Quote Originally Posted by BubbleTrousers__ View Post
Hello all! I have a few quick questions regarding a decision that I must make. This fall I'll be going to college and I need to find a vehicle. Currently I have a Jeep with 272,000 miles on it and I don't know how much longer it will last. Anyway, I was looking for something cheap, easy to fix/maintain, and something with alright fuel economy. My neighbor owns a 2011 Chevy Aveo5 ls and he said he'd sell it to me for trade in value because he upgrades every few years. The car will have less than 50,000 miles on it and the car is in overall good condition. So for about $6,000 I can own a cheap, fuel efficient, fun vehicle that will hopefully last many years.
Now, here's the question. Are their any downsides to purchasing an Aveo? Many people have complained about the manual gearbox in the car, but I'm a fan of a manual. Also, are there any costly repairs I need to know about before I buy the car? Any and all feedback would be great. Don't sugar coat it for me because I will only buy the car if it seems like a good investment for my transportaion. Thanks
What you are describing sounds good for the price mentioned. My wife has an '09 Aveo5 that we bought new, now with 25K miles on it. Petty things can go wrong, such as the clock which is a POS. The suspension is cheaply designed and crude (to put it charitably) and I expect problems will arise with that as it ages and has more mileage. It's fuel efficient on the highway, but not in city driving, which can be disappointing.

As with buying any used car, I'd suggest that you ask to see the service records and determine whether it's ever been in an accident. Mine's an automatic, but depending on how this one was driven you might need to replace the manual clutch eventually. It's pretty good for a cheap econobox, and you can haul a lot of stuff in the available cargo space in the hatchback.