im getting screwed at my job and they are making me work 90 miles from my house. Im looking to buy a cavalier for fuel economy, and have a few questions. I'm looking to get an 03-05. I test drove one the other day. it had a manual transmission, and i wont buy one without a manual. i noticed when i was pushing the clutch in, as soon at i started feeling resistance and the clutch started to disengage i felt kind of a vibration or a grinding feeling. I also heard a little bit of what sounded like a grinding noise. it only happened as i just started pushing the pedal down, and right before i let it all the way out. is this normal on these cavaliers? there isnt any way it could be gears grinding, but i was just wondering what it could be. ive looked at consumer reviews of these cars from 03-05. It seems like the only common problem people has was the fuel pump going out, and some people complained of a buzz from the hvac. How expensive is a new fuel pump? Im sure its in the tank which is a pain, but can any one confirm this? are there any other common problems i should know about? It seems like alot of the ones ive looked at have alot of miles on them 88k-100k. should i stay away from one that has that many miles on it, or is that not a big deal on these cars. i know i havent heard anything bad about the ecotec. it seems to be a pretty good engine. ive heard that with the manual trans. they can get up to 37 mpg. is this true, or should i expect lower 30's. i guess thats it for now. thanks for the info.

Hi,

I'm going to get flamed for this but I wouldn't buy that car. Though I own an older J I'd never use it for my daily driver to get to work. It sounds like they are "gently" forcing you out and trying to make you leave by making you commute, no severance package due to you this way. You want a car that when you turn the key EVERY morning it will start and take you to work on time.....so they don't fire you for excessive lateness!

Look into a used Yaris or similar car. I've got a Pontiac Vibe that will give me mid 30's (MPG's) on a trip like yours with gobs of space for carrying stuff plus it is fairly bullet proof for it is almost all Toyota Corolla once you peel the sheet metal off.

If you get the J You will only be purchasing a headache and frustration in my opinion.

Dave

My 96 2.2 OHV cav and my 03 eco cav have NEVER been anything but reliable. My 03 even has a modified electrical system too. J's are very reliable cars as long as the previous owner didnt do hack work on them and were taken care of(like most other cars).

I noticed the same vibration in the clutch pedal when i first drove my 03, but i have stopped noticing it and the clutch is still fine(even with a S/C and 30K later).

Yes the pump is in the tank, but i have only known one person whose pump died on them.

Also about MPG, the best i have calculated on my cav(S/C eco) is 28mpg. That was a combined highway and spirited country/city driving.



Tinkles

2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown

well david, if you read this thread again anyway. i work for a railroad. the town im living in now and the job i work only has 2 people on it. i have only had the job about 6 months and not qualified to work by myself yet. the reason they are sending me to this other town is because they are sending someone from there that can work alone here to take the place of a guy retiring this friday (they need 2 people here to cover every day). they are sending me back to help out there due to another guy retiring there and theyre not hiring new people to take their place. there are more people in this other town. at least 3 every day, so i will always have someone there to work with. in 4-5 months when i can work by my self they will send me back to where i want to be. they dont want me to quit because we are already light on people. as far as getting a yaris or a vibe... i would love to. i dont want to spend much money though. about 5 k is my limit. ive seen decent cavaliers for that, and the consumer reports i looked at looked alot better then other cars i looked at like a grand am, that seem to have alot of problems. I also have a 99 blazer and a 78 datsun 280z, so if it did break down on me i would have 2 other vehicles i could drive until the cavalier is up and running again. The bad part about that is i dont want to put miles on the datsun, and the blazer only gets 15 mpg highway. do you know of any other reliable cars that get good mpg for under 5k?
thanks

U cant go wrong with a Cavalier dude. I have owned 4 of them. I started with 00 2200, sold it for the z24 (only because i wanted more power) I did blow the engine in the Z24, but that was my fault, i didnt tighten the oil plug and i leaked all my oil, didnt realize it till it was to late. Then i got another 2200, sold it to my cuz 2 years later, and now im in the 03 LS with the ecotec (greatest car i ever owned by the way). My fuel pump did go out in my 03, but that was the only problem i had out of all the cavaliers. As a matter of fact, the 95 i sold to my cuz, never had any problems. I drove it for 2 years, sold it , and Chris just sold it the other day so he could buy a Tiburon. The car had over 150k on it and was never in the shop once (when i had it, had 80K on it). Fuel mileage in all of these cars varied anywhere from 27mpg, up to 35mpg. All of them were modified slightly too. In my opinion, i think u should get the cavy. As far as other vehicles, i would have to say Toyota Corolla,Yaris,Prius. Honda civic, Kia Spectra (2000+) or Ford Focus. I know all the cars i listed get great fuel mileage, but im not sure how reliable they are mechanically, but i listed them just to give u an idea of some cars to research. Hopefully i helped u out, and good luck with your new job

thanks for the info rob. those cars you listed all hold there resale pretty good. mostly because of the fuel mileage, and you cant really go wrong with a honda or toyota and most people know that. they are all a bit out of my price range though. if i found one in my price range it would probably be with 150k+. ive seen them with 300+ before, but you never know how previous owners treated them. the big part of keeping an engine running is changing the oil. people could go 10k-15k without changing. you never know. thanks again for the info, helps out alot.