this is more of a comment/ question. yesterday when my chick and i were out in our new 06 cobalt ss/sc black ,we came up on an 05 cobalt ss/sc red in a parking lot. i told my chick i gotta go look especially since the owner is in it. as we walked up i could see the obvious abuse on the car just looking at the scuffed up 18's. when i looked inside i almost fell over. it was black with red inserts inside but all the nickel color on the door around the window buttons was worn off already. i asked the girl how many miles were on it cuz it looked like 80000 by the wear. as she scrolls to the mileage i see the oil life go by as at 15%. i said holy crap 15% oil life, are you ever gonna change the oil? she then tells me the high mileage is from her job delivering pizzas. i thought you got to be joking. who gets a sports car to deliver pizza ? with that info i smiled and knew there is no way that id have to worry about racing that 1. we keep ours in pristine condition and i was very sad to see the bowtie abuse going on there. i was under the impression that numbers were gonna be low on these and that they would be a car to keep around and keep in good shape . by the way she really only had 17000 miles on it. any input on this subject or production #'s would be greatly appreciated.

 

ultimately ppl can do what ever they want to their car. If this girl wants to beat the crap out of her car, it's sad but life goes on.

The numbers were really low for 2005 but for 2006 they should be producing a decent amount of them. I'll try to find exact numbers and post again, plus theres a numbers thread already.

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/show...t=2005+numbers

 

The wear on the nickle is not due to abuse. It is a problem with every ss/sc I have seen. I have seen 5 of them BTW and all of them have it including mine. Unless they fixed it the 06's will get it to. It happens by simply touching it too many times. Mine started about a month after i bought the car.

Let me list what I got from lordstown as common problems in ss/sc these I have also witnessed with my own eyes.

1. Nickle painting wears off on both panels where the rocker switches are for the windows. This is due to painting without priming and not sealing.

2. Leather from passenger door begins to pull away from the rocker panel area.

3. Catalytic converters go bad quickly. Mine is going in the shop for this

4. MP3/Radio/CD player does not save your bass and treble settings. No one can figure this one out.

5. Too much leather on the seats and it was not stitched tight enough. Causing more indentation than I have ever seen in leather upholestry.

6. The front fascia is not seemless. Seems to have a gap where the passenger side headlight meets the molding.

7. Huge wing. HAHA Had to put that one in there to be funny.

8. For those with sunroofs quite a few have problems sealing.

If your car has any of these problems don't be alarmed 80% of them due. The only one that is a real problem is the catalytic converter issue. These kittys do not have 9 lives.

To remedy the paint on the rocker panels. Might I suggest when you guys take your cobalt ss/sc's in have them give you the piece and then take it home and clear coat it with some krylon plastic paint. This way it won't scratch off again. The leather they will pull and fix. The cat will just get replaced. I have heard that the sunroofs continue to have a seal problem even after they are fixed. I am actgually thinking of scratching the rest of the paint of the rocker panels and letting it just be black. I have no insert colors so it will match. Maybe I will just paint them myself.


Oh for those of you excited that you are making more than 12.5 lbs of boost. Don't be. You have a clogged exhaust system that is causing more restriction raising your boost but ultimately killing your HP. Get it fixed before you car starts to smell like sulfur.

 

WOW that kinda hit everything right on the head, althought i havent had an nickle fading but im sure with time.

 

If your haven't started to peel I would take them both out and clear coat them. Then you will have stopped it before it becomes an issue.

 

I'll also add that leaving the oil life down till it warns you is exactly what the manual states so aside from her not being able to drive around a corner she is in pretty good shape ...just needs a trip to the dealer for some warranty work

 

thats a good idea

 

The cobalt isn't a sports car. It is a souped up economy car.

 

My radio keeps the bass and treble settings how they are set......or are you talking about storing them for different quick settings?

 

GM corrected this problem before the 05 model year was up , so the late 05's should be ok . They replaced both of my bezels that had paint wearing off under warranty . The news have been on for awhile now and not 1 single sign of the paint wearing off .

 

That is good news. Now I won't have to clear coat my replacements myself

 

If you want to get technical, it is actually a sport compact car!

 

I thought it was a cavalier

 

Everytime I got in my car this evening, I noticed a foul smell coming through the vents. I guess maybe my catalytic converter is gone. I just passed 12k miles too, so I guess if I want a new one I have to pay for it. Is that right or is it 36k?

 

Its 36,000 miles . I actually think car manufactures are obligated to warranty emissions equiptment for longer than that even .

 

I could be wrong, but I thought Federal law said they have to warranty the CAT for 60,000 miles or 5 years.

 

the standard power train waranty for the chevy cobalts is 5 years or 60,000 miles

 

If you are getting a foul smell it probably is not the catalytic converter. It is probably a clogged exhaust system. Look at your boost guage if you are over boosting and you can smell something like sulfur that is what it is. Generally when your cat goes bad you will hear a rattling sound when taking off out of 1st and going into 2nd. The noise goes away after that. I am taking mine in today for the catalytic converter, scraped paint on the rocker panels on doors, and bad leather fitment.

 

or if it smells like milldue than you are just using reserculating air too much ..for the last 5 mins of your trip take it off recirculation and the smell shouldnt reform (that is if this is the problem and not the others offered)

 

Right, but I thought there was also some kind of Federal law that requires manufacturers to replace the CAT's before a certain milage if they go bad.

My GF got hers replaced for free with 50,000+ Miles on her protege with no extended warrantee. The car at the time was 4 years old.

The Mechanic that we go to said that Mazda had to pay for it due to some Federal Regulation.

Again though, I havent seen this in writing, so I could be wrong.

 

They are , I am just not sure what the cut off it . I wanna say 100,000K miles . Too lazy to look it up

 

Abuse has nothing to do with the plastic simulated brushed aluminium plate on the door being torn up. Mine looks like dogs live in my car and mine only has 14k on it. The problem is Chevy using cheap materials to make the plates, and the rest of the plastic in our car. What do you want? It's a damn Chevy...


Also, 15% oil life isn't a problem at all either, dude. With the use of SAE recommended oil you should change your oil when your oil life meter says "change oil." Doing so much before hand is a waste of oil and money.

 

Good list, but you forgot a couple...

9. Some sunroofs have shattered for no reason.

10. Bezel around sunroof switches falls off and will not go back on.

11. Plastic silver shift knob bezel comes off the top of the shifter and will not clip back on. (dealership has to replace ENTIRE shifter assembly to fix this.)

12. Front fascia does not fit correctly near front headlights causing it to rub agaisnt and bind up on headlight.

13. Mufflers on a lot of05 ss/sc's go bad. The welds come loose in them causing them to buzz like a bee in a tin can. This one happened to me and it was one of the most annoying sounds I've ever experienced.

14. Brake rotors wear prematurely due to extremely hard surfaced brake pads. GM will not fix this and this is expensive. I would recommend getting a softer set of pads for anyone who still has very young and healthy rotors.

There are also a couple more here and there but I cannot recall them at the moment.

 

i hope my nickel crap comes off, i want to sand it down and paint them arrival blue anyway, i had all matching interior plastics in my cavalier z24, and the clear coat kept the wear down, to take out small scratches and finger prints, all i had to do was put a little wax on them, and buff them shiny again, they looked awesome, and were flawless until i sold the car

 

**** man, you serious about the brakes and the muffler? guess it is going to be an expensive season....... i guess its ok though, i wanted the corsa anyway minus the cost..... i will prolly end up getting the GMPP borla.....