I’m glad I changed the title of the Junkyard Classic series a few months ago as it now doesn’t lock me in to any specific type of vehicle or age of vehicle, after all, we don’t just cover old cars and all cars are interesting at some level. I can also admit that I’ve never really had a positive thought regarding an Aveo, which runs counter to my stated belief that every car has at least some redeeming value, and who am I to just write one off without so much as having ever sat in one, let alone driven it. I hasten to add that the status quo hasn’t changed in that regard, I obviously didn’t drive this one, and as a rule I’m usually extremely loathe to get into any vehicle in a junkyard. But I can observe and report my findings back for those of you that perhaps have the same experience gap regarding this car.
The Chevrolet Aveo was introduced to the US market back in 2002, it’s been sold pretty much all over the world since then and was manufactured by Daewoo in Korea. 2002 is also the year that Daewoo became part of the GM empire and has since provided the engineering for the Cruze, Sonic (which is the successor to the Aveo) and actually even builds the current Spark for Chevy. Since it was recently announced that the Sonic would be going the way of the Dodo bird this is especially timely, as it means that another lineage has been snuffed and the consumer has fewer choices yet again, albeit in a market that has been shrinking; as someone pointed out in another post recently, far more people seem to complain about these types of vehicles going away than seem to actually purchase them.
This particular example is a 2004, and is about as base model as is possible post-millennium. It would have had hubcaps (now gone, although these seem to be the winter steelies as there are winter tires on the wheels), but as opposed to perhaps a decade earlier base no longer meant unpainted bumpers or mirrors – so it’s possible to choose a color other than black without giving the game away. That 185/60-14 is also the exact same size that was stock on the VW GTI (8V) from 1983-1992 so that’s far more sporting than I would have figured.
I’m not sure what made me choose this one to feature, there was another one in silver and a year newer a couple of cars away and these are hardly uncommon, but eventually they will be. I guess the red paint on this one is still shiny so it sucked me in.
The engine (although missing its cosmetic cover) is a 1.6 liter 4-cylinder (not a three!) that produced 103hp and 107lb-ft of torque – both figures that are higher than I would have assumed. For reference that’s one more horsepower than the 1.8liter 8V VW GTI had starting in 1986 (’83-84 had 90, ’85 had 100) and three less torques. And which was also available in red.
Note that the 1992 GTI, last year of the MKII, also weighed almost exactly what this Aveo weighs, having gained weight in the late ’80’s. (which I did as well due to college…) Everything seems well laid out in the engine bay and fairly accessible. Daewoo engines were perhaps a bit of mixed bag but the larger 2liter as installed in the Leganza can run up some fairly large mileages and I’d guess a 1.6 in something this light wouldn’t have too hard a life either in general.
While this one is missing its radiator as well as the downpipe and the heatshield is detached, that oil filter looks supremely accessible from both above or below the car. Oil changes at least seem like they’d be very simple here.
Even though it’s a base model, it still has a rear wiper (pretty important in Colorado), and a rear window defroster, something GM usually charged extra for on their own designs. The license plate space is large as this car was sold all over the world as I mentioned earlier, the less that kind of thing needs to change, the better for the maker.
There’s even a trailer hitch and 4-pin wiring harness here, and those snow tires look fairly aggressive. Seems like it had an owner that wasn’t afraid to drive it in all conditions and for all purposes. It turns out that this Aveo came with a 1,000lb tow rating!
Opening the hatch reveals a deep luggage area, the felty carpet and board for atop the spare wheel were bunched up so I removed it for your unimpeded viewing. The back seats fold in a 60/40 manner in order to haul stuff as well as passengers. That beats the old Chevette.
The back seat looks roomy enough, and the occupants can even share the cup holder. The doors have a fabric insert and the cloth looks decently plush. This doesn’t seem nearly as hair-shirt as I had figured originally. While perhaps far from the most inspired thing on wheels, so far it isn’t horrible at all.
Here’s a better view of a door panel, the passenger front in this case. There’s actual design work going on here with the half circle of cloth, the little door latch, as well as the round circle to delineate the window winder. The cloth is fraying a bit and the plastic is starting to fade (like an old Malibu!) but nothing has fallen off.
Legroom looks fine, there’s a front airbag for the passenger, and a glovebox with another handle that had someone draw a shape to create it. The air vents are happy circles and there’s even a center console. And manual mirror adjusters!
No, the fuse box cover didn’t fall off, it was on the floor, likely someone needed a fuse. The seats seem to have plenty of adjustment options, and this one is even a stick shift, likely due to the automatic costing more.
You know it’s a really basic car when a basic car such as this still has several button blanks. This one doesn’t even have air conditioning, which may make this the first post-2000 model vehicle I have seen without it. The gear shift knob even looks decent, and with the dimpling on the back sort of reminds of an early VW Golf shifter (with the Golf ball motif on it). The lift collar for reverse reminds me of Opel and Saab although surely there were plenty of others with the same idea. I wonder what the two blanks next to the hazard light button would have been for on a more optioned-up car.
The gauges don’t suck either, everything one really needs is there. Too bad the odometer is electronic and there wasn’t an oil change sticker either, so we have no idea of the mileage. Still, with it being 16 years old, having a hitch and winter tires, it was likely used regularly, and seems taken care of.
It’s hard to get any kind of artistic angle on a Junkyard Aveo without getting on the ground and that wasn’t happening so this is the best I could do. The bow tie is proud and I’m not surprised the owner didn’t spend the $185 option price to make it a black one.
If you squint a bit, there IS some style here, in the way the rear fender has kind of a scallopy-pontoony thing going on. Or maybe that’s an homage attempt at the holy grail of 1980’s Euro design, the box flare a la Audi Quattro, BMW E30 M3 and the Golf Rallye! Don’t look at that horrible rear side window though, that’s just odd. I was floored when I learned that this design was in fact also from Giugiaro at Italdesign after reading through GM’s Heritage Center documentation regarding this car. It also talks a lot about the “panache” that this car has but is missing from so many others in this class.
My guess is that driving one is a fairly uninspiring activity (but on paper it starts to stack up to an old GTI so with some fettling who knows…), but as long as it got someone where they were going, that’s all most people care about. Out the driveway, down the block, onto the highway to the offramp and then to wherever; this driver was able to drive a manual transmission and likely spent not very much money on this car. And clearly they used it to its fullest capability, so good on them and good for this car. We’ll never know what befell this one to make it arrive here but hopefully the owner got something else just as useful to replace it.
Here’s a great video in case you thought this was just another tiny little car for short people.
Related Reading:
Canucknucklehead owned a 2006 Pontiac version of this and wasn’t too fond of it
“The bow tie is proud and I’m not surprised the owner didn’t spend the $185 option price to make it a black one.”
That wasn’t a thing yet in 2004, at least as far as Chevy’s option list and parts counter were concerned. If you saw a Chevy with black bowties prior to about 2015 it meant the owner blacked it out themselves.
I test drove one of these that was being offered for about $7k brand new in about ’07 by a small-town dealership that was already gearing up to go out of business, a dealer group from the nearest city had acquired it and tried to make it a go but turned in the franchise instead. Stripped down no a/c-manual car like this one. It didn’t feel like *enough* of an improvement over the 1995 Toyota Tercel I was driving even at seven grand for a new car.
I drove a relatively new rental for about 300 miles. It required constant steering correction at highway speeds and the fabric seat material looked like it was about to split
I buy cheap little cars, but I crossed this one off my list
The Daewoo Aveo (ne: Kalos) is my candidate for the most recent bad new car (although some have given this title to the Mitsubishi Mirage). Driving the Aveo was not a pleasant experience, nor did it get gas mileage consummate with its size, kind of the spiritual successor to the Chevette.
But, like the Chevette, was a new car available for a rock-bottom price and, likewise, you’ll still occasionally see one of these little COTR rolling down the street, usually belching out a cloud of blue/grey smoke from its tailpipe. I’d sure like to know what it was that sent this one to the boneyard since, as bad as they were, they didn’t have a specific mechanical weakness that would regularly take them out of commission. Could it be that someone just threw it away when they moved onto something better, maybe because the lack of A/C made it so unwanted no one would take it, even for free? Seems like a manual transmission, non-A/C Aveo would definitely qualify as a disposable car. Or maybe that receiver is a clue and whomever last owned it burned up something badly enough by the towing (clutch, overheated engine?) that it wasn’t worth repairing after it let go.
Interestingly, the Aveo’s replacement, the Sonic, turned out to be a rather decent car, even fun, with the 1st gen version’s motorcycle-inspired instrument cluster.
These engines did have several common issues that totaled them off rather young. One was valves that didn’t seat correctly, and another was timing belts prematurely breaking and destroying engines.
I did bad credit finance at a Chevy dealer for a period of time when these were out. These were utter crap. I remember showing one of the and pressing too hard against the door panel and the sheet metal just gave way like an aluminum can. I think these were the ones where you had to replace the belts by 60k miles or the engine would be destroyed. The worst I felt selling a car was to a single mother who was thrilled to have a new car but she was buried in it as soon as she signed bc of credit. I think she owed something close to $30k with a 27% interest rate.
I bought one new in 2004 for my long commute. It was relatively cheap, and my late wife could fit in it. I put 256K on it to 2013. Always had prompt timing belt changes and oil changes. It just kept going. When I gave it away it still had original brakes, front struts, clutch. Honest! The fellow I gave it to didn’t change the timing belt and that was that. Best car for the purpose I ever owned; some day I’ll start a COAL series on the other ones!
When my current wife wanted something fun to drive as a second retirement car we picked up a 2011 in decent shape, in red of course. It needs a few minor things which I can do myself. It just keeps going and going…
A follow-up on timing belts. The interval for my ’04 was 60K, but wise owners started to plan for the replacement at 50K. I did, and it paid off. When I got the 2011 it had 90K of unknown use on it. I bought it planning to replace the belt immediately. Research showed they improved the system in 2010 and the interval went to 100K. That was a relief, but I had the belt changed before it got to 91K! Tensioner and water pump too–the usual trifecta. Now it needs a rear wheel bearing–easy as can be, have the hub with bearing, just waiting for a cooler day to jack it up. It’s not a Toyota but it does the job fine.
And a comment on long trips. My commute was 60 miles one way, five days a week. I did that for nine years in the 2004, and it was plenty comfortable for me. YMMV of course. The worst thing about it was the lack of cruise control. Not fun but I managed.
The 2011 has cruise, but it also has an automatic. I could not get factory cruise on a stick Aveo in 2004.
It was also annoying that for the life of that car a certain aftermarket car manual company did not offer a book on it! There is one out for it now.
This is a great example of how the Aveo, with proper care, could live as long as any other vehicle of the time. The problem would be how most looking to purchase an Aveo were very likely already on a shoestring budget and were ill-equipped to afford recommended maintenance intervals (like the 60k timing belt replacement). It’s kind of like the planned obsolescence of, say, K-mart products. Initially cheap to buy, but in the long run, more expensive than buying a higher quality item that lasts longer in the first place.
The Aveo (and it’s current brethren, the Spark and Mirage) also highlight the dramatic change in how people acquire a vehicle, i.e., purchase versus lease. Yeah, it was possible to buy an Aveo for the same amount as a lease, but when the Aveo is paid off, what’s the resale value and, more importantly, how much longer will it last?
I’m going to guess it’s yet another nail in the bottom-feeder coffin and why they’re not selling (at least in the needed volume) as manufacturers abandon that market. Why buy an ultra-cheap car (one which manufacturers don’t exact have a fat profit margin, anyway) when you can just as easily lease a more expensive, but much nicer, more reliable, easier driving ride for virtually the same amount?
A few years ago I read a complaint about a new Aveo with side curtain airbags. A very minor accident deployed most or all front and side airbags. The insurance company totalled the car and sold it for salvage because replacing the many airbags would cost more than the cost of a new Aveo.
There’s a place for a car like this, and I think (hope?) there always will be.
Even today, in the dying throes of the passenger car, you can waltz right in to your local Chevy dealer and buy a $13,400 Spark, right next to the $60k Corvettes and pickups.
In fact, the Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage are the only players left in the small/cheap hatchback game.
I think the problem with the small/cheap hatchback might be that the market demographic for these types of cars have long commutes, and these just aren’t cut out for that. For a short-distance, in-town, runabout, they’re fine.
But driving a Spark or Mirage out on the open highway for any length of time would get real old, real fast. It’s that old “buy a three-year, off-lease Corolla or Civic for the same money” gambit. It’d be a whole lot easier to drive one of those on a long daily commute.
That oil filter looks supremely accessible…
The two vehicles in my fleet are of this vintage, and not really full of underhood tech (i.e. no turbos, etc). One of them requires more finagling than I’d like. For a small engine bay, this is good design.
And manual mirror adjusters!
That actually makes sense in a vehicle this narrow (speaking from personal experience).
I searched around and didn’t find any breakdown of hatch v. sedan in the USA; hard to imagine giving up the space utilitzation in a vehicle this small for whatever style and cachet a sedan might provide.
I think a clue to its demise is it’s missing the radiator. Perhaps whatever led to its radiator being removed also completely borked the car, but it seems equally likely that it could have just been the radiator and someone decided that the cost/trouble to replace it was not worth it and was offered a $1000 focus and said a not too teary goodbye to this aveo.
There are inexpensive cars, and there are cheap cars. The high, dorky, shrunken minivan styling may be practical, but it screams “my credit wasn’t good enough for a neon.” There’s something about this that looks cheaper than a versa, or fit, or Rio, or nearly anything else. I have no idea what this would have gone out the door new for, but I think these things are too dinky and cheap even for bottom feeder rental cars. I know in 2006 I bought a base model, 2.4 4 cylinder caravan with optional power windows and locks and it was about 16k after rebates. Even at 7k, I would say the caravan was 3 times as good as this.
I think a clue to its demise is it’s missing the radiator.
Umm; it’s a junkyard. Where people come to take parts off of the inhabitants. Like the missing exhaust down pipe.
More than likely the timing belt wasn’t changed and it bent its valves in the process. A new replacement radiator for these starts at $48.
If anything it’s those wobbly rear wheels! 🙂
Sticker price was $9,995, as with your Caravan I’d guess that there were discounts to be had.
It couldn’t have been that bad, it apparently served its owner for 14 years, it had all the hallmarks of a one-owner car. Are you still driving the Caravan? You should do a story on it, those 4cylinder ones didn’t seem too common for some reason.
@Jim Klein
My 2003 Dodge Caravan weighed about 3,900 Lbs with me and random items inside which was motivated by a 150HP engine. That Caravan felt like a modern VW bus, but people were expecting me to be faster which made life scarier. I hated ramp lights because 0-60 took too long, and the drive up mountains usually topped at 45 or so. I think the drive from Spokane to Missoula through Idaho was even slower. No cruise control either, my leg really hurt somedays.
You still see a decent number of these on the road in Europe, some badged as Daewoo Kalos, but mostly as bowtie Aveos. Surprising since there are so many better options in this size class over here. But in countries like the NL with very high ownership costs for cars, cheap wheels are cheap wheels.
I pulled out in front of an f150 in 2016 and the caravan met its end. 232000 faultless miles.
Perhaps it came to the yard missing a radiator; if a new one, as paul pointed out, costs $48, there’s no WAY I’d get a used one of doubtful quality over a new one. I do get used parts for my car but only because new parts are no longer available for a 1991 cadillac
New, those Hankook snows were probably $500 for all four; not cheap tires. My guess is that it was a foothills commuter’s car and it would have done just fine in the snow. Like Paul said, probably sitting in the scrap yard due to a broken timing belt.
Thanks for this find, report, and pics. I appreciate your region doesn’t appear to use much road salt, or sparingly it seems, but I find it quite remarkable an entry-level car looks quite excellent after 16 years of assumed normal wear. The paint, the plastics, the fabrics, virtually all visible components, still look like they have plenty of life in them. The lack of wear is impressive. What a vast difference from the 70s and 80s, when even premium cars would often look dreadful after 10-12 years. Let alone 16 years. We must again give credit where credit is due, and thank the Japanese auto industry. And the general culture of Japanese industry, for raising the benchmark of quality. The whole auto industry has greatly improved standards, that even an entry-level car offers this durability, really aiding consumers. Thanks again!
My state uses a lot of Magnesium Chloride that they put down in a spray. They try to apply it mostly before a storm hits. It can and does corrode but I think this car may have even seen car washes during its lifetime so that helps a lot.
In many/most newer cars the MagChloride causes stains on the plastichrome that CAN be removed but it’s laborious. The stains look sort of like little brownish spots.
I wonder if applying a paint/plastic sealer/protectant in the Fall might eliminate or reduce the staining.
Would be interesting to see the undercarriage of this car. I’m confident it would be clean. As there is no sign of significant rust in your pics, including common areas like under hood sheet metal seams. There’s a bit of rust on the rear of the inner passenger door. The brake pedal arm has superficial rust. Even with regular washing, this Aveo looks great. It could be detailed to look almost new.
My same year CO Toyota has only slight surface rust on the unpainted undercarriage parts: control arms, etc. My old ’88 F-250 had the same and it was also a CO vehicle. Exposed fasteners unfasten easily.
Unless water is trapped in body components/crevices cars generally don’t rot in the Mountain West. It’s too dry, with humidity levels dropping into the single digits summer and winter. Hence the Rambler Ranch
I drive a 2008 Pontiac Wave and have read Canucknucklehead`s COAL. My experience is the total opposite of his. I have had my Wave since new, only have 60,000 km`s on it as living in downtown taking transit or walking to work, it only gets light use. I have only done normal routine maintenance & wear and tear items. My car is fully loaded – power windows & locks, cruise control, sunroof & air conditioning and automatic. When I purchased it, there was some sort of deal on $ 200.00 per month for 72 months – to get people in the door. It cost about $ 2,000.00 more to get the fully loaded version instead of the base model. I remember the dealer pushing me to take the 72 month payment option and I was like no way 48 months is the maximum loan term I would ever take on a car. You still see lots of Aveo`s and Wave`s on the road here in Vancouver in various condition – looking brand new like my car or badly abused & neglected. Cars like this served their purpose get people on limited budgets or poor credit into a brand new car with a warranty. Also, cheap people like myself who do not want to spend a lot on a car. I have had only 3 cars in my life all purchased brand new – 87 Pontiac Acadian, 95 Pontiac Firefly and 2008 Pontiac Wave. I can hear people laughing now. If you take care of any car and maintain them properly they will all last you a long time.
“The bow tie is proud” – well, except for the one on the front that expired. I have always found a failing logo as perhaps the least forgivable from a marketing and reputation standpoint. That was not an uncommon failure at the time, and not just found on the cheap ones.
After your tour I like this car better than I expected to. I’m a sucker for cheap n’ cheerful.
When we vacationed in Ecuador a few years I learned that the Aveo is the most common taxi and after seeing hundreds of them, and riding in a few with as many as seven people packed in (including the driver) at over 10000’ above sea level I gained new respect for them. Probably no road salt but plenty of 12” potholes.
I worked with a guy years ago who bought one like this new. His was an automatic. He had many many tattoos. Not what you’d expect, though. All of his tats were of various products, trademarks, superhero movies, energy drinks and a couple of Chevy bowties. His torso looked like a NASCAR racecar.
He was not into cars very much. Knew little about them but thought Chevies were mainstream cool enough to add to his human homage to consumer products.
He was very proud when he got his new Chevy Aveo. Bragged about it all the time. How peppy it was, how surprisingly roomy it was and how he was proud to drive American. I didn’t have the heart to tell him about the Korean origins of his prized Chevy.
He was very much into Star Wars. Collected all he could of any and every doodad he could find. Little by little his new Aveo got some sort of Star Wars accessory added. And by little by little I mean immediately and to the fullest. It started with several boobleheads of Darth Vader, Yoda and Chewbacca. Then he got more, until his entire dash was covered in most of the Empire and the Rebels. Then came floor mats. The steering wheel cover was from something else, I forget. Maybe Batman.
Then came the lifesized cutouts of Stormtroopers. Then a cutout of Vader. Then a cutout of Yoda. All the side windows except the driver’s had one. The rear window was full of Batman stickers. I mean completely full of them. As was the rear bumper. His backseat was often full of Batman and Star Wars shirts, jackets, and many pairs of flip flops. Which he wore with Star Wars socks before changing into his steel toed boots.
His boots were higher-end (Carolinas?) provided by the company, so they were unadorned with Star Wars or Batman until he got some Batman laces for them.
So what I think of when I see an Aveo, especially in red, I think of that good, likeable man who had a tendency to display every product he ever bought or liked onto his body, his clothes and his car.
It was a reliable ride for him apparently, too. After some years he traded to a new Jeep. Then Iuckily changed jobs before I saw what madness he was going to add to the new Jeep.
Unlike his torso – and his rest-of? – one could trade in a tattooed car, even if it was an Aveo. Couldn’t much affect the resale of such a turdy little birdy, surely.
A most peculiar tale there, Mr Mann. Pretty likely the fellow suffered from some sort of OCD and/or hoarder condition, you’d have to think.
You piqued my curiosity about those dashboard blanks next to the hazard lights, but no image I could find showed any actual switches there. Perhaps some sort of country-specific headlight/fog light control? The wondering continues….
Front and rear foglights?
In this country, the Kalos is pronounced as “car loss”. Someone should’ve sued Daewoo, as it doesn’t meet either term, being neither a car worthy of that title, or a loss when it was gone. Quite nasty little things these, a melange of horrid plastics, shitty gearbags and sheer overwhelming averageness all round, though tough enough if kept in the style they are accustomed to. GM Holden replaced their rather nice Opel-based small car with these – can’t imagine why the company eventually wilted into oblivion…
Those timing belt faffles that are such a source of complaint come straight to you from the finest of German engineering. Yes, these tiddlers used the old Opel family 1 engine design, and like all things from Superior-Europe-Where-They-Do-Everything-Better, it’s not (necessarily) great at all. It’s notorious in the trade that, unlike many a Japanese engine, many a Euro engine is not to be trifled with in relation to their low-mile belt-replacement needs, with GM motors the worst.
The interior looks great compared to a decade-newer Fiesta’s. I had a customer with a 200,000 mile fleet Sonic, which was this car’s successor. My first thought was that I had unfairly judged the Sonic based on other Daewoo encounters, but then I checked out the car and realized it was merely being nursed along by sheer will.
“….by sheer will.”
And spit, and glue, and, possibly, religion.
You didn’t misjudge.
Complete aside from the Aveo; I had an ’86 GTi as you refer to….though a nice car, it was pretty basic, though it did have air conditioning, it lacked power steering (no fun when I broke my clavicle and some ribs in a bicycle accident) with those 60 series tires which were considered wide in 1986. Of course the tire compound makes a difference (as well as tire pressure) and the Pirelli P600’s it came with didn’t last long (even driving “normally” and left black marks on my concrete driveway. I keep cars awhile, it was only the previous car to the 2000 Golf I still own (my only cars both now and then).
So…I’d probably be a candidate for the Aveo, as I like small light hatchbacks with manual transmissions. Unfortunately I live in the sunbelt, so air conditioning is mandatory, and I’m getting old enough that my next car will need to be an automatic (no one else in my family drives standard, and it isn’t good to have a car only you can drive when you have physical frailties that come with age)..but besides sports cars, it seems that really small cars are the last ones where they still even offer a manual, and even though my age and city location scream that I should be driving automatic, haven’t owned a car with one since 1981 and I’m loath to go back (which is why I’m hanging onto my 2000 Golf as long as I have, trying to ignore the inevitable).