More pictures of my 2009 Aveo drive

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I must say I don’t think the new front end works with the rest of the car. They did redesign the sedan much more than this.
This one also deserved a new body.

What is still impressive after a few days is the interior design and quality.


Everything feels solid and well put together. Even if it is all hard plastic.
And it does look quite upscale. I am not a fan of fake wood on any car. But I’m surprised how it does give the Aveo a little more expensive look.
Plus the whole thing is really roomy.


The trunk is what you expect in a small hatch this size. But too bad the seats do not fold flat

The driving experience is quite mundane. Nothing is ever exiting, but nothing is ever wrong.
As I said before, the shifter feels a bit rubbery. And I did shift the wrong gear a couple of times. But nothing you couldn’t get used to after driving it for a while.
The suspension is smooth. But the handling is just OK. Besides, you seat just too high to feel like driving fast.
Plus, the engine power is really just what you need to get around, nothing more, ever.

It is a nice little car for the price. I guess that’s pretty much as you can expect for about $13 000.
And the interior alone doesn’t make you feel you got a “bargain basement mobile”.
You can even add leather….

More later

Conversation 19 comments

  1. Vince,

    Although the seats don’t fold flat if you pull the belts they fold up again against the front seatbacks. Kinda like the old VW Rabbits of the late 70’s. In the picture you only folded the rear seat backs down. Pull the belts and release the latches on the back rear of the seat bottoms then flip them up into the rear of front seat backs. Pretty good storage although not as convienient as a FIT.

  2. Vince, do you have a family member or friend working at a local GM dealership? You have been reviewing quite a few GM products lately. The G8, Solstice, Aveo, Malibu… did I miss any? Thank you for the review of the Aveo. Honestly, I am not sure if I know of another auto site that has reviewed it.

  3. Even though it is quite an aged model, they have done the right thing by increasing the quality of the interior.

  4. Vince, leatherette is not REAL leather so don’t say it is available with it. It even says it is leatherette on Chevy’s website.

    Come on.

  5. Nice interior. I even like the wood trim in the pics. But they gotta change that front end. YYYEEEEESSSHHH!

  6. The front of this car is ghastly and not well-integrated with the old design. It’s unfortunate, because the rest of it looks decent.

  7. The front is a heavy-handed design that looks like it was meant for another vehicle… which it was. However they’ve managed to keep this car in the game by improving it often, particularly the interior. This is a great city car or car for a cash starved college student. If they could just inject a little Mini-like quirkiness into the style a bit, it’d be a car that more people would consider.

  8. The front is a heavy-handed design that looks like it was meant for another vehicle… which it was. However they’ve managed to keep this car in the game by improving it often, particularly the interior. This is a great city car or car for a cash starved college student. If they could just inject a little Mini-like quirkiness into the style a bit, it’d be a car that more people would consider.

  9. Why do we have to buy a small expensive german car to get real leather?

    Small no longer means econo/cheap.

  10. ” cubedtothex said…
    Why do we have to buy a small expensive german car to get real leather?

    Small no longer means econo/cheap.”

    I remember the Jetta was offered with leatherette for a while. It still might be, haven’t checked the site in a while…

  11. because cows have standard too, lol.

    i think mb called their leatherette mb tex.

    vince, you didn’t talk how it compared to others vehicles in its class.

  12. The seats make the hatch worthless.

    No they don’t. Try to shove cargo into that same hatch if the seats didn’t fold down.

    Then, and only then, should we entertain your notion.

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