The first week I had the car, I took it in to get the brakes checked. It turns out they were totally shot, and I had to get new ones.
I went back into the shop shortly after I realized that the car sounded a little strange, and the mechanic checked it over. There were several problems with it.
The timing belt had over 150 cracks in it.
The radiator hose was almost completely wrecked.
The spark plugs were completely fried, the mechanic was surprised the car was running.
The oil had not been changed in a very long time.
There was a major leak in the brake fluid compartment.
As a teenage girl, this is my first car. The moment I saw it in the used car lot, I fell in love with it. I took it out for a test drive, and bought it the same day.
It is by far the most fun to drive out of all the cars I have driven.
The car itself is very eye-catching. All my friends love it, and ask to drive it, and I get second looks when I am driving.
Since those problems that I had in the first two weeks of owning the car had been fixed, the car has not had any more problems. I can rely on it.
This car has survived many cold start-ups early in the morning.
It's an incredibly safe and reliable car for a first car. I drive it every day and I love it, I can count on it to hold my snowboard, dog, groceries, friends, or whatever I need to stuff in it. This car is perfect.
A few questions... A car with 77 000kms shouldn t have all these problems (cracked timing belt etc..) 77000k`s in 15 yrs? That s 5000 KM s a year avg: impossible. The odometer has been brought back for sure.
You re getting second looks for driving an 89 Cavalier? Where the hell do you live?
I found the car to be very reliable and safe my first week owning it has been fun and exiting. I just replaced the alternator and have found little other problems the previous owners were stupid and didn't want to take the time to fix it so I got a good deal. the car is in goood shape and it should get a second look.
Yea 77,000k on a cav the plugs were fine lol the timing chain having cracks? yea right, if it ain't broke don't fix it, remember that and if it stops that's all you need, the rad with 77,000 k being messed up yea right, you have a real jerk of a mechanic there missy, what you need is a bf who knows cars, u'll save millions in ur life time if you keep this pattern going, and yea the odometer was probably turned back. I feel bad for u.
I wonder why the other poster from 10-Feb is showing so much disrespect to the teenage girl with the Z-24. She said the spark plugs were fried (not "fine"), and at 77,000 miles they probably were totally fouled or had the electrodes burned down to stubs. It's probably lucky that the mechanic decided to inspect the timing belt, and saw that it needed to be changed, because timing belts do break unexpectedly and need to be changed by around 75,000 miles. What's the problem? And she said the radiator hose (not the "radiator) was wrecked, which it could very well have been. Did you actually read the review? It doesn't sound like she got ripped off at all, and I wish her luck and long life with the car.
Not to rain on your parade, but the 2.8/3.1 v6 engines don't have a timing belt. They have a timing chain. ;) I have an 88, it is an awesome car I must say. Turns heads a lot. Add some aftermarket rims to it, but not too fancy, and it really sets the car off.
It is possible she meant serpentine belt instead of timing belt. That would seem reasonable to me. Also, if all of those things were O.E. then they certainly should have been replaced given how many years old the car is. Why not replace things as you need them instead of waiting for it to break down and then it typically costs more with towing and what-not. But everyone is entitled to there opinion. That doesn't mean it is a good opinion though.
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