08-09 FTW.
Pay attention to the price of the 08’s,its not much more than a 06/07,depending on mileage.
i see 06s on ebay around 12. Theres a 08 for 19.
Well… there cheaply built, not very comfortable, stupid boy racer looks, and seem to be the flagship car for D-bags everywhere, plus they get relatively poor gas milage (to be expected with an S/C) and all that stuff aside (because its personal preference) a good friend of mine who will be left anonymous, has had one for about year and a half/40K. In that time the clutch has gone, all 4 struts have gone, for no reason the car got a CEL for a misfire that didn’t exist, a CEL for a coolant temp sensor issue that didnt exist, it has also randomly killed the battery overnight twice…again for no apparent reason,the E-Brake lever is broken and doesn’t engage. And most recent and my personal favorite, the trans. appears to be toast and will not engage any gear (waiting on a verdict). There also know to have a ring land ? issue that causes excessive crankcase pressure or somtething and kills motor (ask oasis 24-7). All this BTW is out of GM’s fantastic 30K warranty, BTW this is a I/E/short shifter car, nothing special, calmly and responsibly commuted daily. All this stuff aside though, if you can find a functioning implementation, bang for the buck is pretty good. But really all the faults would be a bit easier to live with if the car was anything other than just another pocket rocket, IMO there are far better choices in the hot FWD car market, just keep it in mind, needless to say my experiences with these cars hasnt been good.
^by that description it sounds like ricing caused issues, e brake is messed up, transmission, clutch, and all 4 struts, electrical issue…take any jumps?
On a serious note, that simply sucks for your friend.
Speaking of other choices, thought about a Grand Prix GTP that gets mid to upper 20’s on the highway and mid teens in town? I’m selling mine 
11K fully loaded 04 GTP CompG with aftermarket warranty good till 100k, has 67k, 6 yrs, 3 or 4 reaming) and ran a 13.7 with only some tweaking.
agreed, I actually hate everything about the cheapo POS cobalt and usually the people who drive them. I’d say MS3 but it might be out of your price range.
No, Not at all. It really surprised me, its all highway miles too.
When new it was fun enough to drive around, but the durability is just awful, Im really kinda disgusted, I feel bad for him.
the ride isnt bad, nor is the fit/finish… my only experience was a rental LS in Tampa, but it really wasnt too bad. My main gripe was the size of the rear view mirror. seriously… thing is gigantic. made for a huge forward facing blind spot. did not like that
It’s like the srt-4…at the end if the day it’s still just a neon.
Colbalt SS…still just a cobalt/new cavalier
How about an 04/05 GTO? They can be had for pretty cheap and they are RWD
Instead of the SS buy Beck’s SRT4!
I was thinking about one a few weeks ago, but at the end of the day I decided I would rather fork over my hard earned money for a solid, yet slower car, over the cheaper cobalt. Plus, if the SS has lost a lot of value already, imagine how much lower it’s going to be if you need to sell it.
HAHA Yeah selling isnt really an option, wouldn’t be an issue if it was at all a nice car but…yeah.
wheres the video of snowdrifting, endless burnouts on stock summer tires?
im not saying he deserves it but I would bet this car has seen its fair share of ass-hattery
Wait…are you referring to your boy anthony? The one that rode out stock 18’s with summer tires in the winter? If that is whom you refer to then i’m not sure I believe the calmly and responsibly commuted. Wasn’t his car lowered? I could have sworn oasis 24-7’s friend was also modded. Otherwise i agree problems are pretty random and more often unexplainable. E-brake blows, and just recently i’ve heard of more people with timing chain tensioner issues on the supercharged models. I just recently got my car back from the dealer for this issue.
I own a 2005 Cobalt SS/SC and love the car… I have not experienced any of the issues that are posted here… In my opinion for the money the Cobalt is a very well made car, drives nicely, handles well, rides well, has decent fit and finish, decent stock power, and takes to mods very well.
I drive my car over 200 miles per week to and from work (highway) and various other commuting. In the 2.5 years i’ve owned the car I’ve never had a single issue with it other than my downpipe flex pipe cracking which I replaced with an aftermarket 3" piece. The car has put down 313whp and 305wtq with the current mods and ran a 13.5@109mph on street tires and low timing… these mods and my tune have been on the car for over 2 years without any issue… the car drives 100% like a stock car… in my opinion it’s not the car that really is the issue it’s the people who try building them cheaply and not knowing exactly what needs to be done… Like any S/C car the key is keeping them cool and proper tuning.
I’m currently selling my Cobalt because I’m looking to move into a new project (Cobra, Vette, Camaro SS etc.) so it’s time to get rid of the car. If you’re interested here is the link to my classifed thread for the car - http://nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63949
Feel free to ask me anything about the car or Cobalts in general… unlike some people who like to spew out negativity about the car and give it a bad rep I have built and lived with my Cobalt for long enough to give an actual and honest review of it. By no means is the car a BMW or anything but for an economy car from my experience it rivals anything else on the market.
Yes. Im not saying it has never been taken WOT or anything, but it isnt driven hard daily, nor is it raced ext. Brents friends car I believe was GM’s stage 2. IIRC a factory supported performance pack, which shouldn’t cause issues. IDK man they just seem to have WAY to many issues, not to mention loose value like its going out of style, and IMO there is just no draw to them, Its not even like it has the charm of an old VW or something, in which case owners of charming cars like that often are prepared for issues and live with them ya know ? IDK there are FAR better choices.
Edit: Not to mention, the pre owned market for these things has to be sketchy, just the nature of a car aimed at >25 means its going to be hard to find one not put through its paces.
Everyone has their own opinion… mine happens to be entirely opposite of yours. I’ve got a few friends around my area with Cobalts as well and none of them have experienced the issues you’re stating… The worst thing I’ve seen go bad on their cars was a bad wheel bearing…
As far as resale all cars diminish in value but the car was only around 20-22k new… my car is 4 years old and still books for about 15k… I honestly don’t think that’s all that terrible…
Your car also is probably the best modded implementation of theses cars Ive ever seen though. Plain and simple there just isnt any safer way to put down the pwr you do, than with your setup. So yeah Id think that would command some value. It really does just come down to personal preference, and for me the boy racer looks (that screams Hey Im under 25) and the fit and finish, some say its decent, I dont agree, I think its below average for the class. You would be better of paying a bit more for a GTI, MS3, or WRX or something.
Just the fact that he left the 18’s and summer tires on during winter throws responsible out the window. The video of him just spinning constantly, knowing he wasn’t going to move was pointless.
To the OP. Seriously just go test drive one. One test drive for me and I was sold. I still love driving my car, I just wish the value didn’t drop so bad. Test drive a supercharged one and then test drive the turbo version. They made changes to the suspension, and transmission. Also has different seats, but interior is almost unchanged otherwise.