Nothing before I wrecked it. Amazing amount of damage done for an accident that happened at a very low speed.
I bought this car from a rental car dealership, and absolutely fell in love. While it may not be the most attractive car to look at, it is fun to drive, and the appearance grows on you. For a 4-cylinder automatic, it had some great get-up-and-go. The inside of the car feels very roomy for it to be such a small vehicle, and the placement of everything is very convenient, with the exception of the cigarette lighter. You have to decide between using it or the passenger cup holder, but that's a common dilemma with small cars.
I only had my Aveo for 4 months, during which time I put about 15k miles on it. It handled this insane amount of driving perfectly.. absolutely no problems.
I would have to think seriously about purchasing another Aveo after being involved in an accident in mine, however. I rear-ended someone going about 25mph, and it completely obliterated the front of the car. Over 6000 dollars worth of damage from a low-speed car accident? I thank God I wasn't going any faster! The vehicle that I hit was a Hyundai Santa Fe, and it only had a small dent in the bumper.
Performance wise, this car was great in my experience.. just don't plan on having an accident in it.
The original reviewer's findings may be right - the Aveo, which is sold in Australia/New Zealand as the Holden Barina, scored the worst crash test scores amongst new cars for 2006.
Understand that the Euro NCAP test was none too hot too.
This is a cheap, tinny car that seduces with its looks and feature content, but seems to be lacking in the safety department.
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