Got me a new time machine...
I recently picked up a 2007 Aveo5, and I gotta say driving this thing turns back the clock to when I was wheeling its mid-80s equivalent in college, a late 70s Dodge Omni 4-door stripper. I chuckled the second day I had it when Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" came on the AM/FM radio (no cassette, or CD even!). For a moment I forgot that I had a wife, four kids, and a mortgage. It gets better mpg, there's one more gear, and it handles a little better, but otherwise it's the same virtuous mix of low-cost transportation function over form. I think I'm gonna dig this car.
To flesh out the details - don't know if it's the "SVM", but it is manual everything. I bought it with 91k miles from a guy who refurbs salvage titled cars. This particular vehicle received it's salvage halo in 2009, only two years and 13k miles after rolling off the boat. Since rebuilt it's racked up 77k miles, so for $1,800 I figured it would do the job as a fourth car, since my little clan will soon have six licensed drivers. It's been repainted (metallic blue?) and looks decent with virtually no rust, a rarity here in Northeast Ohio. Supposedly the water pump/idler belt/pulley were just replaced. I plan on taking a look at that.
As a one-time engineer I can appreciate the role a car like this fills, namely the ability to get people from point A to point B, in an efficient manner with minimal cost and little hassle. There's beauty in that.
Anyway, I'll be posting in the other forums as issues pop up and I come across stuff that needs fixed. (I'm looking at you, boogered up air intake.)
