1995 Chevrolet Cavalier from North America - Comments

I have owned my 1995 Cavalier (or Cadavalier, as I like to call it) less than 2 years. It has had its moments, though, mostly bad ones. I have put a lot of money into it, and should have done the carfax.com facts before I purchased the vehicle. Although it has not been in any major accidents, it has been owned by 5 other people! It was even used as a “Government Taxi” at one point. I have replaced the water pump, alternator, muffler, brakes, tires, etc. etc.!!

I received notification about an ignition switch recall. When I took it in for this service, the dealer informed us the head gasket appeared to be leaking. He had to have known about the ‘service issue’ that GM had out on this car, that I found out about by reviewing web sites like this. A few months later, the gasket blew. Luckily it didn’t crack the head, but cost nearly 800.00 to fix. Then, 4 days later, it sputtered out and died. Come to find out, the gas gauge is broken, and it is out of gas! It sat ‘dead’ for 2 months and I had no clue that the gauge was broken! Now my transmission doesn’t want to go into 3rd as easily as it should.

I am very frustrated over this car even though I always trusted GM. However, when I talked to them, they refused to do anything for me - I was over the mileage and the age of the car was 3 months past the deadline as well. I also own a rusty Mercury Cougar which has been a much better car; it has gotten me to and from work all winter so far, and it is paid for! Don't think I will buy another Chevy.

You shouldn't blame GM for your car's problems. You bought a fleet vehicle with 5 previous owners, your lucky it lasted as long as it did. Don't blame GM for your lack of foresight and judgment, fleet cars are driven hard and are given the bare minimum maintenance. Next time you buy a car, do a little research before you hand over the cash.

This may be old information now as related to this original post, but here goes... My 1995 Chevy Cavalier, I bought used it had 22,000 miles on it of the original 36,000 mile warranty. Within 2 months there was an extreme vibration form the front tires on braking. Having never had a car with ABS brakes, I assumed it was the ABS vibrating. However, I took it to the dealer anyway. I was informed that the rotors were warped and the brakes were bad. Thinking that all of this was covered under the 36,000 mile "bumper-to-bumper" warranty, I was stunned to see I was charged somewhere around $200-$300 for the work. I was told "wear-and-tear" items were not covered.

Within another month or two, the upper radiator hose blew and stranded me on the highway until a passerby stopped and had duct tape to make a temporary repair. The dealer refused to do this repair also (for free) as it was also a supposed "wear and tear" item. That was another hundred bucks. (Just what IS covered by a 36,000 bumper to bumper warranty??)

Within the next year or so, at about 39,000 miles the head gasket blew. I had a friend do the work for me for $250.00. A great deal. Nine months later, I received a recall notice from Chevrolet about "potential" head gasket problems with my car. It was offered that if I had already paid for the job, I would be reimbursed. However when I contacted Chevy by phone, I was told that because I did not have the work done (nine months ago) at a dealer, I would not receive a refund of the payment for the head gasket repair. What a bunch of B.S. that was!!

Now at about 123,000 miles, the head gasket has blown yet again. I will not be repairing this at my expense or at all. I am donating my Cavalier to charity who can do the job and I will get a tax right off.

I will NEVER buy another Chevrolet product, ever. The dealers are liars and cheaters. I will never recommend Chevy to anyone.

I have owned my 1995 Chevy Cavalier for almost 3 years and have not had to do a-lot of work to it. It had 88,000 miles on it when we bought it and now it has around 156,000. I have to replace the tires more often then I do on my other vehicles because, the only seem to wear on the outside. I believe this could just be because it may need new shocks. In the 3 years I have owned it I have had to replace the coil pack twice. That is my only complaint. Right now it needs a new exhaust, an outside driver side mirror and a new glove box latch. Oh yeah, and we just replaced the temperature gage. But, all of these things are to be expected with the high mileage it has. I love Chevrolet products and out of the 4 vehicles we own they are all Chevy's. I won't by a vehicle if it doesn't say Chevrolet.

Hello! I love my 1995 Chevy Cavalier! This was my first "new" car. It stills works almost as good as the day I bought it. Like others here, I have had a few minor problems: heat/ac vent fell out and had to be replaced, trunk latch was defective (wouldn't stay shut), head gasket blown (under recall/warranty). This was all in the first three years.

Since then, we have put one set of tires, an alternator, serpentine belt, starter, and brakes. These were all expenses out of our pocket... auto maintenance. We have decided that if anything major goes wrong, we will donate it to charity.

We have a 1999 Chevy Trailblazer that we also bought new and we have put more into that thing! I think the key to keeping your vehicle in running order is to maintain it: change the oil, rotate tires, change belts, etc. Overall, I'm very happy with the Cavalier. I feel as though we have gotten our $$$ worth! I would purchase another Chevrolet.

Gesh! All these people donating a perfectly good car to charity? Are they nuts? Must have more money than I do? I drive them till the wheels fall off, then scoop up the dust and ride on it for awhile LOL.

2004 Cav. Coupe - bought new. Apparently, GM didn't much care about Cav's in 2004 and just ran them off the line. I've had key ignition problems and have had the key lock changed out 3 times - each time, the service report says "key ignation defective". The dang key keeps getting stuck in the lock and we can't get the key out.

If anyone sees a black 2004 chev in Wisconsin with the key in the ignition; PLEASE STEAL THE CAR!!! I would like for you to take it off our hands!

Seriously, this problems been 'fixed' 4 times, and the other problem that's been 'fixed' twice is not getting the car to start...

Wish I also would have done my homework on 2004 Cav's. I also will never buy another Chevy product. I'll go foreign.

Here's a kicker, this car has cost me a lot of money - new engine new transmission, and it still has problems. The car runs for 30 minutes, then dies out and will not start for 10-20 minutes. I'm so sick of this car. I overhauled the engine, but what's next???

Hi-I bought my 1995 Cavalier when it was three years old and had 35,000 miles on it. I fell in love with the car and thought I had made a terrific choice. At the time we didn't have a computer to do any research on this particular vehicle.

I have spent thousands of dollars repairing this car, from brakes (front and back) blown gasket, broken radiator hose on the highway, ABS system dying and it just started to have ignition problems with many other things I cannot remember.

The guy at the garage disconnected the ABS brakes for me as they felt as if I didn't have! What a feeling-he was going to connect it when it came time to inspect the car.

Even though it had many problems and was old, I kept running it. The last straw came when we hit a quirrel in the road, hit the brakes hard, and voila-the brake linings let go (all rusty) AFter spending 549.00 for them (we just got the cc bill too) I was going out early in the morning-on a rainy/foggy AM. Proceeding into traffic, someone hit the car and spun me around 3 times. Needless to say, the little cavalier was totaled. Maybe it went out of control because of the lack of the ABS system-who knows-glad I wasnt killed! Anyway, I went out and bought a brand new 2007 Ford Focus in an Aqua blue and love the ride. I don't believe I'll never buy another chevy. We always called our cavalier the chevy recall. good luck to everyone out there that still has this little car. I loved it as we didn't have a car payment and now my life has been signed away for the next 4 years!! (LOL) When I was car shopping-one guy wanted to know if I wanted to look at a used chevy cavalier-I practically ran away!!! Have a good one folks and take care-and drive safe-if the ABS goes out-better fix it I guess. who knows-maybe the car wouldn't have been totaled???