Renting a Chevy Sonic

[Throckmorton]

I just moved back to Maui and I'm waiting for my Mustang to get here so I've been renting cars. Before this I had a 2007 Kia Spectra which actually impressed me. It's quieter at highway speed than my Mustang, doesn't handle too bad, and looks really generic which would probably be perfect for a private investigator.

My car got delayed so I had to get a new rental for a whole week... And it's a Sonic which is awesome. Handling is sharp, the steering has good resistance, it has a ridiculous amount of grip for such little tires. It also handles better than the Mustang on rough roads like this one on my commute-- duh, it has an independent torsion beam rear suspension. But the best thing about the Sonic is that it doesn't feel like a cheap car. The controls and buttons all have nice positive feedback and look expensive.

The gauges look cool too... very scifi but without the usual vivid blue you get in other brands. It's a nice pale blue. BTW that 33.7mpg is with pretty aggressive driving.

 

[phucheneh]

I have not driven one outside of a parking lot, but it still generally impressed me. Same with the Cruze. It is hard to believe that GM's previous offerings were the Aveo and Cobalt, a.k.a. two of most miserable pieces of garbage to have actually been manufactured in the past decade. To go from 'I really can't think of a worse car in this class' to 'this seems nicer than any of its competitors' is pretty stark contrast.

 

[RichieZ]

yea i got a cruze when i visited maui last year, nice little car

my daily is a camry, the cruze was a better car. of course I'd rather have my boxster in maui

 

[xanis]

I have a LTZ hatch with the 1.8L and 6-speed auto.

I looked at and tested the usual suspects (Rio, Fiesta, Mazda2) and the Sonic seemed the best to me for comfort and fit-and-finish. I had myself convinced that I'd wind up with the Rio5 because it seemed the best on paper, but I really wasn't impressed at all after I drove it (felt sluggish, hated the driving position). Like phucheneh said, it's pretty incredible that this car comes from the same company that made the Aveo. I've had more than one person get in the car and say, "I can't believe that this is a Chevy".

I love the car, but I have two big complaints:

1) Transmission. I don't know why, but the 6-spd they put in the automatics is AWFUL. It's constantly hunting for a gear and the shifts are pretty harsh. I wish I had spent more time learning stick so I could have gone with the manual 1.4T.

2) Gas mileage. I average 33-34 on the highway if I'm careful, and I only get about 24-25 in the city. I was expecting the mileage to be a lot better for a car of this size.

 

[SAWYER]

Damn that must be expensive to ship a car to Maui

 

[smackababy]

I have a LTZ hatch with the 1.8L and 6-speed auto.

I looked at and tested the usual suspects (Rio, Fiesta, Mazda2) and the Sonic seemed the best to me for comfort and fit-and-finish. I had myself convinced that I'd wind up with the Rio5 because it seemed the best on paper, but I really wasn't impressed at all after I drove it (felt sluggish, hated the driving position). Like phucheneh said, it's pretty incredible that this car comes from the same company that made the Aveo. I've had more than one person get in the car and say, "I can't believe that this is a Chevy".

I love the car, but I have two big complaints:

1) Transmission. I don't know why, but the 6-spd they put in the automatics is AWFUL. It's constantly hunting for a gear and the shifts are pretty harsh. I wish I had spent more time learning stick so I could have gone with the manual 1.4T.

2) Gas mileage. I average 33-34 on the highway if I'm careful, and I only get about 24-25 in the city. I was expecting the mileage to be a lot better for a car of this size.

My GF has a Sonic and I've driven it quite a bit. I agree on both points. The transmission isn't smooth. It is like it doesn't want to shift sometimes. The gas mileage should be better as well, but it isn't awful.

Other than those two "issues" it has been a great car. It isn't as nice as my Audi, but it didn't cost nearly as much either.

 

[Vetterin]

The Sonic and Cruze are great little cars and have really helped Chevys' sales. I drive a 2011 Cruze Eco 6MT and after 50,000 miles am averaging 40.4mpg. The 6 speed manual is really smooth (I would actually say it shifts ALMOST as good as my Contour SVT used to) and the car has held up very well so far. The gas mileage on either model will be much less with the automatic. Get the Sonic with the 1.4L turbo and while not a barn burner you will have a pretty fun to drive car.

 

[twinrider1]

...Maui.... private investigator.

There is only one car for you.

 

[Pocatello]

Small cars are a lot nicer now. I rented a Ford Fiesta a few months ago, I liked it a lot.

 

[SearchMaster]

There is only one car for you.

Damn the theme song just cued in my head

 

[BUTCH1]

I have not driven one outside of a parking lot, but it still generally impressed me. Same with the Cruze. It is hard to believe that GM's previous offerings were the Aveo and Cobalt, a.k.a. two of most miserable pieces of garbage to have actually been manufactured in the past decade. To go from 'I really can't think of a worse car in this class' to 'this seems nicer than any of its competitors' is pretty stark contrast.

I had an Aveo for 3 days, it was a free rental and I found everything about it horrific, even slower than an Escort, poor fuel mileage for such a tiny car, crappy brakes, poor handling, cheapest interior ever installed in any car sans the Yugo, the AC did work OK but was such a load on the engine it was like driving with the parking brake on LOL..

 

[mmntech]

Small cars are a lot nicer now. I rented a Ford Fiesta a few months ago, I liked it a lot.

I really like the Fiesta's interior. Though they originally didn't have a right arm rest. My only gripe.

Good to see GM improving the interior quality of their cars. I remember going around in the Cobalts all the time just a few years ago. Those were horrendously bad.

 

[Lithium381]

I've been traveling a lot for work, and i've had the Chevy Sonic, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris and a Mazda 3. Out of all of them the Yaris was my favorite.

 

[CraigRT]

Good to see GM improving the interior quality of their cars. I remember going around in the Cobalts all the time just a few years ago. Those were horrendously bad.

I think that was honestly one of the worst cars ever made... The Cobalt.. Soooo cheap

 

[xanis]

I think that was honestly one of the worst cars ever made... The Cobalt.. Soooo cheap

I had a '00 Cavalier before my Sonic. No power windows or locks, asthmatic A/C, and awful gas mileage for a car that size, and the 3-speed automatic kept my at 3500-4000RPM on the highway. Couldn't be worse the Cobalt... right? That said, it was a reliable car: I bought it at around 75K miles and put ~45K on it, and the only thing I did beyond oil changes and brake pads was replace the A/C compressor.

Speaking of the Sonic, here's mine after a long-overdue wash:

 

[Pocatello]

I think that was honestly one of the worst cars ever made... The Cobalt.. Soooo cheap

The Cobalt was a luxury car compared with a Dodge Neon I had. The Neon was loud at any speed, but it got scary over 75 MPH, the interior bits came apart after 20K miles. It was leaking all kind of fluids after 30K miles.

 

[evident]

The Cobalt was a luxury car compared with a Dodge Neon I had. The Neon was loud at any speed, but it got scary over 75 MPH, the interior bits came apart after 20K miles. It was leaking all kind of fluids after 30K miles.

neon however was 1 or 2 generations older than cobalt, no?

 

[Jimzz]

neon however was 1 or 2 generations older than cobalt, no?

Depends on the year. The 2nd gen neon was 2000-05 and the first Gen cobalt came out in 2004. So they had a little overlap on the models.


But the cobalt was like a high end car at the time compared to what it replaced. GM at the time just took small cars for granted due to the crazy money they made from trucks/suvs. Now with gas prices they can't get by on just trucks/suvs anymore.