I just received an unpleasant opinion about Cobalts, and I wanted to check with you guys and see if you would agree. Supposedly this person knows someone who has one, and has had alot of problems with it. Their opinion of it is that it is cheaply made, and they suggested I keep my Civic. As some of you know I am looking to sell my Civic (170K miles on it) for a Cobalt, but am now having second thoughts. I drive ALOT (about 30,000 miles/year) and I really need something dependable. Am I making a mistake looking to switch to the Cobalt? I am going to need something that will be dependable for atleast 150,000, which in m case is only 5 years. I am looking at the 2008 LS XFE`s.
Thanks!

 

depends on how nice you are to the car. Any car can make it 200,000 miles...aslong as there driven nice.

but hondas are known for going forever...cobalts are new cars. They could have just had the lemon of the group...who knows.

personally i have never really had a problem with the car..and i've put on 10,000 miles in 6 months.

 

cobalts do just fine.
in truth, civics have an overinflated sense of durability....
a quick trip over to the civic forums will quickly show that they have just as much, if not more, problems than the cobalt.

 

Well i've had mying for almost 2 years not, SS/NA 07, and have had 0 problems with it. Havent had any services besides a nail in the tire. So as far as i can tell it seems to be a pretty good car.

 

havent had any problems with mine and i have 33k on it or somethin now....runs like a champ

 

the 100,000 mile drivetrain warranty should calm your worries.

 

It all depends on how you maintain and treat the car.

 

qft. The only problem i had on mine was a loose mud flap that was making noise

 

36,000 miles, only issue was a fogging left tail lamp that was replaced under warranty

 

47K miles, i bought the car on NOV. 11th 2007 with 24,582 ,iles. i now have 47,850 or so. no problems withthe car itself. i would recmmend the car to anyone.

 

well i have 32,000 miles on my car in less then a year with ZERO problems and thats with tracking it every now and then

 

the cobalt is a pice of ****

 

Reliability these days is more in the hands of the consumer than anyone else, regardless of who makes your car. Take care of it, and it'll take care of you.

 

Its all about the maintenance, don't do any (yes I know some people that don't) and you run into expensive repairs.

 

thanks for your input

 

Yeah I would say reliability is mostly in how you maintain the car. I know a few people with regular Cobalts and one person with an SS/SC. Only one of them has had any problems with their car, and that's the one who beats on his regular Cobalt mercilessly and doesn't like to bother with maintenance. And it seems the guys I know with them have broken the sunroof switch, and the girls haven't. Seems like it must be a delicate part.

As long as you maintain a car, it should hold up well. And when you're buying a used car you need to look for small signs to tell how it's been used. Can't think of anything specific offhand, but if it looks more beat-up than a car you would drive, it probably hasn't been maintained as well as you would have it. I wouldn't worry about a Cobalt holding up any more than I would worry about a Civic or Corolla. Wouldn't be surprised at a couple extra squeaks and rattles though.

 

just dont beat on it and you will be fine. it is better to buy a car completley assembled in the USA anyway.

 

Reliability of the entire car (to include the interior etc) may not be especially high; however the drivetrain (and the entire motor line, for that matter [ECOTEC]) is and has been well known for quite some time to be VERY reliable (200k+ miles) as long as proper maintenence is preformed!