PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Hey guys,

I know I haven't been on here for too long and haven't been super active, but I wanted to share that within the next week or so I will no longer be a Bonneville owner... With all the work that needs to be done to her and the fact that I'm commuting 30+ miles per day for school, I've decided that I need something a bit more reliable, smaller and fuel efficient. With the money that would need to put into it for it to last me the next few years, I'm putting a downpayment on a newer car.

So, what is it I'm getting? 2012 Chevy Sonic hatchback with the 1.4 liter turbo and a 6 speed manual. Its relatively stripped down (no leather or sunroof and small rims). Took it for a test drive the other day and loved it. I can post some pics in this thread when I pick it up.

Its definitely gonna be different driving something so much smaller, but I'm really excited about the Sonic. Should be a fun car, and there are quite a few performance and visual mods that I have in mind for it. I'll definitely still be around here to see all of the amazing Bonnevilles. Definitely going to miss Bonnie, shes been a great car for the last few years!

That's not too bad. It's an upgrade in the fun department, and more fuel economy. You can also tune them through ZZP I believe. Add some more spunk.

I know a guy that has one, runs low 14's on slicks. They are fun but too small for my liking.

I do all my own maintenance. It would be extremely difficult for me to justify a new car payment vs. what my maintenance bill has been, though a fair case could be made once I get axles on the SSEi.

Good luck with the Sonic though!

MattStrike wrote:I do all my own maintenance. It would be extremely difficult for me to justify a new car payment vs. what my maintenance bill has been, though a fair case could be made once I get axles on the SSEi.

Good luck with the Sonic though!

That's where I am right now too. Don't want and really could barely afford monthly payments, so I keep repairing my car. Although, for all the parts I have bought or am about to buy this week, I could have probably made 2-3 newer car payments. Not all the car's fault though. A couple of these things I have been putting off for a little bit.

I'd rather walk. But to each their own.

I wish I could keep the Bonneville longer (and had planned on it), but not really having the time to do any repairs myself or having any of the right tools makes it hard to justify holding onto the car much longer. With my bent rim causing a ton of vibration on the highway, UIM, LIM, airbag sensor, rear brakes, and transmission that isn't getting any healthier by the day, I want to sell it now before it has no value. Doesn't make sense to me to dump more money into it than its worth.

I'm definitely looking forward to modding the Sonic over time and having fun with it. ZZP has a good number of mods available for it, and eventualy a tune from Trifecta might be in order. I will miss the size of the Bonneville, though most of the time its only me in the car anyways. In the city its much easier to park a compact as opposed to a larger sedan. I'm hoping once I'm out of school in a few years to get either a Bonneville GXP, G8 or GTO.

You do what you have to do. It's your finances. Small cars can be a lot of fun to drive. Keep in touch. Hope you have great success with the Sonic. Maybe sometime in the future you can get another Bonneville. We would have a small car, but neither one of us can get in and out of one. - BC

I had a LTZ turbo 6M hatch and loved it. I would still have it but my wife is planning on staying at home next year so we had to cut the car payment/insurance. Deceptively large inside and plenty of room. I am 6' 1"+ and 210 and almost felt small driving it. Chevy did a much better job than with the Cruze, IMO. Here was mine:

I had a full turbo back exhaust, intake and tune...the Trifecta tune makes the car go from "this car has a turbo?" to " this is ONLY a 1.4 liter?!!"

I actually still have the Trifecta red cable if you are interested and a ZZP catback!

We got one of these as a rental when my wifes car was rear ended... it was a fully loaded Sonic w/ leather and heated seats... even yellow too.

Nice enough car but the automatic w/ the smaller engine very very anemic... in a dangerous way. When the lesabre can get 25-30 mpg whats the sense of driving 1/3 of the car and only getting max 40 mpg. She was so happy to be back in her Beetle which is twice the size and gets 30+ mpg...

Now give me a 20 year old microcar heck yeah. Geo Metro/Ford Festiva/Dodge Colt any day... Had a 1.1L Isuzu I-Mark we couldn't kill lol

If you got the stripper model, you should be okay

Yeah, going with the naturally aspirated 1.8 with the automatic is a bad choice. If you get the turbo 6M you will be fine even stock...but the tune is cheap and turns it into a completely different car. Without sacrificing MPGs. I actually got better mileage after the tune when I stayed out of the throttle.

Trust me, I was very specific in looking for the 1.4T and 6speed manual combo. Really wouldn't want the car any other way.

Turbojon, I agree that the Cruize isn't nearly as appealing. Wouldn't even consider it. Thats a sharp looking Sonic you had though. Love that color and the 17s. Unfortunately with mine just being an LT I have the 15s. If you still have the ZZP catback I'd be interested in getting that off of you. Which configuration did you have (with or without the high-flow cat, muffler or muffler delete)? How much would you want for it? Seeing as I probably won't be getting the Trifecta tune for a while, don't think I need the cable right now.

Nothing wrong with the LT trim. A part of me wishes I would have skipped on the moonroof/pleather/etc but it was a nice car that got a bunch of compliments. There aren't many around here which I like. I rarely drive trendy cars.

I will send you a message later on.

I do have one question for you guys though. I'm probably going to take my subs from the Bonneville and either sell them or put one in the Sonic. Should I bother grabbing the amps as well or is it not worth it?

I do have one question for you guys though. I'm probably going to take my subs from the Bonneville and either sell them or put one in the Sonic. Should I bother grabbing the amps as well or is it not worth it?

I think its a good idea to pull all the audio and all traces of it (wiring/trim put back in place/stock radio/holes filled) Most people dont want a car that had audio equipment because 1) most people think young kid= wasnt taken care of 2) most people are worried about electrical problems when they see audio equipment spliced in.. in fact most cars I purchased that had that stuff had electrical gremlins after it was removed.

Most people who want a clean slate to start with... you may sell the car to the first buyer but you might not and they may try to push the price down. Ive walked away from stunned sellers whos car is ripped open from there electronics. It makes me think - Audio is #1 and maintenance is #2. Any thing custom should work perfectly and smoothly. So I would remove the amp, definitely

The car is going to be traded in, and from what the salesman was telling me, she will most likely go to auction. So I'm not concerned about how sellable the car is. Plus the Bonneville came with the aftermarket audio equipment in it already, so I don't have the stock head unit or anything.

Well in that case, if you dont think you'll need the amp later, let'er go!

Take the amp, might as well! No sense in leaving stuff in the car you might end up using.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Thats what I thought, never really dealt with installing or removing an aftermarket system before so just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything!