General Comments:
I had a Cobalt LS for 18 days as a rental car in Alaska in August/September 2007. Overall, I thought the car was pretty good. The one I had was an LS four-door sedan. I'm guessing that this one was a pretty basic model since it had no power windows or door locks. This is a pretty small car, but I thought that the inside was adequately comfortable. I never sat in the backseat, so I can't comment on the comfort of the backseat. The drivers side seat was comfortable and the seating position was good. The upholstery on the seats was not the best looking cloth, but not too ugly. I was amazed at the room in the trunk. Tons of room, and really deep.
I never bothered to calculate the mpg I got with the car, but I think it was quite good. Even with the automatic transmission, the car had good acceleration. I was satisfied with the amount of power it had. The handling and steering seemed a little vague and sloppy, but was not too bad overall.
The things that I noticed right away that I didn't like was the unpleasant finish on the dashboard and doors. The dashboard and the plastic on the doors was made of rock-hard plastic with a very rough, sandpaper-like texture. Now, I know that people don't spend a lot of time touching dashboards, but this one not only felt awful, but it looked cheap and nasty. Having that nasty, rough plastic on the doors is uncomfortable when your arm comes into contact with it. The steering wheel was made out of cheap plastic (?) that was very hard with very little "give". The handle molded into the drivers door had a kind of sharp "edge" that really dug into my thigh when I had my left foot up by the seat while I drove.
Overall, I thought the car was not a bad mode of transportation. The impression I got was of a decent car that seemed a little unrefined on the interior. Based purely on what I experienced, if I were in the market for a new car, I would consider getting a Cobalt, provided it had a nicer interior.
20th Dec 2007, 18:59
You are driving a rental and a base model at that, quit whining about the armrests and power windows, you should have a death grip on the steering wheel if it is so dangerous to drive.
Oversized trim? Thick colums? The outward view is no worse than my 06 Nissan Sentra (totaled last year) that the Cobalt replaced. The road noise is no higher than any other compact and is less than many including my Sentra and the Civic that I drove before I bought the Cobalt. My wife and I have a easier conversation now on trips.
Again, I don't have any trouble with the visibility of my Cobalt and I have a coupe - you're just not used to the car and you blame the car for that. Leave the truckers alone, they can change lanes without your help.
Why spend the extra $4,000 to $5,000 for a Corolla or Civic? I researched them on here and some other websites. The new models don't appear to be any more reliable than my Cobalt and aren't made in Japan anymore. The glory days of Japanese reliability from the 80s and 90s are over, IMHO.
The original review isn't appropriate, he doesn't own the car and has a padoga sized chip on his shoulder.