19th Apr 2009, 07:14
Strangely enough, I have had good handling improvements with a +1 tire sizing - body roll is still there (like my old 1983 Audi 4000), but at least it stays stuck to the road now. The +1 tire sizing is actually cheap thanks to the standard tire/rim size (195/50R15). The P2135, actually had that too - in my case the Suzuki dealer just cleaned the connector, and 10 000km's later, still good. Car is also sold in Canada by Suzuki as the Swift+ - funny, as GM Daewoo/GMDAT is written all over everything, with Suzuki emblems put on top. FYI, in Canada supposedly Suzuki parts are cheaper than GM (and are the same).
18th Dec 2009, 14:13
I would have to disagree with part of the comments. I own a 2006 Aveo. It is the cheap 8,999 model. I haven't had any major issues with it really.
The first week I had it the check light came on. I brought it in; they said the head gasket had cracked. They just replaced the whole motor, no questions asked. No problems since.
I find it very easy to shift. When it gets below 0 degrees it is stiff. But when it is that cold, what isn't. You are right about the wind though. I live in central Minnesota and we get high wind frequently. I have been blown onto the shoulder a few times. The light weight and manual trans. make it difficult on icy or snowy roads. But manageable.
In summer I get 32/40 mpg, winter I get 25/34 mpg. Part of that difference could be warm up time. The manual trans. is another reason I can get higher mpg than sticker says. My wife says I drive like I'm 80 years old. My biggest complaint is that in the winter, it takes forever to warm up. I live 10 miles from work. I can let it run for 5 minutes, then drive 65 mph all the way home, and I will just start feeling heat when I get home. Haven't figured this out yet. Hoping just the thermostat.
Considering what I paid for this car, and have had it four now, it was well worth and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't need luxury items like AC and Power anything.
5th Jan 2010, 13:10
To one of the above comments:
Honestly, if any brand new car ever had a head gasket failure within the first week of owning it, I would refuse to take it back.
1st Feb 2010, 07:01
I am quite happy with my Aveo 2006 model. However my seat's casing is busy rusting, and the paint is peeling off underneath. I also upgraded my wheels to 17 inches and it makes handling much better. Front suspension squeaky and the car has a very low torque level; I battle to keep up with 1.4 engines on up hills.
No big problems, and the car takes me from to point A to point B.
Client service is OK in South Africa.
21st Apr 2010, 16:17
2006 Aveo SV
I would agree with most, the car seems flimsy at best. But getting a brand new car for less that $10K, what do you expect?
The one thing I like about the car is that it will start, regardless of how cold it gets in north MN.
I also had the problem of the car not warming up fast enough, but found if I turn the fan control off for the first few minutes of driving, it will warm up faster.
The only problem I have had is both front wheel bearings needed to be replaced before 60K miles.
9th Jun 2010, 13:12
I bet no one seems to realize that these Aveo's are Daewoo's and Toyota's. NOT a CHEVY! So you think foreign cars are so great, well think again. It's a shame Chevrolet put their badge on this car.
24th Sep 2010, 17:20
True, it's only due to Chevy not being able to make a decent small car on their own.
17th Apr 2011, 21:29
I look at the consumer reviews on Yahoo, and nearly every bad review on the Aveo is by someone who doesn't own one.
The Aveo maybe based on a Daewoo, yet the only major beef with them was the poor parts supply when they claimed bankruptcy. The Daewoo Lanos it's based off of had the same power as a Honda Civic of the same years, and offered a high number of features at a competitive price. That can't be bad to base a product on.
My Aveo has been great, but it's just the small issues that drive me crazy. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat, even if the heat shield rattles when it's cold out.
18th Apr 2011, 22:28
Every bad review on an Aveo is from a non-owner?
Get real! Sites like this one and Consumer Guide owner surveys have been unfavourable in general towards the Aveo.
There may be good units around and you could have been one of the lucky ones, but the majority of people don't view the Aveo with such a rosy outlook.
As for the Daewoo Lanos offering a better spec than a Honda Civic at a much cheaper price, the spec game has often been used by manufacturers to dress mutton as lamb. The Lanos was a terrible car to drive as compared to the Civic. It was loud, noisy, crude, cheaply finished and couldn't handle corners. And those were its better points.
19th Apr 2011, 17:57
I don't know about Yahoo, but I see negative comments from actual Aveo owners on this site. I'm not saying every Aveo is bad, but it's quite common for owners to post comments about problems with their Daewoo Kalos (Chevrolet Aveo).
19th Apr 2011, 18:12
Anyone who doesn't own an Aveo and posts negative comments about it should be prepared to be seriously criticized. I thoroughly researched the Aveo, because I wanted one, but chose a different small car due to the problems I kept seeing. I then received two comments telling me I should get in my non GM car, leave GM alone and get lost.
The strangest part was that the owner I commented on hated the car, and had nothing good to say about it. I think the bottom line is no matter what the badge is on a car, you should always research it thoroughly despite the tempting low purchase price. It's been said many times, but you get what you pay for.
19th Jul 2011, 16:14
The car in the review was rear-ended in March 2010 by an Explorer Sport Trac at about 30 mph. The rear of the car was completely crushed, and I was told by the inspector that in all likelihood the only thing that prevented the entire back half of the car from coming into the rear seat was an unused 4x4 that I had purchased and left in the trunk by accident.
If anyone had been in the back seat and the beam had not been in the trunk, they'd have been crushed when the frame crumpled and allowed the entire rear of the car to begin collapsing.
I never had another problem with it after those mentioned in the review, and it was at about 53K miles when the crash happened.., but after seeing it crumple like it did in that moderate accident, I could never, in good conscience, squirming anything but steer well clear of these things.
8th Aug 2011, 16:08
A little over 2 years ago I bought a new 08 Aveo. Just after 30,000 miles, the warranty was over, and the hood cable rusted & broke, the clock has always gone off then on as you drive, and the passenger air bag stays off, even when in use.
Local dealer is very rude.
After I bought it, I found Daewoo stickers on it. IT'S NOT EVEN A CHEVY! That's why there's no Daewoo dealers around, they're junk!
12th Aug 2008, 10:14
I should have been more clear regarding the PCM: the dealer SAID it was the problem, but it wasn't. They replaced four things, but only one thing had actually failed:
Throttle body - the actual culprit, and probably just had a manufacturing defect from the time the car was built.
PCM - replaced, replacement was reprogrammed, but nothing was wrong with it (replacement and programming had no effect on the drive-ability issue)
Fuel tank pressure sensor - replaced, but nothing was wrong with it.
Pressure sensor seal on the tank - replaced because it was destroyed by the dealer's tech when they replaced the tank pressure sensor for no reason.
The squeaky bushings are just cheap, not defective. The engine mounts rotting like they are is a major concern, however.
The more pressing issue is the poor performance, however. It performed poorly on crash tests, it is slow, it handles horribly, and it's dangerously skittish in the wind; even jet streams coming off of tractor trailers makes it unstable.