Thoughts on the Cobalt

"DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever" (eg6)
08/23/2018 at 20:51 • Filed to: None

Strictly on the terms of reliability and ease/cheapness of maintenance . At this point I couldn’t give a fuck about fun to drive or interior niceness (industry term).

DISCUSSION (25)

dogisbadob > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:00

yellow is an awesome color :o)

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > dogisbadob
08/23/2018 at 21:02

Unfortunately I haven’t seen any yellow ones for sale :(

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:04

It’s a Cavalier by another name. The engines are all pretty reliable, if coarse . About the best engine they got (aside from the SS) was the same as the one they slapped in the rental spec Malibu Classic of the era. I didn’t really wrench on the 2.2L, but spent enough keeping it running.

GM cars of the era shared a lot of components, so chances are that the parts are cheap.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
08/23/2018 at 21:06

So I take it, like the GM stereotype, it’ll run like shit longer than other cars will ever run? If so t hat’s good enough for me.

someassemblyrequired > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:08

Watch out for ones with the side airbag delete (ex-rental cars). A few of my engineering students were riding on one, and ended up getting t-boned at a relatively low speed in icy conditions . The t wo sitting on the impact side didn’t survive.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:17

I drove one once. It technically qualified as a car. That's about the best thing I have to say about it.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:19

Pretty much exactly this. But I’ll warn you that everything they made (and a lot of what they make today ) is really terrible for various reasons outside of how long they run .

CB > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:21

Why not buy a Civic or Corolla? Both are better cars.

dogisbadob > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:32

well, there’s the HHR, which is a Cobalt wagon thing. An d possibly more widely available in cool colors.

But an Echo would still be a better car tho

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
08/23/2018 at 21:33

Car > Chever-legs.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > CB
08/23/2018 at 21:35

I’m not dead set on a Cobalt, but it’s fairly common and the Honda’s tend to be sketchy and very high mileage. Not too many Corollas for sale , guess people just hang on to them until they’re in the junkyard.

daender > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:37

I had a HHR with the smaller 2.2 engine and an automatic. It was a roach. The interior quality was poor with cheap plastic everywhere but it got decent gas mileage and it was okay to drive...and hilariously fun to abuse it for autocross.

glemon > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 21:40

If you must go cheap GM shitbox go Geo or go home- https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/d/best-car-ever-made/6677961917.html

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > glemon
08/23/2018 at 21:45

I should’ve bought my Grandma’s when she got rid of hers. That thing was an All-star of a cheap car.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 22:05

Just look out for subframe rot. That seems to kill most most cheap cars at about the same age that C obalts are now .

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 22:12

Cheap to operate . Would routinely get 35+ mpg highway on regular. P ut 115k on one from 2007-2012. Wheel bearing go @60k miles, though that may have been from a scratched up alloy wheel that i don’t think ever was balanced right.

A lways started.

2011 hit a pothole deep enough that the frame hit. 2 months later had tranny issues and replaced a bent cv axle . fixed but when the problems started coming back a year later it was time to sell.

T he steel wheels had a reputation for easily bending.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 22:57

HelloooooooooOOOOoOooOOO

Kinja'd!!!

AestheticsInMotion > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 23:05

Hmm. How about a Honda Element or Del Sol

(I know nothing about Cobalt)

DavidHH > CB
08/23/2018 at 23:18

No they are not, unless you are talking about a rear wheel drive corolla...

DavidHH > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/23/2018 at 23:19

Both Honda & Toyota suck for getting parts. I’ve paid $3oo for a Honda ball joint when it was dealer only.

GM is a safer bet, and if you must have an automatic [barf, barf] keep in mind that GM makes the best automatics...

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
08/24/2018 at 00:00

I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a Paseo of that generation.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > AestheticsInMotion
08/24/2018 at 00:01

I haven’t seen any Elements for sale, at least in my price range. Wouldn’t want a Del Sol because of stealability and I’d practically never drive it around as a convertible .

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/24/2018 at 08:51

My wife has been driving her cobalt since new in 2005. Still the only car she has ever owned. We had the ignition switch recall problem which was a pain but overall the engines are really hard to kill. I would advise that you avoid a sunroof as the drains in these get clogged and tend to fill the spare tire well with water. Otherwise the parts are cheap on rock auto or amazon and the drivetrains are solid. Worst job so far I’ve done on it is replacing the universal joint in the steering. They have rubber in them and sit near the exhaust so the heat ruins them and the steering gets play. Other known issues are a clunk in the front suspension that is remedied by replacing the stock sway bar end links with some Moog brand ones and tightening the shit out of them. The electric motor for the power steering goes out on some of these but they are right under the dash and come out with 2 bolts. Hmmm....other than that you just need a special socket to change the oil filter (i think it’s a very short 23mm but don’t quote me on that). Hope that helps your decision.

Pickup_man > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/24/2018 at 13:03

Just bought one actually, my sisters old car. It’s a cheap GM economy car which should tell you all you need to know, but it’s not all that miserable to drive and gets a hell of a lot better mileage than my truck. They have quite a few issues which are more minor annoyances than anything, but something to think about. Key fobs tend to die/not operate pretty regularly, the blower fans have shit bearings, make noise, and aren’t super cheap or easy to replace, but still work. The fresh air flap (vent/recirc) strips gears and clunks every time you start the car. The blinker stalk tends to go bad. One of my brake lights went out, but only for a day, so not sure what happened there . The big one however is don’t let them get low on oil. The 2.2 originally came with a “lesser” design of timing chain tensioner and when low on oil it will throw a chain, and this is an interference engine. Dad and I had the joy of dealing with that repair.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
08/25/2018 at 02:36

There’s one with a dead engine sitting in my neighbor’s half of driveway. Next to the e46M that’s been sitting there for years and now barely runs. I’ll bet you could have it cheap.