pump. Thankfully, a friend changed the water pump for $200 (including parts). He said it was a PITA and would have cost us over $600 in labor at the dealer!

 

It has been nothing but Ford's ever since that though!

Edited September 17, 2009 by fordmantpw

[carforford]

A worse car than either the Cobalt or Cavalier was the Citation and its sister car the Cadillac Cimmaron. Never before had I seen a bigger POS than those vehicles.

 

Ok, Ok. I got both you guys beat. The Chevy Monza. Possibly the worst P.O.S. to ever get the Mark of Excellence or the Bow-tie. This was also sold as the Buick Skylark and the Oldsmobile Starfire (What an insult to the Starfire Name! I am also an Oldsmobile Fan as well!

 

Our Story begins around August of 1980. The '81's were just coming out and my Dad who had started a new job need a car for work. He didn't know how the job would be so he figured new and cheap were the way to go. Big Mistake!!! My dad went down to the local Chevy store and in the showroom was a silver (with orange and red tape stripes down the hood) Monza Fast back. It had a red vinyl interior, AM Radio, 5 speed Man and the General's 2.5 Liter I-4 under the hood.

 

Keep in mind this was in the days before CSI Quality Index and the lemon law. 2 weeks after taken delivery of this 1980 Monza one wheel cover snapped off due to plastic clips on them, the other 3 fell off later! 4 weeks after this, a dash relay had fried and somoke was pooring out through the A/C Vents,. Then my dad went to merge on the highway while working the 5 speed and the shift knob came off in his hand, he put it back on, then the shift imprint on the knob wound up in pieces in the palm of his hand.

 

We live in Northern NJ and as my dad was going to see my Grandparents on the GW bridge the Alternator light came on, and the Alt fried itself. This is about month 6 in to ownership. At about month 8 the spot welds were already starting to rust as was the rear bumper. The spot welds were done by robots which this was the first GM plant to use them, we found out.

 

There were many other details throughout this 14 month ownership wreck that was the Monza but the crowning touch was when the crappy AM Radio stopped working. My dad decided that he had enough fighting with service department and Chevrolet, plus a good size raise from work helped. He then Bought a brand new 1982 Olds 98 Regency 2 Door Coupe which served the family well up untill 1991 when my family started buying Lincolns and Fords.

 

Our family owned the Best and worst GM had. Cadillac, Corvettes, Cutlass 455, Toronado, 98 and numerous others, but FoMoCo is where we will stay!

[156n3rd]

A worse car than either the Cobalt or Cavalier was the Citation and its sister car the Cadillac Cimmaron. Never before had I seen a bigger POS than those vehicles.

This will be one of the times I ever publicly support a Chevy model. I owne a 1980 4-door, V-6 3spd.+OD w/sport suspension. 2-tone black & silver with a red interior. Good ride, good handling, good economy at the time. By 80,000 it needed a new $600.00 carb. But until then, it really worked well, especially in snow. You'll be happy to know that I traded it in on a 1987 Taurus GL sedan. One of my faorite cars of my lifetime. (P.S., I also owned an 81 Phoenix which fell apart. It took 4 steering racks in 3 years and the Iron Dule was a mere pawn)

[twintornados]

A worse car than either the Cobalt or Cavalier was the Citation and its sister car the Cadillac Cimmaron. Never before had I seen a bigger POS than those vehicles.

The Citation was an X-Body front wheel drive and the Cimarron was built on a J-Body front wheel drive car....there was no X-Body front wheel drive Cadillac.

[RangerM]

The Citation was an X-Body front wheel drive and the Cimarron was built on a J-Body front wheel drive car....there was no X-Body front wheel drive Cadillac.

Did all X-body cars have that stupid vertically-oriented radio, or was that the "sport model" (What wast it-----X-9? X-?) Citation only?

[twintornados]

Did all X-body cars have that stupid vertically-oriented radio, or was that the "sport model" (What wast it-----X-9? X-?) Citation only?

Citation X-11

[DC Car Examiner]

But like most everyone else stated, it's a cheap, fuel efficient throw away car. Good for teens & early 20 year olds, for rental car companies and maybe for a business persons daily commute (save miles & fuel on the nice car in the garage at home).

 

That's more of a statement about compact economy cars in general. You can get other compact economy cars than the Cobalt that serve that same function better and/or for less money.

[156n3rd]

I consider my Hyundai Accent very similar to the blowbalt. Narrow, hard riding and nosiy. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and depenedable. Nosiy, but there when you need it. A throw-away when the time is right. I really hate the ergonomics of the turdbalt. And I laugh at the fact that Howie Long 's ads say they are great on gas and I have never read anywhere that it was. Too bad Howie chose to back a losers.