2005 Chevrolet Aveo LS review from North America

The bumpers have extremely poor quality paint that scratches very easily, my footlocker brushed the rear bumper while I was loading it up and now there are huge gouges on top of the rear bumper.

At 4400 miles it started locking me out of third gear at higher rpm's. I have even made a conscious effort to hold down the clutch until its all the way in gear, the transmision will click then the engine will rev like its in neutral. The dealership says this is normal, but since it didn't used to do this before and third is the only gear it happens in I think it has a bad synchronizer.

Now at 6600 miles the transmission started making clunking sounds when taking off as well as when shifting. There is also excesive movement in the shifter when accelerating and decelerating, it moves approximately 4 inches when either the gas or brakes are applied. I'm guessing motor mount, its been at the dealership for the past three days.

With the exception of the transmision problems this is a good little car, however this many problems without even 10k is ridiculous.

This is a surprisingly well mannered car on the highway, quiet, smooth, and adequate passing power at high speeds.

This is also a surprisingly comfortable and roomy car for its size, I'm 6'2" with broad shoulder and this car provides ample room more along the lines of a mid size than a subcompact. Very smooth ride.

Performance is very good for an entry level car, but its no sports car. Acceleration is average, torque is good for a 1.6l, but it still feels anemic at lower rpm's and needs a few revs to really get going.

The car has good traction around corners, but is very twitchy. Sudden lift throttle over steer means you need to be careful when slowing down while cornering at high speeds.

The Transmission sucks, with longs throws and a vague, rubbery feeling. The clutch is also very rubbery and does not snap back like it should. Basically the transmission is this cars biggest weak point.

I'm deploying in support of OIF this fall and when I come back I'm trading this pile of junk in for another European car. My old Volo had 225,000 miles on it and was way more reliable than this car.