Chevy Sonic: what does GRM say?

Yes, I'm pathetic, still have not bought a car .

2012 Chevy Sonic. 20K km, balance of factory warranty, manual, 1.8. On the road for about $11.5 CAD. It will would tick the all the boxes for an appliance. And it might even be fun to drive, there are mixed opinions on the weeb. And it would free up more money for the 50th birthday car at he end of summer (911, Boxster, Radical, FF, not sure what yet).

Thoughts? BTW, the $12K on the road Mazda 2 does not appear to exist in Ontario. Though I would love to be proven wrong.

Thanks,

J

I'd hold out for a turbo.

Tiny, hideous, IMHO. Was going to suggest Mazda2

In reply to poopshovel:

I agree with the hideous label on the Sonic but the 2 seems.... it was styled by children, right?

I actually liked everything about the Sonic. I thought it came at a good price, was fun to drive. The interior feels very cheap, but that's not unusual in this class. I like how it looks. It's more attractive than anything else in the segment. I say go for it.

Out of curiosity you've listed the spark and the mazda2, what about the fiesta?

Fiesta would work too. But this Sonic is $2K less than anything else in the segment (and there may be a reason for that). Not spending $2K here gives me $2k to buy a nicer toy.

Going to check it out at lunch.

Or a Rio. Or an Accent. Or a Yaris. Or a Fit. Or....

*oops. replied while you replied.

Buy a $1500 beater, that frees up a lot of money for the toy later!

Am I understanding you correctly? You're 49 years old, have never owned a car, and want an appliance like machine?

In reply to foxtrapper:

Hold up. He's never owned a car before?

And I thought I had weird hang-ups in car shopping... First car I think of he should test drive is Duster13b's Duster.

i agree with Alan on the looks and driveability.

i would hope it couldn't be less reliable than the old Aveo's were, but...

I think they're kinda cool. I haven't had a chance to drive the turbo one, but they seem like with the right kind of attention they could be a proper little b-spec screamer.

foxtrapper wrote: Am I understanding you correctly? You're 49 years old, have never owned a car, and want an appliance like machine?

Have owned several cars. Want something 2011 or newer, cheap, still with a whack of warranty left, that gets good mileage.

OK. You might want to shop the warranties a bit. There are several very high (like lifetime) warranties being offered by various manufacturers or dealerships. Fiat had one (ended now, I think), Chrysler still has one, I think a Kia dealership around me has one.

Something to think about if warranty is important to you.

And btw, I wasn't trying to be snarky in my question. Re-reading it, I see how it could appear that way. I didn't mean for that, it was just a seeking of clarification.

belteshazzar wrote: i agree with Alan on the looks and driveability. i would hope it couldn't be less reliable than the old Aveo's were, but...

I think that's one of the reasons I'm hesitating. I've rented the Aveo and it was E36 M3. This is supposed to be different, but yeah, it's anyones guess.

I kinda like the hatchback ones. They look like a doorstop.

I know there is at least one guy out there with a turbo hatch running mid-13's in the 1/4 mile. That's pretty fast for a tiny car.

Turbo ones are cooler.

Jeff wrote: I think that's one of the reasons I'm hesitating. I've rented the Aveo and it was E36 M3. This is supposed to be different, but yeah, it's anyones guess.

The Aveo was a Daewoo. The Sonic is made at Lake Aurora in Michican. I was there when they were getting the paint line set up. That may or may not sway your decision.

I rented a rio once and it wasn't bad at all on the highway. 2000km in 3 days. I'd call that a pretty comprehensive test drive. I liked it better than the 2.5 Golf on the same run. Don't get me started on the Toyota Matrix on that same trip - wow in a bad way.

I believe the Spark is the Aveo replacement.

I like the four door Sonic. Yet the price difference between it and the Cruze isn't that big so we got the Cruze. We have the Eco trim with the 1.4 turbo. The highest we have gotten on a 50 mile sample is 45.5. On my way into work today I was getting 42.

Sonic was the Aveo replacement I thought?

We've had 2 at our store as parts delivery vehicles for over a year now. They have ~20k miles. 2.0 Automatics.

They're slow. Not terribly so, but I figured this was a given. The auto-shift feature on the trans is garbage.

Gets decent mileage, had good cabin space. Can haul a ton of parts around, especially with the seats folded flat. I am a 6'4", 260lb guy and I have decent room in the cabin.

Reliability has been ok. One went back twice for A/C o-rings. Lost all the refridgerant. Also had each go back for some sort of recall (don't recall what). They both went in for new front sway bar links. One vehicle went in twice. Not sure if it is because how these are driven (hard), or design flaw. Each time it took over a week for the parts to arrive. A rental or courtesy car was provided by dealer at no cost.

Ohh, the A/C practically turns off when the car it at a stop. It sucks on hot days. I'm sure most newer cars do something similar thanks to MPG regulations.

Anything specific you'd like to know? I feel that with the MTX, even the 2.0 wouldn't be a bad ride.

pres589 wrote: In reply to poopshovel: I agree with the hideous label on the Sonic but the 2 seems.... it was styled by children, right?

Personal preference. Personally, in the looks department, Fit > Mazda2 > Fiesta > Versa > Sonic. YMMV. I like the headlights. I don't think they were too far off. Ditch the godforsaken berkeleying GM fake chrome bits, the ginormous Chevy logos (in gold no less) and the goofy rear door handles, and it wouldn't look so bad.

I'd suggest the Kia Soul, but I am not sure you could get similar miles for $11.5K.