Chevy Aveo Hatchback

frenchcar

Hey Underdog, did you take that 800 mile trip in your new Aveo yet? Im curious how it performed even though not fully broken in yet. I bet the seats were more comfy than those in your old Cavalier.? Keep us informed.

exmechanic

Soft/Mushy Brakes are caused by either air in your brake lines or possibly a hole in somewhere in the brake lines. If you are under Warrantee have it fixed soon. It could cause losing your brakes.

backy

I finally took the Aveo out for a spin today. FWIW I put my impressions here:
backy "Low End Sedans" Oct 23, 2004 4:32pm

cmlo

Hi! I am from Malaysia. Here we have aveo selling at RM70,000 or USD18,421 (auto only). We also managed to get engine ecotec II SOHC not DOHC, but the price we paid are higher than u all. We dont have airbag, ABS...so US really get a very good bargain already.

The car is very good car, here selling is very hot, because we believe the quality control by chevrolet althugh assembly at KOREA.

We dont know wat is ecotec, good or not? but we believe US quality must be very serious on looking at it for the quality export to other contry.

however, the after sales service is not so good here, because of technologic know how, the technician here a bit stupid, sometime dont know wat is the source problem when we have the problem.

i believe the car at US must be very good in term of quality as compare with here...

so...all of u must be very proud to have aveo...

npgmbr

Was just wondering if GM bought your Aveo out-right or did they give you a new one or something else?

Sorry your Aveo did not work out for you. If you got a new one, hope its proving to be a good auto for you.

hoop4390

I have a '04 Aveo. I like my car a lot. I traded a 2000 Malibu (hated that car) in for it.

I've had problems with my clock not staying on. One minute it will be on and the next it will be off. I turn my blinker on and the clock will come back on.

Also my brakes are squealing. It only happens after the car has been sitting, while I’m at work or overnight.

I took it in the shop for them to look at the clock and of course it stays on the entire time.

They said they took off my brakes and "deglazed" them and that should have took care of the squealing, but it hasn't. In fact I think they are worse now. Anyone else having these problems?

chrisducati

Has anyone heard if the three door is coming to the USA? It looks good. Daewoo cars will soon be called Chevy's in the UK also...here is the page...they talk about it near the bottom..

 http://www.daewoo-cars.co.uk/local/q3microsite/news/210904.htm

chrisducati

squealing is a common problem today on many cars. It may go away after a few thousand miles or it may be an ongoing thing... I had a chrysler Neon that never stopped squealing... no matter what was done... The breaks worked fine just made a lot of bad sounds... The fact that your dealer did anything at all is good... most of the time they just say its normal... get use to it.
Sounds as if GM needs to do something with the clock on these cars.. sounds like a common problem..

muffin_man

Time for the girlfriend to get her first car - a car I don't mind if she dings up a little bit. I like cheap hatchbacks, and even though the Aveo is a tall wagon, or whatever they call it, I still like it. However, I figured, it's a Daewoo, it's low on horsepower, how good a drive could it be? And how much worse would it be with an automatic?

I'm 200lbs, salesman was 275 (he says), and gf is 120. That's a lot of dead weight for a 2350 pound car. But I have to say, I was very impressed by the test drive. Plenty of power - and while I didn't completely baby it, I wasn't accelerating that hard either. Handling felt great - the car was light on its feet and cornered well. Very spacious, comfortable driving position, and did I mention how surprised I was by the power?

Now I'm almost desperate to sneak back to the dealership to drive a 5-speed. Even though I know she doesn't want it, I have to drive one - maybe I can find a rental.

Maybe my opinions are a little tilted because of the other cars we drove yesterday.

Honda Element - Handling felt a little sloppy, and it was pretty slow with AWD - this was an automatic. I tested a FWD 5-spd a few years ago, and it was a much better drive. Good torque, reasonably quick. I couldn't imagine how bored I would be driving an auto Element around. But I do like the way they look. I can definitely say that I no longer have any desire to buy a Honda Element.

PT Cruiser - Steering feel was poor, lots of body roll, and unbelievably slow. I still like the looks, and I'm sure the turbo is a lot more fun, but I would never buy a base. From a driver's perspective, nothing could be salvaged.

Scion xB - I had driven a 5-spd before, I liked it, and on this test drive, I also liked the automatic. Felt a little bit slower than the Aveo, but was the best handling car of the day - great feel for the road, nice steering. Power was about what I expected - a good all around car, probably the best car of the day.

However, even though the Scion xB was the best all around car, I _think_ that the Aveo would be the most fun to drive. It felt smaller and lighter, and the engine had a little more guts to it. Obviously, an xB comes with way more standard equipment than than the hypothetical air+auto Aveo that we would want, but I kind of missed roll up windows anyway. I'm not sure how to compare the Japanese crash test results with the American standard (nhtsa hasn't tested an xB yet) but on the Japanese 6 star scale it got 5/6 driver, 6/6 front passenger - overall.

If I could get an Aveo for $7999 (as I seem to see them in the paper) - $1000 from the GM card, that would be about half the price of the xB (after taxes). How could I pass that up?

jinan

Hi, I have had my Aveo for about six months and after start up the temp gauge runs up to the halfway mark and stays there. I find that in the summer the car gets so hot that it screws up my mp3s and makes cds skip. As we were driving this summer we had to hold individual disks out the window to cool them off. Does any one else have this problem? I have been assured by my dealer that all aveos run hot.

chrisducati

Ah the "they all do that" answer. It sounds as if there are two factors at play. The sun baking the dash and the heat from the electricals that could be causing this. I take it your car does not have A/C. I wonder if the an aftermarket CD player would be better than the factory unit in these cars.

muffin_man

The car is lightly sprung, and gets a little floaty at high speeds, took it to 80mph, it cruised very comfortably, and at lower rpms than my Civic Si, but everything else is excellent. Very spacious and comfortable, acceleration is fine - and I haven't put my foot into it yet, because there is a 1200 mile break-in period - handling is good around town, turning circle is as small as I've experienced not riding a bicycle.

I'm very happy with the deal I got, which I received at Community Chevrolet in Burbank, CA. We spoke over the phone, I came in, and the deal took about an hour.

I was highly influenced by my test drive from last weekend, and the car does handle a little better with some weight in it, but maybe i will add stiffer springs. It cruises comfortably at city or freeway speeds, and is surprisingly quiet. The stereo reception sucks, several stations I usually listen to don't come in. That said, the speakers are clear, and the stereo is loud enough.

I am very happy with the car, and even though it is for the gf I will be driving it this week until we get her insured on it. As amazing as this deal is (and I think it is excellent), I can't believe that I am still seeing 2004 Kia Rios in the paper for $4988 - insane! Anyway, we financed for 60 months @ 4.9%, and the payments are $185 a month with zero out of pocket.

It's only day one, but so far so good.

iluvmysephia1

you do mean you got the 5-door sedan, right? Or did you score the hatchback model? I like 'em both, actually. A nice chunk of car for the price!

backy

Um... what is a 5-door sedan?

muffin_man

It's the hatchback, which they call a 5-door wagon, I think. The sedan is the 4-door. I like both cars, but I'm a sucker for a nice hatch.

One of the best things about buying this car, is that if I complain about a Hyundai or Kia in the future, you can't claim that I'm biased against Korean cars!

One thing that people might not know about the wagon (and I didn't until I got there) is that the back seats don't just fold down, they tumble forward (minivan style, sort of) until they are pressed up against the front seats. The room available in back at that point is incredible.

I will say that I don't think that I would have bought this car for sticker vs. a Scion xA. Even though I feel that I've read enough about the Aveo/Kalos/Swift+ in worldwide reviews to feel confident that I've bought a reliable car - I think that for the same price, I would have gone with an xA. But to be honest, at that price I wouldn't have purchased either.

I think this car is a smoother ride, and more comfortable in general than the xA - better air conditioner, more storage room, and 5 star frontal crash tests - a big selling point for me.

Have to admit, I'm still surprised by the power, not that it's super fast, but it has more than enough for any ordinary situation, or freeway merging, even with the automatic. And I am being very gentle during breakin.

The only options this car has is an automatic transmission (gave up on the manual w/ the gf), and a/c (no power anything else, no sunroof, no spoiler, no mp3, nothing like that). The xA comes with a lot more standard. That said, this is a great car that can definitely stand on its own 4 wheels.

iluvmysephia1

4-door sedan! Congrats on your purchase, muffin. I didn't know that the seats tumbled forward like that. Pretty cool. I sure see a lot of both the sedan and the hatch around Missouri. Chev is pricing them so low that people can't resist. I don't see how you could go wrong at that price.

backy

There's only one thing better than seats that tumble forward like the Aveo's: seats that recess automatically as they fold, creating a completely flat floor without that hunk of seat between the rear seat and driver's seat (restricting front seat travel and cargo space). The Mazda6 and Tuscon have that, for two. Of course, those cars cost much more than the Aveo, so I wouldn't expect the Aveo to work like that. At least the seats tumble. Some hatches don't work like that, so you don't get a flat floor.

jinan

I have the basic air-conditioner mp3 player useless rear spoiler $11,000 model. I can't get a straight answer as to whether or not the temp gauge running up to the mid-point is a common occurence amongst all aveos. I was forced to run the car w/out the ac in the summer as the ac made the cd player even hotter. I also popped the hood new york taxi style to try to get a little more air movement. Do you think that this is as my dealer says "just poor design"?

5port

If it helps at all...in my 01 Elantra GT the temp gauge is always in the middle and the CD player always made the CD discs feel hot. Never seems to harm them so I never worried about it. I wouldnt drive around with the hood popped. I've had a hood fly open on me (not fun).

parky129

I have a Aveo 5 door with medium blue paint, automatic, MP3, air , cruise and I love it. Only have a little over 300 mi on it so far but find it to be a well constructed car with good fit and finish. Having owned much costlier cars that had poorer fit and finish I was expecting to find a poor detailed vehicle. Mileage is around 28 mpg mostly in town driving. I am looking for the side trim that helps protect against doors banging the car, follows trim line of car. Anyone know where I can find this?

muffin_man

jinan - I'm going to try to get a decent picture of my temp gauge when the car is warmed up, and maybe we can compare what "mid-point" is. I think that temp gauges generally stay in the same place except for when they are warming up, or overheating. Hopefully, the position of your gauge is normal - or am I misunderstanding the situation?

parky129 - congrats on the Aveo - don't know about door trim, but it sounds like a good idea.

steve2431

http://www.suzuki.ca/en/auto/accessories.cfm?modelcode=swft THIS SITE HAS PARTS FOR A SUZUKI BUT, THE CAR IS THE SAME OUTSIDE AS THE AVEO.

muffin_man

Good find. I hope we can turn up some performance parts also. I think Shark Racing makes a header for the old Lanos that would work with this car, and then you could do a custom exhaust to go with it.

Maybe once the gf takes this car full time I'll be able to stop thinking about it.

steve2431

I FOUND AN AFTER MARKET CRUISE CONTROL FOR MY AVEO ON EBAY. IT COST ME $197.50, STILL NEED TO INSTALL IT. I'LL LET YOU KNOW HOW IT WORKS OUT.

Sylvia

Congrats on your find, but please do not type in ALL CAPS as it is hard to read and people think you are screaming.

jojomonkeyboy

2004 Aveo prices in Chicago are $6,200.00 at some dealers - That's the Special Value model - manual transmission and manual everything, that advertised price is already lower than what you could bargain a Kia sales person down to on a striped-down no-frills Rio. I've got a Toyota ECHO and I stop in every so often to look at and price Rios, Accents and Aveos.

I don't know what the quality on an Aveo is like, but at $6,200 I don't think you can beat it for a bargain commute car

jojomonkeyboy

Definately right about Chevy dealerships treating the Aveos like red-headed step children.

I went to a Chevy dealership to test drive an Aveo, so the guy says sure come with me, he takes me out to the lot, and as we're walking he stops at the Malibu section and starts talkin to me about them, he says they get about the same gas mileage but they're much more car for the buck, "For about the same price you get a much better car"... blah blah blah, and he asks if I want to test drive it - he's even got a set of keys in his hand. So I'm like "No, I just want to test drive a stick Aveo" So he tells me "The Aveo's are over this way"

WE END UP WALKING ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE DEALER'S LOT TO GET TO THE AVEOS WHICH ARE TOTALLY ON THE OTHER SIDE OPPOSITE OF WHERE THE MAILUBU and CAVALIERS ARE !!!!

Not only that but he has to go back inside to get keys for an Aveo !

I was just looking, I've got an ECHO that I'm happy with, so I didn't mind telling him off. I said "When I came in here I told you I wanted to test drive an Aveo right"? and he said ya, So I said "Then why did you drag me out into the middle of your lot to show me a Malibu? And why didn't you have keys to an Aveo? I had to stand around another 10 minutes for you to get keys that you should have had originally. I've been here 45 minutes already, I feel like I've done a walk-a-thon and I haven't even test driven your car".

He came up with some lame lies, but basically I don't think the sales people or the dealer owners are interested in selling the Aveos.

They also are totally uninformed about the cars. None of the sales people are motivated to do their homework on the cars. They absolutely don't know anything about the competing products like the Rio, the Accent, ECHO, Sentra, Focus, etc... (I know I left some vehicles out). And of course they can't answer any of your questions on the car.

It kind of surprises me - even if Chevy doesn't have a training program for the sales people concerning the Aveo, you learn a ton in 10 minutes just clicking around on Edmunds. If I owned a car dealership - I would make my sales people learn the product and the competitors product. Even if that meant going to the Internet to do it. But I think that since the dealership owners don't care, they don't care enough to make their sales people care.

The other dealerships aren't that way. I went to a Ford dealership and they were able to tell me the downside of every competing vehicle and why the Focus really was the best buy, Same with Honda, Toyota etc... I went to a Suzuki dealership to test drive an Aerio, and the Suzuki sales lady knew more about the Aveo than the Chevy sales people did.

That's a problem when your competitors sales people know your product beter than your own sales people do.

iluvmysephia1

shocked that GM is still the #1 carmaker in the world. Boring, lame designs for their cars and trucks IMO. If not for the stupidity of the American shopping public that buys their lame huge SUV's and pickups they'd be dead ducks. Seriously.

I'd demand to look at an Aveo or walk. What idiots.

muffin_man

If the Aveo holds up, people are going to have a smoking good deal on their hands. I will say that I still always see Rios for $4988 around here, but I wouldn't buy one. Kia still makes the worst car in America. At least the Sephia is gone.

As for the dealership, I have been to bad dealerships for most brands, to blame Chevy for that idiot.

fuelmiser

I have a 2004 hatchback with 1000 miles on it. It is the manual 5 speed. I shift in in the normal way: let up on the gas and at the same time I disengage the clutch. When I do this, the engine RPMs go up, hang there for about 2 or 3 seconds, and then go down to a point at which I can shift smoothly. Very odd and irritating. I took it back to the local dealer (in NE Maryland) and they test drove it as well as another they had on their lot. Both cars did exactly the same thing. They concluded that this was normal, and that they could not fix it.

It is a defect, to my way of thinking. Anybody else having these problems? If you are thinking of buying one of these cars, you might think again. Shifting is a real nuisance, and, because of the difficulty of synchronizing the engine speed, the clutch will probably wear out too soon.

backy

I test drove a 2005 Aveo 5-door 5-speed the other day, and I didn't notice this behavior. Does your engine do this even when it is warmed up? I know some cars keep idle speed up after a cold start to reduce emissions.

jojomonkeyboy

Are you talking about new Rios? 2004 new Rios in Chicago are $8,300 minus a $750.00 rebate.

You might concievably get a bare-bones Rio for $7,000, but still, that's 800 more than the 2004 Aveo...

Chevy must have given Enterprise Car Rental a pretty good deal on the Aveos, I see them at Enterprise all the time.

I'm so sick of driving the Oldsmobile Aleros from Alamo.

I went with my parents to Springfield Missouri, we rented 2 Toyota Corollas, I thought my parents would be impressed with the Corolla - but they hated it. My parents have only driven 2 brands of cars for the last 20 years - Buick and Cadilac. An illigal immigrant with no insurance plowed into and totaled my mom's caddy, and she got a temp loaner from Allstate, a Chevy Aveo. She complained about it non-stop. She told me "I didn't think there could be a car worse than that dreadfull Toyoty Corolly (yes that's how she pronounces it), "This Chevy Ay-vee'-oh, feels like I'm driving a go-cart!".

We drove around in the Chevy Aveo until they found a Park Avenue they liked.

backy

Someone who's been driving Buicks and Cadillacs all their life wouldn't be prone to like any small car. The Corolla is one of the quietest and smoothest-riding small cars. I could see that they would think the Aveo is a go-kart by comparison to a Buick or Caddy.

jinan

if cold (C) is 6:00 and Hot [H] is 11:00 then my Aveo temp gauge is always at 9:00 or 9:05 I also just completed and 800 mile roundtrip deal w/no problems other than the heat being on even when it is off and again in 42F degree weather the cd player made the cd's so hot that we had to stop playing them. especially the mp3s that are copied onto a cd\rw they flake out at high temps. Sorry about the algebra.

muffin_man

fuelmiser-
I don't know whether the action of your car is normal, but some cars hold the revs that way for emission controls. My car is an automatic, and it does hold the revs, but I do think it would be a little weird to drive a manual that way. But my car definitely doesn't do it for 2-3 seconds. It's more like quarter-second, but I can hear it. Does it do it consistently in your car? Meaning, could you adjust your timing to account for it?

jojo-
I'm talking about new 2004 Rios. I see them every weekend in the paper for $4988. But when a car has ZERO redeeming qualities beyond price, even I will manage to resist.

I _HATE_ Corollas - the only car more boring is the Camry. Or maybe the Avalon.

jinan-
The hottest I've seen our car run so far is a tick below the center line - 8:25pm) But I'm going to keep watching. I also stuck my hand in the plastic gap/panel beneath the radio while driving (I only have am/fm) and it was very cool. Do you think the car is making your cds hot, or is it possible it's your cd player?

jamfam

jamfam

I just bought a 05 5dr aveo and love it, it has the space i am looking for in a compact car. I bought mine fully loaded. but can not figure out the six speaker sound sys. were are the six?

jackarow

I just bought a 05 hatchback. I 've been driving a stick a long time. The aveo makes its torque around 3600 rpm. First gear is worthless, shift right out of it. the other gears slowly rev up between 3600 and 4000 and engage the clutch on the down swing of the tach. My 97 ss s10 (5speed) it's not, But the aveo seems to have a real sweet spot there.

muffin_man

I would like to know where the other two speakers would have gone - I don't see any obvious place.

yositimy

What kind of remote electric lock/unlock range are you guys getting? I have to be within 15 feet with either key flob. Normal?

shorti81

Hey,
I have a Red 2004 Chevy Aveo 5 base model. Have owned since January and have been LOVIN it until the last few days. When i brake to slow down and stop it does a little "kick" before it comes to a complete stop and when i go to accelerate it hesitates and sometimes shudders. Took it to the dealership this morn to see what was the matter with it and they said its some sort of sensor and are ordering in the part. Has anyone else had this problem? Was it the sensor? Seems more like something to do with the transmission rather than a sensor. Let me know.

Thanks

muffin_man

How many miles do you have on it? Let us know what happens.

shorti81

I have 15,394km on it so i guess thats about 9,565 miles (Im in canada lol so Im hoping I translated the km to miles properly). Im waiting on the dealership to let me know that they have the sensor in and my car keeps acting worse and worse, almost stalled on me 3 times getting home from work yesterday and I only work 15km (9 miles) from my house.
I also had that clock problem when I got my car but it hasnt done it in awhile so we shall see if it keeps working good.
Will keep you posted on what happens with this sensor thing.

rbethed

I have an automatic 5 door (they didnt have any standard in my area unfortunately) and I still get excited to drive my car. I do feel that lately, when I accelerate, the car revs pretty high and takes a second to kick down. It feels like it's off just a little. I'm kind of scared as my last car had a huge problem with shuddering. Now that the snowy season is coming, I really wanted something reliable...Please let us know what happens with the sensor. I hope my little car won't let me down!

shorti81

I have an automatic too, and I know what you mean about having a shudder car (my car before this one was a 1988 toyota tercel that I bought to get myself back and forth from college, lasted almost 2 years but I had to put in something like 2,000 in repairs in 3 months right before I got rid of it. Just kept breaking down on me).
I called the dealership again today and told them that Im getting scared of driving it as it keeps getting worse so I am taking my car in after work and will be gettin a rental car (on GMs tab) until the sensor comes in.
Will keep you posted on how it all goes.

steve2431

I have had that little "kick" you are discribing also but, no shuddering yet. I notice it only after driving at a high rate of speed (75 mph... OK turnpike speed)for about 5 min., then I exit. When exiting it happens. Doesn't seem to be a problem yet but, will keep a heads up on it. I have 3000 miles on odometer.

parky129

Temp gauge on my Automatic is normally just a hair (1/8") below middle mark on gauge. Manufacturers tend to have the gauges at the half way mark for normal. BTW the side trim is available in Canada at around $120.00 but they won't ship to USA.

socceral

i am a 52 yr old soccer dad owning a 04 aveo base with 4000 miles, bought 9/04 new. i have noticed the little kick also, but havent taken it to the dealer as it happens infrequently. overall i'm very happy with the car. it's virtually identical to the scion xb in most dimensions, and even bigger inside

shorti81

Got my car back yesterday and it seems to be running ok now. It was a faulty manifold absolute pressure sensor.
Hopefully it keeps working ok but it was all covered under warrenty so no expense on my part (thank god for the GM Total Warrenty!)
Steve2431, I hope that the "kick" you have isnt what i had as it was really scary. Whenever i was slowing down to stop, the "kick" felt almost like the transmission was slipping. If you notice it i suggest that you take it in asap as the longer you wait the worse it gets and the scarier. I almost got hit 4 or 5 times trying to turn left because it would kick as i slowed and wouldnt accelerate once i pressed on the gas leaving me in the path of oncoming traffic.
I hope this is not something that will happen to most of the aveos as i wouldnt wish that experience on anyone. My bf is worried that since this is the first year for the aveo that it doesnt turn out to be like the chevy chevet where its great for the first while but then is constantly in the shop after a bit.
Ill keep everyone posted if anything else happens and hopefully mine and all the other aveos keep running great as it is a cute little car with a great personality. I also am constantly being stopped and asked what kind of car it is, how gas mileage is, ect. I am alittle dissapointed tho that the 2004 and the 2005 are the same price. I was looking at taking in my base to upgrade to the LS (LT on the 2005 model) so that i could get the sunroof, airconditioning, cd/mp3 player ect. Maybe they will have a blowout sale!
Happy driving everyone
Shorti

chrisducati

It must just be your area, Kia Rio's can be had for that low price. My sister bought a fully loaded.. every option Rio and she walked out the door for $8000. That was dealer mark down and rebate. No trade in or down payment. They showed her the 5 grand model and it had no options.. not even a radio. She lived in St.Louis at the time. Now she lives in Charleston SC. I was there in August. The local Kia dealers were giving away for FREE a new Rio if you bought one of their vans! Also, Kia dealers do not treat you like a freak when you look at their cheap cars. Chevy dealers act as if you are a stupid idiot. I was looking at a Aveo and the sales person flat told me I didnt want one of those... was rude and tried to get me to look at something else... bottom line he wasn't going to make thousands of dollars profit for the company so he didn't want the sale.