2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbo - 12 Year Ownership Review 

Came for the Cobalt, stayed for the turkey call

Never seen a Cobalt this mint, this is one hell of a first car and looks like you definitely appreciated it.

Congrats on taking such great care of that Cobalt - I'm sure you made your grandpa proud! Thanks for sharing!

A truly amazing story tbh. Looks brand new and the fact that you took such good care of it at a young age speaks volumes of your maturity.

keeping your first car in such pristine condition for over a decade is freaking amazing dude

Thats a hell of a first car, your grandpa must be a great guy!

Sold my first self-purchased car due to financial obligations. It was the right choice at the time and it allowed me to be successful enough to buy my first home. I made a lot of memories in that car but I think that’s why I haven’t tried to find another one, bc it was more the memories than the car itself that I hold onto. It was a 2013 Focus ST in tangerine scream 🍊

Your story with this car is the definition of a true car enthusiast and I LOVE it

NEVER SELL IT! first car which your grandpa bought you, learned how to drive in it, took it to high-school and College. This car has such a wholesome story❤

I had a 2006 ss/supercharged and a 2008 ss/turbo and I still miss that car to this day. Keep it bro! It’s a beautiful car

Petrolhead from kenya, learnt of this gem from NFS MW still hoping to get one. The sound of the supercharger mated 2 manual is just heavenly.

love that you took such good care of it, really remarkable.

Excellent video. I was also lucky enough to have a 2009 Cobalt SS Turbo at 16. I was same as you, treated that car like gold and never winter drove it. I ended off having it fully bolted and tuned. That car put a smile on my face everytime I drove it. It was my dream car when I got it. I sold after 6yrs, it had 51,000KMs. Purchased from original owner who ordered it from a local dealership. Every option, including LSD and performance display. Absolutely loved that car. Sold in 2019 and still haven't taken it off my profile picture on here. Lol

This is the 4th Gen Prelude for me in 2001. Got it with 36k miles. Same thing, i had winter wheels. Garaged all the time. 95SE. Loved. Loved that car. I still own a 94 prelude si to this day. These Cobalt SS were very overlooked at the time. A friend had one and loved it. I wouldn't mind having one today.

That is the single most mint Cobalt SS to ever exist. Keep it that way.

Very impressed how amazing it looks. You've done a great job taking care of it.

Dude I have an 06 SS mint! That is awesome that you're into this car as well!

Literally my dream car 🥹❤️

Such a rare car. I probably see one every 5 years or so

Wow you really have taken care of it, looks gorgeous!!!! I think the design is pretty nice and different. Love it

I absolutely love TopherDrives and Mark of Excellence! They do a fantastic job showcasing the vehicles produced by General Motors, especially during the Great Recession era. Their passion for GM vehicles really shines through in their content.

The perfect 30 minute workout video thanks SSTOPHER!

Got my 08 SS after getting home from Iraq brand new. 181k miles on it and outside of coil packs, plugs, and oil changes, and a clutch, I've only had to change out the cam sensors. Great freaking car!

I got the regular sedan version as my first car, I started reminiscing when you started to talk about all your memories in the car. Time flies.

I can't believe how clean it is man. Beautiful car!

I’ve been waiting for this for so long; the license plate is 🔥

I deeply resonate with your true appreciation of your first car. I’m 27, my first car is an 89 Supra Turbo (from 19, lol) and I do absolutely still have it and have only kept it in the same condition and improved it ever since in this similar vain of passion and enthusiasm. It’s 1JZ swapped LOL. It’s a wonderful experience to be in ownership of a car that truly represents your own self. I feel inspired to create a video just like this! you’ll be shouted out for inspiration. 😂🙏🏽

Thank you so much for leaving the car stock…looks amazing

The 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS, what a fantastic vehicle! It was a true gem from General Motors during the Great Recession. The Cobalt SS was known for its sporty performance and sleek design. It really showcased Chevrolet's commitment to producing quality vehicles even during challenging times. Plus, the Mark of Excellence badge just added that extra touch of pride and craftsmanship. A great choice for any car enthusiast!

Love these cars! I remember sitting in them brand new when my dad worked at a Chevy dealer. Definitely on my list of cars to own one day.

Wow, what a throwback. I also learned to drive manual in a red, 2 door Cobalt, but it was just a base model. This one is a real time capsule, what a beautiful unit.

I've had two of these - first one was a 2006 SS/SC in black, and I aslo got it in 2012. Sold it 3 years later to go AWD w/ and STI, but 4 years ago I got a 2007 SS/SC in yellow. Ended up selling it to get an older Corvette, but I wish I'd held onto it. Cobalt SS's have been one of my favorite cars of all time and I'm on the lookout for another one in good shape, but up here in MN there aren't any in good shape at the moment. Hoping to come across something relatively clean! Loved the vid!

Very nice car. Great review. I bought my 2009 Victory Red SS 12 years ago, too. Had 15k miles and now have 125k on it. I've done track days, 1/4 mile runs, trips up and down the east coast, commuted for years with it, and it's been fantastic. It's very modified now, but still looks stock aside from the muffler and 3/4" lower suspension. It's a shame they only made this car for 3 years and in such low numbers.

Man that thing must've been f'ing sweet as a first car. I bought myself a meh-condition 2009 Mustang GT at 17 for a daily driver, but man this thing is so damn clean. I can see why you didn't touch a thing on this car, already so tasteful straight off of the lot. The brembo's the 5 spokes, and racing embroidered seats; just awesome.

This car is GORGEOUS and extremely well taken care of. I don't get why people hate on these

New dream car unlocked. I love this thing!

This is really cool! I always lowkey wanted one of these, ever since I first drove it in NFS Most Wanted '05. Props to you for taking such good care of your first car! Like many others, I still wish I'd kept my first car; a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon. It was kind of a beater, but I would've loved to have started restoring it now in adulthood.

As the original owner of a 2007 Victory Red Cobalt coupe, this video makes me very happy. Sadly, mine is a LT, not an SS. Glad this car is out there and cared for.

that car sounds so fricking awesome! i love it!

Man I can’t wait to get one. I was working part time after school at a Chevy dealership when this car came out. I still want one lol

Nice video. Nice that ur grandpa bought u such a cool car. My grandpa never owned a car in his life. He passed when I was 11. Im 18 now with an 04 lexus ES330.

I had my 2005 Cobalt SS/SC (also Victory Red and with an upgrade to the seats from the SS/TC plus GMS 2) for 14 years before the Pennsylvania rust took her a few months ago despite me moving to Texas. I was a Pontiac G5 driver before that. The Delta platform is my favorite and has the most memories, but I thankfully did snag a Sky Red Line in great shape for a good price recently which is another very underappreciated car that is a ton of fun to drive.

What a beauty cleanest one ive seen😲👌🔥🔥

I love how much you love this car.

This is one hell of a first car. For a 15 year old car, it looks like it just rolled off the dealership. I really envy you that you were able to have a car like this at 16.

hell yeah dude. my first car was a 4 door ss. miss that thing

Wow what a cool car it’s completely preserved Wow you don’t see cobalts like that anymore.

the coupe style cobalts are so cool. an 05' coupe base was my first car. i had crank windows.

My brother has an 08 Cobalt, other than the stereo system having issues and a cracked fuel pump housing it's been dead reliable for the last 4-5 years.

My mom sold her Caravan to give me half the money to buy my first car, I had to work to get the rest. Her and my dad pulled up in an 06 supercharged SS with around 40,000 miles on it in 2011. My jaw was on the floor, I was also 16. Only deal was she got to drive it to work until I went to college. I bought the new Si recently, it’s cool to be back in a small boosted car that’s good on fuel but the goal is to someday buy a low mileage LNF to just have and take care of. Love your car Toph, a time capsule to see for myself.

I had this exact car in black (2009 with the low profile spoiler). Did the GMPP upgrade and then added a high flow downpipe and a custom tune. Think was an absolute rocket.

My first car was mostly destoyed when I bought it, then I proceeded to destroy it some more, mostly through lack of experience or knowledge, not for lack of trying. That car is long gone now, but I was lucky enough to find a super nice one that was very, very similar to it but way cleaner. Anyways, fun car you have there and great job preserving it.

Dude it’s so clean

2008-2010 Cobalt SS is one great car. I had a 2010 SS and after tuning every 1999-2020 variations of GM v8 engines, factory boosted also, none of them had the engine control management like the 08-10 SS. Basically these cars came with a wideband o2 sensor stock, no other GM came with widebands from factory at least from the v8 world that I know of. I've heard the Caddy Catera had one but that may be the only other one. Possibly the newer turbo 4 cyl GMs use one but I've never looked into them. Anyways, what's amazing about the wideband is the ability of closed loop fuel trimming at heavier/full throttle. The v8 engine variations and 05-07 SS, only had narrow band o2 sensors so once you go heavier throttle and trigger power enrichment, you're in open loop and no full throttle fueling is being added or subtracted (positive ltft fuel trims carry over if experienced prior to power enrichment though, but still no active trimming in power enrichment). I recently tuned a 2019 Corvette z06 which is supercharged from the factory, no wideband from factory just narrowbands so no trimming in boost. While the 08-10 Cobalt SS Tc with its Bosch ecu has a wideband stock, very neat!

My buddy had the turbo model as his first car, as well. They were incredibly underrated and I think it's because of the supercharged model before it, which was garbo in comparison. The turbo model was great. Fairly light, very good handling and made a ton of power from just a downpipe and tune.

My first car now at 20 is an Stratus 2003 , I’m saving up for a 2006 cobalt ss , whenever i have it im gonna come back wish me luck!

Hope I can do something like this for my kids and grandkids!! So cool

Knew it was a turbo when I saw the thumbnail. The supercharger ones had those mirrored fat spoke wheels as a dead giveaway. What a beautiful car and still plenty quick even by today’s standards. You might get people who still call it a “Slobalt”…pay them no attention. You have a car certainly to be proud of!

4:12 "an hood strut", man I love top gear's influence on the car cummunity

that thing is mint. Future classic.

I'm in love with this car and the condition you've kept it in. Edit: my Alfa Romeo MiTo 10:38 has the same hidden compartment

sweet car man, nice to see a stick shift for your first car and its in such great condition too

I remember racing around with these cars with my modded grand prix gtp and regal gs back in the day.

I like your car ! Very cool looking car

My first car I ever bought was a 2007 Audi a3 hatch Quattro 3.2. It got totalled and to this day I’d still take that car over anything it was so beautiful.

I have this engine in my 2011 Saab 95. Man I have had a lot of timing chain issues with this engine. 2.0 ecotec turbo right?

that is one fantastic looking cobalt.

Hey bro I just picked up a absolutely mint black 2009 turbo one, it has 25k miles, stock turbo with all the bolt ons you can do, dropped with bc coils all around on some beautiful enkei’s, was previously set up for meth has the box in trunk, and so much more, what do you think it’s worth roughly?

Fun fact: they did actually make a hot version of the Cruze, it’s just badged as a Buick. The Verano, which rides on the same platform, had the second generation of this engine, the LHU, as an option, though they’re extremely rare. Even rarer still are the ones that were optioned with the 6-speed manual. I think I’ve seen exactly one in my life so far among the countless standard versions.

Absolutely love this video. GM makes some serious great cars that were overlooked because of the perception and interior quality. This thing is a gem along with the skyline red. Did you know that GM offers a stage 2 kit that bumps up the power significantly and is a legit GM part? You should check it out!

It's nothing shameful that your grandfather bought this for you. Mine did the same with a 350z, which I later traded in cause we didn't do my insurance correctly, so it was super high. Eventually, I got another one, but i wished things weren't lost in translation for the original my grandpa bought me.

You know it’s in ultra mint condition when the Chevy bow tie is not chipped at all. Just amazing how it’s still in showroom condition!

Back when turbos meant a car was fast and not to make up for lack of displacement

Dang that is clean. I went with the srt4 at the time.

Buying another car to take better care of your first car . That is what true love is .

Love the Kumho Tires!!!

So freaking cool this car came with a boost gauge from the factory in 2009….

Bro still owns his 1st car after a decade😮

Love those seats

I bought an 09 Sedan SS after having several other platforms. Other than my H/C 450whp GTO the Cobalt was the fastest. Only made 340whp but with only 2900lbs to move around it went!

Very nice condition! Love the Cobalt. Old GM.

Miss my 2009 sedan in black such a fast car especially with the GM stage 1 tune and the loud pops with the no lift shift feature.

Dude! I'm 19 and I have a really clean eagle talon that I won't drive in the salty roads and bought a 95 ford probe for winter. See a pattern?

I always liked these cars. I remember being 8 and playing Forza Motorsport 2. I picked this one in blue for my first car 😆 This bodystile should make a comeback. It has aged very well. Respect for keeping it in such good condition :) Not many turbo'd 260HP cars survive a dude's teenage years lol

my fav car from the NFS MW, man if only I can have my hands on this version, I will change it into evil one 👹😍💗

A Probe is a pretty cool winter beater

What a gem

Roadtrip with Emily in the Cobalt SS, for sure!

That’s crazy about the mileage lol. My 335d has gotten about 27k miles since last July, and it’s at 179k now.

my first car in 1987 when i was 19 was a white 75 monte carlo with a 350 in it

What more I like from this car is the paint colour and its upholstery.

You should do more videos on the cobalt ss turbo

Bought new 2009 HHR SS back in the day. Dark blue with chrome wheels. Gorgeous . Fast, useful, but horrible transmission shifter. Drove through 120K miles. Quoted $5K for new control arm bushings and clutch work. Time for new car.

Didn't the Cobalt SS Turbo's come with no lift shift or is it something else that did. Weren't these also available in a sedan as well

That 260hp GM LNF 2.0t was so ahead of it's time debuted in 2007 yet a 2024 GTI still only has 241hp

It's a Delta platform car - it feels old school because while being initially made into a vehicle in 2003, it's design is from the 90s and was meant to be used in Saturn vehicles as early as 2000 (obviously, it was not - that didn't happen until the Ion in 2003 according to Wikipedia).

I might be one of the only people who feels this way, but i have always loved the way the cobalt looks. The SS was underappreciated. The regular trims, used and abused daily. I still see cobalts around, they are usually beat up like used Altimas. Here in the Midwest, usually rotted out but still rolling. These were no where near as unreliable as the replacement, the Cruze. The Cobalt was not the worst car in terms of reliability, but still had that cheaper gm feel that got it a harsher reputation than i feel like it deserves. The biggest failures i knew of were power steering issues and the key problem. I would own one, simple straightforward cars.

I remember when these came out, I was jealous as an SRT4 owner because these things were making some steam once modded

My dad had a cobalt with a big bass speaker in the back and it would shake the car when we would listen to music... Sadly that car broke down and was unfixable and he now has a new car.. I want a Cobalt SS to be my first car when I get my first car so badly just for the nostalgia

She's a beauty