Its a shame that Chevrolet at least is really coming into its stride with up to date interior design and quality just before they are going to go out of business. Oh well.

 

NOoooooooooo

My wife builds Accords in Marysville ..ya'll need to buy more Accords

 

The most interesting part of that article was that Jaguar under Indian ownership rocketed to #1 in reliability!

If they can do that to Land Rover, that's where my money's going.

 

Looks way better than a Cobalt, that's for sure, and the Cobalt isn't a bad car. It's not as nice as a Civic or Corolla but it's way better than the old Cavalier.

I still can't see this over a Civic, though. Similar power in a "new generation" car, I prefer the looks of the Civic, plus I'd get guaranteed quality, reliability, and also resale value in the Civic.

The only thing it looks to offer is a lot of interior room. I didn't see numbers to compare it to the others in the segment but it sounds bigger inside.

That said, take a look at what a used 2008 Cobalt is going for. You can get them all day long for less than $9K (asking price!) from a dealer. MSRP was roughly $14900 so you're losing about 40% in one year!

Even if you go by an initial purchase price of $12500 ($2.5K off MSRP, which is $2000 under invoice, available at a few dealerships), you're still losing 28% of your purchase value in ONE YEAR! Private party sales are even lower and chances are your trade-in value or PP sale is more like 35-38% of your initial purchase price (excluding TTL, which would only make it worse).

I wouldn't want to absorb that hit on a new vehicle. If I bought one of these, it'd be used.

 

I'll always be skeptical about American cars no matter how many awards the reviewers give it. The problem with reviewers is they only test the car when it's brand new and they only drive it for a few days. The real test of quality and reliability comes after the car is broken in. At 2 years old most American cars show the wear and tear of a 10 year old Honda or Toyota.

 

I might buy one around Xmas time 2009 depending on how much of a discount I can get.

 

Not Sure, I'm not sure I can agree with you. Most American cars look about the same after two years as when new. I know that was the case with My Contour SVT. Heck, my buddy's '96 Grand Am looked about the same near 10 years later. It never looked good but it held up well. Really I think that is a perception that is somewhat based on fact but is also blown out of proportion. I've seen people get into domestic cars and pull on parts and proclaim how they aren't really strong. Get into a Honda or Toyota and you would see the same thing but people now seem to give them a pass on nearly identical build details.

 

You don't have to agree - everyone's entitled to an opinion as everyone has different experiences. My opinion is based on my experience with domestics cars from the 1980's - back when I was a "Domestic only" guy. Now I'm an "Import only" guy. I know the American auto industry has improved their quality since 20 years ago, but I doubt they're up to the standard set by Euro and Jap imports. I'm also basing my opinion on my experiences with rental cars. I rent frequently and every American rental car I've been in looked much older than it's import counterpart despite equal amounts of use/abuse. I'm talking about things like chrome trim flaking off and showing the plastic beneath - climate control knobs falling off - upholstery stitching coming loose...quality control problems that you just don't see in import cars and things that a reviewer wouldn't know about unless he's had the car for more than a few days.

 

Well, that was all Ford's doing. Ford spent a ton of money updating Jag just to sell it off. Fortunately, Ford did the same for its US plants as well.

 

[QUOTE=JonBoy,Apr 2 2009, 05:12 PM] That said, take a look at what a used 2008 Cobalt is going for.