At 24K a NA SS is a bad price for sure. Mine was somewhere around 18K USD (I live in Canada).

Anytime you take a lower priced car and load it up options (useless, IMO) it never looks good to a base (really, whats base these days---most models come with tons of stuff) car thats one step up.

Up here a Impala SS starts at 32,8XX. Local dealer had a few---with 6K in options. That puts it almost as much a DCX 4 door Hemi. Looks a lot better at 32.

I'd never buy a V6 Mustang. That V6 they have is no good for that car anyhow.

 

That cobalt must have had every option under the sun.

 

It probably had that famous GM $2,000 rust proofing.

Also a $1,500 finders fee Customer "Hey it was on the Lot." Salesman "Yeah but I found it there."

 

It looks like dealer's are following Honda's model for thier lower run cars. Load every option you can on until it's priced past better cars. Unfortunately, people still buy over priced Honda's. Cant say that GM dealers will have the same luck.

 

For $24,000, buy this.

If you're not rich enough to ignore the price, buying new cars is stupid.

 

Hmmm, I thought I saw an SC Cobalt just last weekend with Recaros, LSD, sunroof etc ... for about $24,000. It was really sharp looking. The wing wasn't nearly as guady in person. This one was blue and had dark gray wheels. Very nice.

Didn't get to drive the Cobalt, but I drove a V6 manual Mustang with GT add-ons, grill, silver hood stripes, Bullet wheels, aftermarket catback dual exhaust. This was not the Pony package. While the Mustang looked great, it didn't inspire confidence at all. Cruiser only. Sounded good, felt good on the interior, looked good, but not for me. Felt heavy and uninspiring. Maybe the Pony package with the suspension goodies would feel more inspiring. The one I drove felt too boat like.

It could be that I hadn't gotten past the huge grin on my face from driving my buddy's 2001 Honda S2000 all that morning. Now that's a fun used car to buy!

 

The most I could get an n/a cobalt to sticker for on edmunds.com is $23,195

The $24K mustang probably didn't have heated leather, onstar, XM, or a sunroof either, and it won't get 34mpg hwy.

 

If everyone bought used, there would be no point in making new cars. There would be no new car companies out there advanceing technology. We would still be driving model A's and T's. Thank god there are a lot of stupid people out there!

 

Be advised that part of the "Pony" package that Charlie mentioned was on the car in question contains suspension mods that are closer to GT-spec, and tire/wheel upgrades - both of which will make the Pony V6 handle a TON better than the base V6 with it's anemically skinny/tall tires and cushy-riding springs/struts.

There is a "seat-of-the-pants" difference between the Pony V6 and the base V6 Mustang - in feel, trim, and even handling. There is also about $5-6k difference in pricing too, with base V6 cars as low as $19,740 on the lot at Plaza Ford here in Lexington NC. Pony V6 cars are $24k and change here too.

Can't speak for the differences in the base Cobalt and the SS versions - I don't get to drive them. But please don't use such a broad brush to paint all V6 Mustangs as poor-handling. Only the basic "base" model gets the shaft there... the Premium V6 is better, and the Pony V6 is even better yet almost matching the GT.

Regardless of brand preference, there is little doubt that a Pony V6 Mustang in a brilliant hue with stripes and badging will likely turn more heads in a parking lot or at a stop light - at least for another year or so.

 

Yeah strange. I went to Chevy.com and checked every option and still didn't get up to $24K either.

 

Indeed. I jush wish I didn't have to share the roads with so many of them.

If you buy a new car, you immediately lose thousands of dollars. I, for one, can not afford to lose thousands of dollars, so I bought a three-year-old car. When I drove it away from the previous owner's home, it did not suddenly lose a significant portion of its value.

There are people who can afford to lose thousands of dollars, and these are not the sort of people who hem and haw about which $24,000 car is more worth the money. These are the people who drop $70k on a C6 Z06 (or three hundred grand on a Bentley, or whatever) and don't bat an eye. They go and buy the car they want, and they don't really care what it costs.

There are, of course, cars which people like that won't buy (know any millionaire Cavalier owners?). That's what leasing is for. Leasing is a fantastic way to make sure that there are lots of used cars on the market. Leasing is great for people who always want their car to be under warranty, for people that just aren't happy driving the same car for several years, for people who just want an A-to-B car, etc. Lots of great reasons to lease.

Of course, I'll never convince everyone to stop buying new cars, and that works in my favor, since it means that the used car market will always be plentiful.

I still think its stupid for people, and I definitely think that a '99 Corvette is a much better purchase than an '05 Mustang at the same price. If you need a back seat for practicality, you can spend even less and get an F-body.

 

Absolutely, positively true. I don't buy new.

 

To me, there is nothing like driving a new car. It's worth paying a premium to enjoy that first 10,000 or 20,000 or 30,000 miles of mechanical newness.

Besides, when I buy new, I drive them for a long time. Depreciation is not even a factor that I consider.

 

Leasing is a rip off.

 

It certainly can be, especially for someone (like me) who doesn't belong to any of the groups I mentioned.