Well - i wasted a few hours of my life yesterday by going to the local chevy dealer and checking out the S/C'd cobalt. SC mistu said my payments were gonna be a bit high so i wanted to check out other options. I found a couple of threads on the cobalt and i wanted to see for myself.

First of all, i get to the dealer and the sales guy says they're in the back - we end up walking what felt like half a mile to the back lot. On the way i said i would really like to make the step up to forced induction. He says the cobalt's got a turbo ( uh oh, here we go ) I correct him and we finally get to the cars.

I see a red one and a yellow one. he says they have a silver one and white one also ( silver one was regular ss - found out the don't even offer the ss in white ) I pop the hood and the engine looks real good but notice the engine is pretty far forward of the front wheels. i saw a few chips in the hood too.

We go out for a test drive. The car pulls nice but going through the gears the shifter felt klinda mushy. I wasn't too thrilled about the spoiler blocking a lot of the rear view either. I noticed the passenger side control panel wasn't flush and was pulled up a bit.

The brakes were pretty stout ( 4 wheel disc w/ abs ) but the seats just felt wierd to me. I asked the salesman if the car came with the optional sport package with the recaros and LSD. He said since the seats were leather wrapped - they were ( no they weren't ... and it didn't come with the sport package. ) That rear suspension didn't thrill me either.

Financing was a nightmare. first deal they gave me was with $3000 down @ $642 / mo. I about had a stroke I made the mistake of telling the finance girl that i was looking at an Evo and she said she had sold mitsus for 4 years and i prolly couldn't get financed ( oh really?? - mark at south coast said i was already approved... albeit at 12.99%, but still approved ) Overall - the best deal they could give me was $1500 down @ $510 / month.

Basically my afternoon was completely wasted and the cobalt isn't that great without the sport package ( although Stage 1 & Stage 2 upgrade kits are available ) I think i'll stick with the evo. Even at $599 / mo. for the evo i'll still have the car that i want.

 

yea, I drove the Cobalt SS and Ion Redline at the HIN test drive roadcourse (cleveland) and I was NOT impressed the least bit. I kept sliding right off the seats and hitting the door when I turned a corner at 20+mph .. And the pickup felt less fast than my brother's ralliart.. and the clutch pedal felt like trying to push down a 200lb tensioned spring and the engaugement of the clutch was horrible and mushy. The back end felt like it was floating in the corners, and yea, overall it was just terrible. I'll stick with my t-25 turbo on my OZ. Much better handling, better quality interior, and its a tad faster than the stock Cobalt SS's that tried to get serious while tooling around with me.

 

looks like youll be stuck in the lancer for a while with financing numbers like that! {omg}
i was in the same boat as you for a loooong time. i simply cant wait to get rid of the lancer. it hasnt been a bad car at all. but i need something with.......*****!

gl.

 

$642.00 !!! that is import luxury money there! not a **** Cobalt!!!

 

i guess everyone at that dealership had one too many vodkas the other night?

 

The Cobalt is a joke. I'm not into Honda's but I'll pick a Civic over that.

 

Were you trying to get financed for 5 or 6 yrs on the evo to get a $599 payment qoute? What were you wanting-SSL or MR? Trying to figure out how they quoted you that amount. I am in the same boat of waiting until about September to get my plain EB IX . I am building my credit up as well as a down payment of around $2000 so that I won't be hit with a super high apr. I know that my apr won't be stellar but liveable by then, especially in the meantime, bills will be getting paid off to open up extra money. I am really curious how your credit was to get a rate like that and still get approved. I hope after all this work I can only hope that I will get a better rate than that. I wish you the best of luck though and would love to hear about your similar situation if you wish to pm me.

Thanks,
Brett

 

599/month..wow. I'm assuming that doesn't include the insurance cost? i went with the ralliart because my evo payments would have been 550 including insurance. the ralliart is only 320/month with insurance. I would say save up for another year, build some more credit, and blast it with a large downpayment. No sense paying a house payment on a car. I would have waited to get the evo, but my 91 MX-6 was burning more oil than gas.. yahoo to that.

 

They must be crazy over there!!! 642 * 60 months = $38,520!!! OMFG!!! For a cobalt?!?!? HELL NO!!!

And that's for 60 months! I bet they were thinking more like 72.

Just try and save as much money as you can. I put down $5,000 and my payments are at $420.00 for 72 months. 6% btw. Don't let these ppl screw you man. Also cuz you are AF, when they find that out, they think they can charge you whatever they want cuz you have a gauranteed pay check (I'm AF too).

Good luck!!! Hope this helps.

 

+1

 

i had a normal cobalt for a rental and this could not be more true. i'm sure the SS is better but it was horrible. i had to drive it in the snow too (just a light coating) and going around a corner the back end decided to switch places with the front. there was no understeer like a normal fwd car, no sliding of the front end, the back end just felt like being in the front. before driving that car i thought the SS was a decent car, after i was convinced there was nothing they could have done to it to make it a car i would consider. i'm sure the SS is better, but the regular one was that bad.

it was still better than the prev gen cavalier though

 

Um, that's a whopping 10 points above my rate.

You should get a loan quote from your bank before talking with F&I people at a dealership. This is like showing up to a fight with a knife and challenging them to produce a gun. Invite them to take their best shot before telling them what your bank quoted you. This way, the onus is on them to sharpen their pencils, otherwise, they make 100% of zero on the financing.

Of course, anyone being quoted ridiculously high rates because you of bad credit can forget it. Buy a KIA and pay bills on time for the next 2-3 years.

 

I've never driven an SS S/C, but on paper they looked damn impressive. There were a few articles of the SS S/C going up against a 'vette. On a few of the courses, the Cobalt actually came in first (by very little) over the 'vette, showing off its nimble setup.

I was actually very interested in getting one before they came out...things didn't work out, and fortunately, I was able to learn a thing or two in the years to follow. Now, having sat in one and checked it out, I'm glad I didn't go that route. I realize now that, personally, I have a sort of...level I need to achieve. A level of performance, I suppose you'd say. From the Cobalt I went to the WRX (base)...then to the STi...and now the Evo. In other words, I went from 21k-31k, heh. I could have purchased an SRT-4, Cobalt...even a WRX by now, but I felt holding out for the Evo makes more sense.

As for all the credit jumbo, yeah. The SCARY thing is, there are people out there who have and continue to say YES to "deals" like that. As I've said before and will continue to say, unless you have a history with a particular dealership or know someone who works there (even then, research and be informed), NEVER assume whatever deal they offer will be good for you. Any average dealership is all about THEIR profit, not yours.

You'll be VERY glad you held out for the Evo. Even if your payments are higher, just be sure you CAN handle them. Else, you'll lose the car and screw yourself over for years to come. I have TWO late payments in probably...6-7 years of having loans. But because I don't have very much history, those two dings affect me in a major way. I've just about recovered, but it blows. Were I to do it all again, I would have held out until I was out of school before taking on financial obligations.