Faults:
It started popping out of 5th gear at about 18,000 miles, and it took the dealer two tries to get it fixed. From what I could tell, it is a known problem with that manual transmission. My daughter has the Aerio sedan from the same year and had the same problem, fixed on the first try.
Trim cutouts in front and back bumper tend to pop out, but can be glued in, and that was the advice of the dealer. I haven't yet gotten around to it. My daughter lost the insert on her car's bumper.
Otherwise, the car has been very reliable.
General Comments:
I have driven this car several thousands of it's 38,000 miles at or above 90 mph, and quite a bit of that at speeds exceeding 100 mph. I would say that I have driven at least half of the miles at speeds greater than 80 mph. At such speeds, the car handles very well, showing little tendency to blow around when passing 188 wheelers in either direction. Acceleration is crisp and more than adequate for my purposes. It will spin the tires in 1st and 2nd gear if I wish.
The factory tires, as is usual for the industry, were a disaster, especially in wet weather, making me feel like I was driving a ball-bearing. I resolved this by putting in Kumho uni-directionals in 215/50, which is so close to the original diameter that no difference can be detected in speed. If anything, the very slightly greater diameter made it very slightly more accurate. The V sipes make it handle in both wet and dry, and that was what it needed.
I run with the rear seat and trunk panel removed so that I can put my tools in the back. Surprisingly, that adds very little to road noise.
The car handles quite nicely for what it is. My Neon, being about 6 inches shorter, would corner slightly better, but this one can be side slipped by entering a corner hard and fast. I would love to have an additional sway bar in the back and may someday put one in, but it is adequate as is.
For what you pay and the warranty offered, this car has more features than any other that I have seen. I'll keep it till I wear it out.
2nd Nov 2007, 19:51
We bought our Aerio brand new (first new car, not much money)...our first year owning it was a nightmare-- the transmission went and our dealer would not give us the time of day. Ultimately they tried replacing gears first, then after having to put 2 more new transmissions in it (after a year and a half of struggle). Luckily, the third has worked. This seems to be a problem with the manual transmissions for this car, but what made the experience horrible was the dealership.
Same problem with the trim loosening. The interior is made cheaply, but I guess you get what you pay for.
Brake clicking that had a quick fix with clips being installed. Still happens periodically though.
Good car for cheaper new car (despite our trans. issues).