Faults:

Well, I've only had it for a month - so far so good!

General Comments:

The plastic parts used in the assembly of the sunroof concern me. I'm worried they may need replacing before anything else if they give out from all the usage. Plus expansion and contraction from hot and cold weather changes... we'll see how that goes.

The car is huge inside and very comfortable. This is the first brand new vehicle I have ever purchased. I was very excited and even hugged my salesman when he delivered my car to my remote home 25 miles away from the dealership!

The gas mileage is good, but not as good as I expected for such a small car. My previous car was a Toyota Camry 1991 - and it had a 55 liter gastank and went about 600 kms on a tank. My Aveo has a 40 liter tank (I think) and it goes about 500 kms. on a tank. Approximately the same? And the Camry had a larger engine and more get up and go of course.

But overall, SO FAR I LOVE MY AVEO and I would recommend the little automatic wagon model to anyone. And get the MP3 player because it's worth it!

Faults:

The sheet metal is thin and easily dinged and dented. A problem where parking spaces are tight. Moulding would help a lot.

General Comments:

I am impressed with the interior space and the large trunk. The utilization of space is a quality feature. The car is easy to enter and egress.

The overall power is adequate and the acceleration is good, except for passing. Needs some spinach, but is frisky otherwise.

Outside noise suppression is excellent.

The seats are pretty comfortable, too.

The radio is adequate and generally okay, but distant FM stations sound a little tinny and distorted, rather than discernible with some background static. I prefer the static to the distortion.

Faults:

The bumpers have extremely poor quality paint that scratches very easily, my footlocker brushed the rear bumper while I was loading it up, and now there are huge gouges on top of the rear bumper.

At 4400 miles it started locking me out of third gear at higher RPM. I have even made a conscious effort to hold down the clutch until it's all the way in gear, the transmission will click, then the engine will rev like it's in neutral. The dealership says this is normal, but since it didn't used to do this before, and third is the only gear it happens in, I think it has a bad synchronizer.

Now at 6600 miles, the transmission started making clunking sounds when taking off as well as when shifting. There is also excessive movement in the shifter when accelerating and decelerating, it moves approximately 4 inches when either the gas or brakes are applied. I'm guessing motor mount; it's been at the dealership for the past three days.

General Comments:

With the exception of the transmission problems, this is a good little car, however this many problems without even 10k is ridiculous.

This is a surprisingly well mannered car on the highway; quiet, smooth, and adequate passing power at high speeds.

This is also a surprisingly comfortable and roomy car for its size. I'm 6'2" with broad shoulders, and this car provides ample room, more along the lines of a mid size than a subcompact. Very smooth ride.

Performance is very good for an entry level car, but it's no sports car. Acceleration is average, torque is good for a 1.6L, but it still feels anemic at lower RPM, and needs a few revs to really get going.

The car has good traction around corners, but is very twitchy. Sudden lift throttle over steer means you need to be careful when slowing down while cornering at high speeds.

The transmission sucks, with long throws and a vague, rubbery feeling. The clutch is also very rubbery, and does not snap back like it should. Basically, the transmission is this car's biggest weak point.

I'm deploying in support of OIF this fall, and when I come back, I'm trading this pile of junk in for another European car. My old Volvo had 225,000 miles on it, and was way more reliable than this car.