What car: Talk me into or out of this

Kid in college needs a car, beater I gave her died last weekend. Looked around and found a 2010 Base Chevy Cobalt 2 door coupe with 11,000 miles at a local dealer (not a typo, unless the ODO has been tampered with). Other than the price (which is too high but open to negotiation) and the fact it's a Cobalt (i'm a GM guy and they are really not half bad to drive) I think it would be a great car for a kid in college and definitely a couple steps up from the old ride. So, give me an earful, here's a picture

Now, I understand on a conceptual level the appeal of giving your offspring (particularly female) something clean and reliable and new...
but young people and nice cars don't always go hand in hand.

Why not an early to mid 00's Civic or Corolla?
Save a buncha money, keep costs down, reliable even if treated poorly...

The cheaper, similar is a Saturn Ion. Chassis mate with the forgettable name.

Not really concerned about new, but definitely clean and reliable. Honda and Toyota tax hits hard around these parts. Civic was my go to but a 5 year older Civic with 170,000 more miles is only about 3-4 thousand cheaper than what I plan to pay and not any more reliable than this thing. This should last her through grad school, hopefully by then she can buy the next one. I fully understand the concept of not giving the kiddies nice things to screw up. We are presently on the "drivabeater" plan, but she's a little older and wiser now so it's about time for an upgrade. I just wish the beater had lasted a bit longer, hate trying to buy a car during tax season.

I'm sure that would serve her and you well.

In reply to JohnRW1621: Ion is definitely on the radar, but they are getting harder to find in good shape as they were last sold in 2007, and i'm not sure she will like the gauge cluster in the middle of the car, but it would definitely beat walking. Would like a later model to avoid the CVT (It will have to be an automatic unfortunately) if I went that route.

A friend of mine's wife got a new Cobalt from her parents when she graduated college. They both said it was a terrible car and it gave them nothing but problems. Full disclosure: I can't cite specific problems and he's a Ford guy. That said, I can understand the temptation because of the low miles but I've heard nothing good about that particular car.

I would think the go-to for a young lady in college would be something along the lines of Civic/Accord/Corolla/Camry/Altima/Sentra. All are cars that are statistically very reliable and quite affordable used (generally). Mazda3 or Mazda6 might also be a good choice. Those are pretty nice little cars and I believe pretty affordable. Also look at the 3's and 6's cousins, the Ford Focus and Fusion. Mechanically they're almost identical and the Fords tend to be way cheaper, especially used.

Standard GRM answer: Miata.

amg_rx7 wrote: I'm sure that would serve her and you well.

What i like about it is that it's nothing fancy. Ecotec 2.2 and the 4T40. that drivetrain is about as stout as it gets IMO. Kid don't care about handling and autocross times. Just about gas mileage and how cute it is. If I can get the price right, I imagine it's been hanging around awhile (who has an 11,000 mile 2010 anything?)

Did they fix the abysmal side impact rating the cavalier it's based from had?

In reply to Ambitious_But_Rubbish: I had a 2006 HHR from new (same chassis) with the Ecotec 2.4 and the 4T40, only problems I had with it in 70,000 miles were a Blown heater fan resistor and a windshield leak, both fixed under warranty. Mechanically that car was solid. 2010 would be the last year for the Cobalt IIRC, and GM is great about perfecting a car right before they discontinue it. I think there's a 2005 Mazda 3 available at this dealer, I'll take look at it tomorrow, got a soft spot for Mazdas.

The Mazda 3 is definitely a nicer option. The interior is nicer IMO and more fun to drive. Cuter too.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Did they fix the abysmal side impact rating the cavalier it's based from had?

Cobalt not based on the Cavalier, it's on the Delta platform. Engineered by Opel. Same as Saturn Ion, Saturn/Opel Astra, Chevy HHR and Pontiac G5. Don't know about side impact but she ran my HHR into the back of a P71 on her 17th birthday and aside from a sprained wrist from the airbag deploying her and her passenger were unharmed.

EDIT: Went to the dealer website and checked the free Carfax, based on the records it was the proverbial little old lady car, spent it's life in south florida until it was traded/sold in west palm beach and flipped to an auction house last month. Interesting..

amg_rx7 wrote: The Mazda 3 is definitely a nicer option. The interior is nicer IMO and more fun to drive. Cuter too.

I have no doubt she would love the Mazda, she's liked them since they came out. It's still listed on the dealer website and is cheaper than the Cobalt. If they can't move down in price on the Cobalt i'll have a look at it. Keep the ideas and opinions coming!

Ok, I figured it was based on how they were still using that twist beam axle. Those things can be scary BTW, kinda snappy and end swappy at the limit, and not confidence inspiring at all through a corner.

In reply to 06HHR: Very true on GM working the kinks out of a car just in time to quit making it. I was just relaying a friend's relevant experience on the car, qualified as completely as I can.

Another friend's wife has a fairly early Mazda3. Bought it new, still loves it. My mom has a Mazda6. Solid, reliable car. Loves it. I daily a NB Miata. Love it. Can't go wrong with a Mazda in my experience.

Re the handling characteristics of the twist beam on the Cobalt, having driven an HHR at extralegal speeds, the handling is really not bad. Especially with wide low-profile rubber (my HHR was an LT2 with the 17 inch alloys that looked like they weighed a million pounds each). It could have been the wheel tonnage, but it cornered pretty good at the limit. The SS models were praised for their handling, i wouldn't mind having one of those myself. Someone at work has a red supercharged SS I secretly lust after..

In reply to Ambitious_But_Rubbish: No worries, I love GM but i'm definitely not blind to their faults. I'm still pissed about the optispark distributor (who puts the distributor under the water pump, opticrap is more like it) and the nylon headlight gears on my old 97 Firebird Formula. It's like they pay somebody to deliberately engineer just enough crappy stuff to make people hate GM cars. And do the stupidest things to save a buck on a part (nylon timing gear on the Tech IV "iron duke"). The Mazda is definitely an option here..

No, no, 1000 times NO!! They are improved in crash testing from the Cavalier, but then again a tin foil hat would do better than a Cavalier. I have seen dozens of wrecked Cobalts and they are frighteningly bad. I would never let my kids have one. They'd be safer in a Smart...which actually has a surprisingly rigid chassis...than the Cobalt

Wow, harsh Klay. IIHS rated the Cobalt as good for frontal impacts.

https://youtu.be/eFxtRHVhTNY

My neighbors daughters each got a Cobalt when they were ready to drive. They've both wrecked them at least once and rebuilt them. Good first car, the girls seem to like them, you could make a worse choice.

Buy her a truck. A standard cab model, with the smallest engine possible. The last thing you want is for a teenager/ college student to have a vehicle capable of toting around other people. Plus, when the time comes to move, they can do it themselves.

jstein77 wrote: Wow, harsh Klay. IIHS rated the Cobalt as good for frontal impacts. https://youtu.be/eFxtRHVhTNY

I love the IIHS videos, I use them a lot in trainings I've done. Yeah, it did OK in the frontal impact. There was some buckling of the A pillar, but not the worst I've seen. However, when you click the link you posted, on the right you'll see the link for the side impact test. Take a gander at that. Watch the B pillar and roof. And in real life collisions, they fare even worse. It's fugly.

Buddy has a 2007 base Cobalt with around 100,000 miles, bought new. It sat for about 3 months waiting for the dreaded "Kill You In Your Sleep" ignition lock replacement, while he drove a nice Malibu on Chevy's nickel. It also had a TSB for a gas fume leak in the return system. Other than that it's been pretty dead-nuts reliable. He still gets around 32 mpg on the highway, even with the slushbox.

2010 is post-facelift so it looks better and I imagine it has a number of the little design issues corrected. If they move to a decent price point, I'd go for it.

Cobalt isn't a bad little car, have an 08 with 110k miles and nothing major wrong.

If it was for my kid and she was in the 16-22 age bracket I would go for a Cobalt thats 2 years older and with 50-70k more miles and save myself some money. At those ages chance is it will get trashed in 2 years either way.

amg_rx7 wrote: The Mazda 3 is definitely a nicer option. The interior is nicer IMO and more fun to drive. Cuter too.

This is usually how I feel when shopping for old GM crap. But then the GM car has 1/10th the mileage,1/100th the rust, and is still cheaper than a Mazda several years older. So I end up with the GM car.

Klayfish wrote: No, no, 1000 times NO!! They are improved in crash testing from the Cavalier, but then again a tin foil hat would do better than a Cavalier. I have seen dozens of wrecked Cobalts and they are frighteningly bad. I would never let my kids have one. They'd be safer in a Smart...which actually has a surprisingly rigid chassis...than the Cobalt

Don't you have a Miata?