So my parents told me today I might be able to get a Cobalt very soon... the main issue in the way is insurance (I'm 17, it would be like $350 a month.) Me and my dad went down to the Chevy dealer and looked around... I'm begging for a 2.4 but new ones are about $25,000+, so I'm looking for an '06 cause I know there's some out there for 15-16k.

We talked to the Chevy guy and he spent like 15 minutes telling my dad stuff about the various trims and payment options (all of which I already knew), then asked if we wanted to test drive. We got in a white '08 Sport; 5 spd, sunroof, XM, OnStar. The dealer is pretty close to the edge of town, so my dad drove about 5 minutes out of town on the highway. Then the sales guy asked me if I wanted to try... I have never driven stick before! He said, "I'm sure you'll do fine". So I got in... I slowly started letting out the clutch... like really slowly. I didn't know the catch point was pretty much right at the top. So I pulled out onto the highway, made the 1-2 shift okay, tried the 2-3 shift and freaked out when the car wasn't accelerating anymore. The sales guy and my dad were both laughing at me while I'm freaking out in the right lane on the highway at like 50 kph with a semi coming up behind me and the car not accelerating. Of course I had shifted into 5th and not 3rd but I got it sorted out. Got back into town, and stopped at a pretty busy light. I was so scared haha when it turned green I bucked the car like CRAZY and I could see people laughing but I made it back to the dealer and parked. That's right, I drove stick for the first time in a brand new car and didn't stall once!

Sorry for the long ass story but today was a pretty exciting day for me.

 

Lol! I'm going to be doing the exact same thing tomorrow morning, wish me luck...

 

thats good bro ..im a pretty bad stick driver myself

 

Haha if you mean driving stick for the first time on your test drive, I wouldn't recommend it. Scary.

Yeah. I knew everything I had to do, let out the clutch slowly while giving gas and all that jazz, but actually doing at 5 pm on a busy streeet with your dad and sales guy in the car is another matter.

 

Well once you learn to drive a stick, Well i shouldnt say it but you can drive any car. Well I believe that. Dont know bout others feelings. Thats a good thread question now?

 

Get a used one ..you can get a decent deal. KBB list the value of my car at $21,310 and I bought it for $18,400. (07 SS/SC)

 

Yeah I'm for sure getting a used one... like this perhaps?



Considering the sticker of what I drove today was $25,630 - I think that's a pretty good price.

 

Well, you have to ignore the sticker price, if you pressure them, they'll match the american price, just complain how our dollar is worth more than their's etc... anyway, yeah, I'll be driving stick for the first time on a test drive, lol... I've been trying for weeks to find someone to let me try it out with one of their cars, but none willing.

Should be interesting.

 

^^ Yeah that's good advice... brand new car + graduating kid that just turned 17 probably isn't going to happen but the test drive was fun anyway. There's only a few manual SS/NA's or G5 GT's on autotrader around here so I think it's just a matter of finding the right one.

 

hell, i'd sell mine for 12,000, lol... but, it's modified.

 

Yeah my friend across the street has an Integra he said I could practice on and he'd teach my techniques. A lot of my friends have manual cars so I don't think learning will be too difficult.

My mom is worried, she wants to enroll me in some driving course or something.

 

Quickest way to learn is hands on

 

nice man, gotta learn sometime and it comes in handy and is like riding a bike after awhile

 

^ Definitely. I'm for sure ready to learn. It was just weird... now I'll never laugh when I see a car bucking back and forth. Props to GM; it was almost as if the car urged you to give it gas before it was about to stall... I could feel it dying and just pushed in the clutch before it went.

 

Yea, I noticed that about my Balt LS when I had that before I got the SC. I basically went dumb and forgot to give it gas when I let the clutch out but the car still moved and never stalled, I was like, woooo. Never tried it again though haha. Now in the SC w/ the stage II the idle is raised and if you go below that like slowing down and have it in first it well accelerate you past the idle and keep the car moving. I do not know if that is cause of the stage II or not cause the car had it when I bought it new soo, but I thought it was cool instead of any other stick I drove that it would just die on ya.

 

clutch should catch almost instantly when it leaves the floor

 

acey, u can take my lease over..330 a month.

 

man i love America, i got my loaded 08 sport for 19k and some change and my insurance is less then 100 dollars a month. with a speeding ticket in the cobalt. i am 23 though

 

dude i paid $19,000 for my 08 sport fully loaded... prez day sale ftw! but sticker price is 20,000...

that's ok i did the same thing a few times too and i learned stick on the balt except i stalled a lot because the manual i drove prior to the balt (only drove that once so technically i drove a stick before but learned fully on the balt) the catch point wasnt at the top like the balt so it took me a while to get used to it. and i'm a rushy kinda person so going slow isn't really an option for me and that's what kept messing me up

lmao same here only the salesman didn't come

 

i learned to drive stick in an SS/SC, so i know where you're coming from. i could see ppl laughing, and saying **** like haha, look at this fruitcake, he bought a hopped up car and can't even drive. but then you see em at the track a couple months later and smoke their riced out civic haha

 

i'd love to see the look on their face after that

 

Don't think I want to lease.

 

shock and denial.

 

got my new 08 sport fully loaded, with gmpp manifold, cat-back and intake in feb. for uh...

*thinks hard*

I wanna say 2k, with taxes and tags. extended warranty...sunroof, heated leather, etc...

got a pretty decent deal. 6.9%, my insurance is $125\month for full coverate $250 deductible.

 

2k.


That is one helluva downpayment.

That mani is junk too.