1996 Chevrolet Cavalier from North America - Comments

I bought a 1996 Chevy cavalier ls 2 years ago. I have never had a problem, very dependable. The only thing is if you want a car for speed or power, I wouldn't recommend it!

Hello everybody, I am the proud owner of 2 cavaliers a 1996 and a 1997, both are a 4 Dr model. One is an automatic and the other is a manual transmission, both have a 2.2 Lt engine, I bought them new and had only minor problems with these vehicles. I keep up with all the required maintenance at the dealer specified intervals. The only major problem that I had with one of my Cavaliers is the fuel injectors (the #2 injector started to leak) I replaced all of the injectors and the car has been working fine since. And that was on the manual transmission. This car has just went over the 480,000 km mark and is just now turning unreliable. It is laid up now in my yard with a blown head gasket.. I have always used Quaker State synthetic motor oil with a Fram oil filter and Fram air filter. I never change the brand of oils or any other lubricants I use through out the life of a vehicle I buy.. I don't know if this is the cause of my (i guess you could say) "success" with a vehicle.

My Automatic transmission vehicle was a bit worse off, I had to replace the head assembly on that car at about 200,000 kms, and strut mounts about a year after I got the car and fuel pump and crank shaft sensor.. other than that, I would recommend this type of vehicle to anybody.

I also recently bought a brand new 2005 Pontiac Sunfire GT for my girlfriend and that car has the 2.4 Lt EcoTec engine, and it is the same motor that is in the new Cavalier Z24's and it has been nothing, but sensor problems, The check engine light is "ALWAYS" on... But Oh well, it has extended warranty and is being fixed by the dealership whenever needed, and when it goes in to get fixed we get a loaner vehicle for as long as the car is in..

Once my Manual transmission is fixed we are putting the automatic up for sale, I know Cavaliers don't have a good resale value, but we aren't expecting a lot for it anyway. Were probably only gonna ask between $500 to $1000/Canadian for it.

1996 Cavalier with 2.2 engine and 4 speed automatic. This has been a great car. 160,000+ and still purring like a kitten. The 4 speed auto seems to give lower lows and higher highs so it feels like you're really driving something instead of an econobox. Had trouble with the fuel pump - nobody seemed able to diagnose the problem. Finally found someone who knows his way around a Cavvy and fixed it - may have been the result of the kids running it out of fuel too many times. Had one fuel injector go bad which caused a fuel leak, but the fix was a reasonable cost. ABS light has been on for the last 40,000 miles, but the system still works as you can hear it working when braking while going over a bump. All in all a dandy car for the price.

We have a 1996 Chevy Cavalier and it has been a great car except for the past couple of weeks. First, the car was turning over, but wasn't firing. We replaced the fuel pump on it and it worked for two days. After that, the same thing started to happen. My mechanic thought that the key was worn down, and it wasn't releasing the anti-theft device in the car. We had new keys done and now we cannot even turn the key to start the car... and if it does work it won't fire. someone help please!!! (65k miles).

I have 1996 cavalier and I really like this car i, ve replaced the heater core and thermostat and all hoses and even flushed the system, but the heater still doesn, t heat likr it should what do I need to do to fix the problem please help me.

I too purchased a brand new 1996 Cavalier with a 2.2 liter engine. No major repairs until 3 years ago with 157k, fuel pump went ($1,200 Cd) which was done by a dealer. Yesterday, 11/29/06, this car died on me while driving and had it towed to my mechanic. Upon diagnosis, fuel pump is found to be defective again. Now, twice in 3 years is absolutely ridiculous. I am not getting it repaired, as I think

it's not worth it. No more Chevy's for me.

I own a Chevrolet Cavalier 1996. I buy it 3 month ago and I think is good car for the price, no failures from the last owner (my sister) just the A/C does not work. One day I try to start the car and the engine key cylinder get stok, I remove the cylinder to turn on the car and it won't turn on for the Anti-Theft System that was activated. I buy a new cylinder with a new key, send it to a Chevrolet dealer and the car still there in the dealer because they cannot reset the code for the cilinder and the car only turns on for a few seconds until the anti-theft system comes on. It cost a lot to reset the code and they can't do it until today. one week and the car still with the problem. A car with no anti-theft system was running the same day.

My Cavalier has had many problems within 3 months. the throwout bearing, the other bearings, and a cracked head and a head gasket replacement, a clutch, and I'm pretty sure the timing chain is going in a few days. when my head gasket blew, my rods BENT. Its been a rough road for this great car.

Have a 96 Cavalier Coupe, have had for seven years, 134,000 miles, have only had to replace 1 head gasket, water pump and battery and serpentine belt, still gets 33 to 38 m.p.g. has traditional piston slap knock, need to replace left front ball joint soon (torn seal) and that is it.

Been recalled three times looks and runs great, still miss my Vega Wagon!

I got a 1996 Chevy Cavalier Convertible for my 16th birthday. From the first weekend I drove it I noticed that something was wrong. My sister was driving at the time as I didn't have my license yet, and she couldn't roll up the window! We finally got it to roll up, but now 6 months later the driver window doesn't roll down past about 2 inches and takes about 20 minutes to roll up..

My car had 62k when I bought it, and now has 74k. Other problems I've noticed are it's extremely loud. My brakes squeak and when I brake on the highway it's like an earthquake in my car. A friend of mine said it was warped rotors, but he said it's not a major problem. But still, what is wrong with Chevy for making this car?!

Other problems I have are that the cigarette lighter doesn't work, and hasn't since I bought it. The horn broke about 2 months after purchase. Also, just this past weekend I was about 1/16th of a tank full and it just ran out of gas. I was stranded for an hour before someone helped me. It wasn't even on E! The a/c and heat only work on high. Makes scary sounds in general. I feel like I'm in a death trap.

I can also hear other cars outside as if my window was rolled down. I also have the tapping noise that people keep talking about. I can feel the tapping underneath the cabin in the passenger seat and it is an abrupt tapping. The weather stripping has deteriorated significantly seeing how every time I do a car wash I have to lay down something on my passenger seat so I don't have a lake of soap in my seat. :\

Don't buy this car. Please. My step-mom paid $8,000 for this car, and it's hardly worth the suggested price of $2,900.

I have owned 3 cavalier Z24's, a 1991 5spd, a 1993 auto, an a 1996 auto. I currently own the 96 and the 93. I miss the 91 5spd something fierce, I loved that car so much, it looked good and it flew, it had just about every thing I wanted in a car, no power options, the biggest motor it was equipped with, and a manual transmission. I bought the 93 because it is an identical twin to my 91, minus the manual tranny. the car currently is the proud owner of an odometer that reads 255,698 miles an runs as strong as the day I bought it. no problems in 3 years. the 96 on the other hand... pile of junk that disgraces the nameplate of the Z24.within the first hour of owning it, one of the shift solenoids crapped out on me so now I only have 2nd and drive, no 1st or overdrive. 2 days later the catalytic converter plugged up so bad the car backfired so bad it blew my air box to pieces. The power windows don't work, the a/c doesn't work, crunchin in the front, banging in the back. the car hasn't even been with me 6 months and I'm pretty much ready to set it on fire. I wouldn't recommend this car to someone I hated with a blind fury, to me from 95 to present, they all need to be recycled, as in melted into a blob an just start over completely.

I bought a 1996 Cavalier Dec 2006 with 130,000km. There is a constant noise coming from the rear of the car that sounds like popcorn popping!I had the struts checked out and they were O.K. The dealer said not to worry. Other than the ABS light staying on at times and the engine seems to loud I like this little car. Does anyone know what this noise might be?

Thanks D.M.

So, I just bought a 97, Cav - 5speed, and after reading these comments I am a little disconcerned. My ABS light is also on and I am wondering if it is a waste of money to go get it checked out? It seems a lot of the comments mention the ABS being "stuck" on..

Well I just bought a 96 Chevy Cavalier and it is great everything works perfect even the convertible top and it has 126 k miles.

Can anyone help me? We were given a 1996 Cavalier for a old lawn tractor. It ran great for the first few weeks than one night failed to start plenty of spark, but sounded no gas. After it sat 1/2 hour startede and ran great for 2 weeks. refused to start again on 5/19/07 let it sit all night started and ran great that day and next two on 5/29/07 7 p.m. failed to start and has not started since, I am thinking fuel filter (only has 1/4 tank of gas, but refuses to start any help at all?