I have a 2008 Chevy Aveo hatchback. I’ve done the regular maintenance on it and am just about due for my 90k regular work. Here is the issue : this car regularly requires nonstandard repair. The alignment is a nightmare. I had it done about 10k miles ago and they had to do a bunch of work around it. The blower motor went and multiple replacements failed. The one that remains barely works after 8k miles. 4000 miles ago it had major electrical problems 3000 miles ago the front alignment was so out of whack the front tires loooked like half moon cookies. Now I’m told the rear bushings are bad. This will require a rear end replacement as Chevy does not sell the bushings only a larger assembly.
So. This car blue books for trade in at about 3k-3500. I put 1500 into it not 5 months ago. I’m looking at an estimate for another 1600 just to be able to pass inspection. Will probably need new tires again. And that blower motor is getting close to done. Does it make sense to spend the money.
If I knew that 1500 bucks would make this car run problem free (excepting regular maintenance) for another 50k miles I don’t think it would be an issue, but the aveo seems to be a dud and I fully expect another major repair prior to 100k based on the cars history.
So should I dump the aveo?
If so what do folks think about other compact hatchbacks such as the fit and focus fiesta etc?
I think the car has good styling. That’s one thing it has going for it. But on the downside, I rented one a while back, and found the driving experience less than optimal. The auto-xmission esp, it seemed to be constantly fighting me. Causing the engine to over-rev, downshift unexpectedly, etc. It seemed like the engine was underpowered for the weight of the car, and the auto xmission was trying to compensate. And the driving controls were hard to understand too. I never was able to figure out how to open the trunk. I had to put my suitcase and stuff in the back seat.
So me, I say “dump it”! Maybe a neighborhood high school kid would like to buy it from you as basic transport. Around town the one I rented was pretty good for tooling about. On the freeway? Not so much.
You can count this as one more vote to cut your losses, and dump the car.
When the Aveo was new, it was the lowest-rated car in the US marketplace, according to Consumer Reports, as a result of the absurd combination of poor acceleration coupled with only mediocre gas mileage, and the equally ridiculous combination of a stiff, punishing ride combined with poor handling.
Essentially, CR said that the car had nothing about it that should cause anyone to buy it, in light of the reality that its competitors were all superior to it. Surely, a bottom-rated vehicle has not gotten better after 5 years of use, despite the “investment” of lots of cash in order to keep it running.
When you shop for a replacement, I suggest that you avoid the Chevy Spark and the Chevy Sonic, as they are both designed and made by the same Daewoo folks who built your Aveo. While these newer designs are somewhat better than the Aveo, they still trail all of the competition. You might want to look for a 3 or 4 year old Toyota Corolla, as these cars actually have better gas mileage than the Aveo, despite being bigger and more powerful than the Aveo.
If you can locate a Corolla that comes with maintenance records verifying that it has been properly cared-for, you will be getting a car that is far better than the Aveo was when it was new. Just make sure that you have your mechanic inspect the car prior to purchase.
Some cheap cars to buy turn out to be expensive in the long run. Your Aveo is one of them. You spend the next $1600 and a few months later it will be something else. It just is a bad car. Trade it in. Back in 2008 you’d have paid more for a Honda Civic, but it would have been cheaper than the Aveo at this point.
Make sure your next car has some quality and will last, and there are a lot of cars that qualify.
I’d cut my losses and look for something in the same class that is more reliable and fuel efficient, like a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris.
I’ve often wondered why anyone would buy an Aveo. When you buy a small econobox like the Aveo, you expect to sacrifice room and comfort for economy and fuel efficiency, but the Aveo is far less fuel efficient than other cars in its class. With the Aveo, you make all the same sacrifices, but you get none of the pay-off for those sacrifices.
I am convinced that the extra money you pay to get a Honda or a Toyota is worth it, especially in this class of vehicles. One might argue that you get more for your money when you buy a Dodge Caravan instead of a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, or Ford F-150 instead of a Toyota Tundra, but you’d be hard pressed to find econoboxes that can outlast and out perform (in terms of cost per mile) Honda and Toyota.
Owning an Aveo is like a bad marriage; the sooner you get out of it the better. In that size range, you can buy a Hyundai Accent, a Yaris, or a Honda Fit. All three are light years better cars, and a good used Accent will cost you about $8000 or so.
Consumer reprts does not like the Yaris, mostly because it’s uncomfortable, but the reliability is legendary!
I’m not a fan of the Aveo but might make several points.
Multiple blower replacements may have little to do with the car itself and it could be that there’s some misdiagnosis involved with those blowers.
The suspension problems could be due to road surfaces, road salt, curb strikes, any history of collisions, and so on. You did not state, at least approximately, where you live.
My vote would probably be to get rid of the car. The above is only some meant as thinking points so to speak.
You got 5 years and 90,000 miles from your Aveo. Consider yourself lucky. Some cars depreciate more in a year than what you’ve lost on the Aveo if you go drive it into the river and walk away. I would suggest you get what you can for the Aveo and move on.
@Whitey There was a time when people were judged by what they drove. I even had a book way back entitled “You are what you drive”.
So the late Sam Walton drove a pickup truck.
My son’s wife is an avid outdoors type, top skier, and drives a Yaris with a roof rack. She is a physiotherapist as well as a sport psychologist and coached several athletes for the last Winter Olympics. She teaches Yoga as well.
As an update to all, as of tonight, the problem aveo is no longer my problem.
I did some test drives and looking (it just so happened that this all happened right as the auto show came to town). I was quite satisfied with the 2013 Fit. I pick it up tonight.
@JamusGeus–If you are the worrying type, you may have made a mistake replacing your Aveo with the Honda Fit because now you won’t have anything to worry about. I think if you follow the recommendations in the owner’s manual for the initial oil change, you will be fine. If you need something to worry about, change the oil sooner and then you can worry about whether or not you’ve damaged the engine.
The manual for my Toyota Sienna doesn’t give anything about break-in. I drove the car right off the lot when it was brand new and drove it as I would any other car. I follow the manual on oil changes and the engine has never consumed oil between changes I now have 39,000 miles on the Sienna and have had worry-free driving. I can now devote my worrying to more important things like the nation’s looming economic situation and how I can get out of mowing this summer.
You made a good choice and I think you will have many miles of trouble free and worry free driving.
"I have read elsewhere not to do an early oil change due to “Honda’s Super Secret Additive Oil”
I believe that this is actually the official line from Honda, and I would suggest that you follow their advice.
As to how to “break-in” the engine, the most important thing is to NOT “baby” it.
Drive conservatively for the first 500 miles or so, but after that point, make sure that you do some “brisk” accelerations each week. However, don’t floor the gas pedal from a standing start.
Instead, when you are already rolling at about 40 mph, give it enough gas to accelerate briskly to 50 or so. By doing this multiple times, you will help to seat the piston rings properly, and will potentially reduce oil consumption. Newer cars that consume too much oil were usually babied so much that their piston rings never seated properly.
Oh, and congrats on buying that new Honda.
You will find that its overall quality and its driving dynamics put it far beyond that crappy Aveo.
@Triedaq is right. An Aveo is an expendable car. That’s why it’s so cheap when you bought it. You are paying on the back end now. Pay more for a Corolla and others and you tend to pay little or nothing in repairs well past 100k with good maintenance.
I am ventictive. I would punish Chevy for putting a proud name on a piece of Junk and not bail them out by buying another Chevy. (sorry @JT). If you shop carefully, for $10 k you can get a good used Corolla or Honda Civic. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Chevrolet_Cobalt/Reliability/
Some Chevy products are very good, some still have suspect reliability scores. When car makers keep changing model names, they want you to forget how shaky they were. What happened to the Cavalier ? It the Cavalier was such a good car, when they changed the platform, they would have kept it instead of renaming it. IMHO, you won’t see Aveo pop up again until a generation of sons and daughters of Corvair owners have past on.
@VDC. Define “briskly” as most cheaper econo cars I have ever owned just sound differently when I step on the accelerator…nothing accelerated " briskly." ;=(