2005 Chevrolet Aveo LS from North America - Comments

Transmission went out at 8,000 miles from a bad casting of the aluminum case

rear engine mount broke at the same time

windshield cracked first day I had it, started from the pinchweld on top so was from a faulty installation.

Engine started making a louder than usual valvetrain noise at about 500 miles,

exhaust manifold has a slight leak, again at about 500 miles it showed up.

In general this car has been the biggest lemon I have ever owned, I would not mind the things that have gone wrong so far, but the dealer and manufacturer did not warranty a single item. the fuel mileage seems to vary a lot, between 25-27 in the city and 27-30 on the hwy, once in a while I get 34 hwy under the same conditions.

I believe indeed that you may have got a lemon but I own one and know several other people that own Aveo's and none of them have had any problems like you are having. Sounds like the car has been abused and driven pretty rough-

Either you have a lemon or seems like the car has been abused... I have two Aveos (2005 SVM and 2006 LS; one manual and one auto tranny) and they are the most trouble free cars I ever had. I use one of them about 1K miles a week for work purpose.

I only recommend to stick to recommended maintenance schedule. Also I use synthetic oil for the 1K/week car. And don't' forget to change the timing belt! Manual suggested 60K miles, but I will do at 50K.

Dealership service is another story, but there are enough Chevrolet dealers everywhere.

I believe the issues the original writer is having are true.

The first comment made on 28th September 2006, is obviously a GM rep. No one knows "several" people who own this car, unless you are the guy selling them and the people you are talking about as friends are the ones who bought the car from your dealer. He also claims "sounds like the car has been abused and driving rough" - this poster is not a mechanic or an expert in cars, and obvious mechanical faults of the car as posted in the review are not caused by bad driving or abuse.

"Transmission went out at 8,000 miles from a bad casting of the aluminum case"... perhaps Mr. GM rep you should read the review again, as I highly disagree with your reading skills.

Second comment made on 1st Oct 2006, 19:53.

This is the same GM rep posting just a few days later.

The Aveo is a cheap economy car, and no one in their right mind would use synthetic oil for this car or buy two of them.

Synthetic oil is used for high performance cars like a BMW 3 series with high heat and power output. Perhaps dear GM rep you going to tell us about your 17” rims and a fantasy Turbo Aveo engine to warranty your use of Synthetic oil?

In response to the comment posted in May 08, 2007, I'm the poster from October 01/06. I'll try to be courteous to this quote:

"This is the same GM rep posting just a few days later.

The Aveo is a cheap economy car, and no one in their right mind would use synthetic oil for this car or buy two of them.

Synthetic oil is used for high performance cars like a BMW 3 series with high heat and power output. Perhaps dear GM rep you going to tell us about your 17” rims and a fantasy Turbo Aveo engine to warranty your use of Synthetic oil?"

YES I have TWO (2) Aveos! And, by the way my two cars are STOCK.

I am a chemist and a contractor living in Puerto Rico and need a small, fuel efficient car since I travel about 200 miles daily, that's why I use synthetic oil. I change the oil myself, that softens the extra cost on synth oil. I can tell anyone the difference between dyno oil and synth (remember I am a chemist!).

I also take advantage of synthetic and change the oil at extended periods (5-6K miles). Since price was so low (about 9K), I buy the first one for my wife in 2005. It has resulted so well that I traded a Neon and buy a second one for me (higher trim level) just for travel at about 12K loaded. I always have hatches, so the hatch style fits me very well.

I barely pay four hundred dollars for TWO NEW CARS (Zero interest GM financing.. try that on a Fit!). That left me plenty of money in my pocket for life's good things.

Aveos, like similar others (Yaris, Accent. Rio) are cars to travel through life. Maybe not in high style, but at 3 bucks/gallon gas right now and prices expected to climb to 4/gal this summer I can easily live with the low car payments and good fuel economy. A car is an investment (a bad one by the way), and plan to keep them for a long time.

I have a minivan for weekend use. Aveos are for DAILY use.

Remember, not everyone have your same priorities in life. Allow other people express their opinions and be happy!