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Parents are lookin at an 08 Cobalt

weirdichi

weirdichi

Diamond Member
20k miles
$11k from the dealer

They are going to use it as a daily driver in Minnesota, Twin Cities area. Anybody with experience with Colbalts can chime in. Please keep the Foreign vs Domestic battle out of this thread. I just want good, honest opinions from people who have experiences with this car. Thank.
 
Mass depreciation...

If you want an uber cheap domestic commuter, buy something older with more miles... that thing will be worth 0 dollars in 2-3 years.
 
Hard to say is this a base model (like rental) or a mid/higher up one?

The price, on average, seems a little high. But if it is a higher end model with more then average options then I say the price is decent.

Still talk them down of course as the Cobalts do have a lot of good deals and low percent rates compared to used. So if they are making payments 3+ years it might be about the same price to buy new with all the deals and low rates.
 
If they're going to drive it until the wheels come off, might not be a bad buy, but some more info would be helpful.

Other decent options might be a last-year closeout Spectra or Focus, new with warranty.
 
sounds like a lot for a cobalt. know the history of it? from how new it is i'd guess it was a rental in a past life. you can get a former rental fusion around here for a lower asking price.
 
Picked up a new 07 Coupe (pretty loaded LT2) last year for $13,500 out the door (just over $4,000 off MSRP). It's not a luxury car but it's not a bad car by any means. Driving to work, it averages around 30mpg (and the 08/09's are supposed to be better) but it does dissapoint a litte in the city at just over 22mpg (when wife drives - I get about 26 but she drives more so that's what shows up on the readout).

I've had two problems:

1 - squeak out of the rear when going slowly over a bump (speedbump for example). There was a service bulletin already issued that replaced a bushing to correct that.

2 - passenger speaker went out.

The only other complaint is that if I would have bought it 48 hours later, I would have gotten it for $12,500 as there was another $1,000 incentive placed on it less than two days later, but since I didn't find out about it for 6 days, it was too late to get it, damnit! :|

As for those above talking about resell value, when you start so low to begin with, it doesn't take "any" car long to go down and to say it will be worth zero dollars in 2-3 years is bullshit. It might be lower than some but it will certainly be worth more than zero. If you are looking at trading it in within a few years, you might spend "more" to get better trade in later, but again, you'll be spending more.

One final thing, I'm not so sure that you couldn't find a "NEW 08" model for close to what you would spend on the used 08 as GM is pretty desperate to sell anything to get "cash flow" right now.
 
Originally posted by: halik
Mass depreciation...

If you want an uber cheap domestic commuter, buy something older with more miles... that thing will be worth 0 dollars in 2-3 years.
Click to expand...

Not everyone cares about reselling their cars.
 
Hmm,
Me and Scroob are recommending going with Ford Fusion for that price range - which is a totally different class of vehicle. Overall hands down much better than the Cobalt.
 
I've heard better things about the Focus as well. With luck, they may find a good deal on a Civic, Fit, or Mazda 3 (though likely slightly older/more miles, but better cars for sure).
 
I drove one of the base models for about 2 months and the handling was a step down from other cars I've driven. One of the things that was nice about the cobalt was the automatic lights when the sun sets. I wish more cars had that.
 
I keep reading these threads about finding '08 Fusions for ~$10k but I've never ever actually found one for less than 13.7k, and that one had 65k on the odometer.

For example, on autotrader.com right now, the cheapest modern Fusion is an S trim '07 with 38k miles for $14k. On cars.com the cheapest is an '07 SEL with 31k miles for $13,700. These are cars within 75 miles of where I live.

I also checked two localish Ford dealers and they were asking RAPE for a few used Fusions. No luck on Craigslist either.

I either fail at finding great deals on cars, or someone got an exceptional deal on a Fusion, posted about it and people take it as the norm and repost it in other used car threads.

Please help me out here guys, what am I doing wrong? 😛
 
Originally posted by: waffleironhead

Still wondering where I can find those brand new cobalts for $9K. Links?
Click to expand...

Somewhere between St. Louis and Hannibal (Missouri) I saw a dealer advertising new cobalts for $9500.
 
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Originally posted by: waffleironhead

Still wondering where I can find those brand new cobalts for $9K. Links?
Click to expand...

Somewhere between St. Louis and Hannibal (Missouri) I saw a dealer advertising new cobalts for $9500.
Click to expand...

Thx for the info, I have a friend in that area, I may take a road trip and pick one up for that price.
 
Originally posted by: evident
it's a piece of shit. cheap , but a piece of shit.
Click to expand...

Ah, it's a long way from the Cadavalier or pre-Mazda Escorts. It's not a class leader (outside of the performance offered by the SS), but it's not a 'piece of shit' really.
 
Originally posted by: Mojoed
I keep reading these threads about finding '08 Fusions for ~$10k but I've never ever actually found one for less than 13.7k, and that one had 65k on the odometer.

For example, on autotrader.com right now, the cheapest modern Fusion is an S trim '07 with 38k miles for $14k. On cars.com the cheapest is an '07 SEL with 31k miles for $13,700. These are cars within 75 miles of where I live.

I also checked two localish Ford dealers and they were asking RAPE for a few used Fusions. No luck on Craigslist either.

I either fail at finding great deals on cars, or someone got an exceptional deal on a Fusion, posted about it and people take it as the norm and repost it in other used car threads.

Please help me out here guys, what am I doing wrong? 😛
Click to expand...

I think its the latter.
 
Originally posted by: Mojoed
I keep reading these threads about finding '08 Fusions for ~$10k but I've never ever actually found one for less than 13.7k, and that one had 65k on the odometer.

For example, on autotrader.com right now, the cheapest modern Fusion is an S trim '07 with 38k miles for $14k. On cars.com the cheapest is an '07 SEL with 31k miles for $13,700. These are cars within 75 miles of where I live.

I also checked two localish Ford dealers and they were asking RAPE for a few used Fusions. No luck on Craigslist either.

I either fail at finding great deals on cars, or someone got an exceptional deal on a Fusion, posted about it and people take it as the norm and repost it in other used car threads.

Please help me out here guys, what am I doing wrong? 😛
Click to expand...

One
Two

You may have to add $500 for the college student discount (unless you qualify, as most dealers will include that automatically into the newspaper price). Granted, I didn't look for used ones, but at those (possibly loss-leader) prices, I wouldn't bother buying a used one.
 
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