Cory Wolfe

I'll try to give those bump-stops a whirl.

After looking at it myself, I'd say its the control arm bushings. They look to be pretty much shot. How, considering the complete lack of abuse from my grandparents, is lost on me. Also, the hood latch seems to rattle at idle while it's in drive. It's really quite annoying. I'm not even sure how to possibly address that. As well, I looked into the rear seat latches and they are not the cause of the squeak. In trying to pinpoint it some more, it seems to be coming from the right front somewhere. That's as far as I've gotten.

No. The warranty ran out a while ago.

I'm not disagreeing on that, though I personally have no aversion to them. My comment is based on other factors.

Cutlass reincarnated itself in Kentucky?

No remaining warranty. I'm not really complaining... More or less wishing it weren't so basic. With the exception of the Cutlass, my last two cars were well equipped. I thought about the rear seat, the right side was unlatched when I got it, so I latched it (which was rather difficult, I had to 'beat' it into latching). I don't know where to start. Control arm bushings, sway bay end links, intermediate steering shaft. I thought these cars were supposed to be solid.

You have poor taste.

I have an odd question... are the front struts naturally clunky? Or should I look into having those checked out? Something big is clunking up front when I travel over bumps and whatnot. It rides fine, but that clunking isn't something I'm terribly fond of.

I joined at the very end of December in 03. The 27th, I believe.

My grandma had some taste, atleast.

Well, what to say besides, it's officially mine. I'm not terribly exciting, but still somewhat am for the sake of finally having a car again. Anyways, here's the story. This car was originally purchased by my grandpa for my grandma back in '05. After three years, she passed away last June. She had only put 8000 miles on it. For the last year, my grandpa has been driving it since selling his Silverado. He hasn't really liked it too much. It's too small for him and always complains about hitting his head when gets in and hitting his stomach once he is in. Recently, he's been looking into trading it in. Most dealerships have only offered him around $5500 for it, despite the super-low mileage. With my car-less-ness, he offered to sell it to me for the amount he was offered. He gave a bit of a break from that as well, and decided upon $5k even. Currently having 10k miles, its in pretty good condition, as one would expect. The only issue it really has is the amount of filth in the interior from my grandpa never bothering to clean it. That and this mysterious squeak. I'm not certain where exactly it is coming from. It occurs while in motion, at all speeds. Almost sounds like its coming from something inside, but I can't pinpoint it. Otherwise, not much to fret over in this car it seems. I just have to get the filthy interior clean (hence the lack of interior pictures). A few comments about it... I forgot how light the steering is. My god, I could probably turn it by blowing on it. You can't tell that it's even connected to the wheels. I must also mention the mushy brakes. It stops well, but stepping on the pedal is a deceiving feeling. Besides those, it drives and rides rather well. Not great, but it's certainly not bad. I just wish it were better equipped. Manual locks are a bitch to have when you frequently carry an expensive camera and electronics in your car. The few pics I were able to snap before darkness set in. I don't plan on keeping it forever, however. After I'm done with it, my Mom wants to buy it off of me to keep the car in the family. The Sunfire has been running especially $h!ty lately, two years after being told it was bound to blow up by a mechanic. Maybe it'll last another year.

At $22k... There may be more to this whole Camaro thing than that whole Genesis thing. They seem to weigh favorably in one direction despite my fondness of the other.

I bet the damn thing breaks down on me on my way first drive home.

'08 had me cresting 10k. I'm so rich.

It's official, come Tuesday, the Cobalt is mine for about $5500.

That's what I mean, buy one with them already done.

Those have higher mileage than I'd like. I wanted to find something with under 100k, originally, with that GLX I was considering had just hit 100k. Also, a one way ticket to Florida isn't cheap. Per the VR6s, I haven't heard that. The only issue that floats around on VWvortex is the timing chains. It seems to be something that must be done if buying one. Regarding fuel economy, owners say they usually get high 20s on the highway, which is what my 2.0 would muster. 26 mpg highway vs. 29 mpg highway per the EPA with user-added figures being similar or better than what it was rated for originally. Weight-wise, It is rather nose heavy, true. Though the added power will alone make up for it, not the mention the differences in the chassis. And honestly, my biggest complaint with my Jetta was the lack of power. It was spunky, but 116 hp from the 2.0 isn't going to set any record times. 1.8t is MK4 only and I'm not looking into MK4s.

It is a Mongoose, yes. I usually take 20 mile rides here in hilly PA, so I can definitely vouch for that statement. It is geared far too low, being that its a mountain bike. Anything above 20 mph and I have to peddle my ass off to maintain. The suspension and braking is nice, however.

That is, indeed, a good point. Although, even the Cutlass, I was never hard on and you guys are well aware of my feelings on it. I'm looking around $5k, but haven't really found any interesting in the form of BMWs. An Audi here and there. That's basically it besides the MK3's I've been looking at. My ideal is a low mileage GTI, but anytime I do find one, they either go fast or are out of my range pricewise. There is a super clean Ginster GTI 2.0 with 66k, in NJ, but the lowest the guy will go is $6100 and I'm limited to maybe $5200 max to compensate for taxes and fees. That is the car I want more than anything. I don't think I'll be even close to getting it without the Millenia going bye-bye (its listed for sale at the moment) and me suddenly selling a $h!load of parts off of the Jetta. I would have to make up a grand and I don't think I can increase my loan any. I applied for what I thought was the most I could afford, payment wise. If only...

Uh... Frame repair?

I meant... What can you say about the Cobalt that you can't say about the Jetta? I know how my Jetta drives in comparison to that Cobalt. There's not much of anything the Cobalt does better on the points that you mentioned. It's slightly more solid and slightly more quiet. Both handle well and are stable at higher speeds (I would certainly know having topped out my Jetta before) and they ride very well. You're not very good at convincing me.

This beast: Mountain bikes are not the best road bikes. I need a new one.

Yes, it was my Grandma's. It's sort of a hard to turn a base model into an well-equipped model, as far as making it what I want. I don't need a ton of performance or for it look like rice-city. My main negative with the Cobalt is that it has nothing and is oh so boring. It has A/C, but I can count the times I've used A/C in my previous cars on one hand. I mostly want a well equipped car that suits my taste and I will be able to enjoy. Power accessories, moonroof, a consistant feel (like the Jetta's euro quirks), etc. That's where I look at the Cobalt and think "eh". I really can't make it what I want... It's still just a Cobalt unless I sink more money into it than what I'm paying for it. Debateable. Those 11 year old Jettas do not drive any worse than a new Cobalt and are certainly better equipped. I do know VW's do not have a sparkling reputation for reliability... However, my Jetta was perfect. It never let me down. Why should I condemn a car based on other people's experiences and not my own? The one car I finally had good luck with reliability wise is one that I refuse to condemn because of its reputation. I'm sure many of you have bought a car with a bad reputation. Any GM fan will have, in fact. Did the reputation always come to be true? My parent's had a hellish time with out Blazer and Sunfire and you see me coin the term POS when speaking to those respective vehicles all the time and isn't out of the ordinary. Have people had good experiences with them? Yes. Why else are we here if we didn't have good luck with GM vehicles despite the reputations that 95% of them have... I simply don't see what there is to respect over what I've had. If anything, it might be on-par with my Jetta in some respects. In all honesty... I want to be convinced into this Cobalt. It's been strictly within my family and is hardly driven. It's a deal that people dream about finding. I just can't get enthusiastic about the car itself. I feel as if I'm "settling" for it. It's not what I want, it's poorly equipped, its the absolute definition of an appliance, and its depreciation is going to be put me right back to the same price range if I decide to trade it in. That's not even accounting for the loan I'll be paying off for three years. It'll probably put me in an even lower range if I wait until I pay it off. What are good reasons to go for the Cobalt? What does it have over a vintage Jetta that cannot be countered? In the end, the Cobalt has it's low mileage. That's really it. Nothing else beams far above the Jetta. And this is why I will most likely end up with it. It's a safe choice. I may kick myself for getting into another vehicle that I do not want, but I can't say it'll be a bad vehicle. It's an appliance and with a decent reputation. I feel like I understand the thought process for someone who buys Toyotas now... Except, I'll be stuck with a hell of a lot of depreciation. (I found this funny. 2005 Cobalt LS with 10k: $9500 vs 1998 Jetta GLX with 100k: $7200. 8 years newer and 90k less miles will only net you a $2300 difference in retail? That's sad, regardless of equipment differences.)

Yes, I revealed it in the post I just made in that thread.

Thanks. This information will be useless if I go for the Jetta and not the Cobalt.