Aveo5 is Cute-Looking, But Falls Short Everywhere Else

2009 Chevrolet Aveo5 2LT

model as tested $18,115

Test Drove 6/10/09 – 6/17/09
reviewed by Courtney Messenbaugh

Within the first few minutes of testing the 2009 Chevy Aveo5, I discovered that its cargo area wasn’t large enough to accommodate my stroller, and my rear-facing infant-safety seat barely fit in the backseat. I decided to alter my perspective and consider the Aveo5 as a car that might be better suited to a teenager or a first-time car buyer, rather than a mother of two young children. It’s not. The Aveo5 has abysmal safety ratings. Despite my best efforts to accommodate the Aveo5, it simply couldn’t accommodate me. I ended my time with the hatchback wondering if it could really accommodate anyone.

The Aveo5 feels like driving a go-kart. Colorado has just a few hills; the Aveo5 managed them, but only after I cut a hole in the floorboards and had my husband Flintstone-foot our way up. I’m kidding, of course. It was a struggle to make it up the hills, and this was under the friendliest of road conditions. I shudder to think how the Aveo5 might handle a little snow on the road.

While I was driving with my son in the car, he kept asking, “Mommy, what is that noise?” That was his toddler way of saying, “Mommy, I can hear the outside world loudly and clearly in this car, and it’s noisy back here!” If you desire a well-insulated cabin, take the Aveo5 off your list.

The Aveo5 gets an EPA-estimated 27/34 mpg city/highway. I never managed to achieve those gas mileage numbers; I had to fill the car up with gas twice during my short week with it because of its tiny 12-gallon gas tank.

The Aveo will get you where you need to go, though, so if you don’t care that much about safety, don’t have children and don’t live near hills or have any inclement weather, this could be the car for you. It is not, however, the car for me.

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