'06 Aveo: The Single Most Terrifying Car I've Ever Owned

I wish I were kidding but i'm not. After getting the entire front end replaced, there remains an unsettling and noticeable wobble in the tires/wheel and yes, i've had alignment and balance done. This car chews through tires like gum, no matter how much money I throw at it. At only 70k miles, this colossal vehicular mistake has a catalytic converter that has gone bad, vacuum leaks galore, a horn that is seemingly possessed, driver's side tumbler that simply dropped into the door one day (about 4 years ago, when the car was nearly new), unexplained and ongoing squeaks and creaks, despite replacement of the apparent culprits. If this car was a dog, it would have been euthanized long ago. As it is, I can't throw any more money into it and yet, I can't yet afford another car. I drive with white knuckles, half because of the wheel shake and half because i'm in fear that a random, but crucial, part will fall off. To say I will never purchase a Chevy vehicle is an understatement. To wonder if i'll survive each ride in this uber dangerous car is at the forefront of my every thought. Thanks Chevy for a nice case of vehicular PTSD.

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Originally Posted by Jaxman

I wish I were kidding but i'm not. After getting the entire front end replaced, there remains an unsettling and noticeable wobble in the tires/wheel and yes, i've had alignment and balance done. This car chews through tires like gum, no matter how much money I throw at it. At only 70k miles, this colossal vehicular mistake has a catalytic converter that has gone bad, vacuum leaks galore, a horn that is seemingly possessed, driver's side tumbler that simply dropped into the door one day (about 4 years ago, when the car was nearly new), unexplained and ongoing squeaks and creaks, despite replacement of the apparent culprits. If this car was a dog, it would have been euthanized long ago. As it is, I can't throw any more money into it and yet, I can't yet afford another car. I drive with white knuckles, half because of the wheel shake and half because i'm in fear that a random, but crucial, part will fall off. To say I will never purchase a Chevy vehicle is an understatement. To wonder if i'll survive each ride in this uber dangerous car is at the forefront of my every thought. Thanks Chevy for a nice case of vehicular PTSD.

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You might want to voice your complaint directly to the Chevy Customer Service reps that reside on this list. They will tell you soothing, sympathetic words and tell you to take your car to the nearest Chevy dealer.

What more could you ask? Isn't that enough?

it sounds like most of the problems stem from an accident, how bad was it? sometimes, no matter what the car, it is not that same after a bad accident.

Cheap tires wear quickly, cats go bad, only some of your problems are the "common" complaints, not all of them.

What would you buy next? do you think it will be better?

When you say "After getting the entire front end replaced" what do you mean exactly? Can you give us a parts list? The shaking, bad steering, and eating tires sounds like really bad tie rods. Have you had a 2nd shop check the car out? Most tire and alignment shops will do a free estimate. What reason did the first shop give for the problem after "replacing the front end"?

There was no accident, i've never been in a car accident to be completely honest. The guy who was to "repair" a ball joint didn't want to mess with a bolt and apparently welded the area to the K frame. This is why the entire front end (control arms, K frame, struts, mounts, ball joints) had to be completely replaced. Even when the car was new however, the shaking was present and now, with a new front end, alignment, etc., it's terrifying and i'm guessing it's because whatever caused it when the car was young has progressed. I have had this car examined with everything short of a microscope and the shops/dealers shrug and say it's a low-end car that in their experience needs frequent repair.

I don't buy cheap tires, because I feel that they are an important investment in a car's safety and structure.

What would I buy? Well, I have had 200k+ mileage Subaru that had not a single problem, a toyota with a lot of miles (I don't recall how many exactly) with no problems, an Isuzu with no problems and a Ford that was ok.

I don't mean to sound like i'm blowing things out of proportion and I have no problem paying good money for maintenance, good tires, etc.. The problems i've had with this car however are, from speaking with a number of mechanics, what I should expect at perhaps 100k miles, not 70k. I'm frustrated and can't afford to have this car break down again. I just started working a couple of months ago and can't seem to get ahead because every paycheck, something breaks on this car.

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Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

it sounds like most of the problems stem from an accident, how bad was it? sometimes, no matter what the car, it is not that same after a bad accident.

Cheap tires wear quickly, cats go bad, only some of your problems are the "common" complaints, not all of them.

What would you buy next? do you think it will be better?

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I have had several different mechanics on this car, primarily because I would get that car fixed, it would break fairly quickly, then i'd go to a different mechanic because I figured the original one had no idea what he (or she) was doing. It does not appear that it was the mechanics, given that the car has not run properly since about a year after I purchased it.

I had the K frame, ball joints, control arms, struts and mounts replaced. See my last post above for the reason why all of this had to be replaced.

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Originally Posted by gothstone

When you say "After getting the entire front end replaced" what do you mean exactly? Can you give us a parts list? The shaking, bad steering, and eating tires sounds like really bad tie rods. Have you had a 2nd shop check the car out? Most tire and alignment shops will do a free estimate. What reason did the first shop give for the problem after "replacing the front end"?

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Here's a guess on what happened to your Aveo. Suspension/steering parts generally don't go South after one year. Yes, lots of parts wear out over multiple years, and occasionally something is bad off the assembly line. But not after one year of normal wear and tear. So, I'm thinking that you hit some mother of a sink hole, and bent something - very easy to happen on a rust belt road. From that point on, your Aveo was out of alignment, which is why it ate tires for lunch. And along the way you received lots of bad advice regarding the problem. That's very unfortunate, and is also one of the reasons why some of us get into DIY.
So at this point (if you want to hang onto the Aveo), you need to find a good shop and get the correct and required repairs done. Take it to multiple shops and cross-check what they say. Then go with the one who appears to be giving you the most solid information. Hope this works out - you're overdue for something good to happen :rolleyes:

Aint that the truth! I appreciate your insight and agree with much of what you said. I don't have a choice but to hang onto it until i'm more financially settled.

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Originally Posted by avguy

Here's a guess on what happened to your Aveo. Suspension/steering parts generally don't go South after one year. Yes, lots of parts wear out over multiple years, and occasionally something is bad off the assembly line. But not after one year of normal wear and tear. So, I'm thinking that you hit some mother of a sink hole, and bent something - very easy to happen on a rust belt road. From that point on, your Aveo was out of alignment, which is why it ate tires for lunch. And along the way you received lots of bad advice regarding the problem. That's very unfortunate, and is also one of the reasons why some of us get into DIY.
So at this point (if you want to hang onto the Aveo), you need to find a good shop and get the correct and required repairs done. Take it to multiple shops and cross-check what they say. Then go with the one who appears to be giving you the most solid information. Hope this works out - you're overdue for something good to happen :rolleyes:

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Sorry when you said replaced the entire front end, i pictured you put a new front clip on it after an accident, not rebuilt the suspension. But now with the further information you provided, I can see you still have purchased some guys hack work and do not fully understand explanations of what he did, or what needs done. Unfortunately as well it sounds like in shopping around for a competent mechanic you have hit just as many bad places that do not understand the car anymore than an untrained novice.

I wish i could make a recommendation to help you out. But your attitude that it is a fault of every aveo and not something you are doing is not going to help you like the car anymore. Its great the you had a toyota, isuzu a subaru and ford that had absolutely no problems, never needed to go to the dealership / mechanic one time in the 200,000 miles you drove them. They why did you need to get rid of them? they ran perfect.

mechanics predicting how many miles anything will last is total bull**** as well, saying it should go 100k miles before you have this trouble and you only got 70k is all opinion. There is no evidence or requirement that any car should make it 100k versus 60k or 150k aside from the timing belt, and even those are recommendations, not solidified in stone.

I think you have been fed a ton of misinformation, and now you dont know which way is up. You need to find someone competent to fix the car you own and someone who can fix it once. You say you do not buy cheap tires, but high prices do not mean better, its all about the specs, you can have $50 tires that are better than $200 tires based on how you drive, where, and the performance you expect. But alas i typed this for nothing, its the aveos fault.

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Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

Sorry when you said replaced the entire front end, i pictured you put a new front clip on it after an accident, not rebuilt the suspension. But now with the further information you provided, I can see you still have purchased some guys hack work and do not fully understand explanations of what he did, or what needs done. Unfortunately as well it sounds like in shopping around for a competent mechanic you have hit just as many bad places that do not understand the car anymore than an untrained novice.

I wish i could make a recommendation to help you out. But your attitude that it is a fault of every aveo and not something you are doing is not going to help you like the car anymore. Its great the you had a toyota, isuzu a subaru and ford that had absolutely no problems, never needed to go to the dealership / mechanic one time in the 200,000 miles you drove them. They why did you need to get rid of them? they ran perfect.

mechanics predicting how many miles anything will last is total bull**** as well, saying it should go 100k miles before you have this trouble and you only got 70k is all opinion. There is no evidence or requirement that any car should make it 100k versus 60k or 150k aside from the timing belt, and even those are recommendations, not solidified in stone.

I think you have been fed a ton of misinformation, and now you dont know which way is up. You need to find someone competent to fix the car you own and someone who can fix it once. You say you do not buy cheap tires, but high prices do not mean better, its all about the specs, you can have $50 tires that are better than $200 tires based on how you drive, where, and the performance you expect. But alas i typed this for nothing, its the aveos fault.

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+1 great response

back in '09 i full on rally tested my aveo on an extremely pothole filled forestry road. in just less than six minutes the front suspension and steering took what i would describe as 'a very serious, considerable' amount of abuse during this test. now being stubborn, but positive i one by one assessed what damage i caused to the vehicle to get it back to 100% or at least as darn close. trust me it is possible, and i only took my car to the same dealership so that i knew, and they knew that we were making progress. not trying to say that what your going through isn't frustrating but you can get to the bottom of the situation with perseverance, and learn a lot too along the way. btw i am assuming you are on new rims, right? i found that many shops will balance wheels and not even tell the owner that although balanced rotationally, that they have a lateral wobble. so even after the control arms, strut mounts, steering linkage, etc, i was still running on warped rims (knowingly) that i swear made me believe the rotors needed to be machined, but alas it was another reason altogether. my thoughts of recommendation are take a breather, choose one shop, and have the mechanic take the car out for a spin with you in the passenger seat before you even start. it can be done, and yes six minutes of fun isn't always worth it

My Aveo was eating up tires but that was until i changed the lower control arms and struts then went out and had the front alignment. no more steering wheel shakes

Now, on top of everything, I have an oil leak. Fabulous.