Opinions PLEASE. Should I KEEP it or TRADE it?

[PoisonIvy]

It's such a subjective question, because you're not in the position of NEEDING a new car, but I get it, new cars are nice and you wouldn't mind one.

Just some thoughts:
- $900 is probably on the higher end for an independent shop to do the work. But if you trust them to do good work, then sometimes it's worth a little extra, especially for something of this importance.
- $900 is NOT a lot of money, when it comes to cars. It may seem like it when you have no car payment. But what is that, maaaybe 3 car payments on a run of the mill Focus? 3 months of not making payments on a new car, and you've got your maintenance paid for. And you won't have to worry about the timing belt for years.
- Your car isn't going to have a whole lot of value on the market. And you mentioned the word 'trade', you'll be giving it away if you go that route.
- All cars need some sort of preventative maintenance. You're being extra sensitive to the Aveo's known weaknesses, but trust me, they ALL have their issues that pop up and bite you in the a$$. If you had spent the last few years on a Sentra or Mazda3 forum, you'd think they were all junk too.

From what it sounds like you use your car for, I'd vote to just keep it, change out the timing belt, tensioner, water pump etc, and just drive it until a situation arises where you either want to treat yourself to something newer or 'fancier'.