Faults:

Within the first week of buying the car I began noticing water underneath the engine and I had to start topping up the coolant. I decided to take it to an independent garage that I had used before and the guy turned around and said it needed a new water pump at £500. This was within 2 weeks of buying it so I wasn't happy, but I decided to go ahead rather than have to buy something else. The car went into the garage and the next day I got a phone call saying the water pump was OK. Instead it needed a complete strip down of the cylinder heads etc with an estimated cost of £2000+. I then had no choice, but to return to place of purchase and they also confirmed the work. They agreed to do it for £600 all in to be near to the original quote of £500 for the water pump. That was 18 months ago and as yet I have had no other problems other than general wear and tear.

General Comments:

This car is quick above about 3000 rpm where it pulls and pulls through all the gears.

It is not the type of car to throw around as the gearbox is not happy with quick shifting. But it comes into its own as a performance cruiser on the longer faster roads.

The car handles well and is comfortable inside.

The only thing really lacking on this car is cruise control. There is electric everything else.

I have to say that when washed this car does look very very good. Mine is black and can therefore be difficult to keep clean.

The car is not too bad on fuel, but I don't do enough mileage to care anyway.

Faults:

Water pump seized at 103000 miles.

Stalls periodically for no apparent reason.

General Comments:

I am overall very pleased with this car, its by far the quickest and most comfy car I've driven.

However, the car is the worst car I've known for maintenance.

Parts are simple enough to get hold of (Cavalier parts), but the car seems to be built so that it's awkward to work on to encourage you to take it to a garage.

For instance, the drive belt runs THROUGH the right engine mounting, IE the engine must come off the car to replace it!!!

And which idiot at General Motors had the bright idea of running the water pump off the cam belt???

The pump on my car seized without warning and jammed the cam belt with it.

What only needed to be a £30 repair (the price of a new water pump) turned out to be an £800+ job to replace 12 bent valves and shattered guides.

Faults:

Electronic Control Unit decided to backfire and burn out

Electronic Contol Unit on Gearbox needed changing

Electric Sunroof motor.

General Comments:

I find the car a very comfortable to drive on long and short distances, especially with the leather seats.

Performance wise it will give most cars their run for their money. My car is standard in every respect and driving hard or gently, it delivers smooth and fast acceleration.

Drive a V6 on a motorway with no fast acceleration you can expect 40mpg!! yes 40mpg and at worst 25mpg if you are booting it.

Running costs can be high considering it is a V6. I have just spent £500.00 on my car which includes, changing the oil, oil filter, water pump, cam-belt, spark plugs, ht leads, fuel filter, air filter, pollen filter, disk pads. Imagine how much a garage would charge!!!