Hi everyone. New here and considering my first J-Body purchase. My previous experience with GM has been a Beretta that I had pretty good luck with. I'm in need of a new (to me) car and have liked the Cavaliers for a while.
Anyway, I was hoping that some of the more knowledgeable people here could answer a few opinion questions for me so I have an idea what I should be looking for. I did look through this forum and the various FAQs first and got a little info about the differences between some of the various model years, but was hoping to get a little deeper. That being said...
I'm looking for a 3rd Gen Cavalier (would consider a Sunfire also, but prefer the Cav personally).
Given the price range I can afford (<$3500) I figure I'm looking in the 95-00 range. Probably more like just the phase 1's given the going rate around here (Pittsburgh PA area).
So, here are the questions...
Are there any significant differences between the phase 1 model years. Is a 98 any better than a 96, etc? If so, other than the seemingly obvious newer is usually better thinking, is any year better than the others? And, would it be worth any significant amount of extra money to move up to say a phase 2?
I'm of the general impression people prefer the 2.4s to the 2.2s. That having been said, if I can only find a 2.2, is there anything wrong with them that I should be aware of?
Most of the ones I've seen for sale are automatics. Other than the lack of control that a 5sp gives you, from a dependability standpoint, how do the automatics compare to the 5sp?
I believe I read here that Isuzu made the phase 1 transmissions and Getrag made the phase 2? Is one specifically any better than the other? And, again, is it worth spending a little extra $$ to get one over the other?
Guess that's about it.
More specifically, I've found a couple of 97s and 98s with pretty low mileage (from 50-75k) in the price range I'm considering. A few 99s as well, I think. There are some 2000s but the mileage is a bit high (IMHO) for that year (how DOES one put over 100k miles on a car in less that short a time).
I need the car to last me a number of years so I'd like some advice and general comments on things to look for.
Thanks in advance.
TJ
Sorry my response is going to be bland, i just read your post and will respond quickly cuz i need to get goin..
2.2 = more reliable then 2.4, but considerably slower than a 2.4
2.4 = decent reliability, pretty quick with a 5speed.
if your looking for any type of speed, dont buy a 2.2 auto.
If your looking for a cav, my suggestion would be a 2002 2.4 5speed. That seemed to be the glory yr for the cavs.
There will be a lot of debate about this...i'll take the con side and use this quote...
Quote:
I need the car to last me a number of years so I'd like some advice and general comments on things to look for.
you're looking for a car probably between 6 and 10 years old. you need it to last a number of years. my advice is to get something foreign. superiour build quality, materials, reliability.
cavaliers aren't the best in reliability. if you look through the org they're pretty commonly known for problems with the water pump and spinning bearings (in the 2.4 engine). they are very known for cheap materials. pretty much the entire cabin creaks, shakes, groans. the seats are incredibly uncomfortable.
the j-bodies are just econoboxes...and low grade econoboxes at that. you'd be better off finding a 97-2000 corolla/civic.
there's my .02 cents. the j-body lovers can go ahead and flame away. the j-body haters can go ahead and quote me with a "x2"
GO PATS!!!
Sparks wrote:cavaliers aren't the best in reliability.
That can be honestly said about any car that isn't taken care of.
In all honesty, some people buy cars and get a bad car that always has problems and some people buy a car and lasts forever but usually it comes down to how you take care of it.
As far as if our cars are or can be reliable, there are tons of people who have 3rd gens on this site and can tell you that they are running high mileage with very minimum problems and get their car maintained regularly.
Sparks wrote:you're looking for a car probably between 6 and 10 years old. you need it to last a number of years.
I agree, if you're going to buy a car mainly for reliability, buy something within the 2-4 year mark if you have to buy a used vehicle. I'm sure you can shop around and find 02s or 03s for EXTREMELY cheap. One thing about our cars is that we hold very little value so it drops alot between years going by. Not to sound biased but look for an ECOTEC powered vehicle...extremely well engineered engines and reliable as well (I guess that's what happends when GM imports an European motor lol).
Good luck in your car search.
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
Sparks (Puddin') wrote:There will be a lot of debate about this...i'll take the con side and use this quote...
you're looking for a car probably between 6 and 10 years old. you need it to last a number of years. my advice is to get something foreign. superiour build quality, materials, reliability.
Quote:
the j-bodies are just econoboxes...and low grade econoboxes at that. you'd be better off finding a 97-2000 corolla/civic.
Well, to be completely honest, I didn't start out looking for a Cavalier. I initially looked for a Sentra. A family member has a 94 that has been pretty good.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much of anything in the price range I'm looking at with anything much less than 100k miles. Foreign or not, I just have issues trusting a car with 150k on it unless it's something I've taken care of myself. Although, I suppose even a car with 50k on it can be bad if it's been abused.
Admittedly, the biggest problem I have, whether considering a Cavalier or any other car is that I really don't know the best places to look. I mean, I look at all the normal places... ie newspapers, autotrader, etc. I doubt that these are the best outlets to find the best deals but I don't know enough people who are in the know, so to speak, to advise me on where to look.
Any suggestions reguarding that are, of course, greatly appreciated.
i bought my wife's corolla from an add in auto trader. its a 98 LE. we got it with 92,000 miles on it for $4,000. out of the five cars i've owned, its by far the best. checking out a car isn't hard. i had someone check out a carfax report for me to tell me that nothing major had happened to the car. the guy i bought it from wanted 4700. i told him i'd pay him 4700 if he had a certified mechanic check it out and do a tune up or i'd pay him 4000 and i'd get it checked out. i ended up giving him 4 grand, my dad's friend owns his own shop and checked it out for me. i ended up replacing the serp. belt, timing chain, and thermostat. i spent about 4200 bucks. i used kellybluebook to value the car and blue book value was 5200.
point of that long story...the deals are out there. you just gotta look for them. i made the mistake of settling for my cavalier cuz its what i could afford. as stated above, i'm one of the unfortunate people who got a car thats had a lot of different problems...it all depends on the car and who drove it before you.
the biggest no-no's in used car buying. TYPICALLY, 25 and under people beat on their cars so don't buy from them. just because 105k out of 120k miles on a car are freeway miles doesn't mean its a good deal. ALWAYS get a carfax report...even if you gotta spend some moeny on it.
GO PATS!!!
TJinPgh wrote: Other than the lack of control that a 5sp gives you
I take it that you cannot drive a stick shift. I prefer a stick shift over an automatic anyday of the week. Personally, I think that you get alot MORE control over the car if you have a manuel transmission than an automatic. But that is just my .02
I am what I am and it is what it is.
I am the 2nd most untrusted person in the world next to a lawyer,welcome to our dealership, may I help you?
http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=1&i=333805&t=333704#333805
Juicez99cav-Dam Newbies wrote:TJinPgh wrote: Other than the lack of control that a 5sp gives you
I take it that you cannot drive a stick shift. I prefer a stick shift over an automatic anyday of the week. Personally, I think that you get alot MORE control over the car if you have a manuel transmission than an automatic. But that is just my .02
Actually, that was just a mis-speak on my part. Sorry. I meant to say other than the lack of control an automatic gives you. The car I'm driving currently, a Ford Festiva, is a 5sp. And, while there are certainly a few Festiva enthusiasts out there (yes there ARE a few, lol) who would disagree with me on this, I really couldn't imagine driving the car with the automatic. It would no doubt be down right anemic.
That having been said, there are times when I just prefer to veg out and not have to put any effort into driving a car, particularly if I'm driving in an area where there's a stop sign every 10 feet, or in bumper to bumper traffic.
Truthfully, I wish the autosticks had been a better invention. but, that's another topic entirely.
yahoo auto search results for pittsburg, pa
heres a link you might want to check out
also try automart.com
and yah....just look around...youll find some good deals....i would agree to say though that i would go for an ecotec......
R.I.P. Kasey N. Burleson
C.T.S wrote:
That Berette probably had the 2.3 Quad4 with the 3T40 tranny. I've got that in a GAM (same body). I love it, I really do, even if it did blow a head gasket last winter and cost me $200 to fix (did it myself).
Mine was a 95 with a 3.1 v6. Had the same problem though. at around 150k the head gasket blew.
At the time, I knew virtually nothing about cars and fixing them other than the basics (oil, plugs, etc). I drove it longer than I should have and it completely went. I made the mistake of letting it sit over a winter instead of fixing the problem right away and pretty much ruined the engine. My fault, totally.
I put a used 3.1 in which hasn't been nearly as good, despite having far fewer miles.
I'd still consider getting a major overhaul on the engine and getting that up to speed (so to speak) but there are front end problems that really should be addressed first (suspension, steering, etc) and if I'm going to put 3-4k into repairs on that I figured it'd be better to just get something else, and maybe work on the Beretta myself as knowledge, time and money permits.
Say what you will about the Ford/Kia/Mazda Festiva. It's a great car for newbies to learn to work on. Since I've had it I've learned how to swap out cv axles, do brakes (which I'd done on the Beretta also), belts (a major pain on the Beretta) to the point that I feel far more confident in tackling other issues.
At any rate, I have to admit the responses I've gotten have been somewhat disheartening. As I said, I've always liked the styling of the Gen 3s and, while I knew they were hardly top notch in quality (I don't expect that from any car you could buy brand new for well under $10k), I figured them to be better than what I'm learning now.
I do, however, appreciate the candid responses and the honesty. That's why I came here, as I figured you guys know the cars better than some magazine who drives the car for a week and tries to form some sort of impression.
I'm a realist. I don't expect perfection from any car I've owned. But, I also know I can't afford frequent repairs (costly or not). So, I may end up looking elsewhere. Haven't given up on them yet, however. So if somebody wants to ring in and offer something to change my mind, please do, lol.
I suppose, given my budget, I need to convince myself that it's ok to buy a better quality of car, even if it has a little higher mi. than I've typically been comfortable buying. Telling myself it's perfectly ok to buy a car with over 100k on it and spending $2-4k on it won't be easy, though, even if I typically do put less than 12k a year on a car now that I've moved closer to work.
Again, thanks for all the info.
Before I completely talk myself outta these...
could you guys talke a look at this and share your thoughts...
2001 Cavalier
Worth looking into?
i would say most definately no.
two reasons:
1. its modded fairly heavily. you don't know how did the work or if it was done correctly
2. because its modded, it was probably beat on pretty hard. people don't mod their cars to drive them nicely.
GO PATS!!!
i have to put my .02 cents in on this one... i have had three cavaliers the first one i bought was a 91 with the 2.2 in it and i never had any problems out of the car..then i had a 98 2200 and i loved it nothing wrong with it and i thought it had go to it.. and now i have a 01 2.4 and its the worst one of all three i don't think it has the get up as the other two all three are autos...
Black4drcavy wrote:i have to put my .02 cents in on this one... i have had three cavaliers the first one i bought was a 91 with the 2.2 in it and i never had any problems out of the car..then i had a 98 2200 and i loved it nothing wrong with it and i thought it had go to it.. and now i have a 01 2.4 and its the worst one of all three i don't think it has the get up as the other two all three are autos...
if you're 2.4 doesn't have the get up and go that the 2200 had, its running like crap.
GO PATS!!!
Just buy a sentra. Ive got an 03 and its had a minimal of problems, nothing extensive. My wife has a 97 Cav Sedan and Its got 105k now, she got it in march with 100k. Ive already had to replace the gas tank and its probably looking at a head gasket. This isnt my first cavalier either, I had a 91 Sedan as well. The 97 came from Indiana, PA. But in any case, try a car you find attractive and take it to a mechanic and have it checked for soundness. Best of luck.
