Reality Check -> Aveo

[The_Stache]

Well Monday I got home from my 10 day road trip across cali, and for the whole trip I rented a 2008 chevy aveo. After 2850 miles here are my goods, bads, and the uglys(mediocre).. Personal preference applies of course, and YES I realize that the car is the bottom of the line and not made for road trips.

Good:

• Good gas mileage, averaged just under 65mph (gogo GPS) for the entire trip (90% highway miles) and ended up with a total 25.9MPG.
• Easy entrance and cargo loading, getting the luggage into the trunk and getting in the backseats etc was easy for a small car.
• Little to no blind spots in almost every direction.
• Controls and accesories/radio intuitive and simple to use.

Ugly:

• Gauges, yes this is a sub 10k car brand new but these look like they belong in the 90's, lighting was not the greatest either (and yes I adjusted it).
• Gauges - continued, again related above, the dummy gauges are just that, idiot lights with no DIC that is basically standard on EVERY car nowadays. trip a & b and odo, THATS IT.. (the TPS warning light doesn't even indicate what tire(s).
• Braking, handling, power are all what I would expect from a small commuter, bottom end entry level sedan, neither anything to complain about nor to brag about.

BAD:

• Interior dash plastics were the worst I have EVER encountered, worse than the 1990 ford ESCORT I used to drive. There is a spot on the dash between the 2 center air vents that you can press and LOOK into the dash itself. Fit is ok, but execution and finish is REALLY lacking.
• Seat fabrics look and feel torn from the legs of the corduroy generation, not nice to touch feel or sit on.
• Headliner material made me immediately think of a big mac box, you know the recycled cardboard foldable box you get your big mac in from mcd's.. YES it even FELT like it..
• Cup holders are literally in front of the radio/enviro controls, its either drinks or controls, not both.
• Only the driver seat has a arm rest.. so apparently passengers are not expected to have arms?
• Keys, these are the WORST designed keys, I would put them in my pocket and they would press the buttons unlocking or locking the car as I would be loading or unloading or even just walking away!
• *** this could be chalked up to maintenance maybe but the TPS idiot light came on 500 miles into the trip, checked the tires every gas stop and they ALWAYS where within specs. Idiot light never went off the entire trip, there after.

At the end of the day I was glad to see the "tin can on wheels", as my wife called it, go. After this trip I would NEVER own a Chevy Aveo, it would irritate me to no end and really just make me unhappy with the purchase.

IF ANY of this experience were to transfer over to my camaro (which I HIGHLY doubt) it would prevent a purchase, but again you can't compare them because they are completely separate classes and costs ranges. BUT if I had to base my entire experience with Chevy on that, they would lose a sale before I even got in the door.

[chadrcr]

wow...25.9 mpg??? was the parking brake on the whole time????
25.9 mpg is 25 reasons not to get an aveo. My Sierra 5.3 got 22 mpg from Fort Worth TX to Nashville TN going 73 mph. It only got 15 coming back, pulling a 17 ft ski boat.

[09'Z28]

Originally Posted by chadrcr

wow...25.9 mpg??? was the parking brake on the whole time????
25.9 mpg is 25 reasons not to get an aveo. My Sierra 5.3 got 22 mpg from Fort Worth TX to Nashville TN going 73 mph. It only got 15 coming back, pulling a 17 ft ski boat.

Cali is a very mountainous state so we don't get the greatest mileage

[DGthe3]

And to think, the Chinese clone of the Aveo is one of, if not the most popular car in China

[MAC]

Originally Posted by 09'Z28

Cali is a very mountainous state so we don't get the greatest mileage

Lol not to mention the horrendous road quality...
you travel top to bottom in cali - expect to buy a whole new tire/wheel/suspension setup.
that or need some serious maintenance. (Depending on your car)
and no I'm not exaggerating.
I went from Modesto to Eureka and back, and needed 2 new tires soon after I got home.
(thats from mid cali to very north of the state)
family friends from oregan also mentioned to us when they visited a while back, that they noticed the difference in the roads VERY soon once they hit California.
California: The Pot Hole State. for real =p

[chadrcr]

I just think an Aveo should get double the MPG of a fat 4x4 truck....... yea, my GMC will not do as well in the hills either.
Anyway, I hope for GM's sake the aveo can do better than 26mpg, even in Cali. I just drove my Grandmother's (who passed away in Feb) car- 1998 Civic (auto) from TX to near Reno NV, it got 35 mpg for the 1350 mile trip, there are a lot of mountains in NM, AZ, UT and NV and the car was full of stuff from her house.

[MAC]

you're right it should...but who's to say the government didn't slightly mitigate the requirements of a truck's actual miles per gallon...

The Truth Is Out There...

[TAG UR IT]

Originally Posted by MAC

you're right it should...but who's to say the government didn't slightly mitigate the requirements of a truck's actual miles per gallon...

The Truth Is Out There...

Yep...it is....and I've got one word for ya.....


TUCKER

[chadrcr]

Originally Posted by MAC

you're right it should...but who's to say the government didn't slightly mitigate the requirements of a truck's actual miles per gallon...
The Truth Is Out There...

it is late here, I must have missed the mitigating circumstances regarding the truck I thought I was the one checking my mpg. EPA--- not so much...

In 2003, I drove the ZR2 4x4 from Monterey down to Pismo Beach on the PCH, I did not really notice bad road conditions, but I was distracted by all the curves, hills, cliffs and ocean. oh, it (v6) got worse mpg than the 5.3 V8 too.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by diarmadhi

Well Monday I got home from my 10 day road trip across cali, and for the whole trip I rented a 2008 chevy aveo. After 2850 miles here are my goods, bads, and the uglys(mediocre).. Personal preference applies of course, and YES I realize that the car is the bottom of the line and not made for road trips.

IF ANY of this experience were to transfer over to my camaro (which I HIGHLY doubt) it would prevent a purchase, but again you can't compare them because they are completely separate classes and costs ranges. BUT if I had to base my entire experience with Chevy on that, they would lose a sale before I even got in the door.

Why'd you opt for an Aveo for a 2850 mile road trip? Or didn't you have a choice?

With that said, I can't say I disagree with your assesment. I test drove both the Aveo and the Cobalt when I got my car...and for some of the reasons above (apart from me not fitting in it) obviously we know how that turned out. (Frankly...the Cobalt gets the same mpg, and is bigger...wtf do we need an Aveo like the current one for?)

I just wonder what could be said of other competing vehicles. Whether they'd be much better then that or not.I think the next one should be MUCH better. 40+mpg? And GM knows they've got to succeed in the subcompact market....

[The_Stache]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Why'd you opt for an Aveo for a 2850 mile road trip? Or didn't you have a choice?

With that said, I can't say I disagree with your assesment. I test drove both the Aveo and the Cobalt when I got my car...and for some of the reasons above (apart from me not fitting in it) obviously we know how that turned out. (Frankly...the Cobalt gets the same mpg, and is bigger...wtf do we need an Aveo like the current one for?)

I just wonder what could be said of other competing vehicles. Whether they'd be much better then that or not.I think the next one should be MUCH better. 40+mpg? And GM knows they've got to succeed in the subcompact market....

Nope didnt have a choice (it was only $158.00 for the rental for 10 days, not going to find a better deal here).

And yes my wife and I were thinking the same thing, how do other cars in the same class stack up. I may never know, but it was a wake up type of experience especially since I've sat in a cobalt and liked the stuff that I HATED in the aveo, it just makes you wonder...

[Dave McFly]

hell "Monty" gets 30-33mpg on the freeway and he has six figures on the odo.

[z28camaro2471]

I don't often check MPGs but based on the times I have...25.9 for the Aveo on the highway seems pathetic.

My wife's Uplander got 23 MPG on a 500 mile trip we took and I was doing 80-90 most of the way.

I put a cold air kit on and reprogrammed my 03 Z71 recently and for the hell of it I checked my mileage..ended up being 17 MPG with stop and go driving and plenty of foot to floor traffic light starts.

I guess what I'm saying is something seems wrong. Are you sure they didn't dump 5,000 lbs of weights in the trunk when you weren't looking?

[Mr. Wyndham]

It was brand new, though, right, Diarmadhi? If that's the case, then that could explain it right there. Since the EPA ratings are in line with each other, this is relevant:

My Cobalt rarely delivered anything above 26.5 during the first few hundred to 1000 miles. Yeah, I thought it sucked and I was pissed. But after that, it increased each fill-up from 26.5 to ~28, and now I'm shocked if I EVER get below 30mpg average.