Just bought a used 2004

Hi-
I just bought a used Base 2004 Aveo with A/T, A/C--bought from a dealer. It has a bit over 49,000 miles on it, runs great. It came with new brakes, tires. In NYS, we have the 60 day/3,000 'Lemon Law' so I will make sure to find any problems before that and have the dealer fix. I did get a CarFax report with the car. According to the maintenance, it has not yet had a timing belt change, and I notice that to be an issue for many folks. I have read many folks not only inspect their timing belt at 30K, but replace it at that interval instead of the manual stating 60K. I plan on having my mechanic do an oil change at 51,000 miles and have him go over the car from top to bottom before the 'Lemon Law' warranty expires too. I may have him change the timing belt EVEN if it looks OK. Any thoughts?
Also, I read in the manual re. the HOLD button, but am still confused with this--I live in Buffalo and it is very snowy--should I use this feature during the bad weather, and will it affect my gas mileage?
Many thanks!
mark

If ur timing looks ok there is no need to replace it I'm at 100000 on my 05 aveo hatch took a look at the timing belt and it's still good. I'm planing to change it as soon as the weather turns for the better just to be on the safe side. The most important part to remember is that this is not a sports car but an econo and u should drive it as such don't hammer it and don't red line it. I had this car since I was 17 and I've gone through my "speed deamon" faze with this car and I've pushed it like theres no tomorrow and it ended up blowing my thermostat and head gasket. So I learned my lesson with that take it nice and easy. A couple areas I would suggest to check 1. Make sure the flex pipe is in very good condition I've had to replace mine twice and I've had the car since brand new. 2. Open the doors get on ur knees and check for rust or paint bubbling on the bottom of the inside of the door itself. 3. Roll ur windows down pull the weather stripping down and check for rust spots on the inside of the door on the top where the stripping pops in to. 4. Make sure the air box screws indeed unscrew and u are able to open it because I had that issue with the screws rusting in to the bobbins that are molded in to the bottom portion of the air box and thus causing them to spin. i.e. U can't open the airbox other than breaking those bobbins out. 5. Check to see if the heat sheeld on the exhaust manifold is not rusting especially the bottom bolt next to the sensor. It has the most heat transfer at that point and I replaced my heat sheeld about a year ago and this one is starting to faulter already too. That's about all the major problem areas that I've had good luck with ur new Aveo

Thanks for the info--this is exactly the kind of stuff I need to know!
mark

Ive pushed my aveo for 40k miles and it runs like a champ, general rule on timing belts is 60k miles, can go more or less, but inspecting it is the best ideal for you at the moment, doubt anything well be wrong with it though, +1 for keepncleanaveo

Thanks for the info!
mark

I too, just bought a used 2004 Aveo Hatchback. It is in great shape for a WNY car with 65,500 miles on it.
I traded my old Ford Aerostar van with 224,167 miles on it for it. I also purchased a 2yr/24,000 mi. warranty
That should cover me if I blow a timing belt. I have no indication that it has ever been changed. After a carfax search
I found I am the 3rd owner of this car. First tank of gas gave me 25.3 mpg,was hoping for better but between the cold
and short trips to work, I don't think it did too bad. Now if I could only get the air filter box open to check the filter ;<(
Waiting for a warm day to remove the box and fix it so it will open and close.
As a new Aveo owner I have enjoyed reading the info on this site, Thanks to all who contributed.

you should make sure the warrenty covers a new engine as well lol

Well.....I did cause it cost me extra :<) Been down this road before with 2005 Mercury Sable, after a complete AC overhall of all components and a Transmission rebuild, the warranty saved my butt big time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sigma40sw

That should cover me if I blow a timing belt. I have no indication that it has ever been changed.

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i would read the fine print very well. lack of maintenance is almost always a loophole in a warranty. Unless the timing belt snaps almost immediately after purchase, i would consider its replacement a maintenance procedure.

Forget where I read this, but replace the plastic screws int he door lock with metal ones, as the plastic ones will break easily and the lock will fall in the door. Check the service history and see if the recall on the rear seat belts has been done. Oh, and the thermostat housing is made of plastic and will eventually fail, luckily a cheap metal replacement is available if you don't get it from the dealer. Other then that, treat it well, and it should last you forever.
EDIT: Also, sometimes the clock breaks.

Not all the thermostats will break, there has been very few that have gone, but for $50 you cant go wrong, your clock breaks?

Mine in particular hasn't, but it isn't unheard of. My thermostat housing failed pretty spectacularly (read: in front of my entire school coming back from a football game), hence why I mentioned it. :P

my first car cost $75, it blew white smoke (lots, and lots) out on the highway.. after about 6 months of ownership, i had to slam on my brakes going through the intersection into the school.. (i was passing by going to the minimart before school started) it was 7 am, there was a cop coming the other way, so i hit the brakes instead of going through the red light. the engine and transmission went through the radiator and out the grill. it was literally sitting in the middle of the intersection for 3 hours.

did the cop laugh at you, I would have died laughing

that cop never stopped to help..

i had 3 cop cars and a fire truck there 4 minutes later.

Welcome to the club! If you browse around you'll find out all the problems people have been faced with, and their solutions.

As for the red lining and what not, sometimes it's a good thing to give it a little extra love to the gas pedal... It cleans out a lot of the gunk and build up, any good mechanic will tell you to give it a beating once in a while. As for the timing belt my friend, it's an issue we all fear but some of us are past our due dates on the original belts with no problems while others are having failing belts way early. So here is my advice, have all the belts checked, all the fluids topped up and checked, and since it's a 2004 might as well do the spark plugs and air filter too, oh and oil change. This will have you a clean smooth running car, and it'll take a lot of sweat off your back.

Good luck!