Quote Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit View Post
My only suggestion in buy a 2009 or newer. Not because there is anything wrong with the earlier design, but because the earlier design is less friendly if the previous owner lacked on maintenance. The 09+ has a longer timing belt interval, and an engine design gm still uses.
I agree totally. I'll venture a bit further and say that AVEOs produced before 2009 are deficient in numerous ways, whereas the 2009 to present version corrected most of those issues.

My wife is also 4' 11". She needed a new car for commuting to work. In 2009 I reviewed all the cars available for that model year (after comparing it with all other available makes and models), test drove an Aveo5 with A/C and A/T, and decided it was best suited for her needs.

I told her about it before buying it, but she never actually got to see it (except in photos) or drive it until it was delivered. She absolutely LOVES the car, because it's right for her. How did I know that? Because we've been married for 33 years and I know her and what pleases her.

I do most of the routine maintenance which is relatively easy to do, and I enjoy driving it too (which is only 5% of the time, when she isn't driving it.)

The most disappointing feature is that the A/T version gets poor MPG in city driving (22-24 at best). But it gets excellent highway MPG of about 36-40 MPG at speeds of over 45 MPH. In that aspect, the MPG makes it a car of extremes. For a cheap econobox car, it's pretty good. My assessment of owning any car is that if you are over 90% satisfied with it, it's a keeper.

For us it fills the bill of what we expect from it. It all depends on what your expectations are.