Im new to using forums and stuff but ive owned 3 cavaliers and im too poor to pay for proffessional service so i often find myself doing repairs and things myself. I came across this forum and it has alot of good info so i became a member to try and contribute sonething back and become a member of the community. After reading into the topics i began to see a trend of negativity against certain j body cars, specifically cavaliers. Weve all heard the stuff. Bad head gaskets bad timing chains and tensioners. Cheap little cars with poor value that shouldnt be invested in. I often find myself wondering if these people ever owned a cavalier. For me this hasn't been the case. But the point im making isnt on behalf of the cavalier, we all know what it is. Im pointing out the fact that someone actually came onto a jbody forum and signed up and verified their email and made a password just to talk crap on jbodys when they probably own s nissan sentra themselves. We know what the cavalier is. We just want to take pride in an american car that wont cost half our years salary to buy and maintain. And for what its worth, the cavalier is the posterchild of reliability. Get a life guys.

I mean. They are cheap with Poor value. Lol.




"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire

Matt Linke wrote:I mean. They are cheap with Poor value. Lol.

And that is why we will contimue to buy them. But this is a forum for cavaliers. Why come here to trash them

This is my second Cavalier, my first being a '98 coupe. I find they are relatively cheap to maintain which is awesome. Small issues like bum instrument clusters, peeling clear coat, and cracking dashboards, but who cares about those small things? It gives us a chance to take apart and work on these vehicles with a low cost!

Just my $0.02!

I will say mine 1985 cav is 30 years old.WIll it have a big resale value(nope) is it designed to last (yes) and I think time has already proven that!The only thing that matter's to me is I like the car and pretty much pay no attention to the negative thoughts about jbody cars.The end.

I became a big fan of the cavalier when i spun wrenches for a living several years ago (early 2000s) the company i worked for had all the route managers in cavaliers. Well we had seversl with 230+ k miles on them and we never touched the engine or trans. Period!

Yes they have their issues as all cars do. But i think they are very reliable, great little cars. I'm on my 2nd one now. The 2004 i bought last month. Just my opinion

I don't bash them. I would own one again if it were feasible




"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire

IN 2002 while attending college, I found myself needing a new car and I had 4,000 to put down on one. I went shopping and my choices were: CIVIC SI, RSX TYPE S, NISSAN SENTRA V-SPEC, GOLF GTI, JETTA VR6 OR TURBO ETC.


"FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE STOCK"

Sorry about that.. Continued:

The problem with these cars were: $$$. I went from a RICH kid to a poor kid (parents lost millions) and I thought its time to think practical. Why spend $350 a month on one of these cars when I can spend $240 on a LS SPORT. It looked nice, had a new GM family of motors, alloy wheels, fog lights, spoiler, sunroof etc. I Looked inside and said, "damn its cheap in here." Well, I bought it because of my low monthly payment and I just needed a car from point A to B. Right away, I got the modifying bug and started to sink money into her. I have no regrets for the past 13 years. Sure, I wish it was nice inside, came with rear disc brakes and had more stock HP, but it has been totally reliable, fun to drive and my car does stand out from the crowd!

I can now buy an expensive sport car, but I chose to buy nice daily drivers instead and continue to keep the cavalier as my "sports car." Do I want to sink more money into her, YES. Do I put money in the bank first, YES. What I am trying to say is that I'm not ready to let her go and when time is right I will finish the build and probably still keep her!


"FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE STOCK"

good to know im not alont

murry meyer wrote:good to know im not alont

I agree, glad to see other people who are into these cars. I must say, I didn't expect to see nearly as much hate towards cavaliers on this forum when I first joined. For Pete's sake, the forum name is "J-body organization" and there are still people who went through the bother of signing up, just to bash cavys and sunfires. No they are not race cars, but there are people (my self included) who want more then just transportation from A to B, and modifying your car is a great way to get that. Think out side the box, have fun, and don't restrict your self to the thought that only five figure cars are the secret to driving pleasure.

Ben Yuschushyn wrote:

murry meyer wrote:good to know im not alont

I agree, glad to see other people who are into these cars. I must say, I didn't expect to see nearly as much hate towards cavaliers on this forum when I first joined. For Pete's sake, the forum name is "J-body organization" and there are still people who went through the bother of signing up, just to bash cavys and sunfires. No they are not race cars, but there are people (my self included) who want more then just transportation from A to B, and modifying your car is a great way to get that. Think out side the box, have fun, and don't restrict your self to the thought that only five figure cars are the secret to driving pleasure.

couldnt have said it better myself ^

That's right - you'll be seein my bowtie as I pull on ya lol


"FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE STOCK"

As an aside, going from my 01 OHV 2200 engine (which is a darn good engine in it's own right) to the 2.2 Ecotec in my current 04, there is quite a bit of difference power wise, Ecotec versus the OHV. Eventhough before I bought my 04 last month it had been about 7 yrs since I last drove the 01, I noticed an immediate difference in power. the 2.2 Ecotec even in stock trim really seems to have good power for a NA 4 cylinder. I've not ran it out yet and don't know if I ever will (it has 140K and i don't want to push it too hard) but I can easily see how guys I read about on this forum that have turbos or supercharges on the 2.2 Ecotec really run strong.

Now I am old school and will show my age by saying this, but I would bet a boosted (turbo/supercharged 2.2 Ecotec) would run with a stock 5.0 mustang from the late 80's early 90's (fox body). Yeah, I owned and played with several 5L mustangs and loved those cars too.

I'm guessing they hate on Cavaliers for the same reason they hate on Escorts or Neons, Civics, or any small car. It's a "girls car".

It's funny, people who know what I drive will make fun of someone for wanting to turbo a Cavalier, and I just laugh because my truck has the same engine.

I do have to say that any small car with an autotragic is pretty horrendous to drive. My first car was a Tempo with a 3 speed auto, and driving a manual Tempo is like driving a completely different car.

I will say my 85 is a 4spd and just loads of fun to drive.Now I did buy a brand new 11 civic lx-s and just a super great car and yes auto(no manuals) were left anywhere in the model I got.Now I did trade the civic back in 13 bc I am more of a truck guy as I bought the civic as a replacement for now retired 1987 mazda cabplus pu bought new and own to this day.I miss my civic however I really like my 14 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 5spd a lot more.The short is I like Jbodies and never considered civics less appealing or less manly.But I will say my choice on transmission is manual any day over auto in anything period.I would def enjoy a 86/87 hatchback Z24 with a manual as I prefer the 1st gens overall.In the end I just like jbodies no matter the gen thing.

I dont think there are "legitimate" members here who would bash a J for being a J.

We all know what we own. These cars are just like all the other cars that cost the same and are in the same class. They run a long time with care, and do great at almost anything except haul a lot of things or people.

The people who hate are the people who dont get the whole thing IMO, thats not native to J hate.

Mine never rattled on the inside, broke down (in stock form anyhow lol), costed much in maintenance, or did anything that I could complain about. Even when mine had probably over 5x the factory HP (with many many stock/stock replacement internal parts) the problems I experienced with it were my own fault 90% of the time. The dash cracked when i let it sit for 8 months before I could afford to work on my turbo build.

I got looked down on ONCE by a guy in some porsche. That porsche looked GREAT in the rear view.

lol i have a modified 2013 Mustang GT now, and it doesnt pull as hard as my LN2 did.

haters dont care what you drive, theyll find a way to hate. I get more BS in the mustang than I did in the cav actually.





"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire

What's the difference between a porcupine and a Porsche? With a porcupine, the pricks are on the outside...

that and I never beat a porcupine in a race?


"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire

Fun cars for a few bucks...you can't beat that!


http://www.autorentalandsales.com/images/2004Cavalier005.JPG

Look, our "Cavalier" is never going to be an iconic 4 banger sport compact. It doesn't have the refinement of the VW GTI/VR6, the high revving motor of the SI VTEC's or even the rear wheel drive of a 240SX / SILVIA. That's something you as a J owner needs to get over. I like having the iconic sport car thing - reason why I have a VW VR6. I do feel it would be nice if the J was iconic even to a slight extent, but it is not. I personally, take care and ensure my car looks like it came out of a showroom and I love it when people don't know what kind of car I have at times! Always, positive results from anyone that sees it.

As mentioned prior, low maintenance, replaced 3 stock parts in 13 years, mainly due to my serious redlining habit (fuel pump and coil pack), TPS (throttle position sensor) because I diagnosed the coil pack incorrectly. I sink money into because she is worth it.


"FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE STOCK"

Have owned 95' Honda Civic, 79-82 Toyota Corollas, 89" Nissan Sentra. Have a 2013 Ford Focus SE/SFE and a 2000 Cavalier. I drive my Cavalier more than I do my Focus. My Cavalier with 113,000 miles runs better, and shifts a lot better ( Focus has the DCT trans ). I bought the Focus to take the miles off the Cavalier. Honestly, I can't see any difference in the build of the $12,000 the Cavalier cost new, and the $18,500 the Focus cost new. I