2013 Chevrolet Sonic consumer reviews

My husband bought this car in September 2024. Almost immediately, the car started having problems. Several parts needed to be replaced--fortunately, the car was under warranty. We took the car to Kentucky to visit our son and his family. The car did fine on the trip. The next day, the car refused to start in a parking lot and it needed to be towed. After we got it back it continued to have problems. I think the last straw happened a few weeks ago. My husband drove the car half a block from our house and it stopped in the middle of the street. We still owed money on the car but my husband said that he was DONE. We returned the car and it went to an auction a few days ago. We're looking for another car.

I bought this car used from a personal seller. It had 127,000 miles on it when I bought it and I thought that would be okay considering everything I read was saying this car lasts to about 200,000 miles. But within a week of owning it the AC went out. Over the next 5 months I spent over $1,200 on just replacing every part that is needed for the AC to function. In all general replacements for the car I’ve spent over $1,500 in repairs over the past 5 MONTHS. After everything was replaced and I was feeling very relieved, the car started slightly declining to accelerate and revving every single time I pressed on the gas. After a few weeks of that getting worse, I had the codes read and turns out that the entire engine was failing and needed replacement asap. All of this was happening at only 130,000 miles at this point. I realized that I’d just been feeding a corpse, so I decided to give up and get a new car. Aside from all that junk, the design of the car itself on the interior is very nice. That is honestly all that this car has going for it, though. If you’re reading this review in hopes to get some affirmation about this car being a good buy, this is your sign not to. Do not throw your money away and save yourself the time. Do not buy this car, it’s not worth it.

We bought a sonic lt with a 1.4 turbo engine, great gas mileage and no major problems. As long as you keep up the maintenance the reliability is great.

WORSE VEHICLE I HAVE EVER OWNED!! WOULD NEVER BUY ANOTHER OR RECOMMEND ANYONE ELSE TO BUY ONE period!! •Only get ""19.3"" mpg!!!😡 •Transmission ""Iffy"!!😡 •A/C stops working!!😡 WORSE VEHICLE EVER!!😡

I had a 2015 sonic ltz. It has a lot of plastic parts unfortunately. There is one company that offers upgrades that will remedy most of the habitual problems that plague the sonic. Zzperformance.

So I bought this car just turning 16 with my own money for close to 10k. I have a Chevy Sonic LT 2014 4door sedan and I’ve only had it for a year literally and I have already spent 4k in MAINTENANCE ONLY!! Don’t even include the gas I’ve put into it or the car insurance payments I’ve done. I had to get new brake pads and get new hoses and I had an issue where it would shake like jolt foward and the check engine light came on and I had been told I needed a new TCM which costed 2k but days later the light came on AGAIN and now they’re saying I need a new engine. I barely hit 100k I’ve only put 10k on it in 1 YEAR!! Now I’m thinking about selling it with the check engine light and getting whatever I can out of it. Word of advice: DO YOUR RESEARCH ON THE HISTORY OF THE CAR!!! Many people are experiencing the same things and this isn’t good.

Bought in 2016 with 60k miles on the clock. Got a good price for it ($7,500), LT model with the 1.4 turbo. I've honestly had small problems every couple of months. It's in the shop more than my GF's 2008 Prius with double the mileage (214k on prius vs 112k on my sonic). This thing is dead set on killing itself by getting rid of all of its coolant. Between multiple hose replacements to replacing the water outlet housing twice and replacing the overflow tank (it cracked at 69k miles), it has been rough. It's never left me stranded although it's because I check under the hood religiously, which thank god I decided at 80k miles to start carrying coolant and oil in the trunk just in case. Some other things I've had done: *replaced both front CV axles *replaced both rear struts *front pads, cleaned out rear drums (rear still shakes slightly when braking from high speed, but it's a little better) *transmission fluid change at 90k miles, still a little jerky at times of course it's been this way since I bought it *set of goodyear tires around 75k miles [walmart special, kind of sucked], then a set of general's [much better tires imo] around 100k *battery replacement around 90k miles *just replaced an O2 sensor that wasn't completely dead but dead enough to give me a CEL w/ code P0420. Replaced for $60 and no cel anymore *Valve cover around 90k miles *Spark plugs around 100k (preventative maintenance) Power is good, up & down-shifts are a little wonky when the trans is cold but when it's warmed up it's honestly got a good bit of power. Super smooth when flooring it (not that I do that very often). Honestly, when it's good it's really good. I love the heck out of this car. I just wish it could keep itself out of the shop. Thankfully, my work has given me a truck to commute to job sites with so I really only drive the Sonic when I need to go to the grocery store or need to run other errands.

Starting at 100k miles, constant issues. The entire coolant system has been replaced. Water outlet twice, radiator, 4 catalytic converters, shift button fell off, 5 coolant reservoirs, water pump, flex pipe, pcv valve cover twice, 3 coil packs, spark plugs twice a year, now oil leaks, 5k went into it last year and still it isn't fully fixed. Everything costs a lot to fix on it. I wouldn't buy it again.

I absolutely love my 2013 Sonic it's pretty and has been very reliable. It runs great has fantastic gas mileage. It's a perfect car for a woman or a new driver. I have had it for 5 years and only had to replace the battery.

The Chevrolet Sonic, all years, is the worst car ever designed in the history of the automotive industry. Here is a list of the problems with it: 1. The battery can be put in backwards, and the car will still start. 2. It can be easily tampered with. There is a control panel which allows access to fuses and wires vital to the vehicle's operation on the lower left hand-side of the steering-wheel column. 3. Half the time, it won't start, but the auxiliary position works great! 4. It's ugly. The extra headlights alone are enough to inspire Stephen King's next classic. 5. It's too low to the ground. 6. Bad on gasoline. 7. There are un-necessary safety features. 8. Electronic nightmare.