How about the quality of this car?

[lf2258]

Hi Guys,

Who can tell me which company's car it is and how about its quality? Any experience?

Thank You in advance!

[rodeo02]

Which company? It is a GM product assembled in a GM plant in Lordstown Ohio. Most of the Ecotec engines are assembled at a GM powertrain plant in Tonawanda NY. As far as quality goes check one out for yourself. It's an economy car. Not a Lexus. That said, I've found the fit/finish/assembly to be better on my Cobalt than it was on my 2005 Trailblazer that cost twice as much. They are an awesome little car. The Ecotec 2.2L and 4T45E transaxle is GM's little gem as far as I am concerned.

Joel

[lf2258]

Thank you very much! I'll check out the car soon.

[big_hoovie]

I'm not really thrilled with the Ecotec and automatic transmission pairing - it feels slower than my 96 1500(regular cab, long bed, 4.3 V6, 5spd - 195000miles), which is definitly not winning any races. IMO the manual transmission is a better pairing with this engine - of course I'd like to see about 20 or 30 more HP on the base version of this engine, which would certainly pep it up quite a bit, and might compete with the imports in the same category(Civic, Corolla, et al.)

[-Jayson-]

uhh a stock Cobalt has the most HP out of any car in its class. Its class being basemodel Civics, Vw's, Caliber, Focus, and so on.

If you want more HP, buy the higher end models

[rodeo02]

b_h, I've always been a fan of the 4.3L. I've owned a few, but like Jayson says, drive a few 4cyl, auto, same class cars. A 2.2L/4T45E is the ballziest you can buy for ~$13K brand new.

Joel

[cmhj2000]

Just test drove a coupe. IMO, per quality, it's average plus.

Overall though I like the car. It handles fine, rides ok and has plenty of room for big 6"2" 280# lard A$$.

Mileage seems ok from consumer reports, low 30s in most cases except for those with a big right foot. I'm not a hard driver any more. Finally grew up plus speeding tickets can get expensive not to mention insurance.

Right now a Cobalt is on my short list, along with another Vibe, which I currently own, Corolla, Matrix and a Sentra. Am also considering the new Hyundai i30 wagon when it comes available, which will likely be in early 08.

Ain't shopping fun?