The Wave is gone!

That's right. I'm a walking man. The lease on the Wave has expired and I have decided not to keep it.

I didn't like driving it and it felt like it was going to fall appart on me... that and it had a bunch of maintenance due on it. We're also trying to save for a house and really can do with only one car. So until I get a new car, I'm driving the wife's 2010 Corolla. It's not that much better than the Wave, but it's 4 years newer and get about the same mileage.

I'll probably lurk around here for a while... but my interest and knowledge of the Aveo will probably diminish as time goes on.

youll be missed. who are you again?

Lol! not surprising you don't know who I am. I've been a lurker and posting very little for a while now. I never did anything special to the Wave, nor write how to's. I was mainly here to acquire the most knowledge possible on these beasts. I shared a little about the problems I've had with the car, but other than that I've mainly tried to help people with the car as best I could... and sometimes beat you to a few questions :P

My condolences on driving the 2010 Corolla. I had one...for about 6 weeks. I really took it in the can to get out of it so quickly, but I knew I'd made a BIG mistake 2 days after I bought it. I bought it on a Saturday and would've gladly paid at least $2500 on Monday if the dealer would've annulled the transaction. The horribly slow throttle response, the over assisted power steering, and the lack of visibility made me miserable driving that car. The Aveo has less power and is not much different in regards to throttle response, but it does have good visibility and the steering offers MUCH better feedback.

I do miss my 08 Corolla. :-(

Lol... yeah you can bet your butt I didn't choose it! The wife was sold on it because her parents used to own a Corolla and wanted nothing of anything else (To give her credit, she did go out and try other cars before getting it). Now that's she's had it for two years, she'll be the first one to tell you she's not impressed with it. But it's a better car than the Aveo. It has drawbacks, but overall, we like it more.

I had had nothing but Toyotas for daily drivers for 15 years before that 2010 Corolla. Always felt I got a VERY good value for the money. My long history with Toyota probably clouded my judgment in the purchase. I may look at a Corolla again when the 11th generation comes out depending on how well this Aveo serves me. If GM is now making cars that can hold an alignment, don't eat front end parts, and stay dependable for 150k plus miles, I may have found a new brand.

Don't count on the Aveo to keep an alignment. I had that car on the alignment rack more often than it had oil changes. The center of gravity is so high that it chew tires like crazy since all I do is in town driving with a lot of right hand exits. Control arm bushings go pretty fast as well as sway bar end links. Changed one of those a year. Maybe it was my driving style, but I wouldn't call it aggressive, it's mostly defensive.

It wasn't the worst car I've driven. Gas mileage was excellent at around 40mpg (33 US mpg) highway. The driver seat was really comfortable to me and there wasn't too many blind spots. It was easy to work on, I changed the A/C condenser and that went pretty good. I had the brakes appart, changed the spark plugs, installed a remote starter and a sound system in it. I even modified the anti-theft system so that you could lock the doors with a key in the ignition. It a great little car, but it was costing me too much money to keep running.

Funny you put gas mileage in the plus column...I've never had a small car drink gas as fast as this one does at 70mph. It's great at speeds below 40mph, but at speeds of 55mph and up, it is awful compared to any of the Toyotas I've owned. At 65mph, in the rain, my car gets in the mid 20's. On a sunny day below 45mph, I can get low to mid 40's.

So far it has held the alignment, but it's only been through 1 winter. I'll be close to 50,000 miles by the time the frost heaves are out in force this year...we'll see. If I start chewing tires, I'll start car shopping.

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Originally Posted by ontarian_frog

Lol! not surprising you don't know who I am.

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i know who you are, i was being sarcastic...

hey Ontarian_Frog best of luck on whatever you decide to drive next and sorry to see you fade out into oblivion. As far as alignments are concerned I havent had that issue in the 142000 miles I've driven mine. Granted the Aveo isnt one of the best engineered cars ever but mines has held up remarkably well. I'm now on my 2nd timing belt, 5th set of tires, and 5th set of front brakes but the rears are my 3rd set. My maintenance costs have been fairly reasonable and I feel that it really hasnt spent any time in the repair shop. I think the most major thing that I've had to repair has been the left front wheel bearing. But that was it. Other than that this little car of mine has really surprised me. I thought it was going to be a throwaway car when I bought it.

And as for you Wylee about drinking gas? I consistently get 30mpg at 70mph in my automatic so I'm pretty damn happy and even now its consistent with the 142K on her. No drips, no oil burning, no tranny issues, nuttin!

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Originally Posted by NYChevoo

And as for you Wylee about drinking gas? I consistently get 30mpg at 70mph in my automatic so I'm pretty damn happy and even now its consistent with the 142K on her. No drips, no oil burning, no tranny issues, nuttin!

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Opinions vary... I consider 30mpg @ 70mph in a car this size to be pretty bad based on past experience. Had I come from a Full sized Dodge pickup getting 16mpg on a good day I'd have to say 30mpg would sound pretty darn good. My 05 & 08 Corollas both delivered a consistent 38-40mpg in the same driving conditions that the Aveo delivers around 32-34mpg in. The Corolla was a bigger smoother car and required nothing but tires and oil changes but I hate the way the new 09+ Corollas drive, thus the Aveo in my driveway now.

For what I paid for the car brand new, I can't complain. For the difference between the price of a nice used 08 Corolla and the price of a new Aveo, I can buy a lot of gas....and if I drive slow enough, the Aveo can beat the best MPG I got with the Corolla. If in 3 years, my experience has been similar to yours, I will be an extremely happy Aveo owner and will likely stick with a GM brand. My first year with the Aveo has been pretty good; hopefully it will continue.

I'm coming from a 6.0L Suburban that snacks on gas stations so I'm extremely happy! Anyway I still have the Suburban because I cant bear to get rid of it so I accept it even with its mountains of faults.

Good for you. With Pontiac gone, the resale value of their models are going to tank. The wave you owned will be a hard sell, and you don't have to worry about unloading it anymore;);)

I wouldn't put too much into this brand loyalty line of thinking. Choose what's best, end of story. The Aveo does a fine job of getting you where you need to go, just like most other cars. Don't expect high quality, don't expect exceptional fuel economy, don't expect performance. It isn't horribly unreliable. It works. It's a simple point A to point B car. It does what it was designed to do. You can forget about being blown away in any respect though.

It was good car for what it was. It got me where I needed to for 5 years and was cheap enough that I could have wheels while in University. I always said I wouldn't have one until the day I tried it. It really impressed me and I couldn't justify getting a Cobalt over the Wave. To me it was to get from A to B. It filled that purpose without missing a beat.

I sold my aveo but I'm still on here from time to time.