2007 Chevrolet Aveo Base 1.6 Ecotech

Summary:

Great little car for the money

Faults:

It's a dealer car and I only drove it for 2 weeks, nothing out of the ordinary happened or went wrong, and I really ran this car hard.

General Comments:

The Aveo is surprisingly roomy for such a small looking car. Looking at the car you would not think that it could possibly have as much headroom and legroom as it does.

The car is very comfortable to drive and has a surprisingly smooth and compliant ride. It rides similar to any other small car such as a Corolla, or Elantra.

The 5-speed is a little notchy going from 1st to 2nd, but what do you expect for less than $10k.

The car has a surprising amount of power, especially in 1st and 2nd gear. The car does leave a little to be desired when it comes to highway cruising. It really needs a 6th gear or a taller 5th gear because it cruises at 3,200 RPM's at 60-70mph. With that said, the car gets wonderful gas mileage. Being a dealer car it gets driven all day every day until I can sell it, and I recall that no matter how I drove it, it managed to return about 30mpg on average with no A/C.

In conclusion, the little 106hp, 30+ MPG Chevy Aveo is an excellent little car for the money. It is the perfect car for driving back and forth to work or school, and does so with surprising comfort. For those looking for a small, cheap, solid, and economical car, the Aveo may very well be the car for you.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th December, 2008

2007 Chevrolet Aveo SVM 1.6

Summary:

Fuel efficiency taken a bit too far

Faults:

No mechanical issues.

General Comments:

Very fuel efficient - 37 mpg by my own calculations.

Barebones - no frills, but still aesthetically pleasing.

Too light - Dangerous in bad weather! Even with new tires, I couldn't make it up hills on highways several times last winter. Wheels spin in the lightest slush or even mild rain. The car is thrown about wildly by high winds. Hitting a small puddle at highway speed feels like hitting a snow drift in any other car I have driven.

I live in Illinois - we aren't talking brutal winters here.

Would be a great car for a southern climate, but it feels very unsafe in all but perfect weather.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th October, 2008

7th Nov 2008, 18:03

Our Chevrolet Aveo 4-door also is thrown about in the rain and wind; I haven't driven it in the snow yet. It is in AZ now; but the Mt. near Phoenix was rough.

Are there lemon-laws concerning this car. They say there are trouble with the axel, not just ball joints, or other front end problems.

I am waiting for comments!

9th Nov 2008, 11:57

I've got over 90,000 miles on my 2004 model and I've never had any issues with the car..

27th Jul 2009, 08:47

A fellow in my review suggested upping the tire size to 15 inches because he and I both had the same problem with the car being tossed around. The extra tread should keep the car planted, though the light body will still get battered and be unnerving.

I've never had substantial problems in the snow though. With all-season tires I can generally move the car about in 2-3 inches of snow, though sometimes the touchy gearbox makes starting without spinning or stalling out pretty tricky.

I would say, however, that my Mustang GT with wide all-season 17 inch tires was more sure-footed in poor weather than this thing is.

11th Oct 2019, 18:34

Agreed, it gets buffeted in high winds and crosswinds, but I've been able to drive through it. It was very nerve wracking though, I drove it from Calgary to Edmonton which is a 3 hour drive in the middle of winter with -25 Celsius and snow falling, but I made it through because I had Blizzaks on it.