Commuters Dream Car

I recently had a 2006 Chevrolet Aveo as a rental and i must say that despite it being very small and very minimal, it was a decent ride. I drove the base model with the automatic transmission. Being 6-2, even renting a car can be a hassle, but I fit into the Aveo pretty well, with my knees bent a little bit. The seats were pretty comfortable, although slightly stiff.

For a ultra compact, base model, inexpensive car, I was surprised to see a tachometer! Yes, it's true! The gauges were easy to see, controls easy to use, but the radio would only play FM (probably not GM's fault). The shifter was a pain in the butt to get back into park as I had to push down on the level to get it from neutral to park. The interior was meager and cheap, but what do you expect?

Now - the important part. How did it drive?
I must say : pretty good!
Acceleration was - well, poor, giving that the car has such a small engine, but once the car was moving, it just purred and at times I did not even know I was driving 75 MPH! The ride was smooth and quiet. Passing on the highway was a bit tough as the pedal had to be floored to accomplish such a task. Braking was good, turning the same - however the rear window was hard to see out of with the headrests. Adjusting the side mirrors was a pain in the butt as the control knobs were pretty far from me.

I put 3.4 gallons of gas into the car with pretty much filled it up about 2/5ths of a tank - a good thing with today's gas prices. I was averaging about 37 MPG overall with the AVEO.

If your looking for a car on the cheap with good gas mileage, I recommend this car. If you need more comfort and a bit more plush, avoid it.