This post is for all of you experiencing random rattling.
I thought I'd share my experiences with my Cobalt.
Now I just bought the car used at 4.5 years old, with 41k miles on it.
I've never owned a Chevy before but heard good things about cavaliers and liked the styling on the Cobalt. I fell in love with my yellow 2 door, with the spoiler and FAST engine. It was fun to drive compared to all the other cars in my price range ( Hyundai accent- that was like a punishment, and I drove a Toyota Corolla and was BORED, a Kia Rio felt like a cheap plastic toy)
Anyway- I've had the car 8 months and spent $2500 to fix it up.
Not terrible, but more repairs than I'm used to on a car of that age and stage.
Here's the lowdown for those of you trying to get some answers on any odd noises:
I had a rattling in my dash and clunk from the front end which I finally noticed when I stopped playing my music so loud. The clunk turned out to be struts and my sway bar. I had just run out warranty, so whoosh there goes $1000.
BUT that didn't get rid of the rattle! I took it to a dealership and the steering motor had been replaced under the recall GM did, but the actual steering column was bad, along with a warped rotor and some worn brake pads, again just out of warranty, so whoosh bye bye $1500.
now compared to some of the horror stories I've heard, not bad.
BUT would I buy this car again, nope. Love the looks, fun to drive, but too many repairs for an "economy" car. The struts and brakes are more normal for maintenance, but the steering column and sway bar, that pissed me off! good luck everyone, feel free to message me if you are having similar issues!

 

Thanks for sharing. However, dealership prices will always rape you.

Bet it could have all been done for $700 or so if you did the work yourself, should have also been more thorough on the PPI of the car.

 

Fast engine lol. It's a Chevy, it will rattle. But if u have a USB drive in the USB, it will rattle sometimes, make sure that's not it

 

holy **** dude, you paid 1000 bucks for struts and sway bar bushings? Then another 1500 for brakes and a steering column?!?!?!?

 

Yea thats a bad way to waste that kinda money you should have consulted us first

Rattles are part of the racecar experience... Well the chevy racecar experience... Well the chevy experience.

 

:rofl: exactly, i only charge 70 an hour for work like that, dealer charges what..120-130, i probably could have did his struts and sway bar links in 2 hours, hell i did them today on a GTO lol

 

Thanks everyone, next time anything else pops up I will be asking around here first before anymore of my hard earned money puts some dealership mechanics kids through another semester of college!