2009 AVEO...GOOD BUY? Please help!

Hello I am looking at a 2009 aveo 4 door base car. It has 67,000, owner says it is mostly highway miles. It needs two new rear tires but that seems to be it. He tells me the car has never had any problems and has all records for it and it's only had its oil changes and nothing else has been needed.

What I am worried about is I keep hearing about the timing belts on these cars. I'm told that in 2009 they changed the motor up a bit and the timing belt is not a issue anymore, but is that true? Also if the timing belt does break will it break a lot of other stuff costing me a ton of money? Lastly is $4,400 a good deal? Anything else you can tell me about these cars I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you very much!

"mostly highway miles" 99.9% of the time is bull****. However, 4400 seems like a deal to me... I paid 9100 for my 2010 hatchback with 28k miles (at a dealer though)

well if it's like mine, 2009 it should be in need of a few bucks worth of repairs real soon mainly the timing belt if it hasn't been done yet...67,000 KM or miles ? it's due at 100,000KM or 60,000 miles. Sorry but you couldn't give me an Aveo for any price and this coming from a guy that has owned one from brand new. Walk away unless you really really really enjoy working on and paying for repairs...and putting the effort into making something that never worked right from day one work properly. I paid 17,000 for mine so I am in it good, no choice I feel but to work through the issues mine/they have and make a car out of it.

My dad always told me you can pay for good land once, or pay for badland the rest of your life...this applies to just about any asset you will ever own...imo.

I use to own a 1988 Chev Sprint, it was basicaly just like the Aveo in build quality. The difference is with that car I bought it for 1000 bucks and they were plentifull in the scrap yards so parts were cheap but it had the same kind of bizarre issues the Aveo does, I was driving it down the street one day and somehow the command start which I didn't even know was installed in the car shifted the transmission into reverse...while I was doing 30mph forwards...wheel bearing were an almost every other month task....Vega,Sprint,Aveo got to be money in this program cause GM just keeps on selling them.

At the time I bought this Aveo it was 17,000 and VW TDI was 30,000...here's a quick numbers crunch I am out of pocket $ 5600 in fuel as of today at 88,000 KM. I own my cars for 300,000 KM so I will be out of pocket at 300,000 KM $ 19040.00 bucks in lost fuel mileage the biggest thing is the VW TDI was a nice ride, handles well, the VW I could sell the Aveo I will have to give away. The VW has no trouble going 80,000 KM on a tire the Aveo so far hasn't got over 25,000 KM on a tire yet. You get the picture I am sure....

2009 aveos have a 100k mile timing belt interval. It is an ecotec correct?

That said i would never pay 17000 for an aveo, i paid over 6000 less for mine brand new.

There are definitely things about any car that affect ownership, reliability, etc. The aveo has less recalls than most honda and toyota cars. MY aveo has only left me stranded three times, and one of those times "may" have been my fault, and one was definitely mine (left snow tires on in summer until one blew out on highway, emergency jack didnt fit under car..)
My oem tires didnt make it 5000 miles, (replaced under warranty) second set of oem were gone before the odometer had 10k.

Adding in fuel to figure total cost is an interesting way to decide if its a sound investment. At $4400 for a fairly decent mileage car i would worry about title issues, wrecks etc. Why is it being sold so cheap?

I live in South Dakota and a lot of people here work out on the oil rigs in North Dakota, because the cost of living is so high they drive back and forth every week. The job is one week on one week off most the time. Anyways the owner of this car just got a now job and moves Monday and can't take the car so I asked if he would be interested in 4,400 cash and he said yes because I don't think he can do anything else with it. I'm suppose to pick it up tomorrow but then I started reading about these cars and 4,400 is starting to not sound like as good of a deal as I first thought.

YOU COULD NOT GIVE ME AND AVEO..my kid turns 16 this month, I will not allow her to drive this car end of story. I realize some of these Aveo for some reason seem to be ok and some are not, I got a not one and I see more nots than ok's...and timing belts gee did I get caught there said back in 1982 I would NEVER BUY ANOTHER car with a timing belt, I thought they were banned then found out this car has one LOL

If I let my kid drive this car and she gets into an accident I would never forgive myself.

If you got $ 600.00 bucks find a Cavalier same fuel milage and a darn good ride.

Lol that is funny because I have been looking for a decent priced cavalier for the last two hours now haha. Sadly I'm not finding any near me. Denver seems to be the best bet but not sure how to get two cars back if I go there to buy one lol.

228,000 KM on my 03 Cavalier...total repairs for the life of the car, under $ 1400.00 bucks ( 10 years ownership) aside from oil and tires which last 90,000 KM on my car. The Aveo I have spent over $ 3000.00 in the past 12 months on repairs so FAR, need another $ 2500.00 to make it steer well. Tires last as I said under 30,000 KM....and cost more money per tire btw.

I have steered my Cavalier with my left thumb the day I bought it and still do today.

Well I bought the limited TEAM CANADA EDITION, leather wheel and shifter knob sunroof ect, and I am in Canada things here not the same as the US. I spend most of my time in the US so I know how much cheaper things get the further south you go.

When making the decision to buy the AVEO your going to find this funny, I said to my wife you know are second car is beat our Cavalier needs new tires this is the funny part our Cavalier needed new rubber...I said to her, lets buy a new car and put off replacing the Cavalier tires.....and after owning the Aveo for 4 months I had to shell out for new rubber for IT !

NO WARRANTY COVERAGE GM CANADA REFUSED TO REPLACE THEM. They cost me over 150.00 each to replace.

How I came to be the owner of this Aveo..well I did the math, GM dealer told me Aveo will get 51MPG and I verified this MPG on various websites and the car window sticker... the 2009 was a remake of the Aveo, we waited to buy the 09 for that reason the all improved version it was suppose to be....about 7 months after we owned the car mysteriously all those published MPG numbers disappeared off the GM website, the TDI VW was getting 70 MPG diesel and I confirmed this with someone that owned one, but was double the cost of the Aveo....so the VW didn't pencil out and I was a long time GM car buyer I think this Aveo is my 2 brand new and 5th less than a year old GM product...I took the word of GM because of that history.

Well turns out Aveo was getting around 23 Mpg for the first 6 months we owned it, chewed up a set of tires in that time frame, transmission wouldn't shift still doesn't GM didn't fix it, Powersteering pump failed first 90 days I owned it, car stalled all over the place including while you were driving down the street, GM didn't fix it, stero system shorted out, GM didn't fix it I had to disconnect it, paid IDK how much for that sat radio feature LOL which never did work and nobody could keep the car on the road. The first 6 months we owned it I think it spent I will say around 8 weeks in the shop. We couldn't keep air in the factory aluminum rims and had to pay out of pocket to have those removed and sealed, Onstar quit first 3 months we owned it..GM did fix that.

Is there a recall on this transmission shifting issue I have not seen one...sure should be problem is whenever I take it to the dealer they write can not duplicate problem...well I drove around with a capture device in the car they gave me and I captured it for them so they can't tell me it wasn't duplicated...never heard a single word back from them. No recalls when the dealers don't write up work orders for issues on the car. Can you recall for 50% less MPG then was advertised ? These are huge issues, should have been a recall on the OEM tires I have a work order here from a GM dealership that states rear tires 0/32 tread and the invoice actualy says this " CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE " and right after that it says WARRANTY DECLINED.

I owned two Chev Cavaliers one brand new right off the lot the other 1 year old....the first one never did see a service bay or have a recall and it never left me anywhere great car. The second one never saw a service bay till it had 80,000 KM which was the day I replaced the OEM tires and took it in for an alignment...never saw a service bay again until it had over 170,000 KM on it and it needed and rad fan and I replaced the thermostat on it once. My Cavalier still has OEM exhaust and it looks good, the Aveo wow looks like it might rust through any day now. I know a good car when I see it, the Aveo not it by a long shot.

Cavalier I replaced OEM tires at 80,000 KM and they could have went more but I was going on a trip. The Aveo well I am on set number 3 now and I had to shell out over 800.00 bucks for steel rims and rubber for winter or else park the car when the snow flew....it has 87,000 KM on it.

Cavalier I replaced the O2 sensors at 150,000 KM when I tuned it up didn't need them. The Aveo already replaced the after cat $ 147.00 bucks at 82,000 KM on account of CEL. Aveo spark plugs went through 3 sets before the recall plus the recall ones the Cavalier is running on it's second set. 228,000 KM VS 88,000 KM. Cavalier rear strut went at 180,000 KM so I replaced all of them, Aveo all four shot at 80,000 KM. Cavalier OEM battery failed in spring 2008...5 years of service, Aveo's OEM battery already replaced at year 3. Cavalier just had a safety done on it at 221,000 KM every component passed (but one rear wheel brake cylinder) and it's all original tire rod ends, ball joints, bushings. The Aveo entire front end has been replaced at 88,000 KM and the whole rear end was replaced at 8500 KM. Cavalier has heat in the winter time the Aveo doesn't. The Cavalier hugs the road all four seasons, the Aveo well I will not even talk about how it handles. I can pull a trailer with the Cavalier the Aveo I can't..nor would I likely fry the transmission first hill I took. The Cavalier has hauled 2000lb loads of shingles all over the place. The Cavalier when I step on it at 30 MPH it will squeel the tires the Aveo well it does pick up speed for sure, sometimes anyway. Cavalier has more room than the Aveo...and they both get almost identical MPG. Cavalier insurance is cheaper and good golly when I turn the Cavalier key...it turns over the Aveo well sometimes u need to wait or give it a few tries your just never sure if it is going to or not....and if it does start will it remain running that to is often a mystery....

I cant even count the hours I have spent on this Aveo, fixing, talking to GM Canada, taking it here taking it there trying this trying that premuim fuel MPG testing.....research it's not even a hobby any more, it's become more of a I am not going to be beaten by this POS it's gonna run and drive like it should or I will die tryin. I enjoy my Cavalier and that is how car ownership should be...if your the kind of person that goes looking fortrouble then buy an Aveo.

I have a 2009 4 door manual transmission with 117K Miles. I have had good luck with mine. Tire wear is an issue. 1 radiator hose split but otherwise runs great

I have lots of sympathy for HeavyDuty's tale of woe on his '09. But that being said, one lemon or Monday Morning Special isn't the whole story. 4,400 is a very good price for a vehicle with 67K - you won't find many others. But there is one big catch - what's the oil change history? There really isn't much maintenance required up to 67K, outside of oil changes, but that one item can be a show stopper. Good oil changes is likely to set the stage of many more miles without big expenses, and the flip side is equally true. So, do you know this guy well - is he someone you can trust to be honest about this maintenance? Personally, if I KNEW the oil had been maintained properly, I would do this deal in a heartbeat. But keep in mind that an Aveo is a low-end vehicle, it's not going to handle like a sports car, and you're going to spend a few bucks on repairs (which depends a lot on rust). I've had lots of low-end vehicles over the years, and I think of my '05 Avio as being "average" in what I've owned. As with anything else, it helps a lot if you can do some wrenching :thumbup:

LOL there seems to be some pretty big diff between the Aveo's with the LXT and LXV engine, I have the latter. And I will state further that a good dealership at the onset would have made huge changes to the entire outcome. The problem is a 17,000 new car buyer takes a back seat to the 60,000 1/2 ton buyer...and warranty favors are reserved for the latter.

I have been working on this car now since about June or May and I am confident I can make a car out of it...but it's taking far more than some wrenching, it's re engineering it needs....and a pile of $$$$....which makes it a not so economical ride, and frankly it really isn't safe to drive but it's getting better now...again $$$$$...and time.

I bought a new car because it was suppose to be economical and I bought it for my wife so she could have trouble free transportation to and from work 6 months into this car she would not even get behind the wheel of it. I initially blamed her until I started to drive it.

I equate the purchase of the Aveo as a similar experience to having bought a written off car from an insurance company. I have done that in the past. The problem is not what I was looking to buy, I would have bought a write off not a brand new car if this is what I wanted to do and it would have been 10 grand cheaper and a far more enjoyable experience.

I work 120 hrs a week, my wife works a good 60, hours spent on this pos are hours not spent with my kids for sure. There is one good thing though that will come out of it....I will bet the farm neither one of them will EVER buy a GM product.

HeavyDuty- I stopped reading your rant about half way through, and not to sound rude, but your kind of taking the "educated idiot" approach to your car. I stopped reading at $150 per tire. If the first OEM set didn't last, why in the hell would you spend another $600 on the same set of OEM tires besides the fact the dealer said so? if you would have bought better way back when, then half of your issues would have went away. The other part is if i was paying $17000 for a car at the time. I would have gotten a base line jetta, golf or similar. But price is not the issue, i think your dealership really screwed you with the car in both sale and maintenance.

I have had a lot of luck with my aveo. It has 42k miles on it in 4 years with only 2 real repairs. The o2 sensor (24k), and the fuel pump (5k). Comparatively my audi had a new engine installed at 39k, My r32 had a new fuel pump put in at 600 miles, our fsi vw needed a new cam, fuel pump, and such rebuilt at 60k (look it up overly common). Of the newer cars i have owned, my aveo has been just as reliable as much more expensive cars, with much less expensive repairs (mine covered under warranty).

I feel sorry for your situation, I have a 2005 cavalier as well. VERY well built car. If the cobalt was half the car the cavalier was i would have gotten one of those instead of the aveo ($500 cheaper with incentives at time of purchase). But most of the issues you have seem to stem from not having someone reliable to fix it, and having been miseducated.

well your Aveo is a 2005 not a 2009, not at all the same. If you want to know why I paid 150 bucks for those tires it's because at the time "it blew out" there was only two tires that size in this province...so out of the two tires I had to choose from, I took those two since my car was sitting in my drive way with the dummy spare on. I have that sidewall blown out Hankook tire right here beside my desk.

Now one needs to realize when this happened, I was in the process of fighting with GM for new tires. I needed to buy the exact same tire to determine if it was the axle or the tire, you see this is for reasons of evidence. My axle was bent, I said replace the tires they said no...I said ok, we will figure this out in court I am not standing around here fighting with you about it.

Those tires were shot at 8500 KM, and it was discovered the rear axle was bent out of spec and it was replaced. So do I blame the tire or the axle ? Well I blamed the axle and gave the tire the benefit of the doubt... stupid hey. Hankook had a good name in tires....bent axles had a reputation for destroying tires.

Only two diff tires ava here now in that size the same Hankook or a Nokian, I have the Nokians now as I ran the Hankooks I bought until they were junk at under 30,000 KM.

In hindsight I would have gotten a VW jetta also, LOL but no VW dealership were I live there was a GM though would that make any difference in your purchase decision...in hindsight ? A dealership 20 minutes from you in the town you work in or 4 hours away in a city you never go to.

Mine is an 09, i think i know more of the differences between the aveos than most people. My dealer replaced my tires under warranty without me asking (a nice surprise) when they did my fuel pump under warranty. I still dont see how those are the only two tires in the entire providence, your providence has VW, miatas, as well as a dozen other cars that used that size, but in your hurry to have a fix, you went with what you found.

How did the axle get bent?

@HeavyDuty you really seem to have a lemon. I own a 2009 G3 Wave base model with a 5 speed manual transmission car now has near 40000kms(25000miles) Problems I had were speed sensor for the speedometer(cost me 55$), seal on the axle, rubber on the door which were making alot of noise above 100km/h and one other sensor problems all those problems were done under warranty. I have to admit that this car is really built in a poor quality I will have to change the nut on the air filter cap because they are too rusty to be remove. Other than that it still is an incredibly cheap car to run. Cost me 12770 tx included in oct 2008 and still worth between 6500-7000$. The fuel millage is not really good but I am only doing around 10000kms a year.

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Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

Mine is an 09, i think i know more of the differences between the aveos than most people. My dealer replaced my tires under warranty without me asking (a nice surprise) when they did my fuel pump under warranty. I still dont see how those are the only two tires in the entire providence, your providence has VW, miatas, as well as a dozen other cars that used that size, but in your hurry to have a fix, you went with what you found.

How did the axle get bent?

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The axle was bent from the factory..and the new one they installed also out of spec right from the factory, and it turns out the axle they installed isn't the correct axle part number for this car, of course the only way I can find out the difference between the right axle and the one that they installed is to lay out the $ 600.00 bucks and order the right one and compare the two. I did not see the alignment report from the original OEM axle I was out of the province at the time and my wife was was dealing with the dealership at the onset. Theres no paperwork from them for any work that was done other than axle out of spec and replaced. I just found out 3 weeks ago they changed the power steering pump (back in 2009) under warranty well that was news to me, knew nothing about it.
185/55 15 inch tires are not common, and in 2009 they were less common, and in Saskatchewan they were unheard of, two tires in the entire Province the GM dealer didn't even have them in any brand. There was no other tire option to buy at that time, ok sure I could have ordered a set brought in from the states and waited two or three weeks for them to arrive. But as I said I needed to install the identical tire anyways to determine the true cause of the premature tire wear, had nothing to do with being in a hurry. I bought and installed two of them and drove the car for 15,000 KM then had all four removed and replaced with a different brand. I am now tracking the wear on the diff brand tires and monitoring the wear, because I still think it's really the car not a tire issue. Hankook warranty on those tires was and still is 80,000 KM...

And anyone whom has had alignments done by a GM dealer from 2009 till 2012 will clearly see the alignment specs for the Aveo have been changed. The specs in 2009 are not the same as 2012 specs...they changed them.

And I don't doubt your knowledge of the difference bewteen Aveo models in any way shape or form, thought I saw somewhere you had the 05 and well this 09 is not anything like the 05. Even the 09 came with two different engine models...the LXT I suspect might be a much better engine.

indeed I do math that coupled with having previously owned cars that were great....makes this extra bad. I would have to say. per mile/km it's the most expensive wheels I have ever owned it's even gone above cost per mile of my 1996 Chev 4x4 extended cab it managed 14 mpg, but repairs were zero, and tires lasted easy 80,000 KM.

So you paid 12,700 the same month I bought mine and yours is a standard base model so my cost isn't out of line given I got the Team Canada Edition with sunroof and the auto. A manual transmission would eliminate 80% of my grief. It's the "really built in poor quaility" you mentioned that is the problem...I can invest both time and money into something worthwhile, that's what's missing here....build quality.

$4400 is a very nice deal. You won't find it anywhere else.

Well I will chime in since I bought My 09 new. I got about 26,000 miles on my oem tires. Yes you heard me right. I just replaced them but I did not have to. I just wanted fresh meat for the winter. This car has given Me absolutely no problems. I did get snow tires this year since My son travels back and forth to school in it. The gas mileage is great and it suits him since he is a poor college student. He did wreck the front end of this car slightly so I put a new bumper skin on it and I had to take it in for a recall once.
Knock on wood but We love this car, I will keep it as long as I can, Once My son is done with school it will be a great car to run back and forth to work with.
Long Live My Aveo!

215000 KM on my 03 Not so serious...total maintenance for the lifestyle of the car, under $ 1600.00 dollars ( 10 decades ownership) aside from oil and wheels which last 90,000 KM on my car. The Aveo I have invested over Three thousand dollars.00 in previous times 12 several weeks on maintenance so FAR, need another $ 2200.00 to create it guide well. Tires last as I said under 42,000 KM....and price more cash per wheel btw.
I have steered my Not so serious with my remaining thumbs the day I purchased it and still do these days.
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