1.4 vs 1.8 build count

[2N10S]

Does anyone know what the ratio is of 1.4 turbos vs 1.8L is? One of the salesmen I talked to told me 1.4 turbos were out of supply for 2.5 months and he would not entertain trying to even find me one though another dealer did and got my business.

 

[sbpphoenix]

probably 20% turbo and 80% N/A.

 

[Gman77]

Plenty of 1.8's at the dealer when I ordered my 1.4 turbo. I think that was the configuration (1.8) GM wanted to supply. Go figure..

 

[rdss]

There were probably 25 Sonics (HB and sedan mix) when I picked up mine turbo sedan and it was the only turbo on the lot. The Sales floor didn't even know they had a turbo Sonic until I told them I wanted to drive the turbo one.

 

[2N10S]

Seems to me like the demand is high for turbo versions if there are that many 1.8s on the lot and hardly any 1.4Ts. The dealer I got mine from only had only one 1.4T but it was an auto and had to do a trade with an out of town dealer to get me my manual. Sounds like GM needs to pump out alot more turbos and the dealers should be requesting them too.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

1.4 vs 1.8L Build Count

Does anyone know what the ratio is of 1.4 turbos vs 1.8L is? One of the salesmen I talked to told me 1.4 turbos were out of supply for 2.5 months and he would not entertain trying to even find me one though another dealer did and got my business.

Unfortunately I don't have production information. Glad you were able to find a Chevy dealership that went the extra mile to find your Sonic.

Have a great weekend!

Vanessa, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

[laborsmith]

Interesting thread. There has from time to time been a constraint on the turbo Sonic but not for a very long time. After the original multi-month constraint, the manual transmission turbo Sonic has had marginal constraints, such as color choices, if I recall correctly. I do not recall there being any other constraint of long standing other than the LS being limited to 25% of production throughout the whole model year.

I would have thought that by now the dealers could have figured out that there is a higher demand for the turbo Sonic than is in general being met. But I guess I thought wrong.

Laborsmith

 

[sonic hotness]

Had to get mine from another dealer they told me thenturbo was rare

 

[LS1notFOUND]

around march the tables turned and all the models at my dealer seem to be arriving turbo...this is a military town though and go fast is what everyone wants and shiny objects. out the door for under 15K with extended warranty motivated my 1.8L purchase when turbos couldnt be found.

 

[Swordsmith]

Not only did my local dealer not have a turbo, neither did about 18 other dealerships in the area; on the Chevy "find my car" site, only ONE dealership listed any turbo's at all... and it turned out they had quite a few, including 5 with manual transmission. Nearly an hour's drive each way to get to them to do a test drive.

Now I'm not sure whether to get my local dealer to do a trade, or whether to drive out there again if I decide that's the way I want to go... I hate to reward my local dealership for failing to carry the full Chevy lineup, but then again, if I need service, it would be nice to be able to go to my local in-town dealer.

 

[Eric Smit]

You can always go to your local Chevy dealer to get a service. You don't need to buy the car there to get service there.


-Eric Smit

 

[Stubby]

Ya know, I didn't even notice the ratio at the dealership. When I went in, I told them exactly what I wanted and pretty much said, "If you have it, cool, if not, I will go somewhere else." They just happened to have my 1.4T Auto in stock.

 

[ThatTmoGuy]

the dealer i got my car from had a pretty good choice of the turbo's in a hatch but only two in a sedan. you could get whatever 1.8 you wanted though. it just means that my car is that much more special :banana:

 

[Johnny Alien]

I would have thought that by now the dealers could have figured out that there is a higher demand for the turbo Sonic than is in general being met.

Based on what information? Internet forums are a very very small subset of the car buying population. At my local dealers the turbos have been sitting and the 1.8's have been selling. Car magazines and enthusiast forums will always yield a higher bias towards a car with more torque and such but the average consumer probably doesn't care as much. They are looking for a decent priced small car with good gas mileage. On top of that the 1.8 is a really nice engine that just gets slagged in auto magazines because they like the added sport the turbo offers. Dealers get in what they can sell and if it looks like they are stocking more 1.8's there's probably a reason. I bought my Sonic hatch from a dealer that had 4 hatches in stock. 2 were turbo 2 were not. The turbos are still there.

Of course it doesn't help that you can add extra packages to the non-turbo and have them work out to the same price. So the average joe sees one Sonic with the connectivity package and fog lights and another without it for the exact same price.

 

[LS1notFOUND]

based on what I've been seeing, my 5spd LS seems be in the minority. So those looking for a used stick shift econo could want to snatch it up when sale time comes

 

[laborsmith]

Based on anecdotal evidence, some of it my own experience, when searching for a turbo Sonic. Admittedly unreliable but as I do not have access to data that would be more reliable I have to depend on what I can get.

And it could very well be there is not a demand for the turbo version that I have lead myself to think there is. We do know there are four sedans assembled for every three HBs. And a quick scan of the 15K on cars.com seems to indicate turbo HB versions outnumber turbo sedan versions.

But in the end unless GM releases the specific information this is nothing more than guesswork. One thing I find interesting is Orion Assembly is putting out over 6K sometimes almost 7K Sonics every month, many more than parts makers were told to expect, and I consider that to be good. I think the 2012 model year will have about 80K Sonics built, all for the North American market.

Laborsmith

 

[Johnny Alien]

And a quick scan of the 15K on cars.com seems to indicate turbo HB versions outnumber turbo sedan versions.

This I can totally believe. I would think that on a whole the hatch sells more to a younger crowd or a more sport tuned crowd. Thus percentage wise the turbo to 1.8 ratio is probably much higher for the hatches.

 

[jim_de_hunter]

It's the law of supply and demand and careers are made and broken by getting the pricing to match where GM wants to be on the curve. Quickest way to take care of a turbo deficit is to raise the price on them. Check the change in MSRP versus the change in planned production between 2012 and 2013 models and you'll found out where GM expected to be in 2012 and wants to be in 2013.

 

[slitzell]

When i bout my 1.4l hatch, it was the only one on the lot out of about 10 cars. It also was the only turbo in 60mile radius. But 80 miles away I found 3 ltz's

 

[Eric Smit]

When I bought mine, it was the only turbo in a 150 mile radius, which is why I'm stuck with orange instead of the black I wanted. I wasn't driving to Houston for a car. It's okay; the orange has grown on me.


-Eric Smit