Drove a cobalt today

[Nick R]

Since my grandfather had driven himself to the ER, my uncle had me drive his car back to his house today. It's a 2010 Cobalt LS......

All I can say is.... What a dreadful car that is. Seriously. I would rather have a Cavalier. My aunt has his old 2003 Cavalier. The cavalier feels more solid, better put together, and more exciting to drive. this is the first time I've actually drive one of them, and these are my impressions.

Interior:
cheap, cheap cheap cheap. Plastics make our old 99 wrangler look high quality. They are poor fitting, very flimsy. The design is boring. It rattles over bumps. Switchgear felt cheap.

Drivetrain: Well, it has decent amount of power, but the gas pedal seems to be schizophrenic, by far THE WORST DBW I've ever driven, it felt like what I was telling it to do either it ignored me, or it waited forever to do it. Seriously appalling. the transmission was constantly locking/unlocking the TCC and shifts were abrupt. Combining the gas pedal DBW and the awful transmission, and it was horrible to drive.

Ride: smooth, until you hit bumpy roads, in which case it feels like the suspension is made of toothpicks. I winced going over bumps on roads that in the equinox and my uncles Fusion felt fine. It felt like it would break any minute. It was not sporty, it felt mushy.

The steering was abominable. Absolutely ZERO feedback. Inconsistent weighting, and not smooth at all. Seriously, it was like it wasn't even connected physically to the tires.

Pros: Good brakes, turn signal stalk had nice feel to it.

I'm staggered. like I said, this is the first time I've ever driven one of these, and my god. This is hands down, the WORST car I've EVER driven. My cavalier with the 2.2L and 3 speed was better. The caliber is better. What the [censored] was GM thinking when they sold that car? It's the same model year my focus was, and my focus in retrospect is like a BMW compared to that thing. And the car only has 7,600 miles on it! I've never fully appreciated the improvement the cruze represents. I do now.


It's also worth mentioning that he (who is a 75 year old man who is in no hurry to get anywhere, and including a 2,000 mile round trip highway trip) has only averaged 23.4mpg since he bought it.

 

[Nick R]

I also think it's hilarious that GM agrees. The global vice president of vehicle engeering said while driving one "Look at this car, it's horrible, how did it get through so many people?"

 

[jmsjags]

yup. that was cost-cutting GM. i'm glad they've come around over the past couple years.

 

[needsducktape]

I'm pretty sure that is why the car was named the Cruze and not the "all new Cobalt". It is wise to create distance between the two.

I drove a co-workers cobalt (few years old) and had the exact same thought. It was cheap feeling. Could not understand how they sold so many -I am not a Ford guy but really the Focus of the same year was leaps and bounds better.
I didn't mind driving the new Malibu though, Chevy earned a solid B+ in my book for that car.

 

[Blinker]

While the Cobalt is not a high quality car, I'm afraid the car that you just described would be what is called a lemon. I have the Cobalt cousin (Pontiac G5) and I have none of the problems you have just mentioned. Seeing that it's a 2010 and is likely still under warranty, I suggest getting the transmission, steering/suspension checked out at the dealer. The 4T45e transmission is not known for constantly struggling to find the right gear, it is a rather smooth unit. Mine is a 2008 which is before GM introduced VVT to the 2.2L Ecotec and I average 27-28mpg with city driving. The steering in mine is very responsive but I do have a clunk in the front right somewhere so I do agree with you that the suspension is a little too truck like for a car.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: needsducktape
I'm pretty sure that is why the car was named the Cruze and not the "all new Cobalt". It is wise to create distance between the two.

I drove a co-workers cobalt (few years old) and had the exact same thought. It was cheap feeling. Could not understand how they sold so many -I am not a Ford guy but really the Focus of the same year was leaps and bounds better.
I didn't mind driving the new Malibu though, Chevy earned a solid B+ in my book for that car.


I agree. I helped my grandmother pick out and lease a new malibu back in may. The current malibu is still a good car, even if the new one, as well as the new fusion and camry are better in certain ways.

 

[mechanicx]

You know what probably drives even worse? The latest model Corolla. Amd possibly some entry level Kias but I can't say for sure about that.

I think the car was mostly an Opel design, but I think it was a step down from the Cavalier and Sunfire. Throw in Chevrolet's lackluster chassis tuning and there you go. Although Chevy does a good job on the Malibu and maybe with former Pontiac and Olds designers input.

I don't know why so many people are down on the J-cars. They were substantial for their class and had decent interiors especially Sunfire and Cavaliers from '95 to about '01.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
You know what probably drives even worse? The latest model Corolla. Amd possibly some entry level Kias but I can't say for sure about that.

I think the car was mostly an Opel design, but I think it was a step down from the Cavalier and Sunfire J-cars. Throw in Chevrolet's lackluster chassis tuning and there you go. Although chevy does a good job on the Malibu and e with former Pontiac and Olds designers imput.

I don't know why so many people are down on the J-cars. They were substantial for their class and had decent interior

especially Sunfire and Cavaliers from '95 to about '01.


I had always assumed that the cobalt would naturally be better than the cavalier. I was dead wrong. The Cavalier's hydraulic Power steering at least felt responsive and gave decent feedback. The engine did what it was told, as did the transmission. Even my old 97 with the ancient 2.2L OHV and 3T40 felt more refined than this did. Truly atrocious.

 

[mechanicx]

I hadn't really noticed the transmission prgramming being bad in the Cobalt but I don't drive them much. The powertrain and the suspension hardware is decent, but the interior, suspension tuning, steering and the dimunitive chassis is definitely s step down IMO and like you observed.
I'd take the last year of the Sunfire over the Cobalt any time.

 

[rjacket]

Focus is European bred. It was conceived, designed and built in a market where quality is more important. In Europe, multiple brands build to that quality including Vauxhall / Opel (GM).

Cobalt and other cars before it reflect an American functional instead of quality approach and a less sophisticated buying public.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I hadn't really noticed the transmission prgramming being bad in the Cobalt but I don't drive them much. The powertrain and the suspension hardware is decent, but the interior, suspension tuning, steering and the dimunitive chassis is definitely s step down IMO and like you observed.
I'd take the last year of the Sunfire over the Cobalt any time.


What really amazes me is well for one how they managed to make a car worse than the cavalier, but the light year gap between the cobalt and the cruze. There is not one single thing that is better about that cobalt than my cruze. My cruze is bigger and more torquey yet I manage to average 27-28mpg in everyday driving, mid 30s on the highway. At the same time it's better in every way in terms of the interior, and dynamically how it drives.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
It's the same model year my focus was, and my focus in retrospect is like a BMW compared to that thing. And the car only has 7,600 miles on it! I've never fully appreciated the improvement the cruze represents. I do now.




You had me in stitches here! LOL! But yeah, my observations about that car are very similar to yours (rental experience).

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Nick R
It's the same model year my focus was, and my focus in retrospect is like a BMW compared to that thing. And the car only has 7,600 miles on it! I've never fully appreciated the improvement the cruze represents. I do now.




You had me in stitches here! LOL! But yeah, my observations about that car are very similar to yours (rental experience).


overkill, it would not be an exaggeration for me to say that the cobalt is hands down, the worst car I've ever driven.

 

[mechanicx]

Nick you're probably a little spoiled, you should've had to drive cars like Escorts and Tempos back in the day

. They'd make a Cobalt feel like an upscale vehicle. I know they made the '95 Cavalier/Sunfires feel upscale. Or maybe a late 80's Toyota pick up, that is just torture lol.

I still think the late model Corolla is worse driving than the Cobalt. At least the Cobalt doesn't also ride harsh. Another bad driving car to me was a new Golf GTI that is suppose to be a great driving car. Maybe sometimes you just get a bad one.

The Cobalt has the hardware for the most part to be a decent driving car. It even has the battery in the back like a BMW

. It's surprising that they didn't fine tune it and cheapened out on it where it was obvious.

 

[Brons2]

I dunno about the Cavalier being better, I had the displeasure of driving an early 2000s model when I was out in California last fall. Pretty horrible!

 

[Brons2]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Nick you're probably a little spoiled, you should've had to drive cars like Escorts and Tempos back in the day

.



Why did you have to remind me of the Tempo????

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

An 86 Honda Accord compared to an 86 Tempo is like comparing a Rolls Royce to a rusty tricycle.

 

[Blinker]

Every auto magazine writer and probably almost all people who have had the privilege of owning a cavalier and cobalt would agree that the cobalt was much improved upon the cavalier. Everything I've read and heard about the cruze is mostly positive and there is no doubt it is much improved upon the cobalt. That doesn't make the cobalt a bad car though... For a car that could be had for $10,999 new with rebates and incentives, the cobalt was an attractive car, considering its shortcomings.

 

[Spazdog]

I've rented a Cobalt and the previous generation Focus pretty close to each other.

From just the seat of my pants feel, I would have sworn that the Focus had a bigger engine. Steering, ride, and handling were much better in the Focus.

The only things I didn't like about the Focus were how badly they mismatched the interior plastics. Like they just went to the cheapest vendor...never mind if the color or grain matches. And the brakes. It seemed like I could feel every road imperfection through the pedal. It just felt weird. The brakes worked well.

The Mazda3 had the better/later European model Focus chassis, but the previous generation of Focus handled as well as a Mazda3i. It was actually really good.

I didn't like anything about the rental automatic Cobalt. It's hard to believe that the Cobalt SS turbo is essentially the same car. (until you get into the Cobalt SS turbo and say, "wow, that's textured like cheap hard plastic." then touch it and realize it is cheap hard plastic.) The steering was as bad as a Corolla or Elantra. Brakes were okay. But I still wonder how a car that size with a 2.2 could accelerate so bad. Really. It actually felt as slow as a Plymouth Sundance 2.2, but the Sundance didn't hunt so much for gears. I know, I know...the Cobalt would beat a Sundance automatic in a drag race. But it didn't feel like it could.

I just hated the Cobalt.

 

[daves87rs]

There is a reason why my Cobalt is a beater, and will stay one.

And now you understand why. I never thought I could find a car cheaper than my Cavalier...or so I thought.

Don't get me wrong, it's been a great car. No issues, and tough as nails. But you just can't get away from the cheapness of the car..


It's sad when why wife had a chance to trade her cavalier for a good deal on a 2008 Cobalt, but flat out refused! She hates the Ikea like (meaning cheap here) front seats in mine...

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: stower17
Every auto magazine writer and probably almost all people who have had the privilege of owning a cavalier and cobalt would agree that the cobalt was much improved upon the cavalier. Everything I've read and heard about the cruze is mostly positive and there is no doubt it is much improved upon the cobalt. That doesn't make the cobalt a bad car though... For a car that could be had for $10,999 new with rebates and incentives, the cobalt was an attractive car, considering its shortcomings.


Never saw a Cobalt for 11k. I think you mean the Cavalier..