WHEN GM took over control of Daewoo, little did the world know how important the brand would be for the company in the future. The decision to use the Chevrolet name was controversial at first, but is now widely accepted and sales of the Korean-based vehicles are a vital part of the stable. To make life simpler for the South African market, only one engine was initially made available in both four- and five-door Aveo body styles - a s-o-h-c 1,5-litre offering 62 kW at 5 400 r/min and 128 N.m of torque at 3 000 r/min.

In late 2007, Chevrolet introduced fourspeed automatic LS versions then, in 2008, the 1,6-litre, 16-valve, twin-cam engine already in use overseas was brought in to replace the 1,5. Power now rose to 77 kW at 5 800 r/min and torque to 145 N.m at 3 600 r/min. At the same time there was a full revision of the hatchback version.

WHICH MODEL?
The spec levels are LS and LT for the saloon with a lower "no name" level added for the hatch. Showing a commitment to safety at the budget end of the market, even the base Aveo has one airbag and ABS, whereas the LS has all the usual luxuries you might need, with the LT models adding leather seats, alloy wheels and climate control. Later on, the base model spec was changed to "L" , now adding air-conditioning as standard.

Luggage space in the hatch is rather small at 192 dm3, but expands to 984 dm3 with the rear seats folded. The saloon provides much better figures of 328 dm3 and 992 dm3.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR ENGINES
A minor leak from some of the oil filters was reported, with speculation that there was a slight defect in the sealing. A cambelt snapped on one car but the engine was repaired under warranty.

Talking of cambelts, some experts suggest changing the belt at 80 000 km although the usual recommendation would be 100 000 km. The dealer price for the belt alone is R330,43. One throttle body had a defect that led to an engine error code and after some mistaken diagnoses, this was replaced.

TRANSMISSION
One owner had gear-shifting problems that may have been due to a broken engine/gearbox mounting. Gearshift feel was criticised. A leak on the clutch master cylinder was reported by one owner at about 80 000 km.

SUSPENSION, BRAKES AND WHEELS
Some complained that, when new, the cars had a tendency to pull to the side. This seemed to be more of an inherent trait than a curable problem. Control arm bushes and some wheel bearings needed replacement on a few cars. The ride comfort is good with a long-travel suspension set-up. Some front suspension squeaks were reported.

STEERING
The ignition key/steering lock got stuck on a couple of cars. In addition to the tracking problem mentioned above, directional stability is not great with these models, so you often have to make continuous small corrections to the steering. Dropping the front tyre pressures slightly helps.

ELECTRICAL
No particular issues reported, which makes a welcome change.

INTERIOR
Seating is not very supportive, but there is plenty of space, front and rear. Door handles and window winders can break off but are easy to replace. The MP3-enabled sound system was appreciated although the removable face is rather old-fashioned.

BODYWORK
Just a few squeaks and rattles were mentioned plus one issue with slow fuel fi lling that turned out to be caused by nothing more than a spider's web.

GENERAL
Some issues with poor fuel consumption were difficult to resolve or improve. CAR's long term test of a 1,5 LT returned an average of 7,5 litres/100 km over 20 000 km. One owner reported buying a total lemon...

SUMMARY
A number of owners were quite enthusiastic about their purchases and it appears that the Aveo is down-to-earth good value transport, with no serious problems experienced by most.

TOPICAL TIPS ON BUYING USED
We note with each successive buying used review a couple of cases of wheel bearing failure. In the old days, mass was not an issue in car design so many items, especially those that can be mass-produced at a low cost with a high level of precision, were over-engineered.

Wheel bearings are good examples. They hardly ever needed attention. But in the last few decades, wheel bearings have been reduced in size to cope only with the loads that the vehicle is designed for.

This means that overloading, or even filling a car with passengers and luggage (particularly in vehicles with huge boots) can result in the bearings being overloaded.

Throw in some poor roads and you could end up with trouble. Two vehicles known to us have suffered noisy bearings that required replacement. One was a VW Jetta (Mk1) which had a big boot, and the other was an Opel Monza - also with a large boot.

So the message is that if your car has a huge boot and you use it to the full, watch out for rumbling noises from your wheels.

 

 

Original article from Car

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