1990 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 review from North America

Note that dealer service had been marked as 0 because I've never seen a dealer regarding this vehicle.

Rust created hole in muffler. However, it certainly sounds like a slapped a Flowmaster on it, so I guess that's sort of a neutral thing, huh?

Power locks stopped working due to electrical short.

Need to pull fuse to prevent battery drain due to above.

Water enters the trunk via the wheel wells and soaks the trunk upholstery.

Sunroof leaks a little bit, drips a small amount, but nothing severe.

Back around 120k miles, I used this vehicle for a newspaper route (as much as I didn't want to!). One day my thermostat went while I was out twenty miles from my home. My engine overheated to approx. 300 degrees... and *did not seize*. The 3.1 in this car is unkillable.

I have never come off the line slower than anyone in this car, with the exception of a very customized Grand National. The governor prevents me from outracing a lot of people, but on the 0-60 very few stock vehicles can beat this vehicle with a stock configuration.

My overall repair costs for this vehicle have not exceeded $2,000 over the 45k mile duration I have owned this vehicle for. Many of these improvements included typical wear and tear (i.e. radiator hoses, thermostat, belts, muffler, weather stripping). These repair costs were all expected for a vehicle as old as it is.

I have purchased this vehicle based on the performance of many friends' vehicles (five of us own Z24s). None have required major repairs, all are 1994 or older (as the old J-Body is the best Cavalier there ever will be), and none have less than 100k miles. One has 300k, and was the basis for this purchase.