Are you happy with your Aveo?

I first got mine (a 2004 hatch) thinking it would be useful as I was starting my own business, and needed something I could put enough stuff in, at the same time not costing me too much or wasting too much gas. It fit the description, I had bad credit, and I was able to get approved at a shady used car place.

At the time it only had 50,000km and still had warranty coverage. It drove perfectly fine, and I got the brake pads and spark plugs changed for free.

On one hand, the car has been good to me considering I wasn't very good to it. Drove it through some places that, only a truck should have driven through really. Taxied some stupid people around in the back seat that I really shouldn't have, a few too many times... put a lot of heavy stuff in the back a few times, etc. Let the car sit in a parking lot for ~5 months rarely getting driven (I was living elsewhere), started driving the car daily again when I got back. All bad things for the car... but it hasn't failed me.

In more recent times I started to be nicer, driving it better and doing more preventative maintenance as I should always have.

Anyhow, I used to be kind of critical about the car and didn't really like it. I can't fault the thing though, it has taken abuse and has never failed me even in the winter.

Coming soon is timing belt change, don't want to wait on that one.

I need to change the shock top mount bearings, possibly contributing to some of the noise. The rear suspension is sagging quite a bit, but again I think that's my own fault.

Now it has around 90,000km and nothing has ever broken on it... So that's 40,000km without problems - pretty decent, no?

I can't say that it gets good mileage though, cause it doesn't. The absolute best I've been able to manage is just under 140km on just under 10L of gas, which is OK-ish, but can't be reproduced if I do it with a full tank, or go faster than 90kph, or have other people in the car, etc. All those things kill the mileage dramatically. People all seem to be under the impression that it's some kind of super economical car, but it's not at all. It's just normal... I had a Lancer and got very similar mileage with it.

All in all, I'm more or less satisfied with the car; but unsatisfied with the horrible financing that I agreed to take.

I would consider trading it for a newer Aveo when I'm ready, but I think I'd rather something a bit more fun to drive. It drives fine, and I prefer it over other less torquey small cars, but it just isn't really any fun at all.

What are your thoughts? Do you like yours?

I am in a similar boat. when i first got the car i was gung-hoe and excited, until i got used to driving it. like you said, the gas mileage isnt great ( my gf's EGT gets better gas mileage, and is WAY more fun to drive)

Then there's the handling... it down right SUCKS!!! if you take a on ramp or corner at 80kph your ass end is almost guaranteed to break loose.

If you are looking for an everyday grocery getter that you arent going to drive fast then this is your car. and well.... who doesnt want to go fast? lol

When I first got my Aveo in 2004 I checked out the brochure and liked what I saw. Appeared different and I needed a reliable daily driver. About a year later I sold my Z24 show car and decided I want to do some work with the Aveo. Lol soon after I had the entire car about laying in pieces and started shaving door handles and whatnot. I am happy with it! now its 2010 and the car has 12,500 miles on it and runs better than the day I bought it. Its a fun car and I am happy whenever I decide to take it for a ride on a nice sunny day

Pretty much in the same boat as you guys.

What bugs me is that I've read that the Cobalt gets better gas mileage, yet is a heavier car!

Oh well. I almost bought a 2005 Camry instead of the Aveo. Good thing I didn't :shock:

Love my 2009 Areo5, but I did fix the sway issue shortly after I got it and keep on fixing the things I don’t like. For the price it’s a damn good car and a match to any other car in its class. That’s what people need to remember, look at apples to apples not apples to stake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LarsBud

Love my 2009 Areo5, but I did fix the sway issue shortly after I got it and keep on fixing the things I don’t like. For the price it’s a damn good car and a match to any other car in its class. That’s what people need to remember, look at apples to apples not apples to stake.

---

Good point. I don't know about putting money into mine though, I noticed a few tiny little rust spots starting... If I sell now though, I lose too much on the financing - if I sell later, I lose too much on depreciation. If I keep it... well I still spend more.

I guess financially in the long run, it's best to keep it. Unless I can manage to trade it in for a newer one without too much of a hit. I do want something more fun to drive though. The Cobalt/G5 are not bad, I've driven them before. I wonder if they're as reliable as the Aveo or more?

I am totally happy with my Aveo. I got it with a thought of having it as my daily commuter that I can have a little fun "souping up".. and that's exactly what it turned out to be. :D

I am really happy with my Aveo. Ive had it since new August 2005 and have only had 2 minor hiccups in the way of issues. Ive currently got about 113,000km on it and its running strong.
The major downer about the car was the audio components werent good, but ive replaced all the speakers and headunit soon after getting the car.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dmeech

I am really happy with my Aveo. Ive had it since new August 2005 and have only had 2 minor hiccups in the way of issues. Ive currently got about 113,000km on it and its running strong.
The major downer about the car was the audio components werent good, but ive replaced all the speakers and headunit soon after getting the car.

---

What setup did you go with?

Man, great question...

From my own experience with my car..

My overall take is that, knock on wood, at 73k miles my '06 Chevrolet Aveo SVM, has been an incredible value. I'm very satisfied with it so far.

Had my credit rating, and bargaining skill's been better, I'd have avoided the extra 5k in financing.
Or if I'd paid for the car in full at the 11,000 price tag (w/warranty, and paint protection options, tax, ect.) It would have been the steal of the century aside from the 8k dollar metro's they had just before y2k.

So yep, I'm happy with it.

Even though my dealership upset me by resetting the alignment to a new spec when I told them to just leave it alone, aside from the check needed to "qualify for tires for life"
- the tires were all worn perfectly evenly, and the car handled and drove perfectly and got excelent milage right from the start.
So no reason to change things. The machine indicated a mis-spec due to the steering wheel being locked down off center.
They wouldn't put the car back onto the rack, without me paying for another alignment.
I could have bitched up a major storm...but I saved my blood pressure, and just rode it out until I could afford another one.
Well that was about 40k frustrating miles of lane-change-happy fun!!!

I finally, recently had the car reset, and now I'm back to a much better handling car, although its still not exactly the way it used to be, and probably never will be again.

Are there any annyoances? sure, there's a few small issues the dealer could never get right..

Even with those, I'm happy with my desicion to get one so far.

Incase anyone cared to know...

I bought my 2006 Aveo hatchback because I wanted something that could hold gear. I've been good with maintenance but not with how I treat it - I rock climb regularly and some of the roads really need a 4 wheel drive with high clearance. I've ripped off the plastic shroud at the bottom from going over rough roads, and probably need new shocks, but it's behaved well.

That said, I understand it's an econobox and generally gets an F in reliability. If you buy American you have to be ready to turn some wrenches. It's already had a bad throttle body replaced under warranty, a clutch throw out bearing replaced, again under warranty, and other miscellaneous problems. Within the 3 years of warranty, it was at the dealer's at least 6 times. If I didn't work on my own cars, I would definitely have gone with Toyota or Subaru, not GM.

Bottom line - I'm satisfied with what I got for the money.

That's funny, I also had mine in for a throttle body and a throw out bearing. Also for an alternator and a coolant sensor.

I bought mine because I needed a cheap car with warranty because I was going to school. The payments on a new Aveo were the same as on a used Sunfire/Cavalier.

So far so good. Hasn't let me on the side of the road...just at home once.

My main problem with my Aveo? It's bloody small. It is exactly what I was looking for in a car (small, 4-door, fuel efficient, manual transmission). I didn't realize how bad my knees were until about a week after I got this thing (50 minute commute to work each way).

Also, the creaking suspension is driving me batty! It sounds like the car is 20 years old already.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hooah212002

My main problem with my Aveo? It's bloody small. It is exactly what I was looking for in a car (small, 4-door, fuel efficient, manual transmission). I didn't realize how bad my knees were until about a week after I got this thing (50 minute commute to work each way).

Also, the creaking suspension is driving me batty! It sounds like the car is 20 years old already.

---

Well, that could be easily fixed by changing out your stock springs and shocks with either aftermarket ones or coilovers. Plus it lets you drop your ride for better handling. :D There are a LOT of posts on this forum about that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by serega12

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hooah212002

My main problem with my Aveo? It's bloody small. It is exactly what I was looking for in a car (small, 4-door, fuel efficient, manual transmission). I didn't realize how bad my knees were until about a week after I got this thing (50 minute commute to work each way).

Also, the creaking suspension is driving me batty! It sounds like the car is 20 years old already.

---

Well, that could be easily fixed by changing out your stock springs and shocks with either aftermarket ones or coilovers. Plus it lets you drop your ride for better handling. :D There are a LOT of posts on this forum about that.

---

Actually, the creaking is from the sway bar bushings. The service manual says to put teflon tape on the swaybar to fix the creaking. I have yet to try it, but apparently if you just lube them up, they stop making noise.

...i saw this topic and thought i'd put my 2 cents in...

i enjoy my ride and have since i bought it brand new from the dealership. i needed to replace what i was driving before, a '92 olds eighty-eight. the old car needed alot of work and i thought, 'hey... for the same amount of money im going to spend for repairs, i can buy a new Wave and spend that money on monthly payments over a year.' it turned out to be a good idea. i needed something good on gas (better than the olds), since i was going to commute to a job in a nearby city.

i bought a base model hatch, you know, the ones with roll-up windows and manual locks (lol!), but i did get an automatic trans. i was used to the convenience.

i opted for the 100,000km warranty and im glad that i did. my front wheel bearing went, the throttle body froze and the airbag system needed to be fixed. im glad i had a good dealership, they fixed those problems.

im now at 147,000km and still running great. i did break the plastic shroud underneath the engine (i ran over a tire without a rim on the highway), but that's ok. i needed to be more careful. i can't plow through things like i did with the olds.

oh yeah, the front fenders are fairly easy to replace.

I'm not jumping of joy for the Aveo but somewhat happy.

It runs very nice! It's comfy and does the job right! Bringing me from A to B!

What I'm unhappy about is the panels in the car making creaking / cracking noises for every bump that I hit. If it's not that it's the front suspension.

Other than that, no complaints!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bigs

I'm not jumping of joy for the Aveo but somewhat happy.

It runs very nice! It's comfy and does the job right! Bringing me from A to B!

What I'm unhappy about is the panels in the car making creaking / cracking noises for every bump that I hit. If it's not that it's the front suspension.

Other than that, no complaints!

---

yeah, i hear all that too. im so used to it i just tune it out and tune in the radio.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ontarian_frog

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by serega12

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hooah212002

My main problem with my Aveo? It's bloody small. It is exactly what I was looking for in a car (small, 4-door, fuel efficient, manual transmission). I didn't realize how bad my knees were until about a week after I got this thing (50 minute commute to work each way).

Also, the creaking suspension is driving me batty! It sounds like the car is 20 years old already.

---

Well, that could be easily fixed by changing out your stock springs and shocks with either aftermarket ones or coilovers. Plus it lets you drop your ride for better handling. :D There are a LOT of posts on this forum about that.

---

Actually, the creaking is from the sway bar bushings. The service manual says to put teflon tape on the swaybar to fix the creaking. I have yet to try it, but apparently if you just lube them up, they stop making noise.

---

Frog, what exactly are you supposed to put teflon tape on? The bushing? I have the creaking and I would like to fix it.

The service manual says to remove the bushings, put some teflon tape on the swaybar and reinstall the bushings. I haven't tried yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ontarian_frog

The service manual says to remove the bushings, put some teflon tape on the swaybar and reinstall the bushings. I haven't tried yet.

---

I'll have to try that.... Maybe if I actually get the ultraracing bars, I will do that when installing the 4-point lower brace... no idea how that's done, but probably will figure it out as I go as with the rest of the mods. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ontarian_frog

The service manual says to remove the bushings, put some teflon tape on the swaybar and reinstall the bushings. I haven't tried yet.

---

Interesting. I've always seen aftermarket companies suggest lubing them with a grease. But, they're usually using polyurethane bushings instead of rubber. In any case, I bet grease would work too.

I did stick my head around looking for the mounts on the front sway bars. They're tucked up in there good. I hope its not too much of a pain to get at them. I'll have to check it out before I get the engine back in the car.

I'm very happy with my 09' Aveo5. It just turned a year old last month and clicked 9,000 miles. So far so good. Had a faulty motor mount 3 months after I got it which caused me to lose a few gears, but I brought it in that day and had it swapped for a new one in about an hour and a half. Haven't had a problem since. Still gets excellent fuel mileage and performs great in the arctic up here. Still working on a bunch of suspension components right now. I'm also making a Bug/Rock Deflector for the hood that I'm modifying from one for a late model Subaru Legacy.

I've noticed a lot of people that have Aveos seem to do and make things themselves, which is cool. I just read a review comparing the Aveo to other cars in its class, and found that its mileage was closer to the competition than I expected, as good as the Versa and Fit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by byron84

I've noticed a lot of people that have Aveos seem to do and make things themselves, which is cool. I just read a review comparing the Aveo to other cars in its class, and found that its mileage was closer to the competition than I expected, as good as the Versa and Fit.

---

That's true for highway MPG; unfortunately not as good for city driving with an automatic.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by byron84

I've noticed a lot of people that have Aveos seem to do and make things themselves, which is cool. I just read a review comparing the Aveo to other cars in its class, and found that its mileage was closer to the competition than I expected, as good as the Versa and Fit.

---

That's true for highway MPG; unfortunately not as good for city driving with an automatic.

---

If you think about the money you saved initially when you bought an aveo instead of paying a bit extra for a fit or versa, it makes it worth it IMO.

Quote:

---

If you think about the money you saved initially when you bought an aveo instead of paying a bit extra for a fit or versa, it makes it worth it IMO.

---

With the options to price ratio it was deffinately worth it IMO and it beats the 12 MPG that I had on my last daily driver so I will not complain about the MPG on these cars but will pay attention to ways to improve it. The more people tinker with these cars the more great DIY ideas will come so everyone keep the ideas going.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by byron84

I've noticed a lot of people that have Aveos seem to do and make things themselves, which is cool. I just read a review comparing the Aveo to other cars in its class, and found that its mileage was closer to the competition than I expected, as good as the Versa and Fit.

---

That's true for highway MPG; unfortunately not as good for city driving with an automatic.

---

I noticed that my city mpg was not great, and what I found online also reflected this. I have the manual one. So the other small cars will get a few mpg better in the city, but it's really not that huge of a difference. It's not like we get 15mpg and they get 40 in the city. It's only a few mpg difference...

I always had this notion that the hondas got like 35mpg city and 45mpg highway for some reason, but the reviews I saw made the Honda Fit look really not any better on gas than the Aveo, except maybe a bit better city. Which is pretty cool for the Aveo, considering it's not really a "premium" product like most people think of Hondas.

Last time I didn't quite fill up (so that's a bit less than 42L) and I did just under 520km which I thought was pretty good (mix of city/hwy and some not so easy driving).

I think car maintenance and driving technique probably makes a bigger difference in your overall mileage than whether you have a Versa, Fit, Aveo or Yaris etc.

I got 535km for 38L on my last fill up. (39mpg Canadian, 33mpg US) about 50/50 city/highway.

I am not happy anymore.

Not fast enough. But, i am stuck
It's almost payed off. The wife won't let me trade it in.
SO...

Ordering $800 in body parts and doing some work to it.

Have the Intake on and will install the header shortly. If I am still not happy?
After the body work and suspension is done? Convert to turbo, or buy a bike.

If she says no to bike, considering I will have 15,000 saved up, I will be searching out a turbo or supercharged (Cobalt?) engine to drop in her.

Later

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by XJCasper

, considering I will have 15,000 saved up, I will be searching out a turbo or supercharged (Cobalt?) engine to drop in her.

Later

---

XJ, If you have that much saved up, you should look into having something like this shipped and install it! 300 BHP and 300 LB/Torque!

C20LET engine with F28 gearbox fully built to run 400 BHP with the right software... that would give you "fast enough". :D

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... =WDVW&rd=1

And for the right price I'm sure they'll ship it from UK. ;)

I think it might actually fit in our engine bay without modifications to engine mounts. :D

Better yet, Z20LEH, 240 hp out the box... and it's a brand new engine! :D Literally, in a box... it will take care of the hassle of installing turbo because it sounds like it comes with one...

Here it is... =P~ mouth watering... :D :D :D ;)

http://www.courtenaysport.co.uk/index.p ... &docId=121

Hunter had gotten a quote of $10k for a cobalt ss swap installed by the guy who built the green monster.
i think that is a bit high, but it included the parts, so it was a drop off service.

The issue I find with the U.K. engines is the same issue that is still a problem with imported Nissan SR and RB engines. Difficulty of getting repair parts.

Cobalt engine would be able to get parts in the US.

It is possible to put any engine in the aveo as long as you are willing to kick up more money modding the engine bay to fit the engines. If you wanna be rice like hunter you can always drop a B16 engine in it

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

Hunter had gotten a quote of $10k for a cobalt ss swap installed by the guy who built the green monster.
i think that is a bit high, but it included the parts, so it was a drop off service.

---

A price of another aveo...

yeah i figured it should be closer to 6 or 7..

but if you can pict up and aveo with a blown engine for @ 2k, the spend even 8-9k on the swap, you can be at the price of a new svm aveo and have potentially 260 or more hp.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

yeah i figured it should be closer to 6 or 7..

but if you can pict up and aveo with a blown engine for @ 2k, the spend even 8-9k on the swap, you can be at the price of a new svm aveo and have potentially 260 or more hp.

---

Good point. I wouldn't mind doing a swap, but in my case it seems like it would be a waste of a perfectly good engine with only 28k on it... :D Later down the road - maybe... ;)

Even though, my Aveo now has a strict direction...

If they had a turbo kalos engine, I would live to import a rear ended model to steel parts.

Will probably import a Canadian Pointiac to strip the engine and mounts out of. That, or contact the Daewootech member that has a shop in Richmond, Canada, to get a price on dropping the 2.0 turbo engine in the Aveo.

Later

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by XJCasper

Even though, my Aveo now has a strict direction...

If they had a turbo kalos engine, I would live to import a rear ended model to steel parts.

Will probably import a Canadian Pointiac to strip the engine and mounts out of. That, or contact the Daewootech member that has a shop in Richmond, Canada, to get a price on dropping the 2.0 turbo engine in the Aveo.

Later

---

Casper,
If you do that, please post the quote for the rest of us. :D we all might run into an issue if the timing belt snaps. 8)