9th Jun 2004, 17:53

Chevettes are the most awesome car ever!

Even though some people are mean to them they still never stop loving you back.

17th Sep 2004, 16:40

I trusted my Chevette in every weather and it took all the abuse I could dish out... and I'm really hard on cars. (I've killed at least one car from every American manufacturer except Dodge.) I was rear-ended by a pontiac grand am that was doing about 25-30mph. My Chevette lost a half-dollar size spot of paint off its back bumper... the grand am was totaled. The Chevette was ugly and slow, but it was impossible to kill.

28th Jan 2005, 14:44

"Don't count your Chevettes until they're dead!"-Words from a true Ford fan.

I don't even own one and I already love them. This car runs circles around a Ford Ranger (because Ford rangers are broke down 98% of the time!)

3rd Jun 2005, 00:06

I'm not Anti-GM. The 1986 Pontiac 6000 we had was pretty good. And how can I be a true Ford fan if I'm presently driving a Honda? As for the Ranger being junk... I can't really say. The most recent ones are decently reliable according to Consumer Reports.

4th Jan 2006, 07:33

The chevette is a great car. I have an 82 scooter and love the thing. when it dies I'm shoving a 350 and a 4 speed in the things just to stomp on stupid civics out there. show them when a car was still steel lol.

4th Jan 2006, 11:55

Oh yeah, a V6 Chevette would be rare, alright. Anything that never existed is really hard to find, you know.

Don't know what "old sales lit" you were looking at, but the North American market Chevette never came with anything, but a 4-cyl, either gas or, for a while, diesel.

4th Jan 2006, 13:27

I saw one at Race cite with a v6 turbo it did 15.2.

I think it can go faster, but driver not to good.

9th Apr 2006, 20:28

The poster above spent $1000 on a paint job for a Chevette, and a $500 stereo?! Yikes! The person could probably buy three more Chevettes for the $1500 they spent!!

9th Aug 2008, 17:04

I have a 1981 Chevette, and I love the car... its great on gas, very reliable, and when it gets going, it is pretty nimble on the highway. I've topped the car out at about 87 mph downhill with a slight tailwind. I have the 1.6L SOHC with the 3 spd automatic. I actually am going to have to change the starter soon, because it's cranking a little slow. But, it's in great shape, due to only having 51K original miles. I'm in the process of diagnosing the reason that it refuses to produce power after 35 mph, too. Any suggestions as to why are welcome. I'm gonna try a tranny flush and some Lucas, then cross my fingers and hope it works...

17th Jun 2009, 15:32

I bought a 1980 brand new. The dealer had to replace the 4th gear synchronizer right away. Would begin to miss after 2,000 miles if I didn't change the oil, so... the oil was always changed.

Heater was never off in summer, cool in winter.

Did two years of newspaper delivery. Accidentally ran it on kerosene once. Could put 3 bundles of 10ft long electrical conduit in the car and close the trunk!

Replaced 2 starters. Wrecked it at 215,000m. Averaged 39-40mpg for the life of the car.

Bought an '82 for $500 in 1988. Got 32-35mpg. Replaced a clutch cable and starter in 50,000m driving. I gave the car to a friend.

On a whim, I bought an '87 for $50. One starter later, my sons wrecked it.

Not Japanese-comfortable, but by FAR the most dependable American cars I ever owned!

18th Jun 2009, 18:55

The Chevette is an extremely tough small car, but don't forget that it isn't pure Chevy in design.

The basic platform was done by Opel (Kadett C), while the hatch configuration was pioneered by Vauxhall (Chevette). The engine is a unit out of Isuzu in Japan, used in their version of the GM T car global platform (Gemini).

The larger Vega is a pure Chevy design and look how that has fared!

18th Aug 2010, 12:02

Bought an '82 Chevette about a month and a half ago for 200$.

The water pump went a week after I started driving it, which cost me 50$ to replace. Did all the maintenance work (new fluids, new spark plugs, new fuel filter and oil filter) and the thing runs perfect.

The only problem I have is the idle setting on the carb, which I don't know how to change, and the ground connections.

The only thing it needs before the winter is a new set of tires (I'm driving on the spare and the other ones are worn out).

I love this car, and it's my first car too. I've already got my 200 bucks worth driving it around the city and a little on the highway as well :). If the car lasts me, I plan to get the body re-patched as there is a few rust holes.

2nd Sep 2010, 14:35

I bought my first Chevette for $275 in the '90's to commute to work... 1.6, auto, ugly green. It served me well for three years and 40,000 miles, then the tranny blew up due to lack of fluid (I was too lazy to add some). Scrapped the car and found a red 4 door 4 speed car for $175, drove it for four years with no trouble, the only thing I did to it was change the oil and pick up new tires, which cost me a whopping 29 bucks each. Autocrossed it about once a year with the local SCCA group, I got lots of comments, good and bad. Winter salt mix finally got to it and I ended up cutting it up for parts.

Next was an '86 Pontiac 1000, 4 speed, with 74,000 miles on it. Picked it up for $275, needed a water pump. So far I've put about 45,000 on this one, went through some tires autocrossing, fun car.

I've found these cars are super reliable, super slow, very inexpensive to run, and great conversation pieces. I'll keep running these inexpensive beaters until I can't find them anymore.

3rd Oct 2010, 21:09

Since my August 18th comment, I gave up on that one and bought an '87 Chevette for 100 bucks. Surprisingly it is in way better shape, barely any rust, new stereo, and it has 171 thousand kms that the other owner said are original. I bought it for 100 bucks because the brakes went and the tube that goes into the oil pan popped out and the owner thought something went in it.

I gave up on my '82 because one of the cylinders is starting to go and it has problems starting up and the rust is REALLY getting to it :/, I'd keep it for parts but I don't have the room. Will probably donate it to the mechanics class at my school.

With the comment above me, I might just do that as well, but it's hard finding one for sale in Saskatchewan. However there are a few sitting around peoples backyards, etc.