Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet aveo. The contact was unable to turn the vehicle off and the ignition switch seized. The contact stated that a fuse or the battery needed to be removed in order to turn the vehicle off. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
Chevrolet Aveo engine failure problems
29 of the 1,322 owner complaints about the Chevrolet Aveo describe engine failure, most of them for the 2004 model year.
- owner complaints
- 29
- worst model year
- 2004
- typical repair cost reported
- $2,100
- typical mileage
- 65,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
Loss of power 4Steering lock-up 3Check engine light 3Stalling 2No deployment 2Adaptive cruise 2Won't start 1Won't shift 1
What owners say
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet aveo. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the steering column seized without warning. The vehicle was manually restarted and the steering operated normally. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 127,429.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet aveo. While driving 5 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the steering wheel seized. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet aveo. While driving 10 MPH, the vehicle involuntary accelerated and the braking ability seized. The vehicle crashed into a utility pole. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 38,000.
I purchased this vehicle brand new. The first winter I had it, the throttle body seized leaving the throttle open and the engine racing - the car has a manual transmission, therefore I was able to depress the clutch and pull it over. The local chevrolet dealer in circleville, oh performed a technical service bulletin on the car, rerouting the egr system & removing some parts around the throttle body. On subsequent events, the car experienced severe loss of power and surges. The throttle body was replaced. The problem occurred again with the same trouble code being set. The car is now on its third throttle body (tps sensor cannot be replaced separately) this model year has a throttle-by-wire engine control system. My car still suffers from an intermittent engine trouble codes related to the throttle body and surging problems. Finally, the manual transmission broke its internal shifting mechanism and the car locked itself in gear. At the same time, the clutch did not seem to function. I am afraid to drive with family members in this car.
The mileage and speed are approximate. I was backing out of my ice and snow covered driveway in february 2015. There is a small dip where my driveway meets the street so I accelerated so as not to get my tires stuck in the icy dip. As I was backing my car into the street, and my car was in the lane of traffic the car shut off. I was unable to restart the car. My neighbor, and another gentleman who stopped to help, pushed my car back into my driveway. I attempted to start the car several times after the incident. The car never again started. I borrowed a vehicle until I had enough money to have the car towed to a mechanic for repairs. A mechanic looked at my vehicle and told me on may 11, 2015 that the car needs a new engine, the price of which is $4,823.00. The mechanic further told me that the aftermarket/remanufactured engines company they deal with does not have an engine for this make and model car because this engine has so many problems that the company will not touch it. I believe that the oem engine has serious defects that have been overlooked due to the lack of reporting and lack of serious injury associated with the defect/failure. My car has shut off on me on three different days within an approximate six month period. I had a mechanic look at the car to figure out why it was shutting off on me in traffic and there was no indicator of any issue. My check engine light never came on, even after the recent engine failure. Please investigate this engine.
Car went to 500 RPM then dropped to 300 RPM then down to 100 RPM; I immediately pulled off the main road to a side street. Lost power steering and was unable to restart car again. Car taken to local mechanic after running diagnostic tests on the vehicle, determined the car was savable and that the timing belt broke causing three sets of valves to bend. The timing belt kit, head gasket, water pump and valve kits need to be changed. The engine needs to be reconditioned; new engine oil needs to be put into the car along with flushing the fluids. Since this is a massive rework of the vehicle, it will be out of service one week and the repair cost is $2,100.00. Mileage on the car is under 60,000, I am original owner. General motors - chevrolet division contacted because I did not take to a gm dealer for service (unable to afford) and because they advised me this is so far out of the warranty, they would not offer any assistance. However, I did look up a service bulletin and it did say the parts are under warranty.
After driving vehicle I parked it. Started vehicle, accelerated and engine stalled. Idled to parking lot and engine died. Started back up and eventually got it running. Took off from a stop light and stalled when apply gas, finally got it to drive at speed posted.
My daughter was driving this vehicle when the engine died at highway speed. She lost all power assist systems including power steering and brakes. She placed the car in neutral, at speed, restarted the vehicle and continued to travel without incident.
I was driving approximately 25mph when suddenly I heard a strange, loud rubbing/ clattering noise coming from under the hood. I pulled the vehicle over and turned the engine off. My boyfriend, who is a mechanic, looked at the engine and said the timing belt was broken. The vehicle would not restart and had to be towed. Now I am finding out that this is a known problem in this particular 4 cylinder gm vehicle. This engine is an interference engine. This means that the only thing preventing the valves from striking the pistons during vehicle operation is the timing belt. If/ when it breaks, it causes catastrophic engine damage, often requiring engine replacement. One or more of the timing belt pulleys are made of plastic. When the timing belt pulley breaks, shards of plastic snap off and become lodged inside of the engine, rendering the engine useless. Also, at high rate of speed, the valves become bent when the belt/ pulley(s) malfunctions. This is both costly and dangerous to the consumer, and the manufacturer should have made all pulleys and moving parts on the engine out of metal instead of plastic.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Chevrolet Aveo engine failure
Which Chevrolet Aveo years have engine failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2004 (11 complaints), 2005 (6 complaints) and 2007 (4 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix engine failure on the Chevrolet Aveo?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $2,100 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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