Hello, I'm new, and I have questions...

[jim84]

Hello, I apologize for not searching everything individually, I did search out some posts and found some dissatisfied owners and some satisfied.

I have a few questions.

I don'y currently own an Aveo, but am considering purchasing a used one. I own a 97 sunfire, and a 99 Jimmy. I really want to get rid of the Jimmy, too much gas for my tastes. I like my Sunfire, it's been a good car to me, but it has 305K km's on it and I'm thinking of getting something a bit newer. The sunfire was great, I've had it for about 4 or 5 years now and had very few problems with it. I bought it for $1500 (cdn). I had to do the spark plugs and wires, aside from that my only problem has been the clutch. I had a leaky clutch cylinder so I changed it. Then the clutch went about a year later, so I changed that, but the cylinder went when we did it. I think I've put 3 or 4 of those in, I think I've been screwing them up when bleeding them and blowing them apart or something. The pain here is it's located inside the transmission, so that has to come off each time. When we had it apart to do the clutch we did all the seals and such, so it doesn't leak, it's actually in very nice shape. I've hauled all sorts of things with the car, including an apple tree and a cherry tree, as well as many bicycles. A split folding back seat would've been nice, but I recently got a roof rack for it for $120 (with snowboard racks). The car is amazing in the snow, I've got good tires, and it works great making fresh tracks.

So with my dissatisfaction with the Jimmy, and the Sunfire getting older, I've been thinking of a replacement. I want something affordable, fuel efficient, and that can handle snow. I mainly got back to chevy products because they seem to depreciate faster, which is good for me as a second hand buyer. I was looking at the Cobalt or the Aveo from my craigslist searches. They look very similar in sedan form. I prefer the look of the Aveo. Though I think I may look at the hatchback rather then the sedan. I could also swing to a coupe cobalt.

I was wondering, how is the setup for the clutch cylinder in the Aveo, will it be a major job to change?

I know the Aveo has only 4 bolts on the wheel, so I can't keep my winter wheels, but would my tires fit on an Aveo if I found a wheel to match, or are they too big?

I know I'm going to be short on space if I go with the hatchback, but I would be looking at getting a roof rack, and 90% of the time I am alone in the car, or with only 1 passenger, so I don't think it would be a big issue. Usual cargo would be snowboards, bicycles (not as often, they have their own wheels), or gear for camping, which might get crowded behind the seat, I suppose a cargo pod for the roof would alleviate this.

What's the general consensus on the HB vs the Sedan?

Are there main things I should be looking for when looking at these used? I'm looking at the $3-$4000(cdn) range for price. I've seen a few decent looking ones with between 75K and 120K kms. One in particular looks like the owner has taken excellent care of, and has just changed the timing belt.

I just want to make sure getting rid of the trusty old Sunfire amd going to an Aveo won't be a big mistake leaving me with constant repairs.

Thanks for any insight, and sorry for being long winded and not reading the effing manual.

[avguy]

I have a 2005 Aveo 5-speed, which has been my daily driver since I bought it new. I have absolutely no doubt that it's the worst handling vehicle in wet and especially snow that I've ever owned (driving for 45 years). I'm a skiier, and have driven many times in snow over the years, and have never been uncomfortable about driving snow-coverd roads. But with my Aveo, I noticed fairly early on that it didn't have the solid feel on wet pavement as compared to most everything else I've ever driven. Then I found it to be awful in the snow even with good all-season radials, so I bought separate rims and snow tires because I knew this was going to be an annual thing and didn't want to remount tires twice a year. With an aggressive snow tire, I consider it to be just adequate in snow, basically about average compared to everything else I've driven (but all of them with no snow tires required). Howerver, the odd thing is that it has always been a decent handling car on dry pavement. I have no idea what the wet/snow thing is all about, but it is what it is.
That being said, I'm not at all unhappy with the Aveo. The price was great, mpg also great, and repairs below average for me so far. So all things considered, it's been a very good vehicle. I believe that 2004-06, is basically the same, but have no idea if they improved the handling on wet/snow in later models. JMHO - others may offer different opinions.

[Daox]

I really wouldn't worry about the clutch slaves cylinder. I don't know why you had so many issues with your old car, but I've never heard of people having issues with their clutch cylinders that with any car.

The only thing to watch out for is if the mileage is around 60k miles / 96k km, the timing belt needs to be changed. Unfortunately a fair amount of people toast their engines because they're unaware of this. If the belt snaps, you have a big repair bill.

[petrified.rabbit]

go test drive a cobalt and an aveo, they handle VERY different from each other. I personally think the aveo feels much better (more sunfire like?) and the cobalt will leave you disappointed. So get that out of the way first.

The hatch has the advantage of the fold down seat. Which is only an advantage if you have 2 or possibly 3 people in the car. You can stack things higher in the hatch, and with the seat down it has tons of storage. Even possibly enough room to sleep in..
I can't speak badly of the sedan aveo in this aspect, but a coupe would be harder to fold down the back seat to load fully.

The wheels and tires will not fit. tires are too big.

I do not know the slave cylinder issue you have concerns about, but the slave cylinder bolts to the side of the transmission.

[petrified.rabbit]

oh, as far as the handling in snow, I agree, the aveo feels much much looser, but its never gotten me stuck.
i experienced more rear sway in icy conditions on the highway (or closer to higher speeds i guess) than anything. So if your planning on driving 100+ miles a day is icy/winter weather, the sway will keep it interesting to say the least.

[jim84]

I appreciate the info guys, thanks very much

With your experiences driving in snow, not being so great, is that with the hatchback, sedan, or both?

My troubles with the clutch slave cylinder on the sunfire is that the cylinder and throwout bearing are one unit, and inside the transmission, so it's a pain to get at if you have to change it. It being an issue so many times is likely just my fault, bleeding it too much or something trying to get all the air out and making it leak again. From what you've told me the Aveo is not such a design, so it would be nicer if I had to change that.

Where I live I don't get a lot of snow in winter, it is mainly when I go to a mountain for snowboarding, or the occasional day of snow here, maybe a couple weeks a year but not usually that much.

Again, I appreciate your help, and it sounds like the one I've got an eye on locally may be good, as it's got around 115K km's and just had it's timing belt changed, as well as been well maintained by the looks of it.

[petrified.rabbit]

mine is a hatchback. And i want to "Stress" the car has never gotten stuck in snow, quite to contrary with the snow tires i could drive where suv's would get stuck.. but you definitely have to adjust your driving for the rear sway.. typically i found coasting to slow down 10-15 mph helped. Never had it come around or anything. But no matter what, the cars back end feels loose, even when going straight.

[avguy]

mine is a hatchback. And i want to "Stress" the car has never gotten stuck in snow, quite to contrary with the snow tires i could drive where suv's would get stuck.. but you definitely have to adjust your driving for the rear sway.. typically i found coasting to slow down 10-15 mph helped. Never had it come around or anything. But no matter what, the cars back end feels loose, even when going straight.

Yes, this is what I find as well, and mine is a sedan. And my personal experience is limited to only what I've had, so maybe there's an all-season radial available which would perform closer to the snow tire that I'm using. One thing that puzzles me just a bit - why did the previous owner change the TB just before putting it on the market? In order to make a better/quicker sale? (which would make sense if he did the work himself for smaller $$). Or was that just a coincidence? And what year Aveo is that one?

[Daox]

I've also noticed the rear sway. Its present in snow and dry conditions. Its not that bad and you get used to it. If you really don't like it, get a rear sway bar.

[serega12]

go test drive a cobalt and an aveo, they handle VERY different from each other. I personally think the aveo feels much better (more sunfire like?) and the cobalt will leave you disappointed. So get that out of the way first.

Gotta disagree with you there, Rabbit. If he test drives an 08+ turbocharged model (comes with seriously upgraded FE5 suspension from the factory) he won't like the aveo afterwards.

But then again, he won't fit into his budget with the turbo cobalt, (they're $10K and up) so I wouldn't even test drive it. And yes, the LS/base models SUCK for handling.

Out of the Aveos, hatchback is a clear winner, rabbit described everything perfectly.