1989 Chevrolet Beretta Coupe review from North America

Something went really wrong with the car at about 149,000 miles. I couldn't come to a complete stop without stalling. I always had to rev the engine to keep from stalling. One time I stalled in the middle of a busy intersection and I could hear the car behind me squeal his tires to avoid hitting me. Before I could turn the car back on I had to put it in park. Eventually someone suggested I drive with both feet. This made driving tolerable and I didn't squawk tires everytime I had to stop.

Later, even when I didn't come to a complete stop, if I just slowed down, the car would move at idol speed until I put the pedal almost to the floor. Eventaully the car would only accellerate if I had the pedal to the floor.

The auto shop teacher at my high school said I had a cracked head. Maybe he was right. Who knows? Many, many parts were replaced before finally replacing something with the computer. This fixed the problems.

There was a also massive oil leak. Another embarrassing feature. I had to add nearly a quart a week. The leak was in a hard to reach spot that would require so many man hours to fix, it was uneconomical to try.

This car was purchased for me for $900 when I was 17 by my father. I guess he felt bad because I wrecked my Ford Explorer on an icy road (and he was tired of hauling me everywhere).

I wanted another 4x4, but my dad picked a car because he thought it would get better gas mileage. Shortly before selling the Beretta, I tested the gas mileage -- less than 15 mpg in a combination of city and hwy driving. Most full size trucks get better mileage than that!

One small point -- the power window buttons are on the center console. Odd...

Had I been doing the buying, I would have research the Chevy Beretta a little more and discovered the dismal reliability.

It is a pretty quick little car with the V6, but I would never own another one or recommend it to anyone. Don't buy it, no matter how small your budget. The cheap comes out expensive.