1997 Chevrolet Cavalier from North America - Comments

Brakes, alternator, rack and pinion, several engine problems, waterpump, and fuel pump.

I can not believe a car that new could break down so much. I was very disappointed and will never buy another car from Chevy. Any company that can produce such a horrible car is not one I want to take a chance with.

My sentiments exactly!!!

I have an 85' Cavalier that we bought brand new and it is still going strong. It has almost 300,000 miles on it, we're in the military and have travelled all over the world and shipped our Cavalier to every country we lived in. Once it was dropped out of its shipping crate, rolled downhill hit a wall, then was rear-ended by the crate and only need minor body work. You just can't kill this car. Maybe you just bought a lemon.

Big difference between an 85 model and the 97...

The original cavaliers from 1982-1994 were very good cars. They were built during an era where the american car had to compete with the japanese imports which supposedly had better quality. As consumers began to realize how good the original cavaliers were, they bought them by the bundle. So I'm guessing that nowadays chevy is just throwing these cars together now because consumers will buy them anyway whether their good or not. The 1995 and newer cavaliers are terrible cars that don't last very long.

I just purchased a 97'cavalier and I almost died in a wreck. My rack and pinion locked up and I couldnt complete my left turn sending me straight into a car lot and smashed into a new 2004 Chevy 1500. After looking all over the internet, GM should of did a recall on that car to get it fixed.

Yes thare was a big difference in the new cavilers, but remember that the older ones had proboblems too, the engines were known to have very bad oil leaks and head gasket problems aswell as engine knocking. The newer cars are not "junk" if treated well... if you beat the car it will die if you beat anycar it will die. so don't blame chevy for making a bad car if you don't take care of the car. I have a 97 cavalier and it runs awsome I do beat on it some times, but nothing that's going to blow it up, this car has not given me any problems at all. Also remember that every car is different some cars come out of the factory and they will be the strongest car out of say 12 that were made that day and on the same line, so your problem could of been that you just got basicly an "unlucky" car. Even hondas and Toyotas have bad cars. no car company is perfect, and most of the time is the driver.

In response to the previous post, I think perhaps you should take a look at the later Cavalier's crash test ratings... ANY crash test rating. There is no car on the planet that I would feel less safe in than this deathtrap.

Sure, other manufacturers might have their lemons on occasion, but at least you stand a chance of not being horrible injured when something goes wrong.

I am writing about a problem I have with my 98 Cavalier. The seat belts have twisted almost since I bought it. I wondered if any one else had that problem.

I have a 1995 cavalier with 55oo k, s on it. approx two weeks after purchasing it I noticed a whine in the transmission beginning a 40 to 60 k, s approx dealer says it's a characteristit of the car???

I have a 1997 Chevy cavalier z24. Every time I would start up my car I would have to let it warm up for about 10 minutes or so, or else the check engine light would come on and start blinking for a few seconds and then it would stop blinking and then stay on for a few days. Now letting my car warm up doesn't even seem to help this problem. Does anyone know what may be causing this??? Or has anyone else had to deal with this before?

I have a 97 cavalier with 110K and it has been a great car. My best friend has the same car with close to 200K and few problems. My mom and sister have the Sunfire, which is basically the same car, and all have been very happy. I think the main difference is how we drive them and how we maintain the. I'm sure there are some problems out of the factory, but to say you will never buy another Chevy because of one substandard car is a little over the top.

Well, all I have to say is that the old Chevy was very good and the new generation of Chevy BLOWS!!

Well all I have to say is you're not safe in any car if anything go wrong with it wile driveing.. i have a 97 and it has 225000km almost 26000 and it runs great lil tick when it warms up, but that's only the timeing chain. And check engin light comes on for about a week then goes out for like a mouth so I donno what that is, but it likes it so I let it be.

Okay, I'll admit that every car company has their lemons... but if you look how many Chevy owners here are having problems, you have to start to wonder about their ability.

One really good cavalier is just as insignificant as one really bad one. But when you have three or four really good reviews and a few dozen bad ones, you start looking at it from a statistical standpoint; sure every car makes their lemons, but look how many people here have had bad experiences and you'll see that the Cavalier just doesn't seem up to the level of even other Chevy cars, much less the greater auto population.