Here we go again... The dreaded Aveo rears it's ugly head yet again!

[14Accent]

Back story: The Aveo saga continues...

As that thread reports, I replaced the clutch components this past March in the old lady's '08 Aveo due to a failed release bearing. All was fine until 3 weeks ago, when she called me from work saying the clutch pedal felt "funny", the car wouldn't turn over, and she had a hard time getting it into gear at the end of the work day.

I got to her and sure enough, the clutch pedal was rock hard. I could retract the slave by hand, but as soon as the pedal was pressed once it locked up again. I rolled the car back into a parking spot and called for a tow.

Fast forward to last Sunday. After almost 3 weeks of sitting dead in my lot (we've been beyond busy for months), I finally had a chance to yank the trans back out. I was expecting to find broken pressure plate springs, a damaged release bearing, SOMETHING. Nope. Everything looked absolutely perfect. So, there I was, scratching my head like an idiot. What on earth would cause my issue? While poking around, I decided to pull back the boot on the slave cylinder (for no particular reason) and noticed that the internal c-clip that acts as a piston stop of sorts was deflected out as if something had been pressing against it. Hmmm...

Then it hit me: the release lever! When the release bearing failed last time, I basically forced my way through the gears to get the thing back to the shop. I believe in doing so, the release lever was hitting it's stop which caused the slave rod to deflect the opposite end of the lever. For reference, this is the part I ended up replacing: Clutch release lever

So here we are: 3.5 weeks down a car, a tow bill, and a $15 part to get her back on the road yet again. Comparing the new lever to the old, I could clearly see the bend. It wasn't much, 10-15 degrees maybe, but it was enough to cause the slave to run out of travel. I didn't bother replacing the slave, if it fails later on it's $30 and 2 bolts to replace. I did replace the c-clip just because I had an assortment and it was easy. The clutch feels much better now, and shifting is slightly improved. I may tweak the shifter alignment, 1st and 2nd gear engagement is just a tad finicky right now, but that's no big deal.

After this little debacle, I'm officially done with this car. If it needs anything other than brakes or oil changes in the next 12 months, it's going to the scrap heap. There's just no point in throwing any more time and money at this thing. Oh, and to top it off, at some point while it was sitting LOCKED in my (well lit) parking lot someone popped the lock and stole the very nice Kenwood double-din touch screen I installed a few months ago. So, whoever you are, thanks and go screw yourself.

 

[eljefino]

So you bent a critical piece of the controls with the awesome power of one leg. What a turd of a car.

 

[Number_35]

Back story: The Aveo saga continues...

As that thread reports, I replaced the clutch components this past March in the old lady's '08 Aveo due to a failed release bearing. All was fine until 3 weeks ago, when she called me from work saying the clutch pedal felt "funny", the car wouldn't turn over, and she had a hard time getting it into gear at the end of the work day.

I got to her and sure enough, the clutch pedal was rock hard. I could retract the slave by hand, but as soon as the pedal was pressed once it locked up again. I rolled the car back into a parking spot and called for a tow.

Fast forward to last Sunday. After almost 3 weeks of sitting dead in my lot (we've been beyond busy for months), I finally had a chance to yank the trans back out. I was expecting to find broken pressure plate springs, a damaged release bearing, SOMETHING. Nope. Everything looked absolutely perfect. So, there I was, scratching my head like an idiot. What on earth would cause my issue? While poking around, I decided to pull back the boot on the slave cylinder (for no particular reason) and noticed that the internal c-clip that acts as a piston stop of sorts was deflected out as if something had been pressing against it. Hmmm...

Then it hit me: the release lever! When the release bearing failed last time, I basically forced my way through the gears to get the thing back to the shop. I believe in doing so, the release lever was hitting it's stop which caused the slave rod to deflect the opposite end of the lever. For reference, this is the part I ended up replacing: Clutch release lever

So here we are: 3.5 weeks down a car, a tow bill, and a $15 part to get her back on the road yet again. Comparing the new lever to the old, I could clearly see the bend. It wasn't much, 10-15 degrees maybe, but it was enough to cause the slave to run out of travel. I didn't bother replacing the slave, if it fails later on it's $30 and 2 bolts to replace. I did replace the c-clip just because I had an assortment and it was easy. The clutch feels much better now, and shifting is slightly improved. I may tweak the shifter alignment, 1st and 2nd gear engagement is just a tad finicky right now, but that's no big deal.

After this little debacle, I'm officially done with this car. If it needs anything other than brakes or oil changes in the next 12 months, it's going to the scrap heap. There's just no point in throwing any more time and money at this thing. Oh, and to top it off, at some point while it was sitting LOCKED in my (well lit) parking lot someone popped the lock and stole the very nice Kenwood double-din touch screen I installed a few months ago. So, whoever you are, thanks and go screw yourself.

My friend had one of these as a 2nd car, and it was a hoot - drove like a go-kart. Unfortunately, the tin worm had done more than cosmetic damage. He had to do a panic stop one day, and a bunch of critical stuff in the front end let go, totalling the car.

He drives a Sonic, the Aveo's successor, now.

P. S. My wife voluntarily drives stick too - prefers it, in fact.

 

[Imp4]

Don't buy a Chevy.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Your lady and you should consider yourselves lucky. GM never intended these cars to last as long as the one you have. They were probably engineered to be what we refer to as "7 year runners". After that they are on borrowed time for; parts availability, insurance parts depreciation, and newer segment replacement offers as cited by the Sonic model that replaced it. GM recently killed the Sonic, and now has higher demand more than ever for the Spark. Dealers can't keep them in stock and inventory is hard to come by like everything else in this segment.

"The more things change the more they stay the same"

Imp, maybe you don't know this....the Aveo is only masquerading as a Chevy.

 

[alcyon]

Don't buy a Chevy.

Korean designed chevy.

 

[bullwinkle]

It amazes me that for a tiny bit more $ someone could have bought an xB like mine (only $13,800 at the time) and had a halfway decent, long lasting car (or even an Echo, xA, Fit, etc.). Apparently nobody remembered GM’s other craptastic small relabeled imports like the Metro or LeMans!!

 

[Imp4]

Don't buy a Chevy.

Korean designed chevy.

I don't care if it was designed on the moon, did I stutter?

 

[AZjeff]

Don't buy a Chevy.

A 2008 is a Chevy badged Daewoo. Hate Chevy all you want but this thing isn't one. It is another unfortunate decision by GM.

 

[14Accent]

Wow, lots of unintended emotions coming out in this thread. Just to clear things up: this post was NOT a dig on the quality of the Aveo. Yes, everyone is correct: it is a "disposable" car. No argument from me. That being said, I have absolutely no issues with her car. It is undeniably simple, and doing the labor myself makes it easy. I don't think I've spent more than $50 on parts for any one repair on this car, besides the clutch. Say what you will, but it is well beyond it's designed lifespan and still runs like a watch. Doesn't even burn oil.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

14Acent, I am with you and agree with everything that you just said. As you say the Aveo has worked for you and your lady friend just fine for now. As I posted on another thread; " I am firm believer that you should drive what YOU want. You are the one paying the bills, taking the risks, and using it for pleasure, and necessity. What is not cool is people who buy a vehicle on a whim, and then complain, and cry about the cost of it.....gas, repairs, insurance etc."

I am not sure why people have to start "brand bashing" on any thread. I get it that people have different opinions about different brands and OEMs.....great....your opinion and $3.00 might get you a cup of coffee. I am glad you were able to fix the Aveo for so inexpensively, and that you have kept another useful example out of the junkyard. I applaud your effort for doing so, and it sounds like everyone was happy in the end. Good Luck to you and may your bank account be fuller, because of the lower taxes, insurance, and amount of $$$ you are saving on fuel because of your skill and labor.

 

[Hoot_r]

Wow, lots of unintended emotions coming out in this thread. Just to clear things up: this post was NOT a dig on the quality of the Aveo. Yes, everyone is correct: it is a "disposable" car. No argument from me. That being said, I have absolutely no issues with her car. It is undeniably simple, and doing the labor myself makes it easy. I don't think I've spent more than $50 on parts for any one repair on this car, besides the clutch. Say what you will, but it is well beyond it's designed lifespan and still runs like a watch. Doesn't even burn oil.

Owned an '07 Aveo LS 5-door as a commuter car -- only issues I ever noticed in the time I drove it was the tendency of the spark plug wires to fail prematurely (heat from the head cover baked the insulation, causing arcing), and that stupid DRL module that failed, left the lights on even after the car was shut off and ran down the battery (simple enough to reach up under the driver's side dash and disconnect the module!). I sold it with 146K miles on it. Never an engine or transmission issue I can recall.

 

[92saturnsl2]

I missed this post somehow so a bit late to the party. I bought a 4-door Aveo sedan 5 speed brand new in 2007. Ya know what? It wasn't a terrible car. Bit of a disposable appliance, but it looked decent for the time, rode comfortably enough, cost like $12K or so, got respectable gas mileage, just did the job as as an inexpensive runaround car nicely. My only complaint is that at 6K elevation in Colorado, that little 1.6L required a LOT of revs and a lot of full throttle to keep up with traffic, let alone pass it. But I was in a stage of my life where cost was a concern, and that little car did not disappoint.

I didn't get to experience the awful resale value (or long-term upkeep), because a couple years later (at around 35K miles) I got about $6k in hail damage. I decided to look into trading it in (I'd heard horror stories of severe hail-damaged cars being repaired), and I found a dealer that would take the car as-is with hail damage, and give me more than I owed on it, so I wouldn't have to go through with an insurance claim. He didn't specifically say so (probably illegal), but I'm pretty sure he intended to claim the car I traded in on their own insurance claim, as the whole area got hit with severe hail, that dealership included. Who knows, but I traded that hail-beat-up 2007 Aveo in on a new 2008 Suzuki SX4 that was just delivered to them and paid about $16.5k for the Suzuki IIRC.

I bought the Aveo only because I had experience with Daewoos from when they were actually branded Daewoo. My uncle bought a '99 Lanos new, and my mom bought a 2000 Nubira new. I drove both semi-regularly for a couple years when they were newer (I was a teen driver in the late 90's), and occasionally after that. Nothing wrong with either of them IMO. My uncle spoke highly of the vehicle and my mom kept hers over 100K with no major problems. I find the people with the biggest gripes about these cars are the ones that haven't owned them.

 

[Dinoburner]

Don't buy a Chevy.

 

[nthach]

Don't buy a Daewoo.

Fixed - the Aveo, as is the Sonic, Spark and to an extent, the Cruze are Daewoo products. The Sonic was built in Michigan - the UAW had to give a concession for that to be allocated. Else, it would have came from Bupyeong, Korea. The Cruze was a joint effort between Opel, Holden, GM USA and Daewoo.

 

[Nick1994]

A friend of mine is a mechanic, he used to have a customer with an Aveo, wow that car was junk. They meticulously maintained it but the car would just fall apart. Constant leaks and everything rubber under the hood would disintegrate. With low miles, it wasn’t even that old back then.