Wow I wont be buying a cobalt!

[1LoC10]

Check out the beating this thing took.... and it says the airbags are good..., what the hell does it take to make the bags pop.damn
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2006-...QQcmdZViewItem

[FRENCHBLUE72]

3000 miles bet it still has the new car smell in it.....LOL..

[Longhorn Man]

While the bumper cover has been ripped off, the bumper its self was never pushed in, which is needed to 'press the button' for the air bag.


I still wouldn't buy one though personally there's better stuff on the market for the $$.

[1LoC10]

i think they need to put a sensor in the a pillers....lol, thats when i want my face protected

[matthufham]

mercedes and volvos have lots of sensors and lots of airbags, cobalts are cheaper and they live up to minimum safety requirements.

[Bob B.]

It was probably hit while parked. Doesn't look like anyone was in it, thankfully.

[glock35ipsc]

It was definately rolled. I was a firefighter for 14 years, and I can't begin to count the number of MVA's I have been on where the bags did not deploy. Unless it is a high-end auto, it seems to need a direct front or rear impact to set them off. Then again, I remember watching a training video where a firefighter was doing extracation on the driver when the bag when off. Launched him out of the car!! The were pulling the steering column up with a chain around the column, ran over the hood, and hooked to the frame behind the front bumper. Then using the spreaders (jaws) the chain gets pulled tight, pulling the steering wheel and the column up and away from the patient. Unfortunately, it compressed the bumper enough to set the bags off!

[byrd]

We have a Cobalt and it is a kick a$$ little car for the money.Gets a steady 30 mpg with air on, and I can't remember the stock hp #'s but it will get it, wanted the SS,but it's my wife's car and she won't drive a manual.

[special-K]

Wow,I didn`t know it was carnival season already!I wanna take a swing.

[70rs/ss]

If we're talking airbags, my 96 Suburban that I hit a Toyota Celica broadside with did not deploy the bag. I was traveling 45mph (well fiddy or so, but I wasn't at fault so I got the benefit of the doubt) and I got him good, but no deploy?? I settled the car part too soon and away it went. I was later told I could have been a very wealthy man at GM's expense. I agree direct shot, but man a T-bone is about as direct as it gets!! BTW the passengers side damage is from the ride after impact through the intersection and brushed a steel pole, damn I miss her!!

[409biscayne]

Originally Posted by 70rs/ss

If we're talking airbags, my 96 Suburban that I hit a Toyota Celica broadside with did not deploy the bag. I was traveling 45mph (well fiddy or so, but I wasn't at fault so I got the benefit of the doubt) and I got him good, but no deploy?? I settled the car part too soon and away it went. I was later told I could have been a very wealthy man at GM's expense. I agree direct shot, but man a T-bone is about as direct as it gets!! BTW the passengers side damage is from the ride after impact through the intersection and brushed a steel pole, damn I miss her!!

When you say wealthy at GM's expense , is that cuz the air bag didn't deploy or cuz of the brakes ? Wasn't there a class action suit re : inadequate brakes ? Or was that b.s. , just curious .

[70rs/ss]

Air bag not deploying. I guess anyone can sue, but with the sensors in the bumper (behind it) there really is no reason for them not to have popped. I was in another wreck this past summer with my sister in her Honda and by God that fricken bag went off (same impact zone!!)

[Brainchild]

Originally Posted by 1LoC10

i think they need to put a sensor in the a pillers....lol, thats when i want my face protected

Looks like it needed a rollbar to me

[Russell]

I'd say that car performed just as it is designed to in a collision...

Take a look at the passenger compartment -- The roof is twisted up, but it wouldn't have crushed either the passenger or the driver. (people in the back seat might not have fared so well though!

I am a bit surprised the airbag didn't go off, but my brother smashed his 92 buick at about 45 mph (rear ended a truck moving at about 10 - 15 mph) and it didn't go off there either. Infact, it ripped the airbag sensor right off, and nothing happened.

[special-K]

I`m sure the driver isn`t complaining.After A hell ride like that,the little econobox`s sheetmetal is mangled,but there`s still a place to sit.
That was a serious accident,obviously.

[68Stepbed]

I'll tell you why you shouldn't buy a Cobalt. They're JUNK!! My wife's 05 has been in the shop about 14 times since we bought it in September. The entire front end rattles, knock, pings, and whatever other kind of noise you can think of. But everytime we take it back, the service manager says they can't duplicate the sounds.Seems like it spends more time back at the dealership than at our home. We've contacted the BBB. They're gonna review our case. I've told them I don't want another one. I want GM to buy it back.

We'll see.

[71SWBChevy]

I had a friend with a toyota tercel who hit a post that was about 2 foot across at 60 mph and neither of the bags went off, made me VERY cautious about toyotas cars, he did have his seatbelt on but the dealer said it was probably a bad seatbelt sensor and the bags won't go off if the computer doesn't see a seatbelt at least on the toyota I don't know if thats the same with all of them or not.

[revn67]

here's a funny one......back in high school my friend was screwing around in a parking lot in the winter....he did a donut right into a light pole and the passenger airbag knock me out cold.....there was barely a dent in the front of the car......he had to junk his car cause the airbag was like 1200 to fix at the dealership! ahhh i miss high school

[jcueckert13]

gm doesnt make a car right now that i would buy, we get alot of GM's at the dealership as used cars rangeing from the lower models like the cobalt to the cadillacs and higher end cars and trucks and the quality is going downhill. we had a cadillac come in with 15k on it and there where rattles and squeaks everywhere, once we got it in the air the list of things that did not leak was alot shorter. i have also driven the cobalt and compared to the scions (toyotas cheapest car) you can tell the difference in the fit of the interior panels, noises during driving and all around quality. if GM had the same kind of customers that toyota sees car sales would drop even more, toyota customers are so anal that they will bring in the car for a wet spot on the oil pan because jiffy lube did not properly tighten the drain plug, or if there is the slightest noise inside the car.

[arkracing]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

While the bumper cover has been ripped off, the bumper its self was never pushed in, which is needed to 'press the button' for the air bag.


I still wouldn't buy one though personally there's better stuff on the market for the $$.

Just a note guys....there is no "button" that has to be pushed for the bags to go off.

The sensors usually need to have "enough change in velocity" for the contact ball (usually mercury) to make contact with one end of the sensor and that will deploy the bags.

The bags didn't go off on the Cobalt because it was a rollover...defin not hit while parked. The vehicle probably did not come to an abupt stop as it continued to move foward in the rollover - not changing the velocity of the vehicle enough to trigger the sensors.


The Suburban or Yukon....if you hit them doing 45-50 the bags should have gone off -
But if you were doing 45-50 and slammed on the brakes you may have slowed the velocity enough before impact to not trigger the bags...
even so I would think they should have gone off.

I'm an Insuarance appraiser by Day and Truck/HotRod Junky by weekend & night
I see a ton of cars out there that do not deploy bags when you think that they should and I see several that have deployed when they shouldn't have.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by special-K

Wow,I didn`t know it was carnival season already!I wanna take a swing.

[JAKES 68GMC]

You guys are missing one of the BIG points here. The radio in the car is still good!

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by JAKES 68GMC

You guys are missing one of the BIG points here. The radio in the car is still good!

LOL!!!

[panhandler62]

I looked at Cobalts before I bought my G6 ... I was very, very not impressed.

[Chevrolet4x4s]

Originally Posted by arkracing

Just a note guys....there is no "button" that has to be pushed for the bags to go off.

The sensors usually need to have "enough change in velocity" for the contact ball (usually mercury) to make contact with one end of the sensor and that will deploy the bags.........................

So for the sake of the what ifs.If someone had a very very very.........very quick accelerating vehicle with airbags,On an Extremely hard launch with all the right (or wrong depending on how you look at it) could the airbags deploy due to the rapid acceleration.........I can see thic becoming an "urban"(or rual) legen one day

Shane