My story of keeping Aveo over getting new vehicle...

Hi Everyone,
The handle is jcphitman and I have an 2008 Chevrolet Aveo LS. I bought the car used in July 2009 from a local dealership in the Milwaukee area with a little over 14,000 miles on it (cost around $10,000 at the time with taxes, dealer fees, etc.). I was driving a 1997 Geo Prism that got totaled in an accident. At the time, I was looking for a reliable lower mileage car. Nothing really drew me to the Aveo other than gas mileage, price, and the low miles.

The car now has a little over 82,000 miles on it. I had been thinking of a new car. A lot has went on the Aveo that I needed to repair. I'm on my third set of tires. Mechanics explain the tires are an odd size and can go quickly. I rotate them every other oil change. I'm hoping the new set of tires I got over a year ago will last.

I had been driving a distance for work from when I got the car to just a few months ago when I changed jobs. I'm now 5 minutes away from my job. I faced a major decision with my car recently on whether to trade it in for something else (my wife eventually wants me to get a crossover vehicle) or keep the Aveo. The advantages of keeping the Aveo are I own it outright and it still is lower mileage even at 82,000 vs. getting a new car with a payment.

Since December of last year, I've had the following done on the Aveo:

December 2013: New timing belt, water pump, battery, and caps - around $800 total - family friend did the repairs. Last year, I also had a inner door handle and tire pressure sensor replaced.

July 2014: Other inner door handle broke off and needed replacement, brake job clean up, and another tire pressure sensor replaced - done at dealership for around $350

In early September, my oil light came on, check engine light came on and the car overheated. I quickly drove it to a Firestone to get it looked at. They came back saying the car would need close to $2000 in repairs. They told me the water pump could be part of it. That's when I knew something wasn't right. I did have to pay $179 for the diagnostic charge due to not getting the work done. I was ready to trade in the car, but my father in law wanted to look at it first.

He right away saw there was a leak in the radiator. He replaced the radiator (around $150), drained and replaced the anti-freeze ($12) and also noticed a hose had gone bad in the engine (around $50 to replace). Being able to do that helped fixed the car from overheating. I thought that I was in the clear even though my tire pressure sensor light was going on again (the dealership did tell me in July that I would need two other sensor replacements ... so in other words ... all 4 would need to be replaced overall since I did the first one in 2013 ... UGH!)

After this, the check engine light came on. This time it was the 02 sensor. My father in law couldn't do that. I took it to a local repar shop. They did the following:
-02 sensor
-Alignment
-Oil Change
-Tire Rotation

Bill for this came to around $360.

I at the time decided to not do anything about the tire pressure sensors. I figured I was at least in the clear. Then recently the airbag light came on. My father in law and Meinke looked at it. Neither could figure out the problem. I had to take it to a dealership. I took it tot he dealership I originally purchased the vehicle from. They found out the issue was in the clock (the clock had stopped working a while ago). They needed to replace the clock. I also had them look at the tire pressure sensors since I figured it may as well work. The following was done today:

-Clock/airbag sensor replacement
-2 new tire pressure sensors
-headlight replacement

Total for this is just under $700.

Since December of last year, I've spent a total of around $2600 on my car. That's nearly half of what it's worth from my guess.

I'm probably an idiot for doing so. Chances are I could get a new car and the amount I paid in repairs would cover my first year of payments for a new car. In all honesty, would anyone have done what I did? I guess I figured that repairing the vehicle and being able to continue owning it outright is better than buying a new vehicle, make payments, and pay for the various repairs on that vehicle in the future. I live so close to work now that I won't be putting a ton of miles on the car. While it's not my top choice of a vehicle, it does work for the time being.

I'd be interested in feedback from the forum here. You all own or have owned an Aveo. I'm sure many of you love your vehicles, but please give your honest feedback. I can't make the choice again. Is what I did worth it in your minds?

I'll post pics soon of the car and try to contribute to these forums. I'm not the greatest with cars, but have viewed some threads to try and get ideas of what things cost or what I might be able to try myself without much knowledge.

Thanks!!

welcome aboard, your TPMS sensors were pretty much due, since the batteries in them only last about 5-10 years. it seems you have been taking really good care of your aveo, so it would be my opinion to keep it until something REALLY Expensive breaks, like the Engine, Transmission, the suspension, or if you are unfortunate enough to get into an accident.

^
The Aveo is a great little car.
Every car has bugs, some show and give them bad names, some don't show and give them great names. I have one of the lucky ones. 04' 5sp. 140K never had a problem other than very basic tune/maintenance/upkeep items that are listed in the owners manual. All I can say as a very experienced technician is to run Synthetics to aid in longevity of the engine, tranny and steering and to do the best you can to maintain car roughly by the list in the manual and it's (sacrificial elements) on your schedule and to buy quality parts as you do so. You could also save a bunch by Youtube and basic tool set.
Every car will need tire rotations, headlight bulbs, brakes, coolant changes, radiator hoses, belts, plugs, wires, new tires, battery, water pump, shocks, blinker bulbs, thermostat, idler pulleys, alternator, engine oil/filter changes, transmission fluid/filter changes, tie rod ends, brake and power steering fluid changes, valve cover gasket and maybe a head gasket one day... The list goes on. Pretty much the same list with any vehicle. No car lives forever without upkeep. They all just land on different mile markers. This is a great forum with a lot of knowledge and precise advise. Give up a heads up if anything happens again and I'm sure you'll get all the answers needed or the better part recommendations from us gear heads.
Our original tires are small and have a high "revolutions per mile" count but and ALOT about tires and tread wear rating goes by unknown. Check out this article and ask about the small numbers other than size, price or brand next time you buy a set. Good luck. Treadwear Rating | Tire Traction Rating | Tire Temperature Rating | Discount Tire

Jc, I think you made a wise choice. I work on all my own cars, but I will always repair what breaks, rather than replace the car. Car payments suck, interest sucks, and big banks suck even more. I don't want to get on my soapbox about new cars, but let me put it this way, I searched for a couple of years to find a NEW car that met my needs, of just basic transportation and good fuel economy. I eventually gave up and just started looking at newer (pre 2008) used cars that needed repairs. Heck even if you can find something useful for YOU, you still get buried in more debt. So even when I tried to apply logic to buying a new car, it was a no win situation no matter what I did. So be glad you don't have a car payment to cough up every month now for the next three years. In fact go celebrate!

Thanks for the welcome! I'll for sure keep the tire stuff in mind next time it's due. I do have a question on tire pressure, but I'll ask that in another thread. It's great to know I can come here and talk with people who own the exact same car and understand what I'm trying to talk about. Again, I'm not exactly the greatest with cars (very far from it), but it sounds like many here are. I will for sure use the expertise and keep people updated on my Aveo as things happen. Thanks!!

Welcome to the site jcphitman! Sounds like you're taking good care of the Aveo. Keep it up and it'll take care of you too.

Unless you have no interest in it, a small tool kit and youtube can really save you a TON of money. I do it mostly because I enjoy it.