Well I've had a boring old 2.2L sedan cobalt for a couple years and the miles are starting to get up there. I happened to drive past a local Chevy dealer and they have a SS/TC sedan that I drove and basically fell in love with. I talked the sales guys down to some price numbers that I can live with so now my only hesitation is every day livability. I know the salesmen will tell me whatever it takes to get me to buy a car, but I figured I ask the unbiased community here. I live in Ohio, where we do get snow and crappy weather. This car would be my DD and have to brave the weather. How are these cars in the snow? I know it isn't going to be like a 4x4 but do they hold up pretty well? Will it act similarly to a standard 2.2L car, or does the extra power make is completely worthless in anything other than a dry day? Also, this would be my first boosted car so I'm curious about maintenance. I religiously get my oil changed every 3000-3500 from the local dealer, and replace shock, struts, brakes, all that kind of stuff regularly. Will the TC car require much extra service or other pricy servicing I might not know about? Also, any other tips/opinions will help out great.

 

But, other than that my sedan is a DD - in rotation w/ the other cars.


No extra maintenance I am aware of - well, other than the rear brakes which is just a lack of factory lubrication/boot on the sliders ...

It will take synthetic (engine) oil, however, so if you don't do your own, that will be more expensive.


Oh, unbiased ?


Get it !!


Good Luck !


Britt

 

Snow tires. And the Cobalt is one of the best cars in the snow. Better then some trucks and SUVs

 

u gotta b trolling! haha are they really good in the snow cuz i'm dreading this winter in my '06 s/c with no lsd...


OP, these cars are ******* reliable from what i've seen. we all have common problems that are mostly addressed in howto's and are usually simple fixes if **** goes wrong. but yea i really dn't hear about major crap happening to these cars and engines

 

I've driven mine the past 2 winters, and prefer not to again, mainly cuz they put way too much crap on the roads up here.. however I've managed to get around with summer performance tires, albeit with some difficulty when the snow gets deeper. If I wanted to use it as an all year round winter car, I've heard that all season extreme conti dws tires (I think) are the way to go for year round performance. Fwd is good in the snow... just gotta have good tires to get around in. I mean.. hell.. if I can do it on extreme performance summers up in Canada, then I'm sure you can do it in Ohio with less extremes :P Safer to put good tires on it tho for the winter.. it's like driving on grease if u wear summers, so extreme caution is required. I'm an old guy too btw lol and I drive truck for a living, so I have no fear of winter elements since I drive 60-70' of truck in the winter with 40k of freight onboard.

Btw.. make sure it has the LSD on it.. that's pretty key for winter driving imho. If u do get stuck, that Lsd can pretty much get you out of anything, cept maybe a ditch, that u get yourself into. Just make sure you turn off that computer crap if u do get stuck, or you won't be going anywhere! Hold traction control button for 6 secs until Esc off is displayed.

 

For anyone that has bought a TC sedan, what is a good price from a dealer for a 2009 with 36000 miles? All of the sudden after doing some more research and KBB valuing, it now seems like they're screwing me.

 

I'd guess at between 14-17k KBB? What's the dealer trying to charge you, and did u factor in any negative equity on the deal?

 

KBB says about $17,800 for the car. I'm just about even on my trade in car, so there's no negative equity. They originally wanted around $21,000 for it, but dropped it to just over $18,000.

 

18k probably isn't half bad for a dealer, but there are cheaper ones out there privately and with mods.. try and jew em down as much as possible :P If they eventually let you walk away, then you've hit rock bottom with them lol.. it's what I do.

 

show them the kbb, and then pick out things that would drop that (if there are any)

 

well, the problem is, you cant really find sedan SS/TC anywhere so its not like you can negotiate by saying "so and so" dealer has the same car at this price. Yeah they are screwing you alittle. Its not a bad car to be honest. I love mine. I paid $23,400 for mine new. $21k is rediculous for a used car.

As for winter driving, as long as you get rid of the OEM tires and get some all seasons on there , you'll be fine. I recommend Continnental Extreme Contact DWS tuned tires. They worked really well this past winter.

As for oil changes, the car needs Mobile 1 synthetic or a something of the same or better constituency. Oil changes for this car at a Jiffy lube are like $100. At a Goodwrench they are about $89. At Walmart, they are about $55. lol.

You change the oil every 5k roughly. You could probably go out to 8k miles. The cost of the oil changes is balanced to the oil changing time frame from what you paid and how often you changed the oil in you previous car.

Has this cobalt SS sedan been modified at all? what color is it?

Check the on-board pad thickness or just feel behind the rear rotor to see if they are grooved. Chances are with that mileage the issue was taken care of.

 

Nope, all original and it's yellow. I know from a little searching that there are only 14 yellow sedans made, so that's enticing me a little having something no one else has.

 

As long as you have decent, aka not summer only tires, you will be fine in snow.

I did two winters on dedicated snow tires in IA in a small town that didn't plow the roads, as well as two winters in Chicago on all seasons, and have had 0 problems. Just be smart about it.

 

I live in Ohio too. You will NOT want to use the stock tires in the snow. I got stuck so many times. People hated me at red lights, then they turn green and I would go nowhere lol. Then I got some bfg's and it cruises through the snow no problem. I might get blizzaks this year

 

My car definitely goes much faster than trucks and SUV's in winter. I have hankook Ice Bears and they grip. I've had no issues.

 

I drove mine in the snow with all season tires in Michigan and Ohio when I lived up there. It does just fine as long as its not on the stock summer tires.

 

Get some snow tires, and 17" wheels and it will tank snow just as well or better than anything else.

The SS is no worse on maintenance than any other car, save the fact that you need to put premium gas in it and run synthetic oil.

 

Just an FYI i picked up my 08 SS/TC from a dealer with 9K miles for $16,400. They originally wanted $19K I think you can get it for cheaper. I haven't had it during a winter yet, so I'm wondering how it's going to do myself. I'll add that it is an awesome car for the price!

 

the pics were after the snow storm the east coast got on christmas... i had to drive from RI to VA through it with the balt, with stock balding tires(returning from leave)

it wasnt easy but it wasnt easy for 4x4 trucks either, saw a jeep stuck on the side of the road... funny just because you have 4wd doesnt mean you know how to drive in snow

manual cars are best in winter... push the clutch in and power is cut to the spinning wheels.

Chesapeake bridge tunnel... 12 miles of snow covered bridge with no salt or plow

safe and sound



get the TC
/thread

 

KBB says 17595. Anything lower is nice of course. My specifically I wouldnt want to pay anything over 16500 probably.