hi, i just joined up because i'm going to look at a cavalier i want to buy tomorrow, and i would like to know what to look that is specific to this car, as in what are the problem areas to check on it? so since i'm going to look at it at noon tomorrow i'd like to get some replies before then.
thanks, brendan
well to star off, id be nice to know what year cav and possibly the miles. i know the 95-99 cavs w/ higher miles then to have a problem w/ the 3rd cylinder. alot of cav water pumps go around 80k but there simple to replace. just give us a litte more info on what year cav your getting. if your getting anything from 95-05 check out the third gen forum there could be useful things in there to help you
oops, forgot to say what year, its a 93, with 187,000 km on it, body looks to be in good condition, only 1 minor spot of rust
I had a 93 cavalier, it died after 146xxx miles, whatever that equates to in km, I do not know. The motor blew--connecting rod through the oil pan. But I will tell you, my car had several problems:
radiator went
rust (big issue, painted the inner door jams, hood and some spots on the fender and doors, where they met), plus completely under the rear bumper was all rusted out
thermastat
struts/shocks
The transmission was going, but the engine went first
The A/C leaked--plus it uses R12, which is no longer around, so I converted it and it still leaked
That's all I remember right now. If you want more, just e-mail me.
Sam
Ban low-performance cars, not high-performance ones.
Unless the 93's got better than what the 91's were the car may go through front brakes like mad. My dad's 91 ate brakes and needed new pads at least once every year. It was better with a better pad, finally he found a pair of pads that seemed to last longer on it and then got them with a life-time warranty - smart move on that car, LOL. His 91 had some sort of problem where if you turned the vents on high it had a chance to blow the motor that controlled the fan in there out. He had to replace it twice because of that and never used the vents on high again. His tilt steering wheel broke and had to have the whole steering arm replaced - car needed towed needless to say, undriveable without a functioning steering wheel - LOL. Otherwise, he still has it as a second car and it runs fine. Ahhh, check to make sure the transmission is ok, those cars (if automatic) like to go through torque converters, my dad disabled the torque converter on his because it was stalling like crazy. Of course, the torque converter (I hope I'm using the right word for that part...) disables your high gear so the car tends to be a gas hog now as a result. Hmmm, I think that is all that really ever was wrong with the car so far in it's 116,000 miles it has been around. Of course the 93 might have already fixed these problems so it's hard to say.
i would reccamend asking the dealer for the cars history b4 buying (carfax.com), it probably had a few different owners. also if it was not very well taken care of it will probably die b4 it gets to 200,000 miles domectic engines just are made to last with that kind of high miles but theres alyways a chance it could still be in really condition and it will last awhile yet solong as to take care of it
