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Comments
You're well out of it if you leased it and thankfully got rid of it through buy back. I'm curious though; was it built in Mexico?? I have read comments where there is a difference in quality between there and Lordstown.
I have had the opposite experience with mine. It's unfortunate that yours was so bad. Those dealers should lose their franchise for that kind of treatment, it's uncalled for.Sounds like they were just replacing things through guess work. Good grief, they've had since fall of 94 to learn what makes it screw up. If the dealer doesn't know by now, they shouldn't be selling cars. They're not that complex!
also, anyone know a good source that i can learn more about my car, how it works, etc. my owners manual is not really what i want to know and the articles i've read one edmunds are too general. thanks!
ugh
Does anyone know if and when the Z24 sedan will come out and any details?
Chevy should have built a Z24 4-door long ago.
Cheers,
Tom
* 2K - center console broke. dealer said *I* broke it and refused to fix it! after i Yelled at them for half an hour, they said to leave the car at the dealer for a Week so the parts could be special-ordered! I told the dealer to screw themselves, i got parts from a salvage yard and fixed it myself.
* 10K - Wiring Short, kept blowing fuses. Dealer could not find problem, said i was probably playing the radio too loud! Took me half a day with a multimeter, finally found a Wire was Pinched between 2 body panels causing a Short! was like this since Brand NEW from Factory! I re-routed wiring away from body panels and fixed exposed wires.
* 15K - LOTS of rattles, vibration, trim & weatherstripping falling off, dashboard pieces popping loose, controls & buttons breaking and falling off. Tranny fluid pan and engine oil pan began to leak fluid all over my garage floor.
* 20K - had to replace Alternator AND Starter.
* 23K - "Check Engine Soon" light came on intermittently. Engine began to hesitate/chug/lose power at certain temperatures and altitudes. Dealership could not duplicate problem and said there was "nothing" to fix!
* 30K - plastic radiator drain cock broke, dumped radiator fluid all over my garage. Dealership refused to fix, saying it was a "normal maintenance" item. I replaced with a brass drain cock from Pep Boys. p.s. i got to know the people at Pep Boys Very Well! they told me they have Lots of AC-Delco parts in stock because they Break all the time! I found out AC-Delco stands for "Always Crappy - Don't Expect Long Component Operation".
* 37K - Head Gasket blew! Dealership refused to fix since I was 1K over warranty miles and was S.O.L.! Took me 1.5 days and i put in new FelPro gaskets myself.
* 67K - my Cavalier is now sitting on jackstands in my backyard. Broken down! Too many things needing to be fixed: charging system, gasket leaks, computer, transmission, windows fell off the track, runs for 10 minutes then stalls, won't start sometimes, "Check Engine Soon" light is ON Constantly along with ABS/Seatbelt/Brake warning lights, burns white smoke/blue smoke, uses a quart of oil every week.
I bought this car new, am the original owner, and maintained it well; changed oil every 3K, rotated tires every 10K, flushed coolant every 2 summers, etc. but in the end this Chevy OWNED ME! I have Wasted TOO much time, money, and effort trying to keep this Pig running!
If you want a Reliable vehicle STAY AWAY from General Motors vehicles! They use cheap/defective parts, won't honor their own warranties, have shoddy workmanship and total disregard for quality control, and rude dealerships who are happy to "Sell" you their garbage but when something goes wrong they Don't Know You!
If you're just renting or leasing for a few years then it doesn't matter... get whatever you fancy... in a few years, lease is over, it'll be someone else's problem and not yours.
But if you want something Reliable for you and your family, that won't Waste your time and money with constant repairs and parts, then do yourself (and the environment) a favor.
Get yourself a Toyota, Honda, or Nissan. The junkyards are already Overpopulated with too many broken down Chevys, Fords, and Dodges.
I used to believe that american automakers have come a long way and I used to believe in "buying american", but time and again i have been disappointed by the very low quality junk that they build, along with all the recalls, and horrible customer service.
It's a shame i can no longer trust my hard-earned money with any vehicles made by the "Big 3".
Having a bad experience and writing off all American cars is not fair. It's too bad you had that experience though.
There IS a question I have though and my friend Bob has been renting a car every 2 weeks to transport his Dad around. He's had three or four "J"s as rentals the last one REAL bad, pieces falling off etc.I asked him if it was built in Mexico or Lordstown Ohio.
He said he's check the next time he rented.
I went to the dealer where I bought mine,most of them had where they were produced on a little piece of paper that is stuck inside the rear window with "Total US content" and final assembly plant "Lordstown Ohio". There's even that Union sticker.
On the really inexpensive ones the paper that told where final assembly was done was hidden behind the smog sticker that tells you where the car rates between 0.0 and 3.0 particulates per million etc.
I have heard a rumor that the ones from Mexico are not as well built. I know that VW is having trouble on that score as well with the New Beetle.
At any rate, I'd have gone to a different IMMEDIATELY had I been accused to abusing the car and causing it to screw up.
Joe3891 and 7937: have you heard of Cavaliers built south of the border being less well built than the N. American ones?
The only problem I've had so far was an issue with the wheel lugnuts working loose. I'll write to GM and tell them about it. The cause of that problem was the wheel covers. Three of the 5 lugnuts hold the cover in place.The lugnuts have a collar that rests on the cover. What was happening was that the collar would contact the cover before the tapered end of the nut seated in the taper of the wheel. It's hard to describe but if you look at your wheels and covers you'll see what I mean - that is if they are not snap-on covers. Anyway, I solved the problem by buying a set of new lugnuts and snap-on covers. Just use a good quality torque wrench and tighten to 100ft.lbs as per user manual to avoid brake pulsation and other nasty problems.
They changed the wheel cover install in 00,the covers nuts screw on to threaded lug nuts.I owned a 94 and the wheel nuts held the covers on & in 120,000 mi never had a problem,when I read your first post I was puzzled.
I'm a little suspicious about the rant above about the Cavalier problems. Seems the Ford Windstar has indentical "failures".click on the name, you'll see what I mean. It's the same rant about Fords, with very little change.
I hope everyone doesn't think that because I have suggested that the So. of the border J's have been suspected of being more troublesome that it's anything more than a managerial problem down there and not to do with an entire work force, because I KNOW better.Local suppliers? Mgmt? Lack of oversight by GM and VW? I've seen wildly different experiences with these cars. I actually went to look at an 87 4door at a "skid row" lot. Probably not more than 800.00.I'd do it, but the Valiant has to be finished up first, so adopting another car at this time would not be very wise!
The car will be based on the Opel Astra and will not be too "Americanized" Knock on wood!
http://www.autonews.com/html/main/stories0702/newcava702.htm
With all due respect, and not to sound snappish,if I wanted a German car I'd go out and buy one.European vehicles are only marginally better [again according to the data in C/R]than Domestic cars;their rates of problems just about on the same scale.And 7937, you are correct again:Opel is to VW what Chevy is to Ford in this country.Sophisticated drive trains and German "engineering" do not necessarily endow a vehicle with sterling reliability or guarantee "quality" [as Saturn LS and Cadillac Catera owners have discovered].
Well, we'll see, eh? I haven't been shown anything that would get me to jump for new set of payments when the "new" Cavalier comes out.
Please don't get me wrong, I'm a real fan of these cars, I won't go into all the reasons right now, and it may seem weird, but a bastardized Opel just doesn't impress me, [though the Calibra is hot...then again it looks like a 2 door Cavalier].
Say what you will about the out of date chassis etc.the Cavalier STILL looks good.
Just hoping you don't think I was jumping on your neck;I've been aware that that's where GM is going with it's platform sharing, then checked the Opel/Vauxhall sites and all I could think was "WHY"? My initial post was a little tongue in cheek. Was wondering if anyone else felt as disappointed as I do.
No offense meant Teo. Dave
There seems to be this attitude out there that if a car doesn't increase in ever more complex and potentially troublesome gimmicks gadgets mechanical bits and electronically controlled systems, that it's "unrefined, crude and dated".I don't call making a vehicle more complex "progress", but it makes great copy for the ad dept. and gives you bragging rights at the water cooler!
Perhaps GM is buying some time [as they did with the Catera; the next gen. of which will be designed here in the US] to design the 5th generation Cavalier, using Saturn, Opel and GM sources with it's own unique body. Or not.
Historically GM puts a small car design on the market and leaves it there for YEARS with few updates or changes.
The Cavalier does what it has always done: it works. Millions of people depend on them every day for reliable transportation.L.A. is swarming with them. And if GM is having to subsidize it with rebates that's their fault for not paying any attention to it for the past 7 years.First car I've had that I didn't wish was something else. It's an honest, straight forward vehicle that does what it's supposed to do AND looks good doing it.Compared to the Astra, I wonder what the design looked like that the "focus" groups rejected!!!!
If you have not driven the new L-series with the Saturn 2.2L, I suggest you do. It has more power, burns less gas and is more refined than it's Cavalier 2.2L cousin. I think a new Cavalier with this engine will sell much better. If they fix up the handling a little and turn up the quality a notch, GM won't have to subsidize this car like they do today.
I drove one, its smooth. As smooth as the Toyota motor in my Prizm. Can't say that about the Quad 4 or OHV2.2. Also, it gets 30-35mpg reportedly, in a 3000 pound car!!!
Maybe gm usa finally has pulled its head out of its corporate collective butt and figured out how to build a competitive motor.
It is very easy to reproduce the problem and I have demonstrated it to two different service managers. You can put your hands on the coil spring and feel it "chattering" as the handwheel is turned. I believe that the strut bearings, including the replacements, are defective.
I have contacted Chevrolet Customer Service to get them involved and they are making arrangements for one of their troubleshooters to look at it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to approach Chevrolet and the dealership to get this fixed? Has anyone else seen this problem?
P.S. Built in Lordstown
Ignition switch replaced at 38K, largely because I hung a bunch of keys off it. Replaced alternator a year ago, dealer also replaced valve cover gasket. That's about it.
This is my wife's present car. I'm driving a 2001 Elantra GLS which has a whole lot more interior room and is a LOT more sophisticated with far better build quality, quietness, etc. However the Cavalier at this point has definitely given me good service. Do think it's getting really long in the tooth, however, and its replacement in 2004 will be long overdue.
Check your owners manual to be certain though or try another dealer. It's unfortunate you're having problems with the dealership. So far mine has been great
I love the 4speed Auto.w/2.2 in mine, real quiet at speed and great gas mileage. THX, Dave