What else did you consider besides the Sonic?

[dmanson]

I had it at a tie for the Sonic & the Kia Rio5 from all my online research and youtube visits. I live in a small town so i have to drive a couple hours to look at cars. I really like how the Rio5 looks inside and out and i went to the Kia dealership first. It's a really nice looking car and but they didn't have any Manuals. So the automatic i test drove was really lacking in power and the road noise was horrible.

Next i went to the Chevy dealer and wasn't too pleased with the rear of the sonic or the instrument panel. Took it for a test drive and was blown away by the power of the 1.4l T and the lack of road noise.

So i picked up a Black Sonic Turbo and it's growing on me. I really wish i could put the body of the Rio5 on the frame of the Sonic tho'. BUT i am loving the car.

 

[Alan]

Mini Countryman and the Toyota Yaris SE. Mini was ruled out due to cost with the options my wife wanted. We actually went forward and ordered the Toyota since they didn't have any in the Southeast US. SE Toyota rejected the order almost two months of us submitting the order, so we went with the Sonic (which I feel we should have gone with in the first place).

 

[Ridethesky84]

Cost of Sonic Rs?

How much do you think the Rs will cost?

 

[d.p]

09 Cobalt SS/TC
04 Silverado 2500HD
06 Silverado 1500

 

[TurboGrayLZ]

Watchdoc. I agree with the pleather I also have a 5 month old and a 7 year old, the 7 year old trashed our Malibu with light tan interior. Main reason the traverse has black interior. And the pleather should be easier to keep clean.

Dmanson the rio I believe has a better back end. But my buddy at work has a Kia soul and it's like driving in a enclosed gokart with about as much power. And just feels horrible driving after only about 6 months.

Alan I also think the countryman is a good looking car but as you said way over priced in my opinion

 

[Tbomb 25]

I had it at a tie for the Sonic & the Kia Rio5 from all my online research and youtube visits. I live in a small town so i have to drive a couple hours to look at cars. I really like how the Rio5 looks inside and out and i went to the Kia dealership first. It's a really nice looking car and but they didn't have any Manuals. So the automatic i test drove was really lacking in power and the road noise was horrible.

Next i went to the Chevy dealer and wasn't too pleased with the rear of the sonic or the instrument panel. Took it for a test drive and was blown away by the power of the 1.4l T and the lack of road noise.

So i picked up a Black Sonic Turbo and it's growing on me. I really wish i could put the body of the Rio5 on the frame of the Sonic tho'. BUT i am loving the car.

I do agree the Rio is very nice,but no manual for the SX is a killer,but even with that its steering is numb and it has a rough ride with sloppy handling,that looks a little to much like the Fiesta although i think they beat Ford at their own game because it looks better.The Sonic look is much more unique the Sonics rear-end is growing on me i like how wide it looks back there im starting to see some Vette cues with the wideness...but again the Rio is a very feature friendly packed attractive package.

 

[Tbomb 25]

How much do you think the Rs will cost?

Seeing that they didnt give it a power bump they would have to undercut the Veloster Turbo and 500 Abarth's base price by about $1500...so maybe about $21k.

 

[Tbomb 25]

For me it would all depend on the price of the veloster turbo once it was released, it would be faster but I think a tuned sonic 1.4 would still be way cheaper then it.

Yeah but you void your warranty.

I heard that the Veloster turbo is really like 180...but i guess we will have to see its times....a tune would still whup up on 1....and you can hide the tune...just gotta be smart about it...

 

[xtremsonic]

I was looking at the Hyundai Elantra (nice but boring), and the Honda CRZ (really cool but wasn't crazy about it being a 2 seater). Besides I have always been loyal to Chevy and when I saw the Sonic and what you got for the price, it was almost a no brainer. I just got prices for my trade in from other dealers so the Chevy dealership knew I was shopping around. It worked because I got an extra $1500 for my truck and $2000 off my Sonic.

 

[Alan]

Alan I also think the countryman is a good looking car but as you said way over priced in my opinion

What really killed it for us was the need for premium gas in the base non-turbo motor.

 

[PeteSkids]

Looked at the Jeep Patriot, Ford Focus, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Versa. Liked the Jeep and the Sonic the best so it came down to overall cost and MPG. I'm still a Jeep guy at heart but Sonic FTW

 

[dmanson]

I looked at the Jeep P also. But i couldn't beleive that it didn't have A/C to start with. They wanted 1k to add it. That's a no go. In NM A/C is a must.

Once i added that and a couple other things. The price shot up.

Looked at the Jeep Patriot, Ford Focus, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Versa. Liked the Jeep and the Sonic the best so it came down to overall cost and MPG. I'm still a Jeep guy at heart but Sonic FTW

 

[FIMS]

Hyundai Veloster, and had my Bonneville not blow up at a Chevy dealer, I would have probably second guessed myself and bought that instead (I did enjoy my genesis untill someone decided to try to fit an F150 in the trunk)

 

[Eric Smit]

Hyundai Veloster, and had my Bonneville not blow up at a Chevy dealer, I would have probably second guessed myself and bought that instead

It was fate!



-Eric Smit

 

[omniman]

I like the Dodge Challenger but price, the price of gas,and the cost of 4 tires = 5 car payments of the Sonic.When I first seen it I thought it was a restored car.Good thing the Sonic came out because i was hooked after the test drive saved me a lot of money.

 

[TMac]

For me I looked at the
Mazda 2
Ford Fiesta HB
Hyundai Accent HB / Kia Rio 5

It boiled down to the Honda Fit Sport and the Chevy Sonic. I thought that the Fit Sport was trying to be everything for everyone

 

[FIMS]

It was fate!



-Eric Smit

No disagreement here...

 

[ErikBEggs]

For those of you that cross shopped the Cruze, you were right. very similar, but the Cruze is a WHALE compared to the Sonic. The listed vehicle weight of my Cruze LTZ RS is 3167 lbs. Put me in it and we're pretty tubby

 

[jdvrider]

I had it at a tie for the Sonic & the Kia Rio5 from all my online research and youtube visits. I live in a small town so i have to drive a couple hours to look at cars. I really like how the Rio5 looks inside and out and i went to the Kia dealership first. It's a really nice looking car and but they didn't have any Manuals. So the automatic i test drove was really lacking in power and the road noise was horrible.

Next i went to the Chevy dealer and wasn't too pleased with the rear of the sonic or the instrument panel. Took it for a test drive and was blown away by the power of the 1.4l T and the lack of road noise.

So i picked up a Black Sonic Turbo and it's growing on me. I really wish i could put the body of the Rio5 on the frame of the Sonic tho'. BUT i am loving the car.

Hey dmanson - my story was similar to yours. I had been looking at many vehicles but what started me on the Sonic was a trip to a Kia dealer. I went to look at the new Soul (already ruled out the Rio5 due to manual only in the base model) and felt it was very noisy and not fun to drive. Not that I should be surprised by this, but I read a lot of reviews talking about how well it handled - still a box on wheels, guess I was hoping for something similar to my old 1st gen xB.

Anyways, drove the Soul, hated it and was already at the auto mall so I wandered over to Chevy since I knew they had a new small car out. Sales guy talked me into driving a turbo hatchback and it was awesome. I'm a lifelong hatchback fan but I actually liked the sedan better in person. Took several months before they got a cyber grey sedan but I finally drove mine home this weekend.

 

[Izzytoo]

My first Chevy

I drive about 3000 miles a year mostly errands so I started out thinking I would get a lightly used something. But then after shopping around I looked at small new cars and was pleasantly surprised at how well-equipped the 2012s are. So read reviews then hit the road and did a circuit of all our local dealers, because I need to get hands-on to check the interior comfort levels and control knobs.

Hyundai Accent: Good first impression, liked the look of it and the colors. Never was able to test-drive one because the dealer couldn't keep them in stock. But I was really put off by the lack of a spare tire, and after seeing that signature side swoop on a jillion Elantras and Sonatas since then, I'm glad I didn't bite.

Toyota Yaris: Soooo cheap inside

Honda Fit: Felt like more car than I wanted, too beefy somehow

Nissan Versa: Not bad, it stayed on the list, even though we had one as a rental last fall and the road noise was bad at interstate speeds. Never did go back and test drive.

Fiat 500: I soooo wanted to love this car, because I am a girl and it was sooooo cute and all the colors etc. But it was a bit cramped inside and lacked any kind of storage for sunglasses and stuff and the road noise was too noticeable. If I were buying for just 2 or 3 years I mighta, but I had my last car for over 12 years. Old me would get tired of this one.

Ford Fiesta: My first three cars were Fords (1971 Pinto, 1978 Mustang II, 1984 Tempo) and I really expected to buy one of these. But the auto transmission was .... quirky. And the interior/dash controls didn't feel comfortable.

Sonic: Felt like home the instant I sat in it. Love the cubbyholes, the 2nd glovebox, the controls (though it did take me some effort to figure out the menus). And THEN I drove it. So smooth, quiet and it feels like a much bigger car. Gave it a week then went back and drove it again. Ended up buying the one we test drove. If I had ordered I probably would have got the red but now I am really loving the black (sedan). It's been two months and I am sooooo happy.