Just bought 2004 Cavalier-My thoughts

[hink123321]

Was looking to get a different vehicle for my wife to drive back and forth to work. She was driving our 02 GMC Envoy. Nice SUV but it's time to sell it. I found a 2004 Cavalier that was in mint shape with 38500 miles on it. It has the automatic trans. I was hoping to get 30 mpg with it and just checked and the mileage for the first tank was 30.7 MPG. That was 80% interstate driving and using A/C most of the time. I'm very satisfied. The 2.2 Ecotec motor is a nice engine. What I like about it is when you turn the A/C on it doesn't zap the horsepower like other 4cyl. motors. It's kind of nice because you can pick up a very nice Cavalier for not much money. I don't see what's not to like about this car. It rides good and handles very well and the brake pedal feel is perfect. For a 30+ mpg car what more do you want?

[PsychoJJ]

Keep in mind at first it is indeed a great car. In the end though there is a laundry list of quick dieing parts such as fuel filter, rotors and struts and much much more. I got my 04 with a little over 10k miles and it didnt even take a month before I had nasty rotor warp and already had to replace the fuel filter. Just make sure to keep an eye on things so you can filter all the OEM crap off the car and it will run like new 24/7.

[hink123321]

I know what you mean. Having a car less than a week is not proof how good the car is. If it needs struts,rotors,fuel filter and other things before 100,000 then that will say much about the car. I had a 95 Explorer and I could not keep that thing out of the shop. Transmission went out at 75,000 miles. Never towed with it or ran it hard. The front wheel bearings($450 for each) went out at 80,000 miles. The A/C blew up at 95,000 miles. I got spoiled with the Dodge Spirit. Drove 3 of them on a rural mailroute and nothing never broke before 160,000 miles. So I hope the Cavalier is not a situation where you pay a little here and alot later. You would think they would have all the bug's worked out. I always keep up on the regular stuff. I had to learn all of that trying to keep car's ready for a 100 mile/400 stops daily mailroute. So i'll keep my fingers crossed.

[hink123321]

PsychoJJ, what other problems did you have besides the one's you mentioned? I always got mad at other people that had Ford Explorers and told me they never had any problems with them and they had over 200,000 miles on them. Maybe the Explorer is mostly trouble free but I had had enough with my 95. I know some of the Chrysler/Dodge car's had big time troubles with the 4-auto transmissions. My Spirits all had the 3-speed auto and it was very reliable. The extra measure I took with the transmissions I would always add another transmission cooler. I would buy the B&M stacked plate cooler. In my type of driving it let me run the ATF fluid a little cooler. On the Spirit is was a very simple install.

[PsychoJJ]

Well so far to date Im up to 60k+ miles and so far I have had to fix....fuel filter x2, struts all the way around, rotors x3 (no problems after I got my slotted rotors), blown fuses x6, IAT sensor (internal air temp) took a shit after the first 2 weeks, brakes have been replaced x6 in the front and x3 in the rear, and the stock tires the car came with sucked so bad I actually didnt feel safe driving on them from day to day. Also I think my springs are about gone so thats next on my list.

[millrtime]

well my 03 has 45k and have had no problems with it whatsoever. starts up on one crank every time, no matter if its 20 or 100 outside. i did have a leak in the rear window though, but thats it. i think that it all comes down to the actual car. some cav owners i have met have had no problems with the exact same model as mine, some have had a lot. it just comes down to the car in my opinion. hopefuly mine doesnt have any problems for a long time *knock on wood*

[hink123321]

Psycho, Just curious about your brake pad replacement. Going through that many pads I have never seen before. I do know from my mailroute days there is a big difference in the quality of pads. Mind you my driving was "severe duty" driving. I always used Performance Friction pads. I think you can still get them at Autozone. Now those pads worked well on the Spirit but did not work very well on the Explorer. My guess is they worked better on the Spirit because it was a lighter car. My rotors on the Spirit would go 120,000 miles. I imagine your slotted rotors cool down much better so they wear longer. How hard do you drive your car? What transmission do you have? I use to own a 92 Dodge Stealth R/T(VERY fast car)with the 5-speed. The shifting was not very smooth so I replaced the gear oil over to synthetic fluid and that made a big difference. It's trial and error with some of these things. Just like tires. There are tires that last a long time on gravel roads and there are some top named brands that fall apart in less than 5,000 miles. My Spirits came with Michelins but they were terrible on gravel but I have them on our Envoy with 54,000 miles on them and they will go 60,000 miles easy.

[PsychoJJ]

First 4 sets of front pads I went with stock replacement pads like a dumb ass and spent many a weekend at the track and everyone thats been to the track knows what the braking is like after going through the traps. Also Im in construction and I drive through alot of dust sand and loads of other bs. These days I go with hawk performance pads which is the best set of pads Ive ever used.