Anyone on the Board Own a Chevy Cobalt?

[Matt G]

<b>We are getting one with front and side airbags that give it a 5 Star front and side crash rating (i dont know of a better rating), 4 wheel ABS and traction control, 16 in Michelin tires</b> and with the sport package it is a great looking car. 2.2 Litre engine with 145 hp that is one of the best in its size. i have driven several models and none were any quicker nor better looking. I have read all the reviews and I dont buy anything unless i have researched it thoroughly.

Just a warning to you folks looking to buy cars with side airbags in the rear (not curtains): You should not own a car like this if you are planning on starting a family or have a family with small children who are still in car seats. The side air bags in the rear can dislodge the tethers on the seat (even if you are using the LATCH system) in the case of an accident and pose a dangerous problem because the integrity of the safety seat will be compromised. The side curtains do not present this problem, though.

I just ordered a car and left this off after much discussion with the sales person and research.

Just a little extra help and you can save some money along the way also.

[CJ Krause]

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[CJ Krause]

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[CJ Krause]

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[CJ Krause]

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[Matt G]

our daughter just graduated high school and is going to culinary school. she is 18 and not going to marry and have kids anytime soon.

That doesn't mean she won't have the car when she does, right?

The advice was general in nature, but any car should be purchased with future utlity in mind.

Again, even small children can be at risk in the rear seat with side impact airbags (family, friends of family, etc). Side impact airbags are best suited for adult-sized folk only.

[Matt G]

So all young folk need to get suv's and vans since they might have 2.5 kids down the road sometime? I just bought a Safari van with PRESENT utility in mind. I have tuba, amp, speaker, upright bass, etc. plus two kids (on weekends) to haul around. Down the road, I won't be gigging anymore, and my kids will be grown. Should I have gone ahead and bought a small car now with FUTURE utility in mind?

The implication was that a four door vehicle may be more appropriate. Trading in a car (especially one bought new) is a great way to take a wicked hit in the wallet. Therefore, you should try to keep a vehicle bought new for as long as possible to obtain maximum utility. So, yes, a little more forethought may have been called for than a two-door. Your case is different. Your future utility is potentially less than present. You can haul around just yourself in the vehicle, if need be, in the future. You are simply under-utilizing the capacity of the vehicle. However, it is unsafe or impossible to go beyond the capacities of a smaller vehicle.

I agree completely. I've seen what can happen to kids with airbags (that's another thread). But, since our girl isn't married and has no kids, it's a non-issue for her. Knowing Charlie and family, I doubt she's hauling around a bunch of whore friends and their small children. I'm guessing she doesn't associate with those kinds of girls in the first place. Charlie will correct me if I'm wrong. Even so, it's a non-issue for her. Anyone whose criteria for buying a car is to accomodate hauling around someone else's kids once in a while is an idiot.

Doc

Whore friends is quite inappropriate. Whether or not she would have friends who might have kids already. What if, two years from now, she is with an old high school friend and her daughter (born and raised in wedlock) out shopping or whatever. When a vehicle the size of your Safari hit them in the side, what happens?

I don't know Charlie personally or his entire family and the extensions of said family. However, if she happened to be taking a younger cousin to the movies, or whatever, and got t-boned, well, you know what will happen.

If I were buying any vehicle, I would be looking to get one that I could use for 6-8 years. A lot of things can happen over that time frame. So opting to not get an option, which does not make the car any safer and only adds $$$ to the MSRP is a good decision.

She can't predict the future anyway.

My point, exactly.

[Joe Baker]

All of this bickering about what Charlie "should" or "shouldn't" have done aside...

... we can surely agree that there are many, many much worse choices that could have been made. Whether it's the car any one of us would have bought or not, it should be reliable and keep Charlie's daughter about as safe as any little car. It's at least a "good" choice, and in Charlie's case it just might be the "best" choice. Only Charlie can decide that.
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Joe Baker, who thinks this thread is starting to make Charlie sound like he's putting his kid in a '73 Pinto!

[ThomasDodd]

our daughter just graduated high school and is going to culinary school. she is 18 and not going to marry and have kids anytime soon.

That's what I though when I graduated high school. I sure my wife had the same plan.

Of course 4 years later my son was born.

[ThomasDodd]

he's putting his kid in a '73 Pinto!

What's wrong with a Pinto?

The one big problem was fixed in a recall notice...
Should have been fixed on all cars folloring the 1978 notice being issued.

If not it's a simple enough fix...

[Joe Baker]

seems he researched and knew what he was asking for and all but 2 to 3 really had any comment worth posting.

1. He didn't indicate, initially WHAT research he had done; just said he was getting one, and asked if anyone had one and had an opinion. Only after a couple of hours of no Cobalt owners offering an opinion did anyone offer any thoughts on the matter.

2. We're a bunch of friends standing around a virtual water cooler -- especially in "Off Topic". Many of us have "known" one another for years (in many cases, not "known" but KNOWN -- as in face-to-face). There aren't hard and fast rules governing who gets to talk and what they get to say. If someone says "I'm thinking about marrying Madonna, any of you guys ever been married to her?", the fact that I've not been married to her would not prevent me from speaking up and saying "ARE YOU NUTS????"

3. My mild scolding notwithstanding, welcome to the group!
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Joe Baker, who has been a Tubenetter for seven years, since Charlie was the tuba guy at Brasswind!

[Joe Baker]

Hang around and get to know us. See if we're nice folks or not nice folks. If you don't like us, or if an "off topic" forum that allows some freedom of discussion isn't your cup of tea, okay. But don't expect all of us to change our nature just because you don't like the way we talk about things! After all, it's not as though any comments that WERE made would have kept a Cobalt owner from posting.

Heck, look at any thread that goes on for more than a page; we wind up talking about food, women, beer, or some silly stuff every time! Just like any real conversation among friends. And anyone who isn't interested can tell when the discussion is going off into the weeds and quit reading if they want.
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Joe Baker, who thinks it poor manners to walk into a room and criticize the discussion going on, but assumes nothing but the best of intentions from "tizzy" , and -- yes -- welcomes him/her.

[Tabor]

For the same price as the Chevy cobalt, you could get a really nice tuba. Are you sure she wants to drive?

[CJ Krause]

yup

[Joe Baker]

I was once married to Madonna in a Chevy Cobalt. It was silver plated, and Madonna was lacquered. I was plastered.

Let's all stop posting in this thread now.

Okay?

I was going to post and say "okay", but then I realized that I'm not supposed to post here if I don't own a Chevy Cobalt.

I wonder what the rule is if I LEASED a Cobalt
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Joe Baker, who thinks being plastered would be a GIVEN for someone marrying Madonna -- and who wouldn't want to touch her unless she had SOME kind of protective coating on her!

[Matt G]

you sure you arent violin or trumpet players?

Are you sure you aren't Charlie under an assumed name?

If you think that someone stating a fact that side airbags are potentially dangerous is useless, well, then I don't know what would be useful to you.

My original statement was aimed at others that might also be purchasing in the future to give them something to think about.

And if you don't think a decent discussion on what to look for and think about in a larger purchase (such as a car) is helpful, again, I would like to know what is.

Sometimes, the best discussions leave us with more questions then answers.

I somehow doubt you're not a big fan of Socratic Method...

Thanks for your scolding comments...

[Leland]

I thought it was fair enough for us to say why we didn't get a Cobalt and/or offer suggestions for alternative cars.

I'm pretty sure that, if another car was the topic, the answers would have been different.

[funkcicle]

At least you didn't buy her a Ford
81,000 miles and counting on my 2001 Hyundai Elantra!

My first car(was more of a shared family car) was a '95 Hyundai Elantra. My folks bought it for themselves in '96 with 30k miles on it...in 2001 they traded it in for $1500.. with 254,000 miles on it. In the car's entire life it only needed one relatively major repair, a $600 transmission issue.

There's not any other sub-$20k car I've ever driven that I'd expect to get even half that out of. 89' Ford Tempo died after about 120,000 miles (died being defined as--cost of repair would not have been worth value of car), 95 Geo Metro lasted about 96,000 miles(only the last 40,000 were mine.. for a $1200 car I have to say it was at LEAST a good value).. 94 Toyota Tercel was good for almost 200,000 miles according to the person I sold it to, so it's a close second..and I don't expect my 99 Mitsubishi Eclipse to make it past 200,000 miles based on the amt of work she needed while under warranty(i'm on my THIRD transmission,and i do NOT push my cars!)!

So basically, my experience is that with the same maintenance and driving practices Hyundai's last a lot longer. They're also a lot less expensive, and one of the ONLY manufacturer's willing to back that up with a killer warranty(Mitsubishi has a similar warranty, though only for 5yrs/50,000miles for all practical purposes).

funk"who hasn't read the other 5 pages of this thread, but test drove a Hyundai Tiburon yesterday and wishes he could trade his Eclipse for it"cicle

[Leland]

Speaking of high mileage cars, the '86 Civic Si hatchback that I had up until 2002 has about 250,000 miles on it these days. I sold it to one of the guys at work after I bought a new Civic Si hatch, and he still digs its reliability.

That Civic's just reaching middle age.. lol Also, it wasn't driven very far or very often during my college years, so its mileage is quite a bit lower than it normally would be. My dealership back in Omaha used to have a mileage "leader board", and one of the top entries (this was around 1991) was another '86 Civic hatch that had already crossed 250,000. Its owner was a sales type who drove all over the Nebraska countryside on a daily basis.

[elimia]

If you want to get her a safe, reliable car and not spend as much as a Honda or Toyota cost, get her a Saturn. We have had an SL2 for a few years and haven't had any problems with it. It isn't snazzy but it'll get you where you want to go and is really fuel efficient. The company is really good to its customers, and because they're plastic, you don't have to worry about rust.

We do hate having to drive our little Saturn with people driving Navigators, Expeditions, and now Hummers, chatting away on cell phones while driving these big weapons. How big is going to be enough for folks in this country? I think GM should start selling an SUV school bus - don't just take the soccer team, take the whole 5th grade class.

I can't wait for Americans to discover a more reasonable standard of living...