Rust underneath, EVERYWHERE! The rust has caused me to blow and replace all my brake lines, fuel tank, fuel lines, and now the fuel line from where you fill up to the fuel tank has a small leak and is rusted. Also have rust in the interior on the track the seat slides on, and had to replace the whole exhaust system due to rust.
One window handle fell off and will not stay on, both back doors will not stay closed, used to be able to lock and keep them closed by fiddling the latch with a screwdriver, then slamming them closed, now I have to hold each door closed with a ratchet strap.
Radiator hose blew.
Headlight wiring freaked out.
Gas cap door has mold, heat only works on full blast.
Battery lights been on for 3 years with no problems?
Engine light and coolant light always on, gas gage messed up for awhile, but is back to normal somehow.
It leaks antifreeze from the head gasket, and leaks oil. Have to fill it every week.
Had to replace struts, and both strut mounts snapped.
Clock randomly changes the hours, but not the minutes.
Needed all new brakes and rotors at 75000 miles.
All the interior plastic shrunk and rattles. Things fall off in the interior (plastic pieces).
Strange sounds from the engine that seem like they should be causing problems, but has made these sounds for a long time with no change on how it drives.
Stereo system and speakers act funny, sound comes and goes in certain speakers. Both back speakers are blown and I don't even play the radio loud.
Oh yes, there's more, but I'm getting sick of typing.
Overall this car was a nightmare!
It's tough when you can't afford another car and have to deal with whatever this thing dished out.
I finally saved enough to buy a Toyota Corolla that was a year older and had 20000 more miles, and have had no problems at all to date.
One thing I'll say about this car is that it always started for me and the engine never died, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
The foreign cars aren't necessarily more reliable.. that's just another widespread misconception. They cost more to repair when something does go wrong. My 2000 Chevrolet Lumina has been rock solid for 80,000 miles I've put on it (and it already had 23k when I bought it) except for the intake manifold gasket I replaced once (the Achilles Heel of the 3.1 GM motor) its been trouble-free, I haven't even had to replace the brake pads yet! And yes, it's a Chevy.
I think you will find that a slow coolant loss is caused by either a loose hose clamp or a weeping back heater hose. I hardly think that your head gasket was the actual cause. If that was the case you would have seen white steam out of your tailpipe. I think you could have got much more use out of this vehicle had you investigated things further. I only regret not being able to purchase it myself.
Well I have a 96 Chevy Cavalier and I'll agree with some things, but I hit 203,145.8 before I had any real problems. My head gasket went at 203,136 and this was the first ever gasket problem. Your problem is you probably didn't do proper maintenance on your vehicle. It takes only a hour once or twice a month just to look over things; you get a lot farther, and I also don't have rust on my underbelly of this car yet; weird I know.
Yes, it definitely sounds like this car was treated like a piece of trash, with no maintenance, and his previous cars were also probably picked up off the bottom of the barrel. My family has always owned American cars, and every one made after 1980 has gone over 200,000 miles with minimal work, and certainly no major failures. Even that includes beaters that we got for $350!
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