I started out being really happy with this car. It was cheap, less than $2000; had great gas mileage, about 27 mpg highway and about 18 - 20 mpg city. It's a small maneuverable car. Luckily for me, replacement parts are cheap and it's usually a relatively easy car to work on. A month after buying the car used from a friend, I started having issues with it. It could partly be because of the mileage (it had well over 100k miles when I purchased it); I also think the previous owner might not have maintained it very well. Either way, I started having problems almost immediately, and these were mostly issues that I couldn't have fixed aside from paying to have it taken to a mechanic. First, the fuel pump went out a month after I bought it. This was a $500 fix at the local mechanic. I thought everything would be ok after this, but unfortunately a few months later, the head gasket blew! There went another $900 to the mechanic. A few months after that, the engine threw a rod (this was technically my fault since I let my boyfriend - at the time - take it to get the oil changed, and apparently the oil never DID get changed, so hence the reason why the rod was thrown). So luckily for me I had another Cavalier that had been wrecked in the rear end, same make and model as the car I was driving. I had the motor taken out of that car and put into the Cavalier I was driving. No problems for a few months, except a bolt on the water pump that backed out and I had to have it replaced. But a few months after having the motors swapped, the head gasket blew AGAIN! So finally at that point, I gave up and sold the car and got a different vehicle.

My Chevy cavalier has been surprisingly reliable through the various season changes of the north east. It also have given me the ability to drive long miles and not use up much gas. I have to say for the value of the car been inexpensive, I am pleased to own this car. I have never gotten into any accidents, and it drives exceptionally well in the snow.