2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
I purchased a 2003 Chevy Cavalier at the end of April 2003 and did not have the car more then a week when I started having problems with it. The first was a grinding noise that started coming out of the A/C and then later I noticed a popping noise coming from the front end. At that time I took the car to the dealership and they had the car for two days before releasing it back to me. They said the noise in the A/C even though it was quite loud was still within normal limits and would eventually go away. It is now January and the noise is still there as loud as ever. The popping noise in the front end was caused by loose bolts in the front end assembly (very secure feeling hearing that) but I accepted that since new cars always have bugs in them. About a month later I went on a long trip in the car and I started experiencing transmission troubles when I ran the cruise. The car was confused as to which gear it wanted to be in while at cruising speed and would consistently up shift and down shift on flat grades. I again took the car to the dealership who said that it was due to poor gasoline and to run regular high quality unleaded which I have from day one. The transmission continued to worsen and surprisingly the popping noise returned and the front end became sloppy. Third time I had the dealership work on the car and this time they had to replace clamps in the front end because they had broke probably from not being assembled properly in the first place. They also said that the transmission had an engine brake on it causing the car to downshift (on flat grades no less). I checked into the engine brake response more and found out that the car does not have such a thing. Now we are back to the same problems the transmission is confused and the front end is popping again. I am now fighting directly with GM who won’t admit that this is a problem. Unfortunately, I am not going to accept this I purchased a brand new car and I expect it to run. Had I purchased a ten or twelve year old car with over a hundred thousand miles it would be different but I bought this car almost off the truck.
James Barnes

Hello, my name is William Worley me and my fiancé bought a 2003 Chevrolet cavalier in march 2003. Only 39 days after purchase the windshield wipers suddenly quit working my fiancé and 2 kids sat on the side of the road for almost 3 hours !!! Also the car had a bad popping noise in the front end and the dash rattled above 60 mph. Two different dealerships worked on the car a total of 6 times and could not get the problems corrected. The car had been out of operation for a total of 42 days. Not only did they not fix it but other problems surfaced !!! We have already been through arbitration with the south carolina better business bureau. We received the decision in the mail on 12/03/03 they awarded us a repurchase of the car. My concern now is they only awarded us 18,907.78 and the pay off on the car is 18,559.39 until 12/24/03 . We traded in a 1997 pontiac grand prix GT that booked out at $4000.00 they paid it off for $4800.00 so there was a negative equity of $800.00 and they deducted $590.22 for reasonable use deduction. We put down $500.00 cash and have paid 6 payments of $418.76 and we got to pay property taxes over $400.00 and they want us to keep making payments for the next 2 months !!!!!!!! We are really concerned with the safety of this car and we feel that this thing has been dragging on way to long !!!! My fiancé says she is afraid of her and our 2 kids safety every time she has to drive.
William Worley