Cavalier

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One of my best friends had one in high school. I think an '00 or '01 model Sunfire coupe with a manual. Granted, the car was like 4-7 years old when he had it and low miles, but it never had any major issues that I can remember. Interior was cheap, but it worked. On some of the automatics, the shifter handle/button just falls apart, but I am pretty sure all that is still easily available. The ATs also break shift cables, but again, easily available. The only Cavalier/Sunfire parts we sell at work (Chevy dealer) are shift cables and shifter handles.

I am glad we never wrecked in that car, but it was probably no worse for survivability than my 1994 Ranger is.

I still see these cars regularly down here. Then again, have seen an unrestored Chevette in traffic within like the last month because this is Alabama.
 
I've had or have an:

02 camry 4 cyl /stick
02 corolla 4 cyl / 4 sp auto
04 cavalier ecotec/ 4sp auto
07 HHR ecotec
numerous saturn s-series

The saturn SOHCs and corollas struggle to beat 70 MPH. I had the corolla downshifting on the slightest uphills when it had a headwind at 72+ MPH. Its handling was dreadful. It got 36-37 MPG maybe. It was all in all a worse car than the saturns.

The camry gets 33 MPG at sane speeds or 30 at ticket-worthy ones. And feels good up through and well past the 85th percentile.
27.gif
You have one; you know this.

The cavalier is closer to the camry! Its suspension is crude but with the bigger tires and heavier, clunkier swing axle and other suspension components it doesn't get "buzzy" at 65-70. IOW it doesn't hit that annoying harmonic. It acts like a midsize car even though it's a compact. For good or for bad: it's a little "floaty", maybe, but some struts would cure that. Dont' go all out for the racing struts, because the body is too sloppy for that. Maybe some cheapo "sensens" to get kinda back to OE ride.

The ecotec/ 4 sp auto combo is not offensive to me. Good clean quick shifts. And it's still drive-by-cable throttle in cavaliers. I like both stick and auto trannys about equally.

Oddly, the headlight switches are junk and fail, leaving you, perhaps suddenly, without headlights. You may get automatic DRLs as a consolation prize when you're flying down some back country road under a new moon.

If you look at a cav, look at the "frame rail" arch over the driver's rear tire. When they rust, they rust here first. The rockers soon follow. I'd honestly go south for one; there are so many in junkyards here you'll never run out of parts.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Supton, I still think you should get a Camry. Spend just a little tiny bit more, and get a lot better car. I looked at the New Hampshire craigslist, tons of them on there. Here's 2 of them. $2000 and you've got another 150,000 miles left in them.
The first one is a V6, you could probably squeak out 29-30 mpg out of it. Closer to 33-35 with the 4 cylinder if you do a lot of highway.

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5556581990.html

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5543179540.html


Hadn't seen those yet (hadn't looked today, actually). Was hoping a bit cheaper actually. At those prices I might as well wait a year or so, and just trade in the truck--it'll be about due, at the rate I'm driving (30k/year).

Spied this:
http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5548214120.html
but turns out his $1 does not mean $1k but rather "$1500 firm", which IMO is too high. When I zoom in, it looks like a 3AT. Looks good in the pictures but since the price wasn't right, I haven't gone to look.


I would bet that car started life in a rental fleet.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Supton, I still think you should get a Camry. Spend just a little tiny bit more, and get a lot better car. I looked at the New Hampshire craigslist, tons of them on there. Here's 2 of them. $2000 and you've got another 150,000 miles left in them.
The first one is a V6, you could probably squeak out 29-30 mpg out of it. Closer to 33-35 with the 4 cylinder if you do a lot of highway.

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5556581990.html

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5543179540.html


Hadn't seen those yet (hadn't looked today, actually). Was hoping a bit cheaper actually. At those prices I might as well wait a year or so, and just trade in the truck--it'll be about due, at the rate I'm driving (30k/year).

Spied this:
http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5548214120.html
but turns out his $1 does not mean $1k but rather "$1500 firm", which IMO is too high. When I zoom in, it looks like a 3AT. Looks good in the pictures but since the price wasn't right, I haven't gone to look.


For a grand, I'd rather have this, or this.
 
Sorry to rag on ya Nick1994!

It just bugs me. Just like when someone is trying to sell something and five people all post 'I'd be all over it if you were closer'. Maybe I assumed you were one of those people. Sorry!
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I've had or have an:

02 camry 4 cyl /stick
02 corolla 4 cyl / 4 sp auto
04 cavalier ecotec/ 4sp auto
07 HHR ecotec
numerous saturn s-series

The saturn SOHCs and corollas struggle to beat 70 MPH. I had the corolla downshifting on the slightest uphills when it had a headwind at 72+ MPH. Its handling was dreadful. It got 36-37 MPG maybe. It was all in all a worse car than the saturns.

The camry gets 33 MPG at sane speeds or 30 at ticket-worthy ones. And feels good up through and well past the 85th percentile.
27.gif
You have one; you know this.

The cavalier is closer to the camry! Its suspension is crude but with the bigger tires and heavier, clunkier swing axle and other suspension components it doesn't get "buzzy" at 65-70. IOW it doesn't hit that annoying harmonic. It acts like a midsize car even though it's a compact. For good or for bad: it's a little "floaty", maybe, but some struts would cure that. Dont' go all out for the racing struts, because the body is too sloppy for that. Maybe some cheapo "sensens" to get kinda back to OE ride.

The ecotec/ 4 sp auto combo is not offensive to me. Good clean quick shifts. And it's still drive-by-cable throttle in cavaliers. I like both stick and auto trannys about equally.

Oddly, the headlight switches are junk and fail, leaving you, perhaps suddenly, without headlights. You may get automatic DRLs as a consolation prize when you're flying down some back country road under a new moon.

If you look at a cav, look at the "frame rail" arch over the driver's rear tire. When they rust, they rust here first. The rockers soon follow. I'd honestly go south for one; there are so many in junkyards here you'll never run out of parts.



Good info, thanks.
 
Wife had one before she was my wife. I thought the steering wheel was connected to the wheels via a rubber band and that the chassis was made out of wet cardboard. We sold it for a profit and got a 240sx. That was a fun car.
 
My biggest complaint about my Cavalier is the road noise on the freeway. Passengers need to speak up for me to hear them well. With that said, it's a bottom of the line Chevy on old bones. I've been very impressed with its reliability and efficiency. I've taken good care of it. It's never leaked anything. The one time it left me stranded was around 115,000 miles ago when the fuel pump went out. The 4-speed auto has been very reliable, but it seems it would be more fun to drive with the 5-speed manual. On average I'd say I get 32-35 mpg on long highway trips in the rockies. Though I've seen trips in the 36-40 range as well. I really like the ecotec too. 140 hp gets the job done in this car.
 
^^^Mine was a 2002 base 4 door with the 5 speed OHV engine and it got 38 on a trip consistently, 33 commuting to work and around town. It never got less than 30. Not a whole lot of power, but 2.2L had some decent torque for putting around.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I've had or have an:

02 camry 4 cyl /stick
02 corolla 4 cyl / 4 sp auto
04 cavalier ecotec/ 4sp auto
07 HHR ecotec
numerous saturn s-series



Eljefino, I was reminded today that you swapped from an EcoTec/4AT to a OHV/3AT a couple years ago. In something of a... worn out car. How did that turn out? Also, is the ABS light separate from the check engine line? I flipped through that thread and it sounded like an ABS fault would/could trigger a CEL.
 
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They are not safe cars in an accident. The three speed MPG is pretty good. They rot out like crazy underneath. K members and rear rails especially
 
Echo a lot of the thoughts in this thread.

Owned a Cavalier with the three speed auto. Engine was reliable. The only issue I ever experienced was some bad ignition coils. Otherwise the engine was dead reliable. Replaced the alternator once, and a few thermostats. The transmission had a bad torque converter lockup solenoid once as well. In general, it got me where I needed to go and lasted as long as one could expect an econobox to do so.

That being said, the three speed made it loud at speed (over 65 mph). Engine was low on power (lets just say I was flirting with minimum speeds on interstate mountain passes in the western states). The body was rust prone and was the major reason I got rid of mine.

It worked for what it was, and it was a good car in the snow for a winter beater at the end of its life... The neon that replaced it was more fun to drive, but was much less reliable and had issues with wind noise...
 
We had an '84 w/ 3 speed. Ours was fairly basic w/ sport seats, A/C and crank Windows. Bought it new and kept it for almost 12k miles. In that time it had an oil pressure sensor Come out and drain the engine pretty quickly. Engine was replaced under warranty and we traded it in on a new Mazda 626.

It wasn't a bad car, we only averaged about 25mpg and it had a small tank. It was buzzy on the highway - but it was an inexpensive car. The Mazda was better in every measurable way (no rust here), but I doubt any of those mazdas still exist. I'm sure that 10+ years of improvements only made it better.
 
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