Thank you AveoForum

Been lurking on this site for years. This site and the awesome members have been of tremendous value in keeping my aveo going. I bought an orange 06 SVM in Oct 2005. Got to say its been a good car. My wife thought it strange i put cruise in a stick, but your tutorial was spot on and i use the cruise constantly. I've used many of your tutorials. Changed the timing belt (easier than i thought) changed the clutch (bad throw out bearing), rear axle bushings ( VW...who knew?), changed front wheel bearings, disconnected the DRL. Don't burn out headlights every 6 months now. Changed struts, shocks, (surprisingly the strut towers are rust free) lower control arms/ball joints and outer tie rods, catalytic converter, exhaust and the radiator. All of these repairs were based on your threads and the good people at rockauto. Some of these repairs were preventative, others were just reaching ten years and living where they throw down salt. Along with the standard brakes, plugs, coil, pcv, wires, and oil changes. I've run synthetic and change every 3-5k miles since new. The body is starting with the rust, and I've dabbled with body work to keep it at bay, but the engine has 168k and runs smooth and doesn't burn a drop of oil. I get crap from time to time from coworkers about driving the car and for having it so many years, but for under $10,000 its been a great little car. I have absolutely no regrets in buying it. I know if i had to pay for all these repairs i would have ditched it long ago. Guess i average 500 bucks a year on maintenance. Not bad for a car i haven't made a payment on in 8-9 years. Its too bad the aveo got a bad rap, but imho it was never designed for the typical U.S. driver aka the drive it till it breaks and don't maintain it as well as the "do an oil change once a year whether it needs it or not" types. And yes i have actually heard that from car owners about oil changes where i live.

Again, i really want to thank you guys for this site. Daox, your early threads were what inspired me. I plan on driving my aveo till the wheels rot off. I'm hoping to go 20 years with her. I know it might sound strange but i would buy another 06 SVM if they sold them new.