The bad news - last week my '05 Aveo with 33K miles blew the timing belt at highway speed and trashed the engine. (Service interval on the timing belt is 60K.)

The good news - in '06 I bought the GM Extended Warranty, which added 5 yrs onto the original warranty. Chevy dealer took apart the engine, called GM and got approval to replace the engine!!!

So my 7 1/2 yr old Aveo gets a new engine.

I'm posting this for all you folks that think extended warranties are a rip - well, they're not if you plan to keep the car a long time. I agree they make no sense if you plan to keep a car for 3 or 4 yrs, but if you keep it 7 or 8 like I do, then they pay off big time. (Hey, in the last two yrs I got a new radio, new control arms, new catalytic converter, new alarm switches and now a new engine - including roadside service on this most recent incident.)

 

I always liked GM products and in particular, Chevrolet. But now, I don't ever want to buy another American car. They are pieces of crap.

 

I have two Aveo's and one of them has 200,000 miles on it and if I blew my timing belt I would probably just junk the car since I only paid $8K for it brand new, but I did buy the extended warranty and my throttle broke at 60K miles which was covered and I my had transmission issues at 40K miles which was covered also, so yes the extended warranty as well worth it! My extended warranty ran out at 100K miles, but I had not had any issues. I am amazed this car has lasted this long since it is not a real american car since it is made in Korea with Daweoo motor.
No more Korean cars for me though, I am eyeing up my next new car and looking at a Dodge Dart since that gets the same mileage as the Aveo.

 

Don't knock Korean cars as the Hyundai lineup has done very well for themselves and is no longer a joke in the automotive industry. Dare I say....they are reliable!

 

I agree! In 2010 we bought a 3.8 Genesis Coupe for my wife. Quality car, no complaints.

 

I hardly see any Aveo's on the road anymore, probably because of the timing belt issue. I am about to change out my 5th timing belt. Can I possibly get 400,000 miles out of my Aveo? I recently bought a lawn chair cushion and added that to my front seat which makes it way more comfortable.

You have to agree the Aveo's are a cheaper made car, but the price was a lot lower. When I buy a car, I pay cash and drive it till it drops dead, because I hate debt and car payments. So the question is can these cheaper made cars really last?

 

5 timing belt replacements should bring you to around 300,000 miles/500,000 km's which is pretty damn good for cheap throw away car as many claim.