2,500 miles in: 5-door 1.4 turbo LTZ stick

B

Barry Oppenheim

New member
All:

Thought it worthwhile to put my $.02 in....I found this site very helpful before my purchase - perhaps I'll be able to repay the favor for someone...

Picked-up my vehicle May 11 -- so far, mostly positive. Turbo makes the car reasonably quick - especially in 2nd & 3rd gear (don't confuse quick with fast - not the same thing...). Gas mileage - good (averaging 36 mpg) - but using the AC definitely sucks some mileage out. Handling is good, body structure - so far - has been very solid. After recently reading this forum, I'm a bit apprehensive about what's to come - but here's hoping the structure stays solid. To my eyes, it's still a very sharp looking car. Utility is terrific.

Issues? Well, just a few, but absolutely nothing serious:

I've (also) had occasional 'clunking' over bumps. Now that I've read the forum, seems like it's something the dealer can actually fix - so that's great news.

The driver-side seat-belt insertion / armrest in the way is a bit of a 'clunky' maneuver. No - not terrible - but just a bit odd. Hey - if this is an issue, I don't have many issues, right?

Things I would like to see changed:

The lack of a center console bin - where the 2 cup holders are - is a bit of a disappointment: there's not too much space to put 'stuff'. Yes, 2 glove-box areas, but neither holds too much. The small dash bins are sort of useless - has anyone figured a good use for them?

My Pontiac Vibe had (has) a passenger-side from seat that could fold forward - in a flat position. Very helpful for carrying long items. Would be a good addition to the Sonic.

How about an armrest for the passenger?

That's about it - I have no other suggestions!

I'm still thrilled that GM is making such a competitive car here in the USA.

And I'm proud to own it.
 
SSpeckerwood

SSpeckerwood

New member
Barry Oppenheim said:
All:

Thought it worthwhile to put my $.02 in....I found this site very helpful before my purchase - perhaps I'll be able to repay the favor for someone...

Picked-up my vehicle May 11 -- so far, mostly positive. Turbo makes the car reasonably quick - especially in 2nd & 3rd gear (don't confuse quick with fast - not the same thing...). Gas mileage - good (averaging 36 mpg) - but using the AC definitely sucks some mileage out. Handling is good, body structure - so far - has been very solid. After recently reading this forum, I'm a bit apprehensive about what's to come - but here's hoping the structure stays solid. To my eyes, it's still a very sharp looking car. Utility is terrific.

Issues? Well, just a few, but absolutely nothing serious:

I've (also) had occasional 'clunking' over bumps. Now that I've read the forum, seems like it's something the dealer can actually fix - so that's great news.

The driver-side seat-belt insertion / armrest in the way is a bit of a 'clunky' maneuver. No - not terrible - but just a bit odd. Hey - if this is an issue, I don't have many issues, right?

Things I would like to see changed:

The lack of a center console bin - where the 2 cup holders are - is a bit of a disappointment: there's not too much space to put 'stuff'. Yes, 2 glove-box areas, but neither holds too much. The small dash bins are sort of useless - has anyone figured a good use for them? My Pontiac Vibe had (has) a passenger-side from seat that could fold forward - in a flat position. Very helpful for carrying long items. Would be a good addition to the Sonic.

How about an armrest for the passenger?

That's about it - I have no other suggestions!

I'm still thrilled that GM is making such a competitive car here in the USA.

And I'm proud to own it.
Click to expand...




i'm actually thrilled with the amount of storage my sonic has.


i fully agree.

putting a tune in your car will change it from quick to pretty quick. ;)
 
simple2me

simple2me

New member
Barry Oppenheim said:
All:

Thought it worthwhile to put my $.02 in....I found this site very helpful before my purchase - perhaps I'll be able to repay the favor for someone...

Picked-up my vehicle May 11 -- so far, mostly positive. Turbo makes the car reasonably quick - especially in 2nd & 3rd gear (don't confuse quick with fast - not the same thing...). Gas mileage - good (averaging 36 mpg) - but using the AC definitely sucks some mileage out. Handling is good, body structure - so far - has been very solid. After recently reading this forum, I'm a bit apprehensive about what's to come - but here's hoping the structure stays solid. To my eyes, it's still a very sharp looking car. Utility is terrific.

Issues? Well, just a few, but absolutely nothing serious:

I've (also) had occasional 'clunking' over bumps. Now that I've read the forum, seems like it's something the dealer can actually fix - so that's great news.

The driver-side seat-belt insertion / armrest in the way is a bit of a 'clunky' maneuver. No - not terrible - but just a bit odd. Hey - if this is an issue, I don't have many issues, right?

Things I would like to see changed:

The lack of a center console bin - where the 2 cup holders are - is a bit of a disappointment: there's not too much space to put 'stuff'. Yes, 2 glove-box areas, but neither holds too much. The small dash bins are sort of useless - has anyone figured a good use for them?

My Pontiac Vibe had (has) a passenger-side from seat that could fold forward - in a flat position. Very helpful for carrying long items. Would be a good addition to the Sonic.

How about an armrest for the passenger?

That's about it - I have no other suggestions!

I'm still thrilled that GM is making such a competitive car here in the USA.

And I'm proud to own it.
Click to expand...

I took delivery of my Sonic on May 19th. I like the car but it's definitely not like my CTS. I have 6000+ miles on the car now and i'm still not use to the suspension and road noise, you can hear and feel every little bump in the road. I'm really considering removing the complete interior and installing some Dynamat Sound Deadener and see if that reduces the noise level. I'm happy with the drivetrain (1.4L/6spd M/T) and the MPG's I'm getting. I'm saving about $80-$100 a week depending on what office I'm working at for the week.

I wish the car had actual gauges, I like gauges, not dummy lights so I've come up with an idea and will be starting that project soon. I'm going to build a fiberglass gauge pod that holds a boost, oil pressure and water temp gauge. I plan on installing it over the tray above the radio and then covering the stereo, a/c control and upper bezels with the 3M DI NOC. Ebay has some blue digital gauges that look like they might match the color of the dash cluster.

Other than those two items, I'm very happy with the car.
 
sonic hotness

sonic hotness

New member
simple2me said:
I took delivery of my Sonic on May 19th. I like the car but it's definitely not like my CTS. I have 6000+ miles on the car now and i'm still not use to the suspension and road noise, you can hear and feel every little bump in the road. I'm really considering removing the complete interior and installing some Dynamat Sound Deadener and see if that reduces the noise level. I'm happy with the drivetrain (1.4L/6spd M/T) and the MPG's I'm getting. I'm saving about $80-$100 a week depending on what office I'm working at for the week.

I wish the car had actual gauges, I like gauges, not dummy lights so I've come up with an idea and will be starting that project soon. I'm going to build a fiberglass gauge pod that holds a boost, oil pressure and water temp gauge. I plan on installing it over the tray above the radio and then covering the stereo, a/c control and upper bezels with the 3M DI NOC. Ebay has some blue digital gauges that look like they might match the color of the dash cluster.

Other than those two items, I'm very happy with the car.
Click to expand...
you should just get the ultra gauge
 
S

slimjim550

New member
I have had my Sonic 5 dr now for just over a month and now have 2300 miles on her. Some of my takes on it so far. Its not a bad car to take on the highway and in fact I like driving it better on the highway better then in town. While I too would prefer to have gauges I am getting used to the layout it does have. As for gas mileage not getting the EPA estimates but still averaging well over 30+ on the highway (only around 22 in town) For a small car all in all its rather comfortable.
Now for some of the issues that could be better. I have the so call premium sound system but the sound....sounds cheap....The drivers info system could be a little more "user friendly" It would have been nice to have "miles to go" and current MPG alternate so that one would show up then the other. The cup holders could have been better placed. And one of the bigger issues we have found in going on trips is in the 5dr I feel it could have been about one foot longer giving it a bigger storage area in the back!!!! With just the two of us we had to use the back seat as well as the "trunk" on our recent two day road trip (I know just take less stuff)
 
CoHPhasor

CoHPhasor

Active member
slimjim550 said:
The cup holders could have been better placed. And one of the bigger issues we have found in going on trips is in the 5dr I feel it could have been about one foot longer giving it a bigger storage area in the back!!!!
Click to expand...

a foot longer and it's the sedan. ;)
 
Eric Smit

Eric Smit

Enforcer
laborsmith said:
How much longer is the Captiva? Maybe one of our Canadian friends knows.

Laborsmith
Click to expand...

While I was at the dealer today I took one of every brochure in the building (I can't stop! Every building I enter!) and the 2012 Chevy Captiva is 180.1 inches long.


-Eric Smit
 
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