Cobalt vs Cruze?

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Fooling around on CL last night turned up a Cobalt with manual windows and stickshift. Makes me wonder about test driving one of those, used of course, to see if it is not a bad car. Best I can tell, they need timing chains about as often my car needs timing belts (every 80k?); watching on youtube it did not see massively bad to do the job. And I thought I saw something about a sketchy waterpump design which can let water into the crankcase... And of course the infamous ignition switch debacle. Which drives their value down (a good thing). [What I don't know is how hard it is to replace this bad switch, nor just how dangerous it really is to drive with a "bad" one--push come to shove, I could just have a third key made up which is left in the ignition the majority of the time, removed only if I run into Walmart or whatever.]

Are Cobalts, say 08 though 10, ok cars in stick?

Moving on, I see a local dealer has some stickshift 1.8L Cruzes. $17k MSRP is out of my range, but it's worth a test drive to see how I like, and at least jotting down some notes for later, in case I want to find used in a couple of years. I hear good reviews about Cruze, but then again, I heard good things about Cobalt too, and today they seem panned and disliked.

Personally, I'm after manual trans, few options, ok power, high economy, low operating costs and low noise. An appliance of a vehicle. Just in case anyone wonders what my goals are.
 
I've driven a Cobalt, and have ridden in a Cruze. Personally, I feel that the Cruze is the first small GM car that's been on-par with, or even above, its general competition. I think the praise that both the Cruze and the Cobalt received is due, in part, to the dramatic improvement that both models represented compared to their direct predecessor (the Cruze over the Cobalt, and the Cobalt over the Cavalier). In other words, GM's come a LONG way with their small cars (the praise), and they're now competitive with the rest of the market.

I would not expect a Cobalt to need timing chains, though. I didn't know the Ecotec ate timing chains. I heard of problems later on with Equinoxes and timing chains in some cases, but I didn't know the small cars were prone to that as well.
 
Wife's HHR is a cobalt in costume and it drives good when it's not in the shop. But there are some design decisions/ cheapnesses that make me want to tar & feather some GM bean-counters.
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For example, put a little never-seize on the lower control arm bolts so the captive nuts way up in the frame don't break loose doing semi-routine front end work.

I rocked the defective ignition switch for many months, figuring it was a public service to get more idiots in line ahead of myself. I know how to handle a car that stalls unexpectedly.
 
I had a 2007 Cobalt LS 4dr, auto. Had the roll-up windows, no power locks, no ABS, etc. I thought it was a great little car. I should have kept it a lot longer than I did. Brand-new, it cost me $12100 after rebates (at the time).

I've never even sat in a Cruze, but they're bigger, heavier, much more heavily optioned and refined than the Cobalt was (all = more $ to own).
 
You might as well look for the XFE model with taller gearing since you are in no hurry.
Also they were $10-12k cars when they were clearing them out at the end.
I had one as a loaner for a couple days and it was fine, tire noise and little steering feel were the main complaints. Also a stupid small trunk opening made taking the recycling out a challenge. Its a solid feeling car though, more so than my Focus anyways.
Also mileage was unimpressive, but it was an automatic of course.
 
I know GM put more "pride" into the Cruze. I would say the Cruze over the Cobalt if those were your only two choices.

I mean the Cobalt was sold as a lot of fleet/rental cars. They made those as cheap as possible seeing as they couldn't sell them or make much money off them. Especially seeing as they weren't very popular. (guess they should have kept the Cavalier naming)

Wish I could find that article about GM and the Cobalt. I know they couldn't wait to stop making them lol

Now the Cruze, which is somewhat popular has a better quality and finish IMO.
 
I don't think the Ecotec 2.2 'eats' timing chains but there was an issue with the chain 'tensioners' on early versions. I think GM had it straightened out by 2005 so an 08 to 10 should be fine.

I've had both a Cruze and an Ion (which is very similar to the Cobalt) and the Cruze is a much better car. The Cruze does have it's own issues including coolant loss and ODOR (which is why I got rid of mine). My friend has a 2012 Cruze which needs a clutch already (after only 70K).
 
I dint like the steering in RAC cruze ive drive lot of strut clunking over bumps on multiple units ive driven - enjoyed the cobalt better overall - as a rental in FLorida anyway.
 
I owned a Cobalt.

I really liked the car, but it wasn't fuel efficient by any means.

I got rid of it because it had no AC, and was the Coupe, so it wasn't very family friendly.

Should I have kept it longer? Yes, but I got a great deal on my Fit, and the trade in value for the Cobalt was pretty fair.
 
Originally Posted By: Falken
I owned a Cobalt.

I really liked the car, but it wasn't fuel efficient by any means.

I got rid of it because it had no AC, and was the Coupe, so it wasn't very family friendly.

Should I have kept it longer? Yes, but I got a great deal on my Fit, and the trade in value for the Cobalt was pretty fair.


How bad was the fuel economy on it? I recall averaging ~31mpg, tank/tank with my 2007, 2.2L, AT. I know one of the worst things about the 2dr version was the high insurance cost.
 
I remember getting around 320km per tank.

I used to set the TRIP ODO at each fillup.

Many times, IIRC, the L/100km gauge read 12-14L per 100km.

For being a 4 banger, it had some pretty big pots on it to put out ~150 horses.

So, it is liveable, especially with US gas prices, but in Montreal we are up to 1.31/L for fuel again as of today, so I'm glad the Cobalt is gone, it was a bit of a pig for what it was.
 
We have both right now in fact, so I'm curious how this thread will progress.
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Ours are:
-2006 Cobalt LT Auto Trans bought about a year ago with 111K miles - put about 7,000 miles on it so far. The LT we bought has the upsized alloy wheels and a couple of other features.
-2013 Cruze LS Manual bought new has just under 40K miles right now.
-My parents also have an '06 Cobalt LS with Auto trans around 90K miles now.

On the Cobalt:
I'd echo those above that I didn't think the Cobalt ate timing chains, its the tensioners on early models. I bought the car right after the ignition recall came out, drove it like that for 9 months, I still don't think my parents have gotten it done, not that you need to avoid it but I wouldn't be too concerned. Fuel economy wise, we can hit about 31 or 32 highway, maybe a bit more with really dedicated attention to mileage. I know it's not a proper comparison, but coming out of 2 Saturn SL2s which could push 36 (AT) and 39 (MT) with highway driving it's a bit of a shock. My commute is mostly city now, so my mileage is pretty abysmal on the Cobalt.

On the Cruze:
Keep in mind the LS with the 1.8l is the only model with a timing belt - 100K mile change interval. The 1.4l equipped on other models earns you the turbo and a chain. I believe the 1.4l is the one that has the more frequent coolant issues pbm noted above. Some water pump issues along with that. Right now our lifetime mpg on the car is 36.95 mpg (hand calced - curious what it will be after the summer). 50 mile trip to work which consists of 1 mile in a residential community, 4 miles on a county route (45 to 55 mph twisty road), 4 miles on a highway (65 to 75 mph with some hills), 14 miles on county road (55 to 60 mph with some slowdowns to 35mph through villages/towns), 24 miles on interstate (65 to 80 mph - last 5 miles of interstate can consist of 20 minutes to 40 minutes of traffic), 3 miles through local roads.
From what I've read, the Eco is worth a look given the mileage you sound like you rack up in other threads - many report putting up much better mileage in the Eco versus the EPA estimates (42 highway when I bought) I've tracked the breakeven mileage for me, assuming paying list price, ~150K miles if the Eco put up 46mpg, 242K miles are the EPA estimates of 42mpg. That doesn't take into account anything else like tires cost for upsizing, t-belt replacement, or do-dads breaking that are in one model but not the other, and doesn't account for paying today in the purchase price versus paying over time for fuel.
Caveat I'd give on the LS pricing (and Cruze pricing in general) - don't count out the rebate factor. Heavy rebates toward the end of the year the last two year. Also, we have a GM Credit Card and the last two years we've gotten a "top up" option to our points in January. That turns the $10 in points (we use the card once a year or so) on the credit card to $4,000 or so in rebates (on the new model year). At least here (where we live), manuals are not popular and it seems the 1.8l is not very popular, which gave us a good amount of room to negotiate.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Personally, I'm after manual trans, few options, ok power, high economy, low operating costs and low noise. An appliance of a vehicle. Just in case anyone wonders what my goals are.

Sounds like a Corolla or Yaris to me.
 
We have a 2008 Auto G5 (Cobalt), manual windows, door locks in the home fleet. Assigned to the middle son. Mainly city driven, gets 9 Liters/100 km or 26 MPG US fuel economy.
Had some trouble with a steering column ignition module, and had the ignition switch changed under the recall. Not much else to report other than the regular maintenance needs. Has about 65,000 miles on it.
 
I had an '05, I liked it. For a compact I thought it rode well, it was quiet inside and had a good amount of power. I liked the simplicity of the powertrain, the only belt driven accessories are the alternator and AC compressor and everything is easy to get to.

My major complaints were that the backseat seemed smaller than it should have been, the truck opening could have been a little bigger, and I wasn't a fan of the center armrest.
 
Still unsure on this tensioner thing--from what i've read (on this site too) is that in 2009 they stopped revising the tensioner. It may well be that the chain is ok, and the guides are ok, if the tensioner is replaced early enough, though. Still not clear if 07-10 models have a "good enough" tensioner that goes 150-200k w/o issue or not, and therefore have no issues; or if they too need periodic tensioner replacements. Which appears trivial if it's just unscrewing the tensioner and putting a new one in. Looking at the timing chain job on youtube, it actually looked possibly less painful than a TB job on my Jetta.

The 1.8L in the Cruze is a timing belt? I did not know that. Although to be honest I just assumed it was a chain. ok, I looked, and you're right. Good thing I asked! It should not deter me, but it's one more bit of knowledge.

As for the Eco, I dunno. I have a turbo, and label it FUD, but... I dunno if I want another one. My milage on this car is not as high as I used to drive, I'm aiming for 20k/year these days on my commuter.

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Originally Posted By: CELICA_XX
Originally Posted By: supton
Personally, I'm after manual trans, few options, ok power, high economy, low operating costs and low noise. An appliance of a vehicle. Just in case anyone wonders what my goals are.

Sounds like a Corolla or Yaris to me.


Yeah, BTDT, other threads. I tried really hard to get into a base Versa, but the road noise was beyond my ability to bear. I won't rule out Yaris/Corolla, if used and rust free *AND* cheap; problem is, that's a bit of a unicorn. Funny how depreciation works on those things.

I ought to sit in the new ones, but all the pictures I've seen thus far have been a deterrent.
 
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Originally Posted By: dishdude
... the truck opening could have been a little bigger, and I wasn't a fan of the center armrest.


Agree on the trunk opening. My 2007 LS model was so basic, it didn't even have a center armrest/console.

I unloaded my Cobalt in late 2009 for something AWD, not realizing what a difference something like snow tires would have made on the Cobalt. Duh!
 
Cobalt is the old school GM and likely a partial reason GM was going down.

Cruze is the new GM and realizing folks don't want third tier products anymore. Its a nice car.

I'd stick to new GM as you already own decent products. There are really high incentives for the 2014 Cruze out there. Don't think MSRP. I recall seeing $15kish for brand new 2014 my neice was interested in.
 
If you're looking for a Cobalt, also look for the Pontiac G5 which is the same car, might be cheaper.
 
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