The Chevrolet Cobalt – A Zippy and Thrifty Contender

For the past four years, Chevrolet has entered the cut-throat compact sedan market with a strong contender. If you are looking for a compact sedan with a proficient platform that provides nice acceleration and a smooth ride all for a little less cost than most of the competition, the BuyingAdvice Team recommends checking out the Chevrolet Cobalt.

The highlights of the Cobalt are its snappy ride, good handling, new standard XM radio and tire pressure monitoring system and side-curtain airbags, which have improved the Cobalt's safety scores considerably. Admittedly one of the biggest weaknesses compared to some imported challengers is its lack of style-the words "bland", "vanilla" and "boring" are often used when talking about the Cobalt's looks. Also gas mileage isn't bad, but there are definitely some compact players that will get you a few more miles per gallon. But looks aren't everything, and the Cobalt has some great attributes to offer for its lower-than-average cost.

A close competitor with only a slightly higher price tag of about $400 is the Ford Focus which has a bit more passenger space to offer. Other better-looking options are the Mazda3 which offers a bit more power and the Nissan Sentra which has a lot more space, but both will cost you a bit more.