Faults:

At 5,000 miles:

- Water pump leak, was replaced.

At 9,000 miles:

- Water pump leak, was replaced.

At 10,000 miles:

- Oil pan leak.

- Master window switch was sticking so was replaced.

At 30,000 miles:

- Water pump leak, was replaced.

- Master window switch replaced again due to sticking (it still sticks).

At 25,000 miles:

- Tab holding the cruise control module into the steering wheel randomly broke, so it comes out of the steering wheel.

Between 25,000 and 50,000 miles:

- Sometime during this time period, the rubber switch to control the radio on the steering wheel melted, I just didn't notice right away.

At 50,000 miles:

- Water outlet leak; oil solenoid leak.

General Comments:

Absolutely disappointed in the purchase of this vehicle, and with Chevrolet. For a car that is only driven a short distance daily to work and errands, and is well-taken care of, several things have been wrong with my Sonic. I was two month past the cut-off date for my car to be considered a "lemon" by the state of Nebraska.

I've had terrible luck purchasing used cars. I figured buying a brand new American-made car with a warranty would fix my car woes. Boy, was I WRONG. In addition to $24k I spend on this car, I am several thousand dollars more in the red from making repairs that would normally be done on a vehicle twice as old, and twice as many miles driven.

I am counting down the days when I make my final payment on this piece of junk so I can trade it in for a used Japanese car. The dependability isn't what is used to be. It was a hard lesson to learn, but at least I won't ever make the mistake of purchasing a Chevrolet product ever again.

Faults:

The brake switch failed under warranty. It's an easy fix if out of warranty. $15 part

The control arms were replaced under warranty at 50k miles.

The air intake hose fails at around 5 years on the 2012s and was covered out of warranty. I was given a check for the part I purchased. I put the hose on myself. It took like 20 minutes to replace. The part was ~$100.

The left passenger window shattered without anything impacting it recently. This cost $150 to replace. It happens sometimes in all cars and was bad luck.

The thermostats like to fail in this model. Mine needs to be replaced but I haven't done it yet. They are expensive. $140 for OEM or as little as $30 with aftermarket sensor replacement. I will probably buy the cheap one and see how long it lasts. I'll have to replace the coolant to fix the issue too. I imagine it will take 2 hours and cost $75-$200 to do it myself, depending on the parts I buy.

The tires wear well. I got 58k miles out of the OEM tires.

So far I like the car. A thermostat and hose failure isn't too bad at 80k miles, but isn't perfect. I bought at 2012. I think the newer models addressed these issues with the new parts. If you buy a Sonic now it's likely these parts have already failed.

If you're shopping for a new one, try and start the car when it's below 70 degrees outside. The bad thermostat throws an engine code only when it's cold out. The actual thermostat works, but the electronic temp gauge breaks. It causes the remote start to be disabled.

If you're getting bad fuel economy, check your intake hose. Cracks in the hose caused poor MPG (17 MPG or so).

The OEM battery lasted 6 years.

Some people report the coolant overflow tank breaking, but mine hasn't. It's a cheap part. I live in a variable climate (Iowa) so I think it's hit or miss if your overflow tank will break.

General Comments:

The car is pretty decent. I like the way it drives and I think it looks nice inside.

Never cars now have better MPG.

A second arm rest would be nice, but oh well. Front passenger seat has no arm rest.