Thinking about a Sonic

[RMinNJ]

I finally joined the forum; I'm researching used vehicles and for some reason keep coming back to the Sonic. I have not driven any yet.

Currently I've driven Saabs for the last 20 years but with them no longer in business I find myself wanting something smaller, cheaper, and simpler. Good gas mileage is a goal also. Body integrity seems a goal (see below)

Friends at work all drive Hondas, Toyotas, Acuras.. With no idea what to buy next here's where I am in my research ;

Used Volkswagen Golf; The 2.5 liter engines get poor gas mileage. Not sure
I want to get into a used 2.0T, DSG trans... kind of negates the simplicity requirement.

Ford Fiesta(new/used), Ford Focus (used); ruled out because of DCT transmission issues
(wife already told me it has to be an automatic).

Toyotas Corolla/Matrix; wife has one...it is a very simple, good car. But I would not like driving the
4 speed automatic...the gas mileage is not great.

Hydundai (used elantra?) ; but I read of rust problems with people showing
frames rusting out and newer models having rust.

Honda Civic; (2010-2011); These actually seem similar in weight to the Sonic and the 1.8L/auto combination
seems mature and bulletproof. But,alas, I read of Honda rust problems with people posting pictures of their 2011
doors having rust on the seams.. yikes.

I don't need ultra-reliability...my wife had a 2003 Protege that was one of the most reliable cars we owned...but there was not a panel on it that was not bubbling with rust. Any reliability of the parts was negated by the amount we would have had to spend to fix the body (I cannot do body work).

A terrible first post to the forum I realize but I just wanted to post and let you guys know the Sonic seems pretty good in my research thus far.

RMinNJ

 

[$ub$onic]

Thought Saab was back together ?

Sonic is proving to be pretty reliable with only a handful of issues. Not bad for a cheap Eco box

 

[RMinNJ]

Thought Saab was back together ?

No, GM effectively dismantled Saab.. The new company that took their name; NEVs, is selling them again in Europe. Some fellow Saab people have sworn
off GM but the Sonic has a lot of traits that my 9-3 had; ie.. twist beam rear suspension, fuel efficient turbo, hatch. No idea what my next car should be..

 

[SuperFudd]

Hi RM,

I believe the most reliable Sonic has the 1.8L and automatic. It would probably be the low end LS because it has less stuff to fail.

 

[Blue hedgehog]

So far I love my sonic. I've had it for 14 months and 20600 miles. 1.4t 6 speed automatic LTZ. Here's a list of pros and cons to the power train options.
Engines
1.4t Pros-better acceleration and fuel economy. Cons-water pumps seem to be a common item to leak. The 1.8 n/a has the same hp and torque as the 1.4t but at higher rpms Pros-No water pump issues or turbo to wory about (not that the turbo is a common problem) Cons-has a timing belt that needs replacing at 100k miles.

Transmissions
I haven't paid much attention to the 5 speed manuals so I won't give any input.

6 speed auto pros-your wife will like its automatic, other than torque converter seals leaking on early transmissions they are very reliable. Con-not as good on gas milage.

6 speed manual pros-better gas milage, a good transmission/car to teach your wife to drive a manual on. Cons-after you teach your wife how to drive a manual you will be driving her Toyota, tend to have grinding issues with the stock fluid.

If you want the most reliability 1.8 with an auto
Best fuel economy and most fun to drive 1.4t with the 6 speed manual

 

[Swordsmith]

The 1.8NA is a fine engine, but I don't believe it is true that it has "the same hp and torque" as the 1.4T... same hp yes, but substantially less torque. And the hp figure is only the same untuned, with any of the variety of tunes available the 1.4T gains a lot more hp than the 1.8NA does; there's a lot more potential there.

While it's true that the 1.4T has more moving parts and thus is theoretically less reliable, we haven't seen much evidence of an actual difference between the two engines, both seem to be holding up very nicely. And while the 1.4T does have, of course, a turbo and intercooler that aren't on the 1.8NA, the 1.4T has a timing chain while the 1.8NA has a timing belt, which is as much a theoretical weak point as the turbocharger system... and a broken belt is a much more catastrophic event than a broken turbo.

Finally, all those systems are covered under the 100K powertrain warranty, so there's not really any reason to worry excessively about either.

 

[$ub$onic]

So far I love my sonic. I've had it for 14 months and 20600 miles. 1.4t 6 speed automatic LTZ. Here's a list of pros and cons to the power train options.
Engines
1.4t Pros-better acceleration and fuel economy. Cons-water pumps seem to be a common item to leak. The 1.8 n/a has the same hp and torque as the 1.4t but at higher rpms Pros-No water pump issues or turbo to wory about (not that the turbo is a common problem) Cons-has a timing belt that needs replacing at 100k miles.

Transmissions
I haven't paid much attention to the 5 speed manuals so I won't give any input.

6 speed auto pros-your wife will like its automatic, other than torque converter seals leaking on early transmissions they are very reliable. Con-not as good on gas milage.

6 speed manual pros-better gas milage, a good transmission/car to teach your wife to drive a manual on. Cons-after you teach your wife how to drive a manual you will be driving her Toyota, tend to have grinding issues with the stock fluid.

If you want the most reliability 1.8 with an auto
Best fuel economy and most fun to drive 1.4t with the 6 speed manual

The f17 five speed is a pretty reliable trans. Far less problematic then the m32.

 

[RMinNJ]

thanks..

Thanks all .. I'm definitely for the 1.4 turbo. My current Saab and last one
have a GM engine and Garret turbo and they are a non-issue. I know folks see
a turbo as added complexity but for me they have not been.


I'm definitely eying the automatic so the wife can drive the car.. I especially like the manual mode in my current Saab automatic in the snow so the Sonic automatic manual mode is a plus.. btw; I did not see this on the Honda automatics. The Ford DCTs/CVTs read like a horror story online...I'm baffled how they are able to still sell cars with them. My friend left the Subaru brand for his last car because he could not bring himself to get the Subaru CVT...

 

[Breezybro]

I've had my RS for almost a year and 16k miles. Have not had one single issue and I get 34mpg when I barely try to be gentle. The non RS trims get 40 or even up to 46 I've heard, untuned.. then there is tuning. As this is my first new car, it has been amazing to me, and I hope to keep it for a very long time.


Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk.

2013 Chevy Sonic RS 1.4l 6M Black Granite Metallic

 

[Lazza]

Short of causing a marriage breakup, convince your wife to go with the 6MT. The clutch is very forgiving; I think it would be easy to teach someone to drive a stick using the 1.4L 6MT. And as others have reported, the 6MT is fun to drive. The shifter can be somewhat notchy but if you don't rush it the shifts are smooth.

I agree with you: these newly fangled automatics (CVTs, DCTs) can be very problematic, unlike the conventional automatic found in the Sonic. Probably in the next five years these newer transmissions will predominate in 80% of new vehicles. If I had to go with an automatic I would prefer a 6 speed auto over all else.

My 1.4L 6MT LTZ Sonic is my first turbo vehicle and my first manual in over twenty years. The turbo at first felt a bit odd. But now I love it, in addition to most every other aspect of the car.


_Lazza

 

[Nimda]

I don't think its necessary to convince your wife to buy manual if she has no interest in it. (She should still learn, though) Just stick with the 1.4L automatic if you don't mind paying the extra cost for that tranny. Plus, the 6MT is the one with the plastic wear parts that could give potential buyers some trouble later on.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Hey There RMinNJ,

Welcome to the forum! Please feel free to reach out to us if you need any assistance with finding your desired Sonic. We can be reached via private message and will be glad to assist!

Kristen A.
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

[RMinNJ]

Thanks Kristen, everyone on the forum has been very friendly.

I've been reading about other cars and the Sonic doesn't seem bad at all. I just read about the Audi 2.0T engines burning/using oil... the one site had a thread of 625 posts of people with the problem...many were out of luck being just out of warranty.
It seems one has to choose wisely when buying a car.

 

[Ltguy]

From the skimming I've read, you would like a reliable and slightly fun car, preferably with an automatic for the wife.... If your willing to go older like '08-10 I would get a LNF Chevy HHR SS auto.... Amazing room and reliability, smaller but not too small, reliable 260 hp engine that would be the next level up from your Saab as the Saab had a closer LSJ bottom end from my understanding.... But MPG kinda sucks, I never got better than 24 avg in my '10 LNF 'Balt.


However if your like me and want MPG and a car easy to work on, and easy for your wife to drive (and have fun) the Sonic is for you! I bought mine last March, 1.4T auto and Tuned it's amazingly fun. Handles well and a lot of interior room. Plus you can park the thing anywhere lol. I have 14k miles on mine now and the only issue so far is the clearcoat on my center caps on my wheels is chipping. Everything else has been great and my wife (who LOVES to drive it) have been very very happy.

My only input it regardless of stock or modded, the auto and 5 speed LS tranny's seem to have less issues, if any, from everything I've read on the forum. Much else is either hit or miss or first year production issues that have been fixed for '13+. Which is what the warranty is for anyways...

I drove over a dozen cars (civic, golf, fiesta, veloster NA, Mazda3, etc) and kept coming back to the sonic but I'm also a GM guy at heart I really liked the Dodge Dart also, and still do, but I couldn't drive the same car as my inlaws unless the SRT was to come out in a few years that is haha

Good luck!

 

[RMinNJ]

Yes thanks for the HHR suggestions.. my Saab 9-5 can get 32mpg on the
highway..but it goes down in the cold and around town...it's a bit on the heavy side...it has lots of HP to move the weight though. I see no reason to go backwards in term of MPG... so I'm looking for something good on gas and smaller/lighter. Sadly the folks at work all recommend Honda, Acura or Toyota as the only vehicles one should buy.

 

[Nimda]

Yes thanks for the HHR suggestions.. my Saab 9-5 can get 32mpg on the
highway..but it goes down in the cold and around town...it's a bit on the heavy side...it has lots of HP to move the weight though. I see no reason to go backwards in term of MPG... so I'm looking for something good on gas and smaller/lighter. Sadly the folks at work all recommend Honda, Acura or Toyota as the only vehicles one should buy.

Well, there is a reason all you see on the road are Civics and Corollas. They have been around for a long time, are very reliable, and also have good resale value. They have a NA 1.8L engine which is pretty similar to the one you can get in the Sonic if you go with that option. No turbos in Honda or Toyota if that's what you're really hoping for. Remember, the Sonic's first production year was 2012.. and, as memebers have stated, they've had pretty good luck so far with both 1.4L turbo and 1.8L engines. Only time will tell on real long term reliability for this car.

 

[ChicksHateMe]

I did an 8 month search for a new car. I had a reliable 1993 Grand Cherokee and was in no rush to buy. I did a LOT of research and made a spreadsheet of all the cars in the segment, with the specs, and with the positives and negatives I found. Before I even drove everything, I gathered info from top auto sites, so I could sort by reviews, and customer reviews. One thing I wish I had done that I didn't do, was go to sites like this, where actual owners talked about the issues they had.

I have a write-up of what I test drove, or looked at, and what I found that steered me away from the different models, but I decided not to fill your thread with it. If you want it, PM me and I will send it.

The first car I test drove was a Sonic, because the dealer was close. After all my test drives, I ended up focusing in on the Sonic. I even looked at used ones that had great prices. I ended up going new because I found what I wanted in a 2013 and with the incentives and longer loan at a lower interest rate, I was able to get it with the monthly payments I could afford.

Good luck in your search...

 

[LTZ ICE]

The new Consumer Reports issue rated it well. Out of 27 cars in its class, the Sonic was one of only two they recommended!
In addition, Edmunds and Motortrend have rated it very well too.
Overall, the car has had many accolades!:banana: