Used 2014 Chevrolet Sonic Sedan Consumer Reviews
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Has proven to be very reliable.
kayemtee, 04/07/2014
updated 10/19/2023
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5M)
38 of 39 people found this review helpful
I’ve been asked to update my review yet again, so here it is. This will likely be my last update as I recently gave my much beloved Sonic to my niece who just moved to the US from France. Still going strong with the original battery after almost ten years and 125,000 miles. Perhaps the difference between Toyota quality and Chevy quality is starting to emerge. Right after I gave it to her, the check engine light came on. Code reflected catalytic converter failure. I paid $200 for a “rejuvenation “ which has kept the light off and won’t worry about it until the next NYS inspection. Because the car was originally sold in New York, it will require a more expensive replacement than a non-California car. Everything else expressed below is still true. I would only hope every car I buy has been as good as theirs modest Chevy. I will greatly miss owning a manual transmission car; it is getting harder and harder to get one. 8.5 years and 117,000 miles, still going strong. It is a shame that GM, and all American makes, have abandoned this segment. I think they accidentally made too good a small cheap car. Front headroom, legroom and trunk space are amazing for this size car; the sedan trunk is the same size as a Camry. Still has original battery, and still original rear brakes and only one replacement of front brakes. Had to recharge air conditioning for the first time despite no leaks being found. I finally had to change my first lightbulb. After 7.5 years and 106,000 miles, I am still a fan. I’ve replaced the front brakes once, the spark plugs and coil (a shop far from home might have broken the coil by accident changing the boots over the plugs when brought there due to very rough running), and had to have the dealer diagnose and repair the airbag light coming on intermittently. They cleaned oxidation off of some of the wiring and no problem since. It still has the original battery and started instantly on a freezing morning after sitting for five weeks. I have a set of four Blizzak snow tires mounted on 15 inch steel wheels and it makes the car perfect for winter use in snow country, where we live now, especially with the manual transmission. Chevy has dropped the manual version, which is a shame. It makes the car fun to drive and the clutch is still original. The sixth gear is very economical (2000 rpm at 67 mph) but you need to downshift to fourth to climb grades on the Interstate. The big trunk in the sedan version still impressed me. Below are previous reviews my me over the last six years. I’m still impressed after 4 years and almost 60k miles. Sorry to hear that GM is dropping it after 2018. Peppy with turbo, great gas mileage, still on original brakes, fun to drive, and plenty of room people and stuff for a subcompact. Below are earlier comments. It has now been three and one half years and almost 50,000 miles. The previous comments continue to be accurate. Reliable, economical, and still fun to drive. No repairs other than the oil leak which was covered under warranty. Brakes still original. Nothing but oil changes and replacing two tires because one was damaged. I’m not sure why it’s not more popular; it’s a very good small car. I love being able to squeeze into small NYC parking spots; the hatchback is more than a foot shorter but the trunk on the sedan is so large and useful. Perfectly comfortable for 2-3 hour highway trips but I have not taken longer ones in the Chevy only because I have a 23 year old S Class Mercedes that is better suited for long distance high speed road trips. But if I didn’t have it, I’m sure the Chevy would be fine. I think a clean used Sonic would be an excellent choice for a teen’s first car; the price of a used one is lower than a comparable Honda. I've owned an. LTZ sedan with the 1.4 turbo and a six-speed manual transmission for two years and more than 30,000 miles. I'm still very impressed. Quite peppy in city driving. We just took a highway ride and ran at speeds up to 80 mph and averaged 39 mpg. Amazing! Very solid ride and quiet with little wind noise. Amazing amount of legroom and headroom for driver and front seat passenger. I'm six-two and had to move the seat up and had tons of headroom. I liked the look of the hatchback better but lower price and huge trunk made me pick ther sedan. We paid less than 18K; I can't think of any car out there to offer this value. Update after two years: we still like the car very much. It has been flawless with one exception; my independent mechanic noticed a very slight leak in the main rear engine seal. It didn't leak enough to have to add any oil. I brought it to the dealer who replaced the seal under warranty but I haven't had it on a lift to see if the problem is solved. For the money paid, it's still a fine value although the trade in value is low compared with other subcompacts.
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1.4 turbo LT auto sedan; a good buy, a few niggles
shorebreeze, 12/11/2014
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LT 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 6A)
37 of 38 people found this review helpful
This review is for the 1.4 turbo LT sedan, which isn't offered as an option by Edmunds so I have flagged this in the title. Fun to drive; generally excellent design, one of the few really good touchscreen entertainment systems, excellent on safety, peppy if you get the turbo, a lot of space for the money, larger (but fortunately for parking no longer) than a standard subcompact and the sedan is actually well into the EPA compact category by volume, unusually quiet and smooth for the class. But a number of niggles; front seat comfort issues, awkward stock tuning of engine and transmission, unrefined rear suspension, and appalling stock tires except on the Dusk Edition.
2014 chevy sonic LS auto
steven39, 12/01/2013
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LS 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 6A)
18 of 18 people found this review helpful
For about the last amost 2 years I was driving a 2013 Hyundai elantra gls that I purchased in the summer of 2012.Recently my car was totaled in a accident and the insurance company didn't give me as much for the car as I had hoped so I searched for another car that would be cheap enough for me to purchase with the insurance funds without me having to put in to much of my own money which brought me to this 2014 chevy sonic.this base model sonic blows away my former elantra which was fully loaded.sonic is much better built,quieter,handles better,and is just simply a better built car and surprisingly has more interior room than elantra.All this for under 16 grand.excelent value...
I LOVE THIS CAR!!!!
MICHELLE KAHLIG, 03/30/2016
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LS 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5M)
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
I bought a new Chevy Spark and had to take it in for service and was given the Sonic as a rental car to use while my Spark was being worked on. I loved the Sonic so much I went to the dealership the next day to look into buying one. I got the LT model in Dragon Green and it is truly the best car I ever owned. I get compliments on it daily and it is soooo fun to drive. Sadly I was recently rear ended and the 2015 Nissan Sentra that rear ended me was nearly a total loss, both airbags deployed in it and to spite all of that my Sonic proved that all of it safety ratings were exactly if not better than what the claimed. Everyone was so surprised that this little car was so tough but I knew I had chosen it wisely. The damages to my Sonic were under 3k and easily repairable. Oh and the gas mileage in this car is amazing just as good as what I got in the Spark. If you are looking for a sporty fun economical car that still has plenty of room to haul kids and stuff this is your car!
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2014 1.4L Turbo 1LT
tim87114, 10/10/2014
2014 Chevrolet Sonic RS 4dr Sedan (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
14 of 15 people found this review helpful
When I started looking for a commuter car, the sonic wasn't even on my radar. I read the mileage posts and the reviews. Well I happened onto this sonic at a dealer who somehow happened to have 2 of the only turbo 6 speed cars in the state. Yes, 1LT is the model, sedan 1.4L turbo with a 6spd. When I took it out on the freeway and hit 52mpg. I knew the turbo was the car to have. I commute 120 miles round trip each day. Solid 44.3mpg with premium gas at 80mph with A/C on. 52mpg at 50mph and A/C on. The 44.3mpg is normal in this car. 38-41 around town in stop and go traffic. Also I have over 10K on my car since july.
7 major repairs under 50,000 miles
JHammer, 10/25/2019
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 6A)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
This has the turbo engine, I was not given that selection under “model”.I loved this car for the first 24,000 miles. It looks great, perfect for inner city parking. Gas mileage sucks, around 22mph at best, but so much fun driving the turbo engine. The gear shift lever broke at 24,000 miles. At 24,500 the windshield washer tune came loose in the hood and ruined the under hood liner. No liner replacement but they plugged in the hose to fix it. I have fixed it myself at least 3 more times. I kept smelling coolant at 29,000 miles, but they kept telling me they could find nothing ( 2 days without a car and no rental offered ) At 38,000 my car suddenly overheated, I towed it to the dealer, it was a cracked thermostat housing. Under warranty, no car for 2 days and no rental offered. At 39,500 the air conditioning died and it was out of warranty for that. $400 from my own mechanic. He was very surprised it died to soon. I was too! At just over 44,000 miles, I smelled coolant again. It was time for a new radiator!! Not covered, the dealer wanted $1300. They were surprised it went to quickly, and got me a “deal” from GM to “only” pay $500. The water pump also was bad and replaced under warranty. At 47,000 miles the gear shift lever broke again, I replaced it myself with the help of eBay and YouTube for under $20. Now, at just over 49,000 miles I smell coolant again, take it back to the dealer where they replaced the radiator 6 months before believing it was under warranty from their previous repair, but now it is the coolant recovery tank that is broken and they want another $400 to fix a $47.00 part. They asked GM if they wanted to help me out again, since all this is happening under 50,000 miles, but I got a big NO. I paid $150 for the diagnosis and am taking it to my mechanic and having it done for under $200, so I save at least $50 and have the pleasure of never giving Chevy any more of my money.
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OK for what it is
Coinneach, 02/10/2016
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LS 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5M)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
I have some pretty serious gripes about the Sonic, and I don't understand all the glowing reviews of it. The brakes are completely numb for the first inch of pedal travel, then grab all at once. Lift my foot off the accelerator and it maintains speed/revs for four seconds before returning to idle (yes, exactly four seconds - I count every time). The MyLink system sounds terrible, the BringGo nav app is useless, and it forgets what song it was playing on my thumb drive on the next startup. Rear visibility with the gigantic headrests is nonexistent. It gets worse mileage than the 2012 Cruze I traded it for, despite being smaller and lighter, and the average economy readout is 10% optimistic, telling me I'm getting 34 combined when miles divided by gallons comes out to 29. On the other claw - I haven't had to bring it in to the dealer for endless recalls and TSBs like the Cruze, and the trunk is decently sized. I'd say the Sonic is a decent car for someone who didn't grow up driving Detroit iron, and whose expectations are low. Not me, IOW.
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Subpar.
lvcas, 11/25/2014
updated 11/27/2017
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LT 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 6A)
20 of 26 people found this review helpful
The 2014 Chevy Sonic is a good car. It's good on gas, relatively stylish, very dependable. However, it lacks the over 'luster' of a sub-compact car. The transmission is a joke. I'm sure it is set up for economy, but come on Chevy; you can do better than that. The engine lacks power...majorly. The overall interior quality is poor. The seats are awkwardly placed and hard to adjust; especially if you've never been in the car. The interior is covered in flimsy plastic and hardly any soft touch material. But the worst thing about the entire car is how loud it is. Every bit of road and wind noise enters the cabin. Even on smooth pavement, you would think that you are driving on gravel. Update: 11/25/2017 I have since gotten rid of the car. 72,000 miles from December 2013 to June of 2017 and never left me stranded or threw a check engine light. The only fault is the USB Port failed around 65K miles and would no longer work.
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2014 sonic Only have had the car for 8 months
AL, 04/16/2016
updated 10/18/2018
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LTZ 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 6A)
12 of 15 people found this review helpful
I bought this car with 20,000 miles under warrenty thank god! This car jerks really bad while it shifts and when you are trying to slow down in rush hour traffic in Atlanta. It has been to the dealership many many times. They tried fixing the problem by changing out the clutches, then a week later the transaxle fell out of place at a stop light, I was an hour away from home near my work. The car could not go anywhere. It just kept rolling backwards. I had to keep my foot on the brake. It wouldn't even work in park, it would still roll backwards. I had to put my emergency brake on and wait for a cop to push my car out of the highway. I had to let my car coast all the way to a restaurant. Then get it towed to my dealer. They fixed my transaxle but it still jerks and feels like it's going to stall. I am in the middle of a legal settlement with GM. Please don't buy this car Update- I traded the car in because it was very unreliable.
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sporty fun car-STILL
kathrynelam, 04/17/2015
updated 05/02/2024
2014 Chevrolet Sonic LT 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5M)
11 of 14 people found this review helpful
Very well put together subcompact sedan. Great gas mileage, handles well- some say "jerky" I say responsive. Sporty fun to drive car. *UPDATE* After 3 years of driving the vehicle I still love it! My only real complaint is the lack of spare tire- in Alaska I need a spare not a fix-a-flat kit. The heater works great at -40F and the air conditioner works great at 90! The Sonic is an all around great economy vehicle with good looks. It can take on some big hills without losing a lot of speed (I drive a manual so not sure about the automatic). It can also corner well at high speeds. Well worth the purchase after 3 years. **UPDATE**5 years later I am still driving and loving my Sonic. It has 105,500 miles and I have had it in the shop once for a minor repair- plastic valve cover. Still runs like new! The little car has been all over the State of Alaska- including a trip to Deadhorse on the Dalton highway! *UPDATE* 117,800 miles-6 years and it runs like it did when I bought it. Just routine maintenance and tires so far! *UPDATE* 145,000 miles and still running like new. No big repairs yet, have had to replace a couple of plastic parts that have cracked but not surprised with that since it has to endure big temperature swings from 90+ in the summers to -40 in the winters. The common complaint with this car has been about the acceleration but having a manual transmission has made it a very responsive car that can pass at high speeds without any problems! Still love my little car! Very reliable! **UPDATE**149,700 miles. Still a great car without any huge mechanical issues. The one repetitive issue is with the brakes during the cold winter here in Fairbanks, Alaska. Apparently there is a rubber ring that freezes and therefore can't expand to prevent air in the lines- a couple of pumps and they work just fine. But for the inexperienced driver it could be a very frightening experience. It generally "fixes" itself in late spring when the temps are warming. **UPDATE**160,000 miles and still going strong. No big mechanical issues so far. Replaced shocks/struts/bearings and a transmission mount. Still having an air leak in the right front brake but will be replacing the master cylinder to see if this fixes the issue. The car is still running strong!
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