Newbie Questions

[Squilliam]

Heya! I’m William. New here and such.

Given the old axiom of “you don’t know what you don’t know,” when buying a Sonic, what are common break points I should look for? Sounds I should listen for when test driving? Buttons I should press to see if they still work?

As I understand it, the massive use of plastic in the engine bay is a major failure point. This can commonly lead to overheating. I have no problem redoing the cooling system with ZZP’s replacement parts. Are there any glaring signs I should look for?

 

[Amish_Country_Sonic]

Don't walk, run!

 

[bothell joe]

Has anyone followed up to your RFI? I am interested because I just bought a 2017 with 100k on it. Lol

 

[logandsawman]

Heya! I’m William. New here and such.

Given the old axiom of “you don’t know what you don’t know,” when buying a Sonic, what are common break points I should look for? Sounds I should listen for when test driving? Buttons I should press to see if they still work?

As I understand it, the massive use of plastic in the engine bay is a major failure point. This can commonly lead to overheating. I have no problem redoing the cooling system with ZZP’s replacement parts. Are there any glaring signs I should look for?

Sounds like you will either be lucky or not. My Sonic has been one of the best cars I have ever owned, and I am 65 years old and my first car a 1968 VW squareback.

If they are keeping a maintenance schedule, that is a big plus.

Dave

 

[LilRedLtz]

As Dave said maintenance records would be a plus. I didn't catch if it was a 1.8 or 1.4 turbo, two very different engines with different issues to look for. 1.8 has a timing belt with a 90,000 mile replacement recomendation and the 1.4 has a timing chain, i just changed mine at 175000mi. The pcv is a common fail point on the 1.4 and there are very good write ups and fixes in this forum and the cruze forum. I have loved both the Sonics i've owned and would say check it over as good as you can and make sure everything sounds and runs good. There are posts on this forum if you haven't read them yet about common issues for either engine.