Utah Auto Repair Shops

UT Car Consumer Discussions

2009 TCH picking up on 11/17/08

by nighshft on Thu Nov 13 17:51:13 PST 2008

Ordered mine by phone 2 months ago - got it fully loaded, ( Nav, satelite radio etc...) from Competition Toyota, Long Island NY. included will be P2( wanted Sirius not XM satelite and got it) GO BM SR LA UT CQ did not buy the floor mats, (can do better) price31,649.00 I was happy with it - looked for several months, beat up a lot of salespeople....no one was able to match this

Re: my take [62vetteefp]

by anythngbutgm on Mon Nov 10 13:53:27 PST 2008

I can name a few very recent efforts that GM could've saved money on. - How many Lambda utes do you need? Was the Traverse necessary? - Did Saab really need to invest the time, the marketing, the engineering into the "Black" series (or whatever goofy lingo they want to call it) only to sell a total of 1500 copies? Does Saab need to exist at all? The brand is about as healthy as Isuzu was. Cutting them loose would save a lot of investment dollars IMO. - How about the engineering it took to add V8 option to the Colorado and Canyon pickups? Why? They were beyond pathetic when they came out and with the hint of 4+ dollar gas, a V8 is the last thing I would've thought they needed to generate sales. How about instead, using that cake to start from scratch? How about NOT letting them wither on the vine for a 10 year life cycle? What a waste. Even piddly little things like the little "GM" badges that go on every vehicle, those don't seem to have made much of an impact?

Lead Feet at Edmunds?

by micweb on Fri Nov 07 09:17:44 PST 2008

I owned a 2006 Cobalt 5 speed coupe and got 35 mpg with in on highway trips, and 33 mpg on my mostly freeway commute. It only had one defect: a rattle in the dash. I just traded in a 2008 Honda Fit on a 2009 Cobalt Sedan LS, auto transmission, ABS & protection package & spare tire. I got $1500 off in rebates, $600 off from the dealer, and $1,000 off from my GM Card. Discounts on Cobalts are now once again easy to find (for a while they were scarce due to the resurgent interest in small cars). So compared to other small cars (with the exception of the Focus) I think the Cobalt IS less expensive. I have put three tanks of gas through the new Cobalt, and have an overall average of 31.5 mpg with the automatic. Based on the mileage you are reporting, I think your test drivers are having fun with the great acceleration potential of the upgraded 2.2 engine. I'd like to see you run your test sample down to empty, refill and reset the mpg calculator, put an old-timer in it and have them drive a long freeway trip keeping the speed under 70. I think you would see more like 33-35 mpg. I got 35 mpg on my "country road" drives to Yosemite on my old Cobalt 5 speed. I'll take your word for it that the car has dicey handling at the limits. In my experience driving at "normal" aggressive urban speeds, my new Cobalt handles on ramp sweeps with more aplomb than the Fit or my other current driver, a Nissan Versa (6 speed). The tires don't seem anywhere near their limits when I take on and offramp sweeps fast, I don't notice any issues on street cornering or any squeal in parking structures. You mentioned that you have the Contis on your sample, same as on my non-XFE (since mine is an auto). These Contis are very quiet, very smooth, and as I said seem to have plenty of grip. Mind you, I'm pretty fussy, I often swap out stock tires on economy cars for Falken Ziex 512's or Kumho KH16's, but when I did this on my former Cobalt (I used the Falkens in that case) I noticed no improvement in handling, but an increase in tire noise from pavement. I disagree with your love of power windows, door locks, and mirrors. Ok, I agree with you that mirrors should all be power operated these days, to allow adjustment on the freeway and to allow swapping drivers (some drivers might ignore the adjustment, and that creates a safety issue). BUT AT LEAST the mirrors on the Cobalt are in "fixed"housings - the manual mirrors on my Echo adjusted as complete unit (hosing moved too) so they got knocked out of wack at the car wash, a real annoyance. On my former Caliber, the manual mirrors had no inside adjustment level, so you had to roll down the windows. On my former Focus, the adjustment levers were so large they got knocked out of alignment when the car wash people cleaner the interior. At least on the Cobalt, the levers are small and out of the way. Keep in mind, spoiled generation, that most of these cars are driven by ONE driver consistently and once you set the mirrors you can pretty much forget about them for months if not years. On the issue of power windows and door locks, once again, this is principally a commuter car. A single mom reduced to compact car status instead of a minivan or sport ute might not like having to manually open each door, but let me tell you, as a parent, I like it this way. Manual door locks and manual windows are reassuringly simple - easy to operate and easy to fix. No kid ever got strangled by a malfunctioning manual window. No one in an irrigation ditch ever had a problem opening a manual vs. power window. As for the door locks. I just reach across to open the rear far door so I can get my gym bag out of the back. On the Fit, I had to go through a cumbersome routine (I had power locks but no remote) to lock the drivers door but have the far door open. How about that high lip on the trunk? Like it. The floor is low relative to the lip, so when I throw my gym bag in there, it's not easy for street people to see if there was other stuff in there. On the Fit, I didn't feel safe opening the trunk at destination, either going into the gym or coming back, because the flat floor gave an easy line of sight into everything stored back there. You did nail the ride, and I think it has improved since my 2006, that or coming off the Fit and Versa I appreciate the great engineering that goes into the Cobalt. Yes, it rides like my old 2006 Impala, and that is a good thing. It's also an order of magnitude quieter than the Versa and two orders of magnitude quieter than the Fit. This is a car I could drive from SF to LA without excessive fatigue. So what are the faults you find? Biggest are the tires, easy to correct with $50 tires from Tire Rack. Next, the handling at extremes. Easy to fix with a sway bar kit from Eibach through Tire Rack. The have Hawk HPS street performance brake pads, too. Speed control? Rostra makes an aftermarket unit, and since the actual cruise control chores are handled by the ECM via the drive by wire throttle, no mechanical mods to worry about (the Rostra unit doesn't even require wiring on the cabin control unit, it uses a transponder). I am debating whether to pick up an XFE Coupe as a "sleeper" sports car. The Coupe is nice looking. But the sedan would work, too. Install from Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires on it (more costly than the Falkens and Kumho's I mentioned, but top rated); install the Eibach sway bars; install the Hawk HPS pads. Less than $1,000 to take full advantage of that wonderful engine and 5 speed. (If you want to go further than this, just pull the VIN for an SS off the web and swap in the struts and springs and shocks - OEM parts, even from the performance models, are wonderfully cheap). I can't believe the performance oriented world of the '60's and 70's has morphed into the anti-functional bling world of the new millenium, where its more important to have a noisy muffler than doesn't really improve power, a noisy cold air intake that hardly improves power, extreme harsh lowering springs (Eibachs come to mind, yes I tried a set twice and hated them both times), and wide ultra low profile tires, than to smartly upgrade a car like the XFE to take advantage of its potential. Yeah, I believe nothing more than tires would change its character as a daily driver, the sway bars would make it a fun canyon carver. And still preserve its utility as a commuter. What are the RPM on the XFE now that Chevy has dropped the final ratio? My 2006 had much higher RPM than my 2009 auto version. I'd like to see the engine load on the highway, I'm not averse to downshifting to 4th or even 3rd for quick passing power....

I feel everyones PAIN!

by agoodwin on Fri Nov 07 08:44:38 PST 2008

Man, that sucks that your rotors have gone to the dog's again. I really know how you feel. I went through 2 pair of rotors and one set of calipers on my 2000 Ex. It only had 7700 miles on it before someone crashed into it and totaled it out. Mabey a ABS problem? I wonder if that year is a :lemon: ? Although my 2001 Ex. did the same thing, but only once. I was lucky, my Excursions were still under warentee and Ford fixed them. Then I traded in my 2001 with 21000 miles on it, for a 2004 Ex. Eddie Bauer. The first thing I did was the brakes. The Cryo brakes have been working great with 28000 miles and I don't baby them by no means. I did not use FROZEN ROTORS so I can't compare them to the ones I have. I wish that yours had been reliable as mine. You may try twtcads fix with the slotted and dimpled rotors. He has 60K on them and no problems. I would look at the calipers real close and make sure that the pins move very easy without any slop in the bushing. This is a typical Ford caliper hang up. I wish I could suggest another solution for this braking problem. Good luck and I hope you get this fixed without a major headache. :sick: C/ya Later Andrew

Re: The Mazda5 - I own one and the best Hwy MPG

by cumadogg on Mon Nov 03 00:32:35 PST 2008

I have ever had was on a trip from SLC to Denver and that was just over 26 MPG - and that was with just me and a suitcase. With all 6 seats filled, I am hard pressed to get over 22 MPG. 30 MPG isn't going to happen in the 5.

Re: 2010 Lexus RX [dm1212]

by lexusguy on Sat Nov 01 16:08:30 PDT 2008

My dealer said the Q5 will have a nice smooth ride. Safety will be amongst the best, Audi's are solid. Will crush it's class honestly, Audi has reasonable prices and more bang for the buck compared to Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes. I think its going up against the GLK, X3, and RX? I'm betting the Q5 is going to be good. The only engine choice (at least until a possible diesel appears) will be the 3.1L FSI, which in Q5 guise produces 270hp, more than plenty for her. My wife thinks the X3's ride is a bit too hard, the steering is too heavy, the brakes are too grabby, and the transmission is too dimwitted (but other than that its great!), but even she thought the RX300 was a bit too wobbly and dull, so I don't think we want to go back that far in the other direction. The Q5 with ADS will have comfort mode for her, and dynamic mode for me. The compact lux ute market is heating up with a lot of competitors now. When we leased the X3, the only two other choices were bad ones - Acura RDX or Land Rover LR2. Now there's also the Infiniti EX35, Benz GLK, and Volvo XC60, but I don't think any are near as good as the Q5. The RX has grown out of the 180" compact segment where it started. Currently its around 186, and the next one will be nearly 190, firmly in mid-size.