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.

Reply to
Jack
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Whichever car was treated better by the original owner. Ask for the maintenance records. Whichever car has better maintenance records, buy that one.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Jack wrote in news:1180030916.632282.256950 @h2g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

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

Reply to
I like driving in my car

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

Reply to
Rob

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

Reply to
billyboy24d

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.

Reply to
Proctologically Violated©®

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.

Reply to
Tom Y

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.

Reply to
Proctologically Violated©®

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

Reply to
Matt Whiting

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.

Reply to
nothermark

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)

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06 Cobalt: $1612 06 Accent: $1504 06 Civic: $1707 06 Legacy Wagon: $1504

Ray

Reply to
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.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

The GM warranty is still in effect, if that helps you decide.

Reply to
Mike Hunter

I'm not surprised the Korean car insurance rate is less. Parts prices play a big part in factoring insurance rates. That is one reason the rate for Japanese cars are always higher than domestics.

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

fwiw, I still have it in my back yard. My mom finally parked it in 2002 when it was consuming equal amounts of gas and oil. I'm going to start it up this year so I can laugh one last time and then recycle it. It is the car I took my driver's test in...

So, if anyone wants parts off an 86 Hyundai Excel GL, let me know... you pay shipping...

Reply to
Ray

I need an automatic temp control head and the electronic memory power seat controls.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

lol. it's an 86 Excel, which means it has manual heater controls (no AC) and manual seats.

those are probably two of the only things working left on the car.

Reply to
Ray

You really don't get it. GM is losing their ass because they are like microshaft. They own(ed) the market so long they could produce junk and people bought it. I can now buy much better cars for much less money with better engineering and often with more US content. GM and Ford have both made a point of making their small cars low end junk to justify the sale price of the bigger but not that much more expensive to build full size stuff. But you will recommend them over somebody that took quality seriously and fixed it more than 10 years ago.

Oh, and BTW, that includes Honda as their maintenance schedule is really a scheduled rebuild the last time I looked.

Reply to
nothermark

Did you read my post? If I had to choose between a Cobalt and an Accent for an automotive appliance, I'd recommend a Civic or a Corolla.

FWIW, I bought a Subaru Legacy in the fall because I needed a wagon or a minivan, and wanted awd and a stick shift.

Frankly, nothing compares to driving my Trans Am. If you've never been slideways on a road course at 120mph, you'll never understand.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

A "scheduled rebuild" in what way? Replacement of more parts than other makes? Which parts? Does this imply poor construction? Is this scheduled rebuild on Honda's or the owner's dime?

Reply to
Proctologically Violated©®

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