1991 Chevrolet Cavalier RS from North America - Comments

Fan wasn't working, causing it to overheat.

Alternater needed replacing.

Brakes went out.

Key starter fried, had to get a new one.. (ouch!)

This car sucks. I bought it for 3000 dollars 5 months ago, since then, I've put in 2000 dollars worth of repairs. It shakes extremely bad when in idle. It's just a piece of crap. I guess that's what you get when you buy a US car :/ We're known for our hamburgers, not our cars.

A very wise mechanic once told me to never buy an American-made car that is a 4-cylinder automatic. If you're going to buy an American car it should be a V6 automatic/manual or V4 manual.

Just thought I'd pass this info on.

A wiser mechanic might advise you not to buy an American car without a warranty.

An even wiser mechanic might know that there are no passenger cars out there right now with a "V4". They have inline four cylinders. The cylinders are in a single bank, not in two banks in a V format. But you are right: don't ever buy an American 4 cylinder. Don't even buy a manual one.

I've owned my 1991 Cavalier for 12 years now and the only things that have gone wrong with it was the alternator and the starter. Otherwise, NOTHING has gone wrong with this car. I think you just got a lemmon, and there is nothing wrong with owning an American Made 4 cyl.

I have a 91 cavalier rs with a 2.2l 4 cylinder motor and an automatic. It has 240000 miles and still burns the tires on dry asphalt.

OK I just bought a 1991 cavalier I wanna know how long she is going to last it has a 199.449 on her and she is a five speed can someone e-mail me at steve1820022000@yahoo.com and let me know what I'm in for?

I have a 1991 Cavalier RS that I bought about two years ago from an old lady in Baltimore. It had just over 58k miles on her with even the original tires. It now has 61,800 some miles on her and yes, it has the normal Cavalier 'shake' at speeds of 60mph. It REALLY needs a paint job, the headliner is falling down and the dash is warped on one side, pulling away from the speaker bay, I haven't seen another Cavalier in worse cosmetic shape, but it is all due to a lot of wear and tear and is not the cars fault. When I got her it needed new shocks and struts (being that it had lived 11 years in Baltimore, MD!!! OUCH!) and a new ignition switch, since then she's been great to anyone who has needed her. She's a hard little worker, though there is hardly any pickup, but for a A to B car, she's great. My father is a mechanic and has told me that the alternator might need to be replaced soon, but it's under or around a hundred dollars to fix and I don't mind. I bought her for $150 from the lady and only put $200 more into her when I first bought her. There are more older and newer-2004 Cavaliers on the road than any other car out there, yes they are cheap, but they are meant to be basic, affordable, reliable transportation. The quality isn't perfect because they had to cut corners, but overall it's a great first car. Yes, mine is an automatic. Just thank god that you didn't buy a car over $20k and have to replace all that, no matter what your costs probably won't exceed any other newer or new car you buy. All makes and models of cars have their own specific problems and then some, sometimes. But I am guessing yours was driven just about into the ground and wasn't properly taken care of. It happens. But most Cavalier owners are very pleased. Even imports have their problems too. No car is perfect and all with all some different results or same results. Try next time, to go to MSNAutos, they have reliabilty reports, and reviews. But remember! even a car that is rated at 100% reliability, most everyone will have different problems and results. For a decent A to B car, for a dirt cheap price (no matter the repair costs) and GREAT on gas, I HIGHLY recommend a Chevrolet Cavalier, especially a 1991 or 1992!

I have a 1991 Cavalier 2.2L and just went over 300,000 miles. Problems: 3 alternators, 1 starter and the belt idler pulley. Nothing else.

I have a question did you buy it from a dealership or from a previous owner because that has a major part in how well it performs. and foreign cars are worthless in my opinion because they are either Cheap!!! or to expensive. example cheap Toyota or an expensive Lamborghini. there is no middle car out there unless it's bought in America.