blckninja

Greetings,

First time posting on the forums. There is a Cavalier I am currently interested in, located here, and it looks like a nice car. I am new to chevy, currently being a 98 stang owner myself, and would like to know if there is anything I need to look out for with this car if I purchase it? Mechanical, electrical, body etc. Thanks for the help!

MyBowTieGuy

Hey man,

Chevrolet Cavaliers offer typical economy car fuel-efficiency and most of the amenities that its foreign competition offers, however they are unfortunately plagued with a few notorious reliability issues. Besides the typical things that you'd scrutinize when looking at a used-car, I would make certain to inspect the head gaskets, water pumps, fuel pump, alternator and the plug wires (it may be a good idea to inspect the condition of the entire ignition system as this was a major weak spot in the Cavalier's build quality). I've had friends who have owned Cavaliers and every one of them have had issues with these components.

I'm not trying to discourage you from checking out this car- please interpret my personal experiences with Cavaliers as just that- my own anecdotal experience with the vehicles. You could get lucky and snag a very reliable example and enjoy hundreds of thousands of trouble-free miles

blckninja

That is good information thank you, I will make sure to keep that in mind.

As far as checking out the car though that will be somewhat difficult for me as it is in a different state located at a dealer. Is there any way other than driving there and taking it to a mechanic that I would be able to check the quality of the car?

MyBowTieGuy

Hmm, do you have any friends or family members that live near by this dealership? Honestly, it is really a sagacious idea to personally check out a used-car because you will be the one ultimately making the purchasing decision. Would you hire someone else to try on a pair of jeans and then buy them for you based off of their subjective analysis of said jeans?

Unless you're in dire need of a car at the moment or you really do not care about test-driving and/or inspecting this Cavalier yourself I would recommend broadening your search terms and looking at other cars closer to your area. Try scouring cars.com or autotrader.com for used Cavaliers within a closer radius of your zip code. I understand that you may have your heart set on this particular Cavalier but I can attest from personal experience that sometimes you have to be patient and avoid buying the first used-car that you fall in love with. An even nicer example may come along in the near future if you simply look around sufficiently..

..it's this kind of logic that led me to a few divorces though!

Good luck on your search man!

dakota1820

you shouldn't buy a car you haven't personally seen and cavaliers are easy to find. if you get the 2.2 which I would recommend they are good motors but do have short comings like anything. head gaskets and timing chains . usually if they are taken care they are good. and they all sound like they are rattling apart lol its just how they are. by that I mean ticking is normal. lol if it aint ticking it aint running right. but over all they are good reliable cars .