2006 CHEVROLET Cobalt

It's an economy car, but there are better options

Comfort Rating: 2 Performance Rating: 1 Interior Rating: 2 Reliability Rating: 3 Safety Rating: 3 Technology Rating: 3 Value Rating: 2

The biggest thing to know about this car is that it is a cheap, barebones machine. It is a basic, boring, machine that gets you from point A to point B. The interior is beyond basic. Everything is plastic, and going down the road you can hear the pieces smacking against each other. The instrument cluster shows speed, tachometer, and gas. That is all. It's almost impossible to know if there is anything wrong with this car. The engine (2.2L) seems to be reliable so far, but is too underpowered. It is almost impossible to force this car to downshift. Once it's in third gear, even if I press the pedal all the way to the floor, this car refuses to downshift. This has left me in some scary situations at times when I really need the car to accelerate and it refuses to. This car will also rust like crazy. The hood is falling apart, and occasionally pieces of rust will fall from the hood and smack into the windshield. I would have expected a car to last a little longer than this. I applied some rust preventers where I could, so time will tell how much longer she'll last. My biggest problem with this car is how small of an opening the trunk is. Even putting a backpack is a hassle. You just can't fit anything. The other large issue is the doors. They are weirdly large, and parking in a normal parking spot makes it almost impossible to get out of the vehicle because of just how big the car is. I only bought this car because it was cheap, and it supposedly got great gas mileage. After owning it for a while, I really wish I would have gone with something else. I plan on trading it in for a Mazda 3 after this Michigan winter is over. Overall, I'd AVOID this vehicle unless you can deal with something so barebones.