2005 Chevrolet Aveo SVM (Special Value Model) from North America - Comments

Nothing.

The Aveo is a very deceiving car. It looks tiny (by American standards) on the outside, but then you get in and it feels like an SUV. The "stadium seating" in the back is an added bonus. The quality of materials is extremely high given this is an entry level car.

The feature list is truly incredible. My car had zero options yet came with tilt steering, dual remote mirrors, rear wiper, cargo cover (I have the hatchback), power brakes/steering, five speed, tachometer, am/fm radio, 185 Kumho tires, and much more. These are things that weren't even options on entry level Hondas and Toyotas before.

Driving is another revelation. The car is somewhat bumpy around town. But once you get on the highway it zips like mad and will cruise at 85 mph all day. In fact, last week I was in the left lane doing 80 and ahead of me was another Aveo from the same dealership doing 80!

The suspension and tires are set for "comfort" but I have yet to squeal the tires while going around corners. It is a very mature car compared to entry level cars I have owned before (Festiva, Tercel). And it is utterly predictable, so there are no surprises when I have to make an unexpected avoidance maneuver (usually some idiot SUV crossing four lanes without a signal).

The shifter is probably the biggest letdown, and it makes the car seem slow until you look at your speedometer and realize you are going over the speed limit. I really wish it was as crisp as my old Hondas or even my Festiva.

The best part? Americans hate small cars, so I was able to get my $10K Aveo for $6995! For that price, there is simply nothing that can touch this car, not even the other Korean competition (the Aveo is built in Korea by Daewoo, now owned by Chevy). I tell my friends what I paid and they think that was the down payment, not the full price for a new car. Of course, my car doesn't come with air conditioning, which would have raised the price another $2,000 (you have to get an upgrade model with more features).

That said, the dealer experience was brilliant. I would never buy an American car (made in America/Mexico/Canada) after my friend's horrible Focus experience (20 recalls), but my Chevy dealer treated me as if I was buying a Corvette. Good to see some American dealers are decent even if their cars aren't.

I know most people in my area probably laugh at someone driving an Aveo. That is until I pass them.

Nice review except for your comments at the end. I agree with you that Ford has historically been, for the most part a disgrace, and applying your opinion to that company is probably justified. To be fair however, Ford does/has had some high quality models too. I regularly ride to the airport in Crown Victoria's and Grand Marquis with 300,000 - 400,000 miles on the original drive-trains (I always ask). I believe most American cars out these days, the new GM's in particular, are very high quality, and can hold their own in that regard against anybody. Obviously, there are exceptions, but just because something is foreign does not automatically make it a good car. There are problem models with any make. I would argue that many of the foreign manufacturers are now in fact getting complacent, and letting their quality slip. Poke around some of the reviews on this site, of some of the new foreign models, and you will see that they are not infallible. It is not impossible to get burned buying one of those, believe me. Also, you might not know this, but the engine in your Aveo, which you are enjoying, was designed by GM. To me, that is an attribute. I do not know too much about the Aveo, but I have a feeling you are going to continue to be pleased with that car. For that matter, I might consider one for myself.

Good Luck.

I am the original poster.

I know that foreign cars are not all perfect. The BMW 740 series (now 750) was rated the most unreliable car in America. I recently test drove a $45K Infiniti M35 that had such bad wind noise I thought a window was down. And I would never buy any German car built in America.

But American cars are still inferior in quality. Components may last a long time (as you cite), but the cars as a whole are awful. Case in point is Cadillac. When first looking at my Aveo at a Cadillac/Chevy/Hummer dealership I sat in the $75K XLR. It had such a cheap interior I preferred the Aveo to it.

As for the Crown Victoria, the engines/transmissions may last forever, but they have severe design flaws. Many deaths, especially with Crown Vics used as police cruisers, have been attributed to unpredictable handling in panic situations. Little known fact, but true.

Overall, quality is really a subjective issue. Scion and other "youth" brands are finding complaints increase with young buyers as they have extremely high expectations. As you go up the age scale complaints decrease. My friend with the Focus, who is 45, took his Focus recalls in stride by saying "well, it's an American car and they're all like that". To me, that's unacceptable regardless of the car brand.

Good review, but I must disagree with you on the fact that American cars are of inferior quality. If you look at the recent J.D. Power and Associate's Report, GM took many of the top honors (i.e. Gold, Silver, and Bronze plant quality awards for Oshawa #1/#2 and Hamtramck, MI), and Cadillac and Buick are taking top honors for quality. The Chevrolet Impala best the Honda Accord and its other counterparts in initial quality, and tied with the Toyota Camry. The Toyota Tacoma, according to Consumer's Reports, failed to meet criteria stating that the vehicle was "reliable." Nissan received some of the lowest scores from J.D. Power, and Mitsubishi scored equal or even lower in some respects to the latter brand. If you look at the NHTSA. gov website, the 2004 Chevrolet Impala and Pontiac Grand Prix only received one recall each; on the other hand, Toyota received two on it's Camry, and Honda received two also. The odd point about the Honda was the fact that one of it's recalls required a recall of over one million vehicles. It is also noteworthy to say that the Buick LeSabre, which competes directly with the Toyota Camry XLE and Toyota Avalon had absolutely no recalls for the 2004 and 2005 model years. Buick also has taken many top honors from J.D. Power and other awards, just visit Buick. com for more information on those. I am not saying that the Japanese build a poor product, but I am just saying that people like you that hold this huge misconception, along with a majority of the public, that GM is producing inferior quality cars is absolutely not true.

Very interested in this car after reading mostly positive comments. But I wonder how you got the car for so cheap, even if it's without A/C? I can't see it being so cheap even though employee discount is still on 2005 model!

I noticed that this car's crash rating on safercar. gov has some safety concern though (side impact only, frontal's very good).

I have an Aveo with the trunk and I like it also... how did you pay $6,995 did you have GM Card dollars, MIne was the $9,995 model also and with employee pricing it was like 9,300 then a $500 rebate plus 450 bonus Gm Dollars it was close to 8,200.

I am the original poster again. I live in Silicon Valley (California) and my model, the SVM base model, was consistently offered by two separate dealers from March until October 2005 for $6995 in any color you wanted. They kept running ads every week in the San Jose Mercury News.

Ironically, the Chevrolet dealership closest to me told me flat out that they couldn't sell me the car for less than $8,995 otherwise they would "lose money"! Obviously I didn't shop there.

I have a problem with you comments on North American "made" cars. GM, Ford and Chrysler have all improved their quality on many models. Apart from that, most Honda's and Toyota's (even Lexus makes some) that are sold in North America are made in North America. Please don't insult our collective workforce.

The American versus Foreign debate is interesting. Much of the debate is based on survey research, which tends to be biased toward responders and popular perception. Perception is biased toward historical antidotes and rumor. That said, the data suggests that many improvements have been made in safety, fuel economy, and emissions across the industry. In addition, market competition has kept prices affordable, created more manufacturing jobs as foreign automakers use local labor, and improved automotive standards. Now, the average Jane can move her tush from A to B at a fraction of her annual salary.

On a personal level, I've surveyed mechanics and they tend to respond favorably to the Honda/Toyota name plates. However, I almost always see them hop into an American name plate at the end of the day. Why? They're comfortable with these cars because they're familiar with them and they're cheap for them to fix.

I own a 2004 Honda Accord V6 and a 1995 Plymouth Voyager 3.0L. In my experience, the Voyager requires more maintenance, but cruises nicely on the highway and performs the daily jaunts without hesitation. The Accord never hesitates and the maintenance schedule is long, too long in my opinion, but long trips are less comfortable and interior rattles rather aggravating.

I imagine the Aveo to be a great little car to scoot around in, with a long maintenance schedule required from the tiny 1.6L four banger. I wouldn't put my kids in it, especially in the winter, but for the deal this reviewer got, who could pass it up? If I find one in that range, I might be cracked enough to pick up a third vehicle.

"As for the Crown Victoria, the engines/transmissions may last forever, but they have severe design flaws. Many deaths, especially with Crown Vics used as police cruisers, have been attributed to unpredictable handling in panic situations. Little known fact, but true."

Where the heck did you read/hear that? The Crown Victoria as we know it today is based on a chassis that came out way back in 1979. Sure, it looks a lot different now and has had lots of improvements over the years, but it's still the same basic front engine/rear drive chassis with similar handling characteristics. Big Fords have been used all that time as police cars and this little tidbit about them being unsafe is just coming out now? I have driven big Ford/Mercury's and equivalent GM cars and I can tell you that they both react pretty much the same way in panic situations. I think the problem is with idiot drivers who don't know how to handle a car properly in emergency situations rather than a design flaw. And yes, some cops are absolute idiot drivers, I've seen them firsthand.

As for the American versus foreign debate: For many years, American automakers continually missed opportunities to improve their product lines and thus lost ground to the Japanese automakers. The 1970's and first three quarters of the 1980's in particular were a "dark age" for the American auto industry. Since the late '80's, American automakers in general have made big improvements in quality, but are still slightly behind. So even though they've moved toward leveling the playing field, they still find themselves playing a desperate game of catch-up to the Japanese. And let's not forget that Korean automakers are improving their products at lightning speed and can offer them at lower prices. This, combined with the few truly bad American cars still out there and the unpleasant memories of American cars from years past create a perception in people's minds that all American cars are crap, which is simply not true. Some still are, but there are many that are decent vehicles now. As others have pointed out, many Japanese cars are built here, and some American cars are built in Canada, Mexico, etc. Some American cars are even based on Japanese platforms and vice versa, all of which leads me to believe that all of this debate will be irrelevant a few years hence. The lines between American, Japanese and even European cars have been blurred for a long time and things are only going to continue in that direction. I can envision more company buyouts and mergers in the not too distant future, as well as more brands being phased out.

The Crown Victoria issue was reported in car magazines a few years back, and I remember reading it in Car and Driver. But American law enforcement is encouraged to "buy American" (again, ironic given Crown Victorias are made in Canada) which is not always a good thing. Highway patrol officers around here employ Camaros, which has to be one of the worst possible cars for the twisty and often mudslicked roads we have.

And my whole point about the "American" vs. foreign debate is that people think that just because something is built here it must be of great quality, and that is simply not true. It comes down to the quality the company puts in. After all, is a McDonald's burger better than a gourmet burger made with Japanese-sourced Kobe beef simply because the McD's burger is made in America? I think not!

"And my whole point about the "American" vs. foreign debate is that people think that just because something is built here it must be of great quality, and that is simply not true."

And many people also think that just because something is built in Japan, Europe, etc. that it must be of great quality, and that too is simply not true. Look, I won't disagree that there are some nasty American cars still out there. But there are some very good ones available. And there are some good and not so good Japanese, Korean and European vehicles as well. I agree with you that it comes down to the quality the company puts in... and it has to be engineered into the product, not tacked on later. But I don't think it's very objective to write off all American cars regardless of where they're built simply because of some bad ones. Would you write off all cars from foreign automakers if you wound up with a bad one? I wouldn't.

It's interesting that you brought up a Car and Driver article about the Crown Victorias. I've read that magazine for years and I don't recall seeing that article, but perhaps I forgot about it. I'll have to look it up. And I agree that Camaros are a very poor choice as police cars. They're great for highway use, but not much else. On the other hand, I can't think of a single vehicle from a foreign automaker that would be suitable for police duty here in the U.S. Korean automakers don't have any. Some European cars might (notice I said might) be up to the task, but would be prohibitively expensive to buy and maintain. And among Japanese brands, there's the Altima, Camry, Avalon and Accord; but as good as they supposedly are, I'm not sure they'd withstand a lot of the outright abuse that come with the job. And they also would probably be too expensive to buy and maintain. Until automakers from other countries start producing vehicles suitable for police duty, American (yes, not all built in the U.S., I know) is about the only choice available to law enforcement.

Did you ever think that these companies have to run a business? I've worked in management in retail and its all about screwing the customer over as many times as possible to make money off products. That's the only way to run a business in America. That's why some companies are making sub-standard cars: because people will buy them and the company makes a profit by not using premium materials. Therefore the company makes money.

However due to our poor economy and our dollar's value, well american companies are screwed. How can you compete with foriegners when they have to pay less of their money for something of ours and we pay more than usual for something of theirs.

Whatever happens, it won't be good. GM will teeter and totter, but it'll stay alive for awhile due to some of its good models and trucks. Ford... I don't see them going under unless they botch their older cars and newer ones. Their trucks are the best selling in america for quite some time so how does a company like that go under? I have no opinion on Chrysler. They have made too many mistakes and can't even build a hardy automatic tranny for cars, which isn't hard and poor selling models has doomed them to last place. All they got now is good looks and the hemi.

Sorry, but the philosophy of the American car manufacturer is to offer the lowest quality they can get away with. Even quality (as defined by JD Power) vehicles such as the discontinued Buick Lesabre are very tacky inside with cheap fittings compared to the Avalon or Accord.

I hope this changes with the Pontiac Solstice and other cars.

As for police vehicles, you're a bit myopic. In Germany they have BMWs as police vehicles, in Great Britain I saw some Jaguars. It all depends on the incentives the manufacturers are willing to give local/state governments, and has nothing to do with the vehicles themselves.

The town next to me has at least five Ford Expeditions as police vehicles. I can't think of a larger waste of resources, but obviously Ford gave them a deal.

The Subaru WRX would be the perfect vehicle to replace the Camaro, especially around here. It even has more room to carry suspects/victims, unlike the Camaro.

"As for police vehicles, you're a bit myopic. In Germany they have BMWs as police vehicles, in Great Britain I saw some Jaguars. It all depends on the incentives the manufacturers are willing to give local/state governments..."

Oh really? Don't you think that if those manufacturers were willing to give law enforcement agencies here in the U.S. incentives to buy their cars that they would have done so by now? I doubt those manufacturers have ever even considered it. And even if they had, Jaguars and BMW's would still be hideously overpriced. They would almost have to offer very watered down versions of their cars to cut down on the price. To be perfectly blunt, I doubt that the marketing types at BMW would want to dilute their image here in the U.S. by offering their vehicles for something like police work. They use them in Germany probably because they're readily available there, they're fast enough for the autobahn and probably because it's a source of national pride. Over here, they have an upscale image to maintain. And Jaguar is owned by none other than-guess who?-Ford Motor Company! Ford isn't going to offer expensive Jaguars for police work here when they have Fords available for that. Those European cars may be fine as police vehicles in Great Britain and Germany, but not necessarily here in the U.S. Different countries, different requirements. And I would think the expensive maintenance on European cars would absolutely be a deal killer. Maintenance and repairs on those cars here are anything but cheap. It's bad enough on our domestic models for crying out loud! Then too, we taxpayers have to foot the bill for these vehicles. I don't think that officers cruising around in expensive European patrol cars would go over very well in the U.S.; our tax dollars are wastefully spent as it is. There are many, many different factors to think about, and it seems you've taken precisely none of them into consideration. Now who's the myopic one?

"...and has nothing to do with the vehicles themselves."

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. Why the heck do you think vehicles are tested to determine their suitability for police work? Just for the fun of it? Law enforcement agencies don't just pick anything that comes along. The type of vehicle used for police work is extremely important. It has to be able to take an extreme amount of punishment and be relatively inexpensive to buy and maintain. Most European cars would fail miserably on the cost requirements, at least here in the U.S. Vehicles like the Subaru Impreza WRX surely do have some admirable qualities, but they're lightweights. I really don't think they could take a lot of abuse for very long. And again, there's the cost factor to consider.

"Sorry, but the philosophy of the American car manufacturer is to offer the lowest quality they can get away with. Even quality (as defined by JD Power) vehicles such as the discontinued Buick Lesabre are very tacky inside with cheap fittings compared to the Avalon or Accord."

Yes, there is still some room for improvement in the quality of interior materials and such on American cars. However, from reading your comments I get the distinct impression that no matter what the domestic automakers do, you'd probably still think they weren't doing enough. They could even surpass foreign cars and you'd probably still hate them all. You seem to have a *very* pronounced bias against American cars in general, to the point that it's as though you're blind to some facts. If you like foreign cars, fine. I respect your choice. As I wrote previously, I'll be the first to admit: Yes, there are still some crappy American cars on the market. The American auto industry has indeed made mistakes in years past. But they have made some significant improvements. Not all American cars are terrible, and I think it's grossly unfair to characterize them all as being that way based solely on a few bad ones. All cars, regardless of brand or country of origin, should be evaluated objectively on an individual basis. And you still haven't answered the question: Would you write off all foreign cars if you wound up with a bad one?

Amazing the amount of ignorance here.

So you're telling us all that BMWs, Jaguars and the rest are CHEAP to maintain in Europe, but not in America? And I guess you forgot the part where BMW gave the South Carolina state police an M5, but why would you want to research anything.

It has 100% to do with incentives from the manufacturers, but, moreover, with misplaced patriotism. BMWs are SIGNIFICANTLY safer vehicles and better equipped for police duty than the common Ford Crown Victorias and CERTAINLY safer than the Chevy Camaros our highway patrol uses. They are also designed to withstand extreme punishment.

American cars are built to the lowest standards they can get away with. There is simply no denying that. Just read any review of the new incredible Corvette Z06. Here is a car that is on par with Ferraris and Porsches, but STILL it contains the lowest quality parts Chevy thinks it can get away with. And that assessment is coming from the autowriters PRAISING this car.

Why do you think American cars don't sell well outside of North America? After all, it's not their size anymore as European and Japanese manufacturers offer large cars in their markets. It's their mediocre quality.

And I have had foreign cars that have had problems. But, surprise surprise, those were the ones made in American. HMMMMM, seems to be a pattern here.

I will not defend every single foreign manufacturer nor even an individual brand. But read the reviews here of American cars and you will find a common theme: Quality is SPOTTY at best and most people have found them lemons.