2001 Chevrolet Cavalier VLX from North America - Comments

Transmission makes an awful noise from first to second gear.

Struts have been replaced.

Radio has been replaced.

Its had five brake jobs and the GM says that's just maintenance.

The water pumps been replaced.

The oil pan gasket and valve cover gaskets leak.

Do not Buy this car.

They are made attractive by cheap financing, but you will pay in the long run

It's a poorly built, inexpensive car that GM will outright lie to you about.

I recently bought a 2000 Cavalier VLX. It has 81,000 miles, going on 82K. It is a very noisy car and not safe on the road. What can you expect, it's a GM car and they are made cheap. I will never trust GM or any American cars. If you want a car that lasts stick with Honda, Toyota or a German car. :) It may cost a little more, but it will save you money in the long run. :)

Another Honda story. I could buy 2 cavaliers for the price of one Honda and have a better looking car, not to mention less expensive parts. Someday the world will be filled with silver Hondas. How boring that will be.

1st commenter.. Yes, it's a cheap car, expect some road noise for what you paid for it. Unsafe? If you mean in an accident, maybe. Handling and ride are solid, and predicable. Actually, the handling is extremely good for a cheap car.

2nd Poster, my thoughts exactly. Had a japanese car before. Only owned it for a few months, and decided that was enough. Hated the fact that a friggin O2 sensor was 100 for 1st one, 250 for second one. Struts were 100 bucks a piece, and other parts were horribly expensive. The only plus was the nice seats, and the OK gas mileage. It was a Mazda Protege actually.

Got rid of it, and bought a used Buick. Love it. Parts are cheap, and plentiful.

Ever stop to consider why G.M. parts are so cheap? When people consider struts normal upkeep, prices go down. Imports tend to fail less, in my experience, as they come from the factory with fewer reliability issues, fewer things that need to be replaced due to piss poor engineering/manufacture, therefore replacement parts aren't so available, therefore more expensive. My struts didn't fail until well after 180,000 city miles on my "import". Just my 2 cents.

While I agree with the previous comment to some extent, unless you are buying parts from the dealer the "parts for foreign cars last longer" argument goes out the window. If I go to a shop and get KYB struts on my Chevy versus getting them on my Honda, they build quality is the same, and they will likely last about the same length of time. Yet, the Honda struts will cost 50-100% more. The same holds true for most parts.

Granted, design plays a factor in things like brakes (GMs are notorious for eating front brake pads). But, I can teach a 10 year old to change the brake pads on most post 90s cars in about 15 minutes.

For the record, I got 150k out of my stock Chevy struts. Not bad for the country roads it was driven on half the time.

Much depends on how and where you drive a car.

I'm not saying foreign cars aren't built better at the factory, because, as a rule, they are. Just saying that if you're buying a relatively new car and don't plan on keeping it much more than a few years, other than resale value it's not going to matter much.

I have a 2001 Chevy Cavlier Base Coupe, so far I have had to replace the rotors and the pads, I have replaced the struts and the strut mounts, also I have replaced the A/C condensor. Altogether this car is very reliable and very fun to drive, gas mileage is also very impressable. I would deffinetly buy another Cavalier from Chevy. This car is sporty and fun to drive.

HA... Foreign cars a great... NOT! I bought a Cadillac Catera... built in Germany. Supposed to be great... my car has 95,000 miles.. I HAVE OWNED IT FOR 7 MONTH::::

HAD TO FIX...

Radio: $989.00

Air Shocks: $1,500.00

Sway Bar Links: $150.00

Struts and Rotors: $580.00

Electrical Problems (normal) : $740.00.

Not to mention that half on people haven't heard of this car. At least the Cavalier is affordable to fix.