Anybody drive/own a recent year Chevrolet Cavalier

I may have to replace my aging car. Because I am about to become a home(condo)owner, a new car is out of the question. For used cars, you can get better deals on American due to steeper depreciation. This weekend I rented a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier. Consumer Reports rags on them calling them unpleasant, crude and outdated but say the reliability has improved to average which is not too bad for an American car. I didn't think the car was that bad. True, it wasn't as refined as it could be, but the ride I thought was quite nice for a small car and it had decent power and seemed quite solid. You can buy them pretty cheap, maybe $8k for a 2002 with decently low mileage. $8k will be my approximate upper budget limit. I hope to purchase a car that will get me three or four years of trouble free use, save maybe brake, exhaust repair, at approximately 20k miles per year. Hopefully even more. Should I consider this car? Would be nice to hear from people who have owned driven this car to possibly agree or differentiate from the Consumer Reports view. I drove my mother's 1999 Ford Escort and ride/performance wise, liked the Cavalier better plus it was a bit more quiet.

P.S. Anybody know any good Chevy forums to research/post the same question?

How about a 96-97 Volvo 850. A little cheaper, save the extra money for maintenance and repairs (There will be few if you keep up on your maintenance).

You'll be rewarded with a much higher level of refinement as well as safety and, if you find a Turbo model, sport.

No personal experience, but I have a buddy in Pittsburgh that loves one he's had for a few years. I would definitely check out the forums at edmunds.com. They will have more than you will want to read.

Personally? I wouldn't touch an American car, especially a GM product.

I think it was ASE who said the AMerican automobile is at least 5 years behind a comparable Japanese automobile in terms of engineering, materials, etc...I'd have to find that article.

I'd go Honda, or Toyota...

--dan

my 15 year old grand am with it's w41 ho quad four was way ahead of it's time it is very reliable gets good gas mileage and is faster than new Honda accord 200 HP 24 valve v6 powered cars.(I maintain it well)
comparing it to the 3.0 liter Mitsubishi v6 in my mom's 1997 minivan(I recently did a lot of work on that engine major failure at 71,000 miles)
the quad four is a lot higher quality and better engineered.
(puts out more HP too) the v6 is a lot newer but the quad four is more advanced.(I am not a huge quad four nut I just own one)I have never had to do any thing to my air conditioner and it is ice cold even after 15 years.

one thing did fail the headliner is falling down in places
oh and 1 fuel injector failed after 171,000 miles or 1700(aprox)gallons of gas went thru it-I will complain to bosch ha ha. I drive the car pretty hard the engine blows a head gasket every 85,000 miles or so-81,000 to go on this one.
it is a fancy metal/carbon fibre gasket-I bet it does not last any longer than the last one but it is suposed to.
buy American support american products but always buy the superior product regardless of the manufacturer.
use synthetic oil my cylinder walls -connecting rod bearings main bearings looked new last time I had the engine apart to change the head gasket 4000 miles ago.
no sludge at all.

my moms engine was a different story she uses dino oil for 71,000 miles.
sludge and gunk deposits were not gross but they were not hard to find.
and and there was a yellow film in the cam housings on her engine.
I put mobil one in her car I hope she keeps using it.

markdi
H ave you ever taken your car to the track?

As long as you get a cavilier with relatively low miles and good maintence records you should have a car that will run forever. I'd switch to Mobil-1 Oil in it if it were less than say 30,000 miles

no I have not had it on a track. I have made a few mods to it.
It has the off road sportsman cam shafts
Rockwell off road light weight bucket type anti pump up lifters.
power chip-no Rev limiter.
bigger throttle body.
k@n air filter.
Increased compression ratio but not much of an increase
(twice surfacing the block and cylinder head)


shift kit in transmission(totaly remanufactured 1.5 years ago) with harder materials used in the clutch packs.
light weight performance torque converter.
in drive and gas floored the transmission shifts to second gear at 61 MPH(when the engine had a Rev limiter the engine shut down at 64 MPH in first-it it will kick down to first as long as the car's speed is under 47 MPH)
synthetic trans fluid.
Mobil one.

extrude honed intake-cylinder head-and exhaust manifold.
(did that 7 years ago)-spendy-got me to over 220 HP
and improved my torque.

wetter than water additive-20 percent antifreeze-distilled water. low temperature thermostat.

removable catalytic converter.
turbo muffler.
I had the oil pump treated with anti friction/heat coatings.
I do not remember the name of the treatment-spendy
It sounds like an old piece of farm machinery at low rpms
but sounds really cool when reved up.
I am sure I am forgetting something.
It gets really good gas mileage I got 28 mpg
coming back from riddle Oregon at 80-85 MPH(or higher for short bursts)(rather have more flashlights than a speeding ticket)
It is no super car but it is a kool old car.(I'd rather have a northstar v8)
7 years ago I had money to spend-now I have a house payment.
needs paint-head liner-weather stripping and rear shocks.(and a new rear window thanks to my gangster wanto be nephew-it got shot out with a pellet gun while my mom was using it while I worked on her van-probably replace it tomorrow)
with catalytic converter in place passes deq.
I got a ticket for going 135 MPH in it once- before all of the mods.(with 3 passengers and the air conditioning on)
680 dollar ticket 7 or 8 years ago.
still runs great on cheap 87 octane fuel thanks to it's twin swirl 4 valve hemi head design(huge valves I have the best year/model cylinder head)
GM won some sort of big award for the valve train/cylinder head layout on the quad fours(in 1987)it is called L carline port.
Quad fours do have problems-head gaskets fail about every 80,000 miles.
some people have problems with the ignition coils(no distributor)they can be defective new but I take my multi-meter with me and check them in the store.
and the coil housing is supposed to be replaced every 50,000 miles(acts as the spark plug wires)(my coil pack and housing has 80,000 miles on it)coil pack and housing costs about 110.00


I have earned extra cash working on quad fours and twin cam 16's

I have no data on the cavalier.

In 1995 I was driving 300 miles a day, 6 days a week for a fuel test for Shell Oil Co.

We drove: Crown Vics, Intrepid ESs, Lumina V-6s, Camry I4s, and Buick ? I4s.

The Buicks were rough as a cob, and very uncomfortable compared to the other cars.

The most well rounded, average cars with all factors considered were the Luminas. They never did anything stellar, but the they did nothing wrong either.

No car broke down while we did the testing. Even the Buicks were stone reliable.

I lust for an Interepid ES!!!

But I'd settle for a Lumina!

I'd have to guess that a different 4CYL would be in the newer cars.

geepondy, get the Cavilier. It's a good basic car.

I'm definitely going to buy an American car the next time. I think almost any car now is reasonably trouble free the first 100k miles unless the 100k is stretched over a large number of years. I think the biggest differences was that the Japanese cars would continue to run much better then American cars after the initial 100k. I got 220k out of my 1988 Corolla for an example. But I hear more and more longevity stories from American cars now. A friend has 180k miles on his Ford Escort and still going strong. Likewise 200k on a ten year old Buick LeSabre from another friend. As I mentioned in the opening post, used American cars are definitely more inexpensive then their Japanese counterparts. If interested you can read my latest saga with my Subaru here,
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7478912&posted=1#post7478912

Providing $800 in repairs will fix it, still not sure what to do after that.

the job on your subaru does not sound too hard.
If I were you I would fix it myself.
7 years ago I totaly remanufactured my quad four(spun a connecting rod bearing at arond 8000 rpm-before I got smart and started using syinthetic oil)
honed the cylinder bores put new rings on the pistons.
checked the clearances on the crankshaft main bearings and
the connecting rod bearings with plastigauge.serviced the cylinder head and had it and both manifolds extrude honed.
changed all of the crankshaft and cam oil seals etc etc and on and on.

It was a hassle but fun too.

other than a head gasket after 80,000 miles no problems
maybe the head gasket will last longer this time.
I am older now and I drive slower.
I overhauled the transmission a year and a half ago.
It worked perfectly but I figured after 167,000 miles of abuse by me that it was time.(I wonder how many miles of life were left in it ?)

the newer cavaliers have the ecotech engine as an option.
they are very moddable and they are top in their class
at nhra drag racing events.
the fastest 4 cylinder drag race car(ecotech) is an american car.(a cavalier)
not a rice rocket
I prefer the quad four over the ecotech for the street.

The only two cars I've driven relatively lately, were an '01 Malibu in Vegas, and an '02 Dodge Stratus from Houston to Fort Worth and back.

Both were 6cyl cars. The Malibu ran well and pulled at almost any RPM. The Stratus had to be wound up tight to GO.

Only two late model 4cyl engines I've had any experience with are a Honda Accord, and a Toyota Tacoma. The Honda is far the smoother of those two!

I drive a 1990 Ford F350. It has an odo that only reads to 99,999... it has at least 220K, and quite possibly 320. Even the dreaded E4OD tranny seems to just keep soldiering on. My Dads F150 is a 91 and is close to 200K. My (Sisters) 1995 Town Car is at 165K or so.

I feel good enough about American cars built since the early/mid 90's to say go ahead and get the Cavalier. But if you could get something with a V-6 it would almost certainly be a better driving experience.

my granma has traded her Cavalier in for a new model for as long as i can remember.

she's never, absolutely never, had a problem with a Cavalier, other than a recall last year on some part that was quickly replaced @ the local dealership.

until i got my own car, her Cavalier was what i drove. it runs beautifully even after 4 years of HEAVY driving, including much driving on the interstate in Maine, and the newest Cavaliers have beautiful sound systems. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

and the EcoTech engine couldn't hurt it either!

It is painfull to read my old posts
my spelling sure sucks along with a few other issues

I drove a brand new Cavalier earlier in the year when my truck was down. All I remember from the experience is the high beams on the vehicle since I work nights. The high beam was of no use at all just like the crappy high beams from my Sylvania Xenarc x6054 HID's. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

For $8,000 you should be able to get a very nice 2003 Cavalier with about 30k miles if it's not an LS. If you would like a little extra room, power and equipment, the Lumina or Malibu in a 2002 is not out of the question. They are cheap, have good power and good fuel economy for their size. Look for over 25-27 MPG on the highway out of he Lumina and 29-30 from the Malibu. Both those vehicles should be about $8k in a low mile 2002. Go to about $9k or $9.5k and you can get a very nice 2003 Malibu. The big Japanese lead of 10-20 years ago is not there now but people hold on to the concept which keeps the price of the Japanese cars up and the American cars cheap. I see all three of those vehicles with over 150k miles quite often and still running strong.

I recently saw a 89 S-Blazer with 410,000 miles. It's verified by being a one owner and he had it serviced it's entire life at our store. The motor is all original, V6 4.3 Liter, original trans.,(automatic) The AC has been repaired a couple of times but nothing else major. The AC is still cold and the truck still runs well. The fact the motor is still alive doesn't surprise me but I am shocked the transmission hasn't failed.

And if anyone knows this stuff, it's Diesel Dave!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

Is Consumer Reports magazine biased towards American cars? They constantly give their Predicted Reliability as Average at best, with the majority being in the Below Average to Much Below Average.

Cars from Toyota and Honda always show Much Above Average in that catagory.

Now, one piece of evidence that causes me to believe that they are NOT biased is from the latest 2004 issue. For years the Nissan Sentra was one of their suggested cars. For this year, though, they placed it's Prediced Reliability as Below Average and no longer suggest it as one of their top buys.

Anyway, what's your take on Consumer Reports magazine on this topic?