1999 Chevrolet Cavalier Z-24 review from North America

The car ran great for about a year then I started having serious problems with it.

I had to replace the shifter cables at 128 000 km because I lost all, but one gear. I'm thankful I wasn't on a two lane road and passing a vehicle with oncoming traffic when this happened or I wouldn't be here to write about this. Transport Canada's response when I filed a complaint was "you can always pull over to the side of the road." This is how they deal with serious safety concerns (our tax dollars at work).

I had to recharge the A/C at 156 000 km.

I had to replace the battery around 156 000 km also.

I had to replace the headlight switch at 185 000 km. I would be driving the car down the road at night when the headlights would turn off on their own for no reason. There was also a slight burning smell from the car after this happened. Transport Canada's advice on this matter was one again "you can always pull over to the side of the road." I did manage to find out they are in a Level 3 defect investigation with this car and problem and they did want to see the part that I had the problem with.

The car is hard on rotors and front pads and need to be replaced every 6 to 12 months.

Other things that are broke that I cannot afford to replace are the digital odometer which quite often reads erroneous information and sometimes doesn't work at all.

There's a nice split in the dash that showed up one day out of the blue and it will cost over $400 just for the part.

The primer they used on this car is gray and the coat of paint (black) is thin. If you get a rock chip, you see the gray primer underneath right away. This car has hundreds of small rock chips so you can imagine how the car looks.

The car needs door pins and bushings.

Good points - lots of power and stylist.