I bought an 06 base cobalt 5-speed with manual windows and locks. Base 05 Cavalier had a list price $3000 less, with same engine and better shifter. The Cobalt is definetly quieter and has nicer guages and more front seat room. The Cavalier was lighter and got better mileage. I am satisfied I got a good car for the money I spent, but feel I would have got a better deal if I had got the 05 Cavalier before they were gone. The build quality has not improved. My Cobalt had to be taken to the body shop to have the passenger door aligned to the body and I had to adjust the passenger side headlight down 5" at 20 feet to match the drivers side. When the parking brake handle is raised it leaves an open hole for change to fall into and doesn't even have a closing center console/arm rest. I went to the GM car show in motion at the end of 04 and the GM woman I rode with in the SSR told me the Cobalt was a marketing exercise, a repackaged Cavalier. Think she was right? With the big changes made between the 94 and 95 Cavalier a name change would have been more warranted than the difference between an 05 Cav and a Cobalt.

 

I dunno, to me my Cobalt is NOTHING like my Cavalier...

 

didn't you just post something similar to this? or am I going crazy?

 

 

Had to delete the other post because I messed it up. The GM car show in motion travels to different cities. You get to drive all the GM vehicles and a few others, including the Corvette. When I went in 04 someone would ride with you if you drove the SSR or the Corvette. You could drive the GTO alone though. A lady rode with me in the SSR and when I asked about the upcoming Cobalt she told me it was just a repackaged Cavalier.

 

my cobalt is a p.o.s. Its in constantly for little crap to be fixed. For example, right now none of my interior lights work including gauges and its not a fuse... and my windows dont work again... none of them.......... But tomorrow morning when it goes in and they give me the 05 cavy as a rental that they always give me I will know why I paid the extra cash.... The cavy is a real pos... I hate it, everything about it, the way it looks, inside and out, the way it feels....... I just hate the car, never was a cavy fan but right now I'm not really a cobalt fan either.

 

that's unfortunate-- I've been lucky so far (knock on wood)-- Had my car for almost 5 months now and no problems so far.

 

They didn't make a SC Z24 is why, although you could have had GM put a SC on your z-24 and then it would be like your Cobalt. If you had the base Cavy and base Cobalt you would find them similiar, both has advantages over the other.

 

The Ecotec engine line is light years ahead of the LD9 motor.

 

The Cavy already had the Ecotec engine in it. The old pushrod 2.2 was a good engine, got good mileage and lasted a long time, just wasn't made for putting out alot of power.

 

I guess. But that's exactly why I didn't buy a base. If the SS/SC hadn't been available I wouldn't be driving a Cobalt right now.

 

Check it out, I am a new member and joined 4 days after you.

 

Maybe you'd be in an ION Redline.

 

?????

 

Look below my name. It says new member. Some people have member or premium member under theirs. Yours has .com under it.

 

I'm a moderator.

 

^^^^ Word !!! In my wifes old cavalier (2003) my head would hit the headliner and my knees were riding the dash (I'm 6.3"). My 2006 Cobalt SS SC has more head & leg room than some trucks I've rode in.

I would say the 2 cars are much different in many ways, a good thing !!!

 

I agree or I wouldn't have purchased my SS/SC if it was the same. The build quality and options it has are much better then what the Cavalier could ever offer. Plus, the ride and handling are like night and day IMO.
Even with my Sportlines the Cobalt handles the bumps and rides a whole lot better than my 97' Z-24 on stock springs.

The Cobalt is not a Cavalier. It's a Cavalier replacement on a new platform.

 

Nope, had the opportunity to get one a couple years ago but passed, I hate the center gauges. I like the interior design of the Cobalt much better than the ION. Neither one of which is anywhere close to a Cavalier IMO.

 

Last car was a 01 Z24 GM Supercharged and my 05 SS\SC is 100x's better than my Cav.

 

i ve owend a '87 cav and a '02 cav( which i miss dearly). but the cobalt is nothing like the cavalier. yeah they share a lot of traits- it is an upgrade. besides the cavalier has been around for about 22 years- time to move on. and GM did with the cobalt. the cobalt is fairly new so their ( GM ) is still getting the kinks out- which they took care of a lot of it from the '05 to the '06. so far i ve no prob with my cobalt and never before have i enjoyed driving a car before. just cant wait for the spring so i can get some mods going!

 

I am also 6'3" and was comparing the 05 base cavalier to an 06 base cobalt. The Cavalier does have a center console armrest, it also has a boot around the parking brake lever to keep anything from falling in, and the shifter consist of a nice thick metal lever with a leather wrapped shift knob that has painted readable numbers on top of it. The Cobalt has a one peice lever and shift knob of plastic with stamped numbers that are practically unreadable. Overall the base Cobalt is an upgrade over the Cavalier and shouldn't have went backward in some areas, but they did. My brother has an 04 base Cavalier and the ride and handling are the same. I had a 98 Z24 and preferred it over the 06 base Cobalt, except I get better gas mileage and the engine sounds a little nicer.

 

you can get the armrest as an option i think

ive driven both the cobalt and the cavalier......actually the cobalt first, after months living with it i had the cavalier as a rental and i HATED that thing! The seats dont support you rite, the steering is heavy as hell, the door bounces back at you, the engine noise ruins your day, not to mention all the ancient features on the cavy........you did the right thing for paying 3000 more for something thats at least "up to date". The cavalier is just waaaaay too old....

just my opinion

 

I had an 02 cavi and hated everything about it. It made funny noises at diferent rpm's and the plastice interior was crap. The driver seat had 2 medal rods sticking out the back and it ate ac compressors. But, since my ss/sc isn't running to good right now, I miss my cavi. At least it gave me every bit of power it had when I asked for it.

I can't compare the performance as my ss/sc isn't giving me any right now but I can compare the looks. I miss my cavi until I walk outside and see my ss sitting in the driveway looking b a. The cars just don't compare.

 

05 Cavalier > 05 Cobalt All new cars have tweeks to be worked out.