Comments: 1-15, 16-17
Leak in rear trunk seal - dealer fixed this within half a day. (Had water accumulating in the trunk). Never happened again. Replaced the front tires at 12,000 KM. I tend to drive hard and the 140 HP Eco tech makes it easy to smoke tires. :)
First off, this is my second Chevy Cavalier.
The first one, a 2000, was quite similar to this car. When GM made the 2003 Cavalier, they made a few new things - better engine, modified front and rear appearance, and bigger tires. All are positive improvements to the car.
Performance.
This car is not a sports car. It is not meant to be riced but can be.
However, the Cavalier 0-60 time with the 2.2 DOHC Ecotech engine puts out a 140 HP and over 140 lbs of torque. This car can almost (.2 sec) beat a Civic Si. Throw in an after-market Super charger and cold-air intake, I dare say you would have a 200+ HP sleeper car. (Available at any GM dealership).
Torque steer is a big problem with engines that have 100+ hp. The Cavalier is no exception. If you want to burn a set of tires quickly, rev the engine to 5,000 up a hill. The tires will smoke.
Comfort.
The car's seats are horrible. They're fine for short trips. But forget it if you want lumbar support. They aren't' cutting it. Buy a new seat or consider a different car if seating is real important to you. Me, I can tolerate a bad seat, I've owned and ridden in too many bench-seat pick up trucks to care.
Back seat leg room is as to be expected. Trunk space is very large. The cargo net comes in handy. The air conditioning is exceptionally powerful.
My only complaint is that the A/C is always on when you choose to defrost the windows. The only exception to this rule is when the temperature sensor detects it's below freezing outside, it doesn't pump out cold air.
Handling.
The car lumbers through corners, but is fairly quick. It's very easy to skid the car on hard accelleration (make the tires yell). If you do get one, make sure the tires are 15 inches at least. They make a huge difference in road handling. Oh and the factory tires are just garbage. They don't last and tend to be really soft.
Fuel economy.
Fairly good. Not great, but hey, it's good enough for me. I don't' need an extreme gas-sipper YET.
Reliability.
Not bad. I haven't had any problems with the car except for a minor trunk leak. I replaced the front tires because I burned through the el-cheapo factory ones at 10K. I change the oil regularly, and it so far hasn't let me down.
Overall.
Not a bad cheap car. It could be worse. The stereo is a bit old, circa 1998, but, it works. I will eventually buy this car out due to the fact that I am a bit hard on vehicles. No problem. My next vehicle will be a different style though, I need something different...
At least you ADMIT you are hard on vehicles at the end of your review. It certainly sounded that way as I was reading though it. I would not go talking badly about the tires not lasting past 10K when you readilly admit to "smoking" them up hills. I have a '03 Cavalier that just turned 23K miles (no problems), and the tires still have plenty of life left in them. I cannot understand the mentality of wanting to beat a car the way you describe. But, good luck none-the-less.
I have a 2003 that now has 80000 klm, the noise inside the car is considerable on gravel roads, but handles well in the snow. I agree the tires are not the greatest and I should have replaced them at around 45K, but am still running them. Has been a very good commuter.
Original poster of the review here. I agree, I am hard on cars. But I do maintain them. I don't drive like granny or speed freak. Just in between.
I had a problem (20,000KM) with my left rear lamp, it had melted in the turn signal housing. GM sent me a letter (wow), and I got it fixed at no charge.
I next noticed the exhaust note would get quite loud after the engine warmed up. It wasn't too bad, but other drivers started to notice when I would throttle up and the roar would get their attention. I took it to the shop again, but this time the mechanic could not find the problem, there is no exhaust leak.
It's running good. Thinking about switching to semi-synthetic oil though.
I am the original poster. I should not comment on how you drive your car; what you do with your own vehicle is your business. There are ways to drive a car hard, but not be too torturous to it, which I am sure you are aware of.
I personally recommend a full synthetic oil, as opposed to a blend. With a fully synthetic oil, all of the shortcomings inherant with their petroleum counterparts can be engineered out (cold weather pump-ability, viscosity breakdown, sludge resistance, etc...). You will either have the 100% advantage with the full synthetic, or a partial advantage with the blend.
Not all synthetics are created equal though, by a long shot. In my experience, you can't go wrong with Mobil 1. In many circles, Mobil 1 is considered to be the industry standard. I run it in all my cars with extreme success. The ECOTEC loves it. I experienced a notable difference in performance, smoothness, fuel economy, and how fast my temperature guage gets up to normal temperature in the morning. I run 10W30 in the summer and 5W30 in the winter.
If you go with synthetic though, it is best to stick with it, and not switch back and forth. The seals in the engine react differently with synthetic and petroleum, and switching back and forth can cause leaks. That is the only possible problem you might experience switching to synthetic if you have been using petroleum for a long time. Disregard any of the other myths you might hear. Synthetic is better than conventional oil in every respect.
Good luck.
When you "rice" a car, does that me you get beat by some Asian rice burner?
OK, I'm back for the final update...
No new failures or real issues with the car since last time. I
perform regular maintenance and such, that's about it. I'm giving this car back to GM when I'm done. I've test driven about 15 cars so far, and I found a few imports I really like. Yep. I'm ditching domestics for my next car. I really like the
Mazda 3 Sport and the Mazda Speed6. And oh yes, I like G-force corners. :D.
Cheers.
Stoneman.
If you can wait a little longer (like until summer) you can also look at the MazdaSpeed 3.
Same engine as the 6, but detuned since the car will still be front wheel drive (Mazda claims torque steer won't be as big an issue as it would seem). Plus upgraded suspension.
It may be my next car, but it truly has to offer significantly more of an experience than the regular Mazda 3 since that car is so brilliant to begin with.
OK I'm back again. I am the original writer of this review... (I also run a web site - stonemanautoreview.com).
Anyway, my damn horn stopped working last month. I think it's the relay ($40). I gotta get that fixed ASAP. Also the front-left wheel bearing is starting to make a really annoying squeak. I have to take time soon and fix that.
-c.
Hi, I have had an 03 Cavalier since the day they first came out, and I have to say it really disappointed my expectations.
First, as to smoking a Civic Si, I would have to disagree. I have tried with some friends and even with a t4 turbo, it just barly matches. The new Ecotec engines are not meant to be performance ready like the 2200 or 2400.
Second, I have about 110K and don't really race the engine or do any major harshness on it, and it just does not want to last like the older Chevy engines. Already I have had to have 4 sensors replaced, the front driver strut wore out at 75k and again with the tail light recalls... three times and it's still not working right.
I have been using a full sythetic oil since day one, and it's getting so bad due to lag either from the ECU or transmission.
Overall, I would award the new Cavaliers a grade of 6 out of 10. Sorry guys, but it's just not working like I thought it would.
BTW, 1999 z24's rock, and last 295k and are still going.
Stoneman here again, the original (first) review-writer.
I found the source of my front wheel squeaks: The cheap plastic wheel covers are the source. Thank God it's not the wheel bearings.
A spring in the driver seat has started to poke through my back. The horn still doesn't work, but, I found a possible source for the relay. The ignition key will sometimes not engage the auxiliary power items when I start the car (this doesn't happen often).
This is probably going to be the last addition to my review as my car is due back to the dealer this March. So I'll summarize.
It's been fairly cheap to own, but overall I would not buy this vehicle again. I can't handle the bad seats and poor component reliablity. I mean, if a horn doesn't work after 3.5 years, what does that say about the manufacturer? I know these may sound minor, but believe me, I truly hate the car now.
I test drove a Mazda 3 Sport Sedan and a Subaru Impreza the other day. Wow. The Mazda 3 is a bargain and so is the Impreza. The AWD is just awesome. Who knows what I'll get, but if you check out my web site I'll post it when I get it.
Stoneman
www.stonemanautoreview.com.
Stoneman here again. I just wanted to update this final review with some last thoughts.
I fixed my front bumper that was damaged in a previous car accident for under $600 bucks - cheap by any standard. The car held up well in a low speed accident (and the air bag never went off, thankfully).
While I liked to whine about quality and such, the car isn't that bad. It's not great, but for the price I paid - what can you expect? It does the job.
I bought a 2007 Subaru Impreza Sedan (base) with a 5-speed manual. I'm pretty excited.
-S.
I own a 03 cavi. n it runs great... the only thing that has gone wrong is the fule pump went out ($597 fix only paid $50 thanks to my warranty) and a short circut in my rear turn signal, but besides that it runs great... now the seats arnt that bad... they r a lot better that sittin straight up like a truck, but they could b better the only thing I don't like about the car is the a/c turns on when you turn on the defroster, but besides that its well worth the money.
Ditto the previous comment... I own an '03 Cavi, and the fuel pump went out at about 35500k miles, 500 short of the warranty expiration, thank God. Besides that and the short circuit on the right blinker earlier on, the car's been excellent 'A-to-B' transportation - no real complaints. I like the simplicity of it so much that I'm pondering buying an '04-'05 Sunfire 5-speed in addition to the Cavi, as a 'toy' to customize.
I'm always amazed at people who buy the cheapest car GM produces and then complains about the quality of the seat support, road noise, wheel cover squeaks. Weren't the value package cars in the $12K range? I know with the incentives at the end of 2004 Cavaliers were selling for $10k.
Right now a Honda Civic DX with an automatic is over $16K and they don't laugh when you throw low offers at them. I just priced a Cobalt LT1 with an automatic at the end of September and it was $12.7K with all the incentives and benefits. By the time you add air conditioning, cruise control, remote door locks, power windows, and the rest of the options to match the Cobalt that Honda is in the $18K range. Who would even consider them to be similar cars?
Just because they are both the low end cars of their manufacturer, that are not anywhere near the same price. The Honda is 50% more. Why don't we just take the $18K Honda price tag and add 50% and then go look at an Impala SS. Is that a fair comparison? I'd much rather have 300+HP than a 140HP VTEC
And don't forget GM owns Isuzu Heavy Industries. Or commonly known as Subaru. So your Subaru Impreza is a GM built car also.
In some parts of the world (Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, in particular) these were known as the Toyota Cavalier. Exact same car, except for the Toyota badges, nameplate, etc. and manufactured in the exact same plant.
The only other noticeable difference would be the right-hand drive for the Pacific-country models, and the left-hand drive for the North American models.
The ironic thing, to me, is: People tended to complain about the Chevrolet "version," while they praised the Toyota "version!" Of course, I'm sure that lemon Cavaliers did occur, just like lemons of every other model, but could it be that the brand name makes so much difference to peoples' perceptions?