28th Nov 2008, 13:12

Trying to sue GM for not bothering to service a vehicle is probably NOT a very wise course to pursue. Virtually ALL engines using a rubber timing belt clearly state in the owner's manual that replacement is recommended at 60,000 miles or severe damage may result. That would be like trying to sue a car maker because you went 60,000 miles without changing your oil (which you might be able to, but I don't recommend it). All car makers include recommendations in their owners manuals pertaining to necessary servicing. You should ALWAYS read your owner's manual recommendations. It's one of the very first things I do when I purchase a new car.

12th Jan 2009, 17:08

I can understand the frustration. Although it is recommended to service the timing belt at 60,000 miles, you never expect the belt to break right at 60,000 miles. I was 200 miles from home with my mileage at 60,149 when the car stopped running. Maybe I should have anticipated it breaking right at 60,000, but I have never owned a vehicle that punished a person for such a little waiver. I have owned Chevrolet my whole life, but the taste this left me has me looking elsewhere. Maybe this is a part of the reason the big three are in dire straits.

13th Jan 2009, 13:30

The Aveo ISN'T a Chevrolet. It's a Korean-built import sold through Chevy dealers. It has nowhere NEAR the quality of a real GM car. Also, the GM compacts are actually rated HIGHER in mpg than the Aveo.

Timing belts can go at any time from 60,000 miles to 120,000 miles. I kept putting off changing the timing belt on one of my Dodges until it finally broke at 125,000 miles. This was no one's fault but mine. I generally change timing belts in my cars that have them at around 80,000 miles or so. Most usually won't break until almost 100,000 miles, though imports tend to fail earlier. I'd change the belt religiously at or before 60,000 miles on ANY imported vehicle, as the makers tend to use lower quality parts that are designed for minimal service.

24th Feb 2009, 20:31

The Aveo owners manual clearly states that the timing belt has to changed every 60,000 miles. It is not a difficult or expensive job to do. I did one over the weekend (before it broke, thank you very much). And while the book does say 60,000 miles, it's best to have a little factor of safety and plan on doing it every 50,000 miles.

Anyway, this is what I did: http://home.earthlink.net/~aveobot/id1.html

4th Mar 2009, 11:51

I have a 2004 Aveo and I couldn't be happier with it! I did have to take it in because the clock wasn't working and the service tech said that a lot of aveo's were having this problem. I have 90,000 miles on it and this past Saturday, the timing belt did break. This is very unfortunate, but it's my fault. I'll have it fixed and take better care of it!!!

14th Jul 2009, 23:10

Thanks to everyone for commenting on what a poor car this is. I have been looking at them for 2 months and will look elsewhere now!

23rd Jul 2009, 13:31

Bought my 04 Chevy Aveo in Dec. of 04. My timing belt first went in March of 07 at 83000 miles. It cost me roughly $2400 to fix it. Now, it's gone again this morning at 121000 miles. General Motors only guarantees the replacement belt for 12 months or 12000miles! So beware!! I spoke with Chevy for about an hour and they have told me there have not been any recalls or service bulletins posted regarding the timing belt on an 04. But when I cruise the internet for 2 minutes, I find numerous websites concerning the issue... Hmmm...

23rd Jul 2009, 17:26

I know a solution to your problem. It's a Chevy. Ditch it as soon as you can before it continues to swallow your bank account. If your looking for a car similar in size to the Aveo, buy a Honda Fit. Same size as the Aveo. Interior even has more headroom and legroom than the Aveo. Plus it's a Honda, so it'll last forever.

15th Aug 2009, 10:07

Holy Cow! My used Aveo just turned 73,000 miles. Guess I'll be putting in a new timing belt this weekend. Thanks for the comments everyone.

9th Sep 2009, 16:37

I bought a brand new Chevy Aveo Nov 2007, I'm a sales rep and do about 200km per day, I had no problems with the car. It handles well and I just LOVE it!!!

26th Nov 2009, 07:36

We bought a 2004 Aveo and the timing belt broke at just 42,000 miles. There is no excuse for that other than poor workmanship. Just recently, at 48000, the car's engine started acting up again. We'll probably have to sink more money into this piece of junk! We have just paid the thing off, and now we'll probably have to get a car loan for another car. Never again will I buy a Chevy. I've had several Pontiacs, and never had any problems with them!

29th Dec 2009, 10:46

"TO ALL AVEO OWNERS REPLACE THE BELT EVERY 30,000 MILES upon belt inspection!!! It Will Run Forever."

This is a good idea, change the belt that often and the Chevy Aveo should last you a very long time. However, if your like me, somebody who drives at least 20,000 miles a year, you haven't got the money for the (average) of about $800 to get a timing belt replaced every 30,000 miles. And if YOU DO have the money for that kind of repair every 30,000 miles, then you shouldn't be driving a Chevy Aveo. The best bet at avoiding the problems of the Chevy Aveo isn't doing the required maintenance (there's to much of it!) It's simply avoiding the Chevy Aveo itself.

8th Jan 2010, 16:55

Well if you don't have the money to put into any vehicle to get routine maintenance done, then don't complain when the car breaks.

I don't care what kind of car you have; if you don't change the oil, the engine won't last, you don't flush the radiator, the aluminum parts will start to deteriorate and start to leak over time, you don't get your transmission fluid changed every time the manual says to do so and the fluid gets dirty, the valves inside the transmission and solenoids will start to hesitate and the shifting will be delayed and rougher.

So if you don't want to pay the 800 to get the timing belt changed more frequently, like every 30,000 to 40,000 miles versus 60,000 or more, depending if you "feel like" changing it, then pay to get the whole cylinder head replaced when the belt breaks, and plan on paying over 1,000 dollars, AND IF you're putting 20,000 miles a year on a car!!! You shouldn't be driving an Aveo, you should be driving a Cadillac with a timing CHAIN, not a vehicle with a timing belt.

18th Feb 2010, 16:13

I have a 2004 Chevy Aveo, I've had it since it was new.

I heard about the timing belt problems, so replaced that along with the serpentine belt at about 60,000 miles. It's got about 68,000 miles on it now, and works well.

I've had a few of the above mentioned problems however.

Lever on the driver's side for rolling up the window has broken on me twice; it's cheap plastic, but about $10.00 to replace.

Another time I was driving through snow in southern Utah, and the lock in the driver side door fell, so I couldn't put the key in. This was a pain because to lock the door, you have to lock it from the outside, so I had to do that from the passenger side from then on. This was easy to fix, I just had to take paneling off the inside of the door, and it was just a bolt had come loose that I had to put back in, and the door lock has worked fine since. I think it just broke because it gets a lot of use, because it has to be locked with a key from the outside.

The back of the car was rattling, and I found it was because I had to replace two little pins in the interior paneling on the back door; it's a hatchback. But that has since stopped the rattling.

Another time my brake lights were not brightening whenever I applied the brakes, I learned that it was due to a little switch just below the brake pedal that was getting stuck and not working. I think that cost about $23.00 to replace. It was simple to do though.

Another time I had to replace a rear running light because someone had bashed it with a shopping cart. That was a costly repair.

I've had to replace my windshield multiple times after getting small pebbles chucked at it from semi trucks. The windshields for Aveos are very costly.

Also, my headlights are looking foggy, I had them buffed out and that made them look better for a while, but they are back to being foggy.

Also the paint on mine is peeling, it seems like it is peeling a lot for just a 2004, but I don't know, has anyone else had problems with peeling paint?

One last thing, I noticed noises when I apply my brakes at slow speeds and when going over bumps at times. It seems like something creaking or something. I thought it might be the brakes. I recently replaced those because I never had before, but the noise still persists.

I read in a comment earlier something about front control arms and a stabilizer bar bushing recall. Does anyone else know anything about this or can someone expound upon this? I think it might be my current problem, because I was thinking it might be something with the suspension, but this sounds more like what my problem probably is. Please help.

Also, overall my Aveo's okay, of course I want to buy a much nicer car in the future. I try to take good care of it; always changing oil and everything, but it has been driven pretty hard and long distances.

Basically these cars are made to be disposable, parts are cheaply made but costly to replace. It's pretty messed up of people to make cars like this, so I just do what I can to keep mine working as best I can.