Used Cobalt or Accent

I have a chance to purchase either a 2006 Chevy Cobalt or 2006 Hyundai
Accent for the same amout of money. Both cars are used but are both in
excellent, like new condition. I will primarily use the car as a
commuter vehicle. Overall cost of ownership including gas mileage,
repair, durability, etc. are important to me.

The Chevy is bigger and feels relatively more substantial. The Hyundai
gets better gas mileage.

Which one is likely to have a lower cost of ownership in the long term
(ten years)? My apology for cross posting.

 

Whichever car was treated better by the original owner. Ask for the
maintenance records. Whichever car has better maintenance records, buy
that one.
--scott

 

OK! first...what are the milages of each car?
second...is there a complete service history for each car?
third....What warranty is there for each car?...is there a 5year warranty
unlimited milage for the accent for example?

I like driving in my car

 

All things being equal...go with the Cobalt. Bigger, better resale, both are
good vehicles.

 

It also depends on what you do for a living. If you work on a Union
job site or in construction some people can get very nasty toward
buying a car not made in the U.S., even if the U.S. doesn't make a car
worth buying and a lot of the "American" cars have less domestic parts
and assembly then others.
Bill

 

It is hard to predict what will be in ten years but right now gas mileage is
a big factor to consider. My choice would be the Accent, for durability and
mileage. If resale after ten years is a factor then the Cobalt MAY be a
better choice. I have a 05 Accent that I purchased new as a commuter car
and IMO it was a great choice, After 30,000 miles it has been completely
trouble free, something I cannot say about my last two new car purchases, A
1999 Ford F250 and a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis.

Jack Cassidy

 

Indeed, there are politics in car buying/car parking.
Eg, german cars in synogogues.
Japanese cars in Filipino or chinese strongholds.
At my wife's job, two filipino's got into near-fisticuffs over one's
purchase of a japanese car.
American blacks/"minorities" shouldn't be too keen on japanese cars, either,
given recent statements.

I forgot the context, but some companies doesn't even allow a certain makes
(or non-makes) on their premisses--could be Merkin automakers.

The Japanese continue their juggernauting on Merkin throats:
Nissan w/ $2,000 headlights (maxima)
Honda w/ a $400 Yuasa motorcycle battery in a car (Fit)
God knows what else.
12 sets of Nissan headlights, or 40 Honda batteries, and you have a new
goddamm car.

But, ain't shit gonna change.
We (the (M)asses) are little more than puppets on a string, with occasional
erections.
The fact that Paris Hilton is allowed to live, much less thrive on TV, is
the death knell of our society.
At least give her a hysterectomy.
DAT would be an inneresting episode.

Me, I forget about politics and just plaster confederate flags all over
m'pickup--and on my shotgun rack.

Investment advice: Vaseline, Prep H.
--
------
Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY

Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message:
Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican.
Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way*
to Materially Improve Your Family's Life.
The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive!

entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie,
all d'numbuhs

 

I'm not much of a fan of GM cars, but the Cobalt is an exception. I rented
a lot of cars in the spring of 2006, and the Cobalt was the only one of
them I really liked. I drove it thousands of miles, and never had any
problems with it. It was comfortable, almost fun to drive, and got amazing
fuel economy, consistently.

 

CR gives the Cobalt dismal ratings, esp. reliability, and overall mpg of
only 23 for the 4 cyl.
They like the Accent better, altho apparently it's too new to rate fully.
But CR listed 28 mpg's--big diff vs. the cobalt.

Not really a fan of CR, but shit, they are about the only show in town.
Don't know how accurate their mpg ratings are, but hopefully they are at
least correct on a *relative* comparison basis.
--
------
Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY

Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message:
Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican.
Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way*
to Materially Improve Your Family's Life.
The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive!

entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie,
all d'numbuhs

 

Yes, in ten years it may be worth $15 while the Accent is worth only $12.

 

Yeah but that $30

 

Yeah but that $3.00 may be important to some people. :c)
If my Accent gives me good service for 10 years I won't care if it's only
worth 12 cents, I'll put it in the trash and go buy another. When I
purchased mine they literally took it off the truck, took off the plastic
protecting the paint, washed it and filled the gas tank and I drove it away.
It has not been back to the dealer for anything since. No adjustments, no
tweaking on anything, Made a believer out of me.

Jack Cassidy

 

Interesting. I test drove a Cobalt before buying my Sonata and it was
the most uncomfortable car I've driven since my 79 Chevette. Actually,
it was worse than the Chevette. The seat was hard as a rock and the car
road like a buckboard.

Matt

 

I keep cars until they are used up. I've had a couple towed to the junk
yard but I "traded in" my 91 Regal. The book value if in good condition
was $850 according to KBB. Problem is, I'd have to spend about $1200 to get
it to be worth that. Dealer gave me $100 for it. I figured it was just
transportation to go pick up the new one. I managed to even work out the
gas so that the warning light for low fuel came on about two miles from the
dealer.

Sonata now has 15200 and still perfect.

 

They are two different size classes, hardly comparable to each
other. But I wouldn't get the Cobalt. Consumer Reports' reliability
ratings say that the Cobalt is horribly bad in this department. It's
so bad that the defect rate is literally off their charts. Absolute
rock bottom. In the basement. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole
for fear the pole will melt.

The current Accent is unrated, but at least you got that 5yr/60K
bumper-to-bumper warranty.

Chris

 

Edwin:

So tell us the rest of your life story you A.H. Do you really think we all
care about your problems.

 

Since you took the time to reply, you must have enjoyed reading my post.
Thank you for your interest. Chapter 2 will be posted later today.

 

Hyundai = 10 yr bumper to bumper warranty to original owner - they do
it to show the quality

GM - 5 year drive train to try to convince us they are getting serious
about quality if they are still here to cover the warranty.

 

If I HAD to pick between an Accent and a Cobalt, I'd take a Cobalt.

I test drove an 06 Accent with my mother when she was car shopping. It
drove and felt and sounded a lot like her old 86 Excel, right down to
the door chime. Considering how much of a turd that car was I cannot
recommend a Hyundai to anyone. (and yes, I'm using the same logic that
people use who once drove an 82 Chevette and deduced all GM's were crap.)

Frankly, if you're looking for an econobox commuter car, I'd suggest a
Corolla or Civic. Neither car has anything resembling a personality,
but generally seem to run for about 10 years with minimal investment.
And I'm a GM guy...I'm yet to be convinced the Cobalts will hold up.

If you want a car with a personality... that's a different question.

TCO is tricky - when I was car shopping in the fall for a family car I
spent a lot of time adding up fuel costs, insurance costs, and estimated
repair costs for a lot of cars... and ended up buying the car that had
the features I wanted anyway. (Subaru Legacy wagon with a manual
transmission and AWD.)

FWIW, in Manitoba, here's a comparison of insurance rates for basic
coverage for your cars (base cars, base coverage) (www.mpi.mb.ca)
06 Cobalt: $1612
06 Accent: $1504
06 Civic: $1707
06 Legacy Wagon: $1504

Ray

 

Fortunately, there has been major improvements by Hyundai over the past 20
years. The old Excel certainly was a turd but if they kept making cars like
that, they'd not be in business today. It is not easy to overcome those
early impressions though.