I have been looking into buying a used car. I have read about Cavaliers online, and I have seen people report so many problems. Everything from electrical to head gasket issues. Please tell me more about your cavaliers. What common problems do they have, what years are to be avoided? Due to the research I have done, I can't see that buying one would be a good reliable choice. Please let me know any information!
thanks very much:)

I bought a '96 Sunfire (Pontiac sister car to the Cav) for my daughter a year ago in Feb.

The car had 117k miles on it when I got it, now has 140k+ miles on it.
We've had our share of minor problems, and only last week the water pump went out. But my daughter drives like there's no end to gas or money, both of which she never has any.

My opinion is these are very economical cars, easy to work on as long as it's not a major repair, and I'm quite pleased with the performance to dollar ratio we get out of the car. I just hope it will last until she can afford to pay me back the money she borrowed to buy it.

Thank you for the info! I am glad to hear that the Sunfire has done so well for your daughter. That is the other car I was wanting to look into. I will give it more attention.
Thanks again

Used cavalier and sunfire are like any other used. It depends on the pervious owners. My cavalier i bought used from an older lady and it was horrible. Brakes shot, interior messed up and the windshield crack, also need an oil change BAAAD as well as some fluids. But After i got those few thigns fixed I babied the hell out of it for a year now it runs like an old truck nonstop lol

You make a good point, we recently bought a 84 Ford Ltd 62,000 miles & person who owned before was an old lady and it looked like everything was original, including never having had a tune up! It was a bear ecspecailly the rear brakes...just because someone barely drove it , doesn't mean it will be well taken care of. After having had to fix TONS of stuff in the first 5 weeks of owning the car, it now runs great.
I appreciate your advice! I will keep it in mind.

I purchased a 97 convertible last year in September with ~120k miles on it. It was $900 so I expected to do some work on it. Since then, I've replaced the tires, brakes, both window motors, and the routine type of stuff that any car is going to need. As far as major maintenance, I replaced the water pump due to a seal leak, thermostat (at the same time as water pump just on general principal. I also did a head gasket job (actually pretty easy as compared to my Montana minivan). It was leaking on the right front, the normal spot and easy to diagnose. The only other problem that I've had was the AC system as a leak and my compressor recently started squealing like a banshee. That was easily rectified by getting the non-AC equipped drive belt and bypassing the compressor. It's a convertible so who needs AC anyways. :)

It's my daily driver/beater and is for the most part reliable. I get about 25MPG with a combination of city and back road/highway driving. It's not a BMW, but it's also not a Yugo.

Thanks so much for the info...my dad actually has a cavalier, so he has always said it should be my next car. I was so skeptical, even though he has had no major problems with his (only water pump) because of all the horror stories I have read from some owners. It is good to know they are not all that bad.

My Z24 musta been owned by a guy cause it was traded in at a Corvette dealer. Havent replaced anything yet on it except my battery which had the original in it. Had 40,800 miles on it and now it has 56,470 on it and its running great.

Have any of you experienced starting issues, not caused by a bad starter? I read that some Cavaliers have.
Thanks in advance for the info!

Have any of you experienced starting issues, not caused by a bad starter? I read that some Cavaliers have.
Thanks in advance for the info!

well. kinda yea.

i got my 89 2.0 4 cylinder coupe february '05 with 126,000 miles. so far i've gotten new brakes, 1 new tire, a new oxygen sensor, the parking brake cable fixed, new spark plugs, a few oil changes, and just last friday i put a new catalytic converter in. the old one was completely hollowed out i was scared to death when i saw it.

anyway, since the new cat. converter has been installed, i had a little start trouble but only on the first start of the day and not everyday. its not a cold-weather thing because its happened on 36 degree days and 56 degree days... will get it checked out soon.

also yes the eletrical systems are :screwy:... i put a new cd player in there and about 2 months later it died. (it was a used one but still :shakehead ) then a month later i heard static in the speakers.. then POOF... smoke from the cd player. i immediately removed it and haven't replaced it.

now i'm at 141,850 miles.

my stance:

this was a $350 car so i still feel i got a steal.

Anything i should be concerned with if looking into buying a '97? Head gaskets, electrical etc.??? What questions should I ask the buyer specifically?
Thanks so much for all your help!

i bought a used cavy and its a good car but i have little problems like fuel line leak and maybe a bent rear axle.:smokin:

Anything i should be concerned with if looking into buying a '97? Head gaskets, electrical etc.??? What questions should I ask the buyer specifically?
Thanks so much for all your help!


honestly i think you're losing it.

have a mechanic inspect THE car you're looking at. can't make generalizations from our problems as we don't drive the same way or on the same roads as you.

Yea i'd have to agree every car is different and the service it has had means alot

I agree, but I am not loosing it. I just want to be VERY well informed. I am just trying to find out some of the most common problems to go on specific cars. For instance I had a '96 Neon, it was in GREAT shape in every other way, but the tranny went shortly after 100k. Everyone knows that Chrysler had issues with transmissions. Ecspecially on the neons, they are throw away cars, not meant to last. Something I just recently learned.
This is what I am trying to figure out. I can't afford to take it to mechanics all the time. We work on our own cars, but can not do transmissions or head gasket issues, or intake manifold gasket problems, etc.
Most repairs are able to be done, but when you have to take an engine apart, that's where we draw the line. We do not have the equipment for that. We are people who live pay chek to pay check, and cannot afford to save up for major repairs. This is why I am searching to find the most relaible, (least likely to be repaired constantly), car for my family.
I understand everyone drives them differently. But some repairs are very common in a particular line of car. Some are just faulty systems, and poor quality by the American car manufacturers. (Still I refuse to drive foriegn. We live near Detroit, that would be a slap in the face around here). For instance I know that 80's American cars (if driven in our climate,) rust out terribly, because most of the car manufacturers did not use galvanized steel.
And a big example, our Ford LTD, it has the typical faulty ignition system. Ford had a HUGE lawsuit over it & everything. I did not find that out till after we bought the 62,000 mile car recently. If I had known before, we would not have bought it. It has cost us TONS in repairs to figure out it was the TFI module, because we have to do repairs ourselves.
This is what I am searching for, what was the poor quality areas, on any given American cars I am looking into buying.
Again before I buy, I must be very well informed. I have bought books and everything on the subjects.
My thanks to all of you who have been helpful to my search.
I appreciate that most people have not been critical, only trying to help.

all i have to say is that i have a 98 cavalier and i have had no probs. i drive 150 miles a day and it is smooth sailing i dont have any fear about my car it is my second one my first one was a 99 which i had 220,000 before it went beyond repair, this one now is a daily driver and a weekend beater, as the other peple said take it to have it looked at first if it is sound drive it, just know what your car can handle and dont push beyond that cause that is when major things break.