piner@pur-phy.UUCP (Richard Piner) (01/15/86)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** This seems to be the week for requesting info on new cars. I too am in the market for a new car. The front runner at this time seems to be the Chevy Cavalier. So, I thought I would ask the folks out their for their experiences with this car, good and/or bad. Any options you would suggest to get or avoid. Is the five speed worth the extra money? Hope to hear your experiences soon. Thanks. Rich Piner piner@pur-phy.UUCP P.S. To the person that flamed the Vegas, they had a very bad start to be sure. But the later models (after 73) were much better. I've been driving mine, every day, for 12 years. I lost a water pump when the car was new, but that has been the only part that failed early and without warning. Otherwise it has been very reliable and by today's standards even roomy. I will hate to see it go.
4373jml@homxb.UUCP (J.LISS) (01/17/86)
I bought the cavalier int 82 when it first came out. I bought a loaded model and got rid of it 2 months later. Granted the new models might have changed, however at the time it was the worst car I ever sat in. Here are some reasons. 1) Lack of leg room for driver, look closely at that hump on the left side where the wheel well is. It isn't obvious until you've driven the car and are looking for a place to put your foot. 2) Seats were very very uncomfortable (at least for me). 3) Engine was very underpowered (and I mean very), I know that they have changed it since then, but I still don't trust them. 4) Transmission was a mush mush (probably cause of 3). 5) Fuel mileage was nothing to speak of, my roomier and less expensive VW wagon (85) gets much better mpg and has better pick-up. 6) Factory equipped radio/speakers weren't worth a dime. 7) Trunk space seemed big, but somehow when I took a trip with my wife we had trouble storing luggage. 8) Not enough room in the back. I hate to say this, but check out the foreign cars before purchasing a cavalier. My equivalent choice would probably be a VW Jetta. Jonathan M. Liss homxb!4373jml
smh@mhuxl.UUCP (henning) (01/18/86)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA mhuxl!smh > I bought the cavalier int 82 when it first came out. > 1) Lack of leg room for driver, > 2) Seats were very very uncomfortable (at least for me). > 3) Engine was very underpowered (and I mean very), > 4) Transmission was a mush mush (probably cause of 3). > 5) Fuel mileage was nothing to speak of, > 6) Factory equipped radio/speakers weren't worth a dime. > 7) Trunk space seemed big, but somehow we had trouble storing luggage. > 8) Not enough room in the back. My wife and I rented a 1985 Cavalier for 3 weeks in Alaska and a 1986 Cavalier for 2 weeks in Arizona. They both had plenty of leg room, comfortable seats, good engine response and typically 26mpg on a V-6, good automatic transmission with overdrive, excellent radio with search and scan, plenty of trunk space and good back seat room for 3 adults. If in doubt try renting one for a week. It is a lot cheaper than buying something you don't like. My complaints were: no clock, no intermittant speed on the windshield wiper, and the automatic door-lock required opening with the key then pushing the button, somewhat redundant.
steve@polyof.UUCP (A2 Steve Weiss) (01/20/86)
> This seems to be the week for requesting info on new cars. I too am > in the market for a new car. The front runner at this time seems to > be the Chevy Cavalier. So, I thought I would ask the folks out their > for their experiences with this car, good and/or bad. Any options you > would suggest to get or avoid. Is the five speed worth the extra money? > Hope to hear your experiences soon. Thanks. > > Rich Piner > piner@pur-phy.UUCP I bought an 85 Skyhawk (the buick equivalent). So far i am not sorry i bought it. I got the optional 1.8 OHC engine with EFI. It puts out 84 HP i believe just enough for the car to get out of its way except when the AC is on. With the AC on, you notice a difference but the acceleration is still reasonable. (I have an automatic) Although when it is 90 degrees out, i can live with the lesser acceleration. So far i have put 19k miles on the car and have not had any mechanical problems. Although, i do have some complaints... 1) When it is cold out, the front bushings sqauwk. The volume and sensitivity is proportional to how cold it is out. Also, the problem seems to lessen when the bushings get warm after a few miles. I had the bushings replaced and the problem is still present. 2) The car is loud. so far i have the muffler replaced once and the car seems to be getting loud again. (if you get the extended warrenty, the muffler is covered). 3) the breaks squeal. when i first got the car, the breaks had to be adjusted and that fixed them. this is supposively on all the J-cars (they tend to need to have the breaks readjusted from time to time). other then that, nothing major. overall the car seems to be holding up nicely. mechanically, there is nothing wrong (except for the above) and cosmetically, it is doing just fine. I waxed the car a few times and run i through the car wash when it gets dirty or after the snow has dissapeared after it snows and the car has no signs of rust. also, i did not get the rust proofing. BTW, i bought the buick over the pontiac and chevy since they gave the best price. Also, we had two chevies (citation and monza) and had nothing but troubles. steve
cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (01/20/86)
> I bought the cavalier int 82 when it first came out. I bought a loaded > model and got rid of it 2 months later. Granted the new models might have > changed, however at the time it was the worst car I ever sat in. Here are > some reasons. > I own an 84 Chevrolet Cavalier, and while I'm not utterly happy with it (in fact, I doubt I will buy another American car for a LONG time), my experiences are dramatically different. Point by point: > 1) Lack of leg room for driver, look closely at that hump on the left side > where the wheel well is. It isn't obvious until you've driven the car > and are looking for a place to put your foot. I'm 5'10", and I don't find the "hump" where the wheel well is a problem -- even on long drives. > 2) Seats were very very uncomfortable (at least for me). Seats aren't the most comfortable I've ever sat in, but they are much better than American car seats used to be -- medium firm instead of squishy, and some bolstering is present to hold you in place (though I doubt most Cavalier owners corner hard enough to worry about this). > 3) Engine was very underpowered (and I mean very), I know that they have > changed it since then, but I still don't trust them. The early Cavaliers had 1.8 liter carburetted engines -- they wouldn't out-accelerate some VW Microbuses. Mine has a 2.0 liter fuel injected engine, and it's adequate. (You can get 2.8 liter V6 in the Cavalier now -- that should solve that problem.) > 4) Transmission was a mush mush (probably cause of 3). My 84 has the same antiquated 3-speed automatic -- don't hold your breath waiting for it to improve. This is the cause of... > 5) Fuel mileage was nothing to speak of, my roomier and less expensive VW > wagon (85) gets much better mpg and has better pick-up. I've rented Chevrolet Celebrities with V6 and 4-speed automatic that got better mileage and MUCH better pick-up than my Cavalier. I would consider THAT before the Cavalier. > 6) Factory equipped radio/speakers weren't worth a dime. If it's the bottom-of-the-line AM radio, of course! AM/FM/stereo cassette is mine is as good a stereo as I've heard at REASONABLE volume levels. (Of course, some of you run stereos so loud that it makes a difference --- but I doubt you can hear sirens or horns at those levels.) > 7) Trunk space seemed big, but somehow when I took a trip with my wife we > had trouble storing luggage. Complete agreement. There's not much room back there. > 8) Not enough room in the back. > For adults on a long trip, this is probably true. For children it's fine. > > I hate to say this, but check out the foreign cars before purchasing > a cavalier. My equivalent choice would probably be a VW Jetta. > > Jonathan M. Liss homxb!4373jml Or a Toyota Corolla.