New 2018 Chevrolet Sonic LT

FWD Recent Arrival! 25/34 City/Highway MPG Awards: * 2018 KBB.com 10 Coolest New Cars Under $20,000 * 2018 KBB.com 10 Most Awarded Brands KBB.com Consumer Reviews Overall 4.0 Good car but beware of costs when buying brand new I've owned this car for almost a year now and my experience has been pretty decent. I chose the hatchback for extra style and uniqueness. With this comes a little less truck space, but if you're a single person you may even prefer having the shorter space. It makes grabbing items easier and stuff doesn't roll around to the back of a deep trunk. There also a shelf above that has the ability to hide your belongings or offer a little more stacking storage space. I take advantage of this on long trips. But do keep in mind this area is in view of the rear window so you have to be careful of what and where you place items so you don't obstruct your view. Speaking of long trips, if you're thinking of purchasing this and are not a single person there will not be a lot of space for items from multiple people especially for these long trips. You really have to plan for space and minimize where you can. I don't think I would recommend this car if you have children and tend to need space for all their stuff. I actually don't care for driving cars in general, but it's pretty tolerable in the Sonic. The cloth seats are fairly comfortable. I've spilled a few different things on my passenger side seat and the dark interior shows nothing. I'm not sure if it's made out of an easily cleanable or just super absorbent material, but either way I'm okay with it. I have heated seats and there is only one setting for it. Most other cars give you the option to control how warm they get, but there isn't this option in the Sonic. They also don't get as warm as most other cars I get into (I sell cars), but it at least does the trick. The backseat can be just a little tight if your front seat riders are taller, but unless you are in the 6'5 range I don't think someone sitting behind you would be so uncomfortable that they couldn't actually sit there. The car is so compact that passengers usually end up sharing the armrest with me, but it's usually not a problem or uncomfortable for either person. In replacement of this area there is an extra cup holder, presumably for the backseat riders since there aren't cup holders in the back. Some of the good things about the car root back to how compact it is which also goes for being able to reach the glove compartment very easily from the driver. This also makes up for the lack of a center console. I have been in cars where the screen/radio is slightly tilted or just not positioned in a way that is comfortable for the driver to use, but the size and position of the touchscreen in the Sonic is good. The main controls you would use are also available on the steering wheel for an even easier experience. The gas mileage on this car is pretty good. I get about 28 MPG on average and that is a good mixture of highway and city driving. But it does have a small gas tank so filling up happens a little more frequently than in some cars. As of this moment in time at about $2 a gallon, it takes a little more than $20 to fill up from E. Some of the negative things I would say about it is that some of the parts and features just feel and look kind of cheap. The climate control knobs and the stitching in the seats are a couple of things I can think of that fit into that. Driving in bad weather conditions can be a little more tough in this car since it's so small and lightweight. A pretty big negative aspect is if you buy this car brand new it will depreciate very quickly. I would not recommend buying this car brand new unless you absolutely have to like I did. I believe I bought the car for around $17-$18K (with employee pricing) and now the trade in value on it is at about $12K, private party about $15K. Like I said I had little option with the scenario I was in, but paying almost $20K for this car is just a little silly. The prices of all cars in general have gotten pretty high so there's not a good way to avoid it really, but since you have to I would at least try to find a car that doesn't depreciate as quickly. I've only put 14k miles on it so it's hard to say as far as mechanics if it's completely reliable. I have seen slightly older Sonic's that have had different issues, but it's hard to give a general rating on it since it depends on how well a vehicle is maintained and everything. The only issue mechanically or technically that I have had so far is that I've gotten a message a couple times on the backup camera saying to "service rear camera system" or something along those lines, but it only has shown up a couple times and it still worked fine even when the message popped up so I really don't know what that's about and haven't look into it.