2005 Chevrolet Aveo LS from North America - Comments

My 2005 Aveo is experiencing problems with starting on damp mornings. The first time this happened, it took several attempts at starting to finally catch and turnover. The next time, a few days later, I sat in the car and tried starting it for eight minutes before it started. Two mornings ago it just would not start. I had to call a tow company and take it to a dealership.

I explained that the problem occurred only in the mornings when there was a heavy dew and always park in the shade (I don't have a choice). The dealership kept the car overnight, parked it in the morning sun, and had not checked it until I arrived at 8 oclock. By then the hood was warm, and of course the car turned over. They still have it, parked in an area that receives morning sun. I'll stop by in the morning to assure that they check it.

I also have had trouble with the key getting stuck in ACC. And I also can't get the shift out of park. It's stuck. It's in the shop right now, for the 3rd time.

The same thing has happened with mine at 80000km, they said it was the relay and the shifter so both had to be replaced, it is a good car on gas since I'm a musician who drives for a living, but I won't buy one again, too many problems. If you buy a car you should at least be able to turn it off at 80000 the dealer told me there are a lot of problems happening on the cobalts too with the same problem. I guess I'm not the only one with a problem with the Aveo.

I was going to get an Aveo in April of 06. I needed another car for my new wife. I wanted a reliable foreign car that got high MPG. I already had a 2001 Prizm (Corolla) and the only problems I'd had with it was a blown blower motor relay that I replaced myself for $22.

On the way to buy an Aveo I swung by the local Toyota dealership. Low and behold they had loaded $17,500 Corolla LE's for $13,900. I haven't looked back. If you can luck into a cheap Corolla or Civic do it. If you get an Aveo don't expect 150k of trouble free miles like you'll get with a quality import. I didn't laugh all the way to the bank with my Corolla, but I don't cry all the way to the service department either..:) - Joe.

I am the owner of a 2004 Chevy Aveo. I have had several problems with my car. I was so upset when things started going wrong with the car at only 14k miles. We bought this car brand new thinking it would be a better deal, we do all the maintance, and I am very picky about my car. So in order to have some closure about this car, and to find out why it I have done hours of research to learn about this car.

After reading thru the articles I hope some of this info I've learned will be able to help someone else.

Predecessor cars to the Chevy Aveo (Daewoo Kalos) are:

Daewoo Lanos, Holden Barin XC, Pontiac Firefly 85 model, and the Suzuki Swift MK3 and MK4 model. (Not the Geo Metro/ Suzuki Swift model.)

Cars that are similar to this car are:

Hyundai Getz, Kia Rio, Toyota Echo, Nissan Tiida, Toyota Vitz, Scion xA, Suzuki Aerio, and Hyundai Accent. (I would highly recommend one of these cars in the place of the Aveo.)

The tires do wear quickly on this car, my tires needed to replaced at 14000 miles, dealer will cover to 12000 if you notice problems, take it in before then.

Dealer said rims were bent, he accused me of wrecking my car, and said it would cost 1000 dollars for rims and tires. I never wrecked the car. He fumbled over his words, when I asked why the original tires were still on the car, and why there was no body damage to the car. But rims do bend easily because they are cheap steel.

Clock resets itself, mostly in hot weather.

2004 has recall on rear seat belts, they get locked in place. Mine got stuck at 6000 miles.

Brake pads are tilted at an odd angle, occansionally a rock will get stuck between brake pad and rotor, causing a horrid squeaking sound. I had this problem fixed on my car around 16000 miles. Dealer can tilt the brake pads to solve this problem.

In colder weather, car grinded and squeaked when I would turn or hit a bump. I thought it was the suspension, but it turned out to be the front control arms, and stabilizer bar bushing, which is also a recall on the car. Its still squeaks, just not as much.

I have the 5 speed model, and car is hard to put in reverse, but that's because of the type of transmission it is.

Interior upholstery on side of door had to reattached at only 23000 miles.

New hub caps at 26000 miles, because paint chipped off of them.

Paint on the car is cheap, I've waxed and buffed mine several times, it's a high maintenance paint job.

I do mostly highway driving on the car, I now have 40K miles on the car and its belts started squeaking around 37K miles. I have done research on this also, one customer had a pulley and serpentine belt replaced before 50k several others had timing belts. It is recommended that you change timing belt every 60k miles.

I am disappointed in the Aveo, I really liked chevy products, but the Aveo just doesn't cut it. I owned a prism and bought at 90k miles, never had prolbems with it, unfortunantly someone ran a stop sign and my car was totaled, but I walked away with no scratch on me. I hit the other car at 65 miles an hour. My grandmother owns a prism also, and doesn't have problems with hers.

I would never recommend an Aveo, I have had so many problems with mine. I am a tiny lady, I don't drive my car crazy, I don't need a sports car, this car just doesn't hold up. Do research, Mazda 3, Honda Civic (if you buy the hybrid, you get a tax rebate), Toyota Echo, Corolla, Pirus, Hyundai Elantra, or Accent. Never again will I buy one of these GM junk cars.

My husband and I own a 2006 Chevy Aveo and over the last 12 months, it has been very good to us. We use the car a LOT (we already have 30,000 miles on it) and it has held up well. The only problem we've ever had just started last week, and from reading the above comments, it seems to be a design flaw: our key got stuck in the ignition. We can turn the car on and off, but we can't get the darn key OUT. It won't turn far enough to "lock" and therefore allow itself to be pulled out. Also, the car is stuck in park. We found a temporary solution to the problem: stick another key in the hole on the top left of the gear shifter, it's labelled as "hold" or something. While pressing down, shift the car out of park. I guess it is sort of a release button for the shifter. Meanwhile, we still haven't been able to get our key out, so my husband is at the dealer right now.

Any one have any experience with this? What did the dealer do to fix this? Did the problem come back? We're worried because we only have 7,000 miles left on our warranty.

Chevy Aveo - Key Stuck.

I just rented a Chevrolet Aveo in Honolulu. The key would not remove from the ignition switch, and the automatic transmission shifter got stuck in park. I figured out how to release the shifter lever after reading the owner's manual, but the key was still stuck.

I had to have the car towed away, as it was after hours, and the car rental agency was closed for the night.

I asked the mechanics on the tow truck if they have seen this problem before. They said yes, this is a common problem on 2005 and 2006 Chevy Aveos, Cobalts, and one other Chevy model. I had to get another car the following day. What a waste of time while on vacation.

I have a Suzuki Swift (same as Aveo) and have had continual problems with noise in the front end. Squeaks and groans everytime I hit a bump etc. It's been in 5 times to have it repaired and now that I am getting too close to the end of the warranty, it seem the dealer doesn't want anything to do with me. (I'm assuming it's because they know that the problem will persist past warranty). I've been waiting for six weeks now for parts that somehow, are no longer available quickly. Could it be that there too many Aveo's and Swift's out there with the same problem or am I getting the run-around?

Anyone else having these problems?

My 04 Aveo just died on me and the dealership says the timing belt broke at only 41,000 miles! I have never had this car serviced because its too soon and now because the belt broke, it bent my pistons and my entire engine needs replacing. Can you believe GM doesn't want to pay? Isn't there a powertrain warranty on these vehicles after the standard warranty expires? I will NEVER buy another GM vehicle again.

To the November 25th poster, the Suzuki Swift and the Chevy Aveo are not the same car and share no parts in common.

To the November 27th poster, the Aveo should have a 5 year/60K powertrain warranty, but you will have to provide proof that you followed the owner's manual as far as maintenance. If you only had one oil change in 41,000 miles then they'll say you're at fault, even if there was no connection between the belt and oil changes.

That said, timing belts should be replaced 60K or 90K depending on car, so there is virtually not way it should have "normally' broke unless it was abused - GM should admit the part was defective.

I am an owner of a 2004 Chevy Aveo. I currently have a little over 40k miles on it.

I can relate to the squeaking when going over bumps. I have spoken to the dealer about it, but had not had them do anything. I have also experienced a delay in the car starting - only once or twice though. I was abot 30 miles before my warranty expired so I took it in to be looked at. The dealership said that they did not find anything wrong with it - that I could try changing the air filter or something along the lines of an engine ignition flush out.

I changed the air filter myself (it was quite dirty) and have not had problems since (fingers crossed). I did not have the engine flush out because the dealership was not too confident as to the root of the problem, and it was only a suggestion. I decided not to take the $100+ suggestion.

I want to post because I have had a problem with my keyless entry/alarm. A while back when I would lock my car, it would beep. Then one day it stopped beeping when I would lock it. Now, 8 out of 10 times when I lock my car and it beeps, shortly after my car alarm goes off. I looked in the owner's manual and I could not find any remedy to fix this problem. I thought that maybe there was a combination of button pushing that would change wither or not the car would beep when I locked it. Again, no information along these lines were presented in the manual.

If anyone knows of anything like this- I would appreciate feedback. Does anyone know if this could be the result of a low battery on my key?

THANKS!

I agree with all who have a 2004 aveo the timming belt is a defect, but gm will not say so. mine went a 52,000 miles.

And the rimms on this car are for the birds don't even go over a small stone thay will bend. when I called for the distric manager. he never called me back. and gm said that thay had no controle over the distric managers. good luck don't buy chev.

I have a 2004 Chevy Aveo which I bought in Feb 04, after owning a Chevy Sprint for 8 years with absolutely no problems to speak of. I loved my new little Aveo, even if it did have some minor flaws... the radio died, fog lamp burned and melted the housing, electrical problems. They replace the radio and I still have issues with the clock resetting itself every one in a while. That was minor. I now have 71,000 km on the car, mostly highway. After the warranty expired at 60,000, the head gasket went. Then the timing belt. Now the inner tie rod is gone and I can't buy a used inner tie rod anywhere, I have to buy the whole rack and pinion!!! I've had to replace the tires at about 50000kms, which I thought was normal, and the brakes are just about ready to be done. But my mechanic says to get rid of it NOW!!! I still have 2 years left of payments and I feel ripped off!!! I have maintained it, but not all through GM, I use my own mechanic for oil changes and such. Also there are now about 4 recalls on this vehicle. I also have problems with the transmission (cleaned the filter, that helped a little). It runs high and doesn't want to change gears, as a result I get very crappy gas mileage, nothing close to what I should be getting. I miss my Sprint!!!

Hello,

I just want to say I have an '05 Aveo LS - all I've done so far is rotate the tires and change the oil, and besides a new headlight, NO problems. I bought it used certified at 28,000 miles in May 2006 from Jimmie Johnson Kearny Mesa Chevrolet. I deliver pizzas and flowers in it almost all day, and now have 59,000 miles on it. I'm about to get the timing belt changed.

I have a 2005 Chevy Aveo and loved the car up until this past week. It has just around 30,000 miles. on it. I've had it towed twice this week. The first time the dealership said they could find nothing wrong after it simply died on me going down the road. The dealership gave it back to me saying it was good to go and then it died again about 2 hours from home. Now at a dealership 2 hours from me, they called today saying they think it's the MAP sensor. So I decided to google MAP sensor and found this page... reading these comments want to make me trade it in once it's fixed, but I don't want to take out a negative loan on another new car.