2005 Chevy Cobalt 5MT - very affiliated

2005 Chevy Cobalt, base model, 5spd manual, 200k miles. My girlfriend’s car, bought new. Clear title.

The Bad: Needs the basic maintenance due at 200k, plus front control arm bushings (easier just to replace the arms – it’s an easy job that takes a couple hours). Climate control stepper motor sometimes makes a bunch of clicking noises on start-up (but the system works fine). Radio is a little wonky at times. Front tires have uneven wear from the front control arms going south fast before I had a chance to deal with them.

The Good: Engine runs fine, uses some oil (there are a few small leaks, and it probably burns a little too). Transmission shifts well. No weird noises (apart from the stepper motor mentioned above). Maintained correctly. Straight body.

There are two options available:

• Purchase for $500. There’s a set of mounted snows available for another $100 (two great, two have the same sort of wear as the fronts that are on the car).

• Free. This option comes with the stipulation that you build the car for some sort of competition – autox, rallyx, 20XX Challenge, etc. - and document it in a build thread.

Car is in NY, about an hour north of NYC. She loves the car, but its time as a daily has passed; it’s been replaced with a new Mazda 3. She’s hoping that someone here will adopt it rather than it falling victim to the local sideways-hat-and-subwoofer crowd.

PM if interested.

Checking with my wife.

Glad/sad youre so far away. Do you know the trim level? Were there engine options outside of base & SS?

This should be quick...instant challenge/rally fodder.

I don't know much about the other trim levels, but this is basic, like crank windows basic. I think the engines were limited to the 2.2NA and the 2.0SC, but I could be wrong. It's an Ecotec, so there should be swap options.

Aren't these donors for those DF Goblin kit cars?

Checking flight costs now.

EDIT: $120 redeye to Westchester, and boogie home in 19 hours. Now to run it by SWMBO.

Wait a sec. Does it have to be gone like NOW? or can I pick it up in July when we go to WV for a family reunion? Flight to NY, pick up car, travel home with family reunion stop in the middle.

$120 airplane ticket
$80 in gas to travel 1,000 miles.
$100 - $200 on cheap hotel room if anything like flight delay or mechanical delay.

$300 - $400 budget.

For $500 (maybe less) you could get it delivered right to your front door at a convenient time via Uship.

I think sooner is better all things considered, but some delay should be acceptable as long as there's a firm commitment to take the car. The only thing you'd definitely want to do before driving any real distance is the control arm bushings - the tire wear is significant as they are. I can help out with the job as needed.

I'm glad you aren't close because i'd be starting a rallyx pig build thread tomorrow

I'm out... Just not in the budget right now.

karplus2 wrote: Aren't these donors for those DF Goblin kit cars?

Pretty nifty. http://dfkitcar.com

On another note I searched my local craigslist for Cobalts. Nothing much under $1,500 surprisingly and only one at $300 with an accident damaged right front corner.

karplus2 wrote: Aren't these donors for those DF Goblin kit cars?

This is the first I've heard of these. Interesting.

I wonder how they perform compared to an Exocet of similar power/wt?

PM Sent.

nutherjrfan wrote:

karplus2 wrote: Aren't these donors for those DF Goblin kit cars?

Pretty nifty. http://dfkitcar.com On another note I searched my local craigslist for Cobalts. Nothing much under $1,500 surprisingly and only one at $300 with an accident damaged right front corner.

Wish I hadn't seen that link. Lots of Cobalts around here.

chrispy wrote:

nutherjrfan wrote:

karplus2 wrote: Aren't these donors for those DF Goblin kit cars?

Pretty nifty. http://dfkitcar.com On another note I searched my local craigslist for Cobalts. Nothing much under $1,500 surprisingly and only one at $300 with an accident damaged right front corner.

Wish I hadn't seen that link. Lots of Cobalts around here.

Oh no...I can feel gravity pulling me down that rabbit hole. I had just convinced myself that an exocet is not practical, since decent meeotter donors were not always easy to come by. Now theres this...

Yeah, I'm liking that more and more. Glad the donor isn't a B15 Sentra SpecV, because I would happily destroy ours for that.

Is your car still available?

Oh man that would be fun to have the base model and the SS in the driveway but i can't handle another project... Well, at least i now know what the click is that started happening on my SS... Been too busy to give a real look at it as it works fine.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to this - we were away. In any case, here's the current status report. Car is still available - previously interested parties have declined, having found other cars locally. We need the car gone in the next couple weeks (when the insurance and registration run out), so if you're interested, PM me. If no one bites in that time, it's being donated to a local charity.

I'm still interested, but I've got to free up some cash first. This would be perfect for my niece who starts "driving" in 2 months. She can already drive a manual trans, but actually gets her permit this summer.

No worries. PM me if you want and we'll see if we can work out a mutually agreeable arrangement.

I can't believe somebody hasn't bought this for $500. Despite the fact that somebody allegedly drove one once, and wouldn't wish it on his biggest enemy, they're great cars.

Zomby Woof wrote: I can't believe somebody hasn't bought this for $500. Despite the fact that somebody allegedly drove one once, and wouldn't wish it on his biggest enemy, they're great cars.

I'm a bit surprised myself. While it's not the fastest or fanciest car ever produced, it did 200k miles with almost zero serious problems, and really needs very little to keep right on going.

If there wasn't a border issue, I would have already bought it