Poll: how long do you plan to keep your Aveo?

[MetroMPG]

How attached are you to your car? Do you love it and plan to maintain it as long as possible, or is it just a stepping stone on the way to eventually getting something else?

What's the longest you've ever kept a car?

Vote!

[PoisonIvy]

How weird that this comes up today. I'll be picking up my 'new to me' 2012 Ford Focus SE hatch tomorrow afternoon. So it looks like my 2010 Aveo's days are seriously numbered. The two biggest reasons for the change was no A/C in the Aveo (wife liked to remind me on occasion), and the back seat room was a little tight for a 2, 5 and 13 year old. It wasn't often we were all in the car, but it was enough to start thinking. I bought my 2010 in August 2013 with 75,000kms, and I've put almost 55,000kms on in just over 2 years of mostly highway. Most of the use is my commuter to work, it's about 30kms each way, and running the kids around to different activities. It keeps the miles off my 2011 Silverado, and honestly I've grown to like driving a smaller car.

It was a tough decision because most wear items have been replaced fairly recently, I've got a set of winter tires on the original steel wheels, I installed a Viper remote start myself, also installed power locks, cruise, Bluetooth, tint etc. So Although the golden rule is to not sell/buy a car to a family or friend, I'm convinced you could drive this car for a few years with minimal repair costs. So I'm just starting to put the word out to people I know that might be looking for a solid little car. (And can handle no A/C.)

And the reason for the Focus was partly to treat myself to something with a few extra luxuries and a little extra space. I also sold my 2003 Mustang GT convertible that I had bought new, just this spring. So I was also looking for something new to tinker with, and I had already done a lot of the stuff I had come up with for my Aveo. My best friend has a small car lot, deals with several local dealerships and also has access to the auctions. So needless to say I can get a solid price on whatever car I'm looking at.

Over the years I've been apart of a few different car specific forums (F150, Silverado, Mustang), and AveoForum was hands down my favourite. There's something to be said about the underdog and the supportive nature of this site. So I'll probably check in once in a while to see how things are going. And who knows maybe in a couple years when my oldest starts working on getting her license we'll take a look at an Aveo again.

[MetroMPG]

I'll be picking up my 'new to me' 2012 Ford Focus SE hatch tomorrow afternoon. So it looks like my 2010 Aveo's days are seriously numbered.

Well that's what you'd call mixed news.

Congrats on the new car!

AveoForum was hands down my favourite. There's something to be said about the underdog and the supportive nature of this site.

Agreed. It's not a huge community, but the regular members here are extremely generous with their knowledge (and patience). I'll be honest - you're one of them & it's always a little sad to see a good member move on.

[MetroMPG]

Back on topic, sorta...

Once I find a car I like, I tend to hang on to it. (Actually, I often end up buying more than one.)

I now have the distinction in my family of owning a car longer than anyone has owned one -- 10 or 11 years for my "pre-Aveo" Firefly (Metro). It's old enough that I decided a few years ago to stop driving it in the winter so it won't be subjected to the annual salt bath and rust away. Now I use a winter beater for the messy months, so the Firefly will last a looooonnnng time. (Touch wood)

[2010AveoLT]

How weird that this comes up today. I'll be picking up my 'new to me' 2012 Ford Focus SE hatch tomorrow afternoon. So it looks like my 2010 Aveo's days are seriously numbered. The two biggest reasons for the change was no A/C in the Aveo (wife liked to remind me on occasion), and the back seat room was a little tight for a 2, 5 and 13 year old. It wasn't often we were all in the car, but it was enough to start thinking. I bought my 2010 in August 2013 with 75,000kms, and I've put almost 55,000kms on in just over 2 years of mostly highway. Most of the use is my commuter to work, it's about 30kms each way, and running the kids around to different activities. It keeps the miles off my 2011 Silverado, and honestly I've grown to like driving a smaller car.

It was a tough decision because most wear items have been replaced fairly recently, I've got a set of winter tires on the original steel wheels, I installed a Viper remote start myself, also installed power locks, cruise, Bluetooth, tint etc. So Although the golden rule is to not sell/buy a car to a family or friend, I'm convinced you could drive this car for a few years with minimal repair costs. So I'm just starting to put the word out to people I know that might be looking for a solid little car. (And can handle no A/C.)

And the reason for the Focus was partly to treat myself to something with a few extra luxuries and a little extra space. I also sold my 2003 Mustang GT convertible that I had bought new, just this spring. So I was also looking for something new to tinker with, and I had already done a lot of the stuff I had come up with for my Aveo. My best friend has a small car lot, deals with several local dealerships and also has access to the auctions. So needless to say I can get a solid price on whatever car I'm looking at.

Over the years I've been apart of a few different car specific forums (F150, Silverado, Mustang), and AveoForum was hands down my favourite. There's something to be said about the underdog and the supportive nature of this site. So I'll probably check in once in a while to see how things are going. And who knows maybe in a couple years when my oldest starts working on getting her license we'll take a look at an Aveo again.

heh, your Driveway probably looks like mine: my dad owns a 2009 Silverado; with less than 60K miles!

[Merlins_Holden]

I really do enjoy my Aveo, trouble is that nearly everything on this thing is cheap as hell. The quality is, to be frank, very poor and it just frustrates me. I will probability keep it for a while and I am nearly at 100,000, which was my first goal as I wanted to put more miles on it than the original owner (50,170ish).

So, gotta do that timing belt again soon, maybe the water pump this time as well.

[MetroMPG]

nearly everything on this thing is cheap

News flash: GM's cheapest car (at the time) was cheap?

Kidding!

---

Update: so far we've got:

• 6 definite "keepers"
• 2 "no plans either way"
• 1 "less than a year"

[2010AveoLT]

I really do enjoy my Aveo, trouble is that nearly everything on this thing is cheap as hell. The quality is, to be frank, very poor and it just frustrates me. I will probability keep it for a while and I am nearly at 100,000, which was my first goal as I wanted to put more miles on it than the original owner (50,170ish).

So, gotta do that timing belt again soon, maybe the water pump this time as well.

Just be glad you don't own a Maserati 3200GT, the throttle body (a $200 part for us) costs about the same as what we would pay a GM dealer for the ENTIRE ENGINE for our cars! ($3,100!!) and there is The Ford F-150, where a simple tail light commands the same price as the highly engineered piece of safety equipment that lives in our steering wheel!

[slayerized6]

I bought my Aveo for $2500. It had a freshly rebuilt head and new timing belt. I put about $1000 into over the course of the next year (brakes, battery, tune up, new suspension, tints, etc). I put about 10k miles on it per year, so it would take me another 5 years and 50k miles until I even THINK of having to replace the timing belt again. And at that point, I'll probably just drive it until either the timing belt snaps and sell it for scrap or until the clutch gets worn out, which I don't see in the near future anyway.

I love the car, but I'm not obsessed with it. Its great at what it does; being a cheap, reliable car that gets me from A to B, that saves me from putting miles on my gas-guzzling, high cost maintenance Jeep. So my vote is to drive my Aveo until it breaks and is not price sensible to fix.

[dgoody88]

Love my car I plan on modding it til I can't mod it anymore than driving it til the wheels fall off. I have 56000 on mine and a long to do list.