Good morning, and welcome to another week of questionable automotive choices! Today’s choices both have five doors, five forward speeds, and interesting pigments in their paints. But first, let’s see which Euro project you chose on Friday:
Interesting. Personally I would choose the Alfa, though I wouldn’t kick either one out of the garage.
Now then: Let’s take a look at some examples of one of my favorite category of cars: little hatchbacks. For some reason, I tend to favor cars from opposite ends of the size spectrum, either really small or really big. (A few years ago I had a Miata and a Coupe DeVille at the same time, for example). Big cars are cool, but small cars are way easier to live with, and if they have a great big opening in the back, they’re even better. And if they’re manuals and in interesting colors? Better still.
2006 Chevrolet Aveo – $2,350
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter DOHC inline 4, 5 speed manual, FWD
Location: Salem, OR
Odometer reading: 229,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
And here we are, looking at another Daewoo, only this one is hiding behind a Chevy bowtie. The Chevy Aveo was known as the Daewoo Kalos in its home country of South Korea. This little car made the rounds, it seems; it was sold all over the world under various names.
Here in the US, the Aveo was offered only with a 1.6 liter twincam four, and anyone with any sense bought it with a five-speed manual instead of the power- and soul-sucking automatic that was available. Lucky for us, the original buyer of this Aveo had some sense. They also picked a good color: I’ve always liked this bronzey orange color. Someone has gotten their money’s worth out of it already, judging by the odometer. That’s the thing about practical little cars – they get used a lot.
We aren’t given a lot of information about this car’s condition, but from the photos it looks pretty good. There are a few bumps and bruises, and a little discoloration on the inside, but it’s not bad at all. I’d be curious to hear the story behind that dent above the rear quarter window; that’s a strange place for a car to get dented.
The Aveo has a somewhat spotty reputation for reliability, but I guess they did something right when they built this one. Small cheap cars are too often considered disposable and not taken care of; for a little econobox like this to clear 200,000 miles and keep going means someone took care of it.
2003 Mazda Protege5 – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter DOHC inline 4, 5 speed manual, FWD
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Odometer reading: 190,000 miles
Runs/drives? Sure does
I am a huge fan of this car. The one and only car I ever bought new was a BJ-chassis Mazda Protege, though not a 5. It was a fantastic car for the four years I owned it: economical, good-handling, comfortable, and reliable. Over the intervening years, this car has gained a reputation for premature rust; it’s possible I dodged a bullet getting rid of it early.
The seller of this Protege says it only has “1 or 2 visible rust spots,” but the fact that a car in Los Angeles has any at all is telling. Corrosion issues aside, what you’ve got here is a nice torquey 2 liter engine, a slick-shifting five-speed manual, and excellent road manners, all wrapped up in a practical small wagon body.
This car looks like it’s in good shape apart from the rust. The screaming-yellow paint is a little faded around the edges, and there is a sizeable dent in the back bumper, but it’s still perfectly presentable. Inside, it’s a little worn, but not bad at all. The Protege5 was only available in one trim level, equivalent to the ES model of the sedan. As such, it has plenty of goodies that my DX sedan lacked: rear disc brakes, sport seats, and power windows and locks, for a start. And a tach! Yes, as late as 2003, you could still get a manual car with no tachometer.
I still like these cars a lot, and it’s good to hear they’re holding up mechanically, even if rust is a potential problem. This one looks like a decent example, and it should still have some life left in it. It has new tires and brakes, and had the catalytic converter replaced a couple years ago, so emissions tests should be a non-issue.
So that’s what we’ve got for your Monday morning entertainment: Two small hatchbacky wagony things with stickshifts and cool paint colors. Which one catches your attention?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I was working in Edinburgh some years ago. One long weekend my wife and I rented a car to go and explore the Scottish Highlands. We ended up with an Aveo because it was cheap, we were earning crap money and still paying a mortgage back home in Australia. What a fucking mistake it was to not pay a few more pounds per day. The thing about the Scottish Highlands is they’re rather hilly. Even with a manual that underpowered heap of shit was dangerously slow. I think the European version wasn’t even a 1.6l from memory – could have even been a 1.2. I’d pick the Mazda over the Daewoo even if it was actively on fire.
Crazy coincidence, my first car was an Aveo sedan (marketed as the Lova in China), while my dad’s first car was a ’96 Protege (marketed as the 323 in Hong Kong).
The Mazda was an auto, so nothing exciting there; it got driven less than 30000km over 12 years (thanks to Hong Kong’s fabulous mass transit) and was eventually given away to a neighbor for free. 8 years and an extra hundred thousand kms later they scrapped it and bought a used Camry 🙁
As for the Aveo, I was looking for something cheap with a manual as my first car while studying abroad in China; found a ’10 manual sedan in blue with the facelift, which I personally think looks way better than the early models. Definitely not the last word in performance or style or comfort, but for a beginner it was absolutely perfect. Clutch was light and forgiving, and the manual box made it surprisingly peppy, keeping up with and even overtaking all those Chinese EVs on morning commutes. Steering was devoid of feedback but incredibly precise (Chinese car sites likened it to a go kart with power steering), fuel economy was decent (40-ish MPG), and it was mechanically simple enough for me to gain some actual wrenching skills. The Aveo gets a bad rap (sometimes deservedly so) but to 19yo me it was a damn good car.
My first thought was, “could the Mazda skunk the Aveo?” 100% win? Then I thought no, there always are a few contrarians in Amy group. I am not surprised the Aveo got votes, but a little surprised it has 6 percent.
Yes, by Midwestern standards the P5 is a unicorn, yes, in my opinion the P5 is the perfect commuter or daily driver. Big enough for four when needed, plenty of room for two, plenty of room for what not in tbe hatch/SW area. I considered one years ago, bit at a few years old they were already rusting away around here. This choice is easiest ever.
Registered just to chime in here.
Some years back, I covered a late-night triple-fatal crash in the desert for the paper that involved the sedan version of the Aveo (same 2006 model year). The Aveo lost badly — the engine block was in multiple pieces on the road, the front bumper area was all the way in the back seat, etc. Both people in the front seat died, one a high school senior and the other a previous-year graduate, with one backseat passenger airlifted and facing years of surgeries and the other taken away by ambulance. The driver of the other car died, but I think she must not have been wearing a seat belt because there was plenty of survival space. The other car was a 2002 VW Golf 4-door, not even some huge truck or SUV, so if a 2,800-pound VW Golf completely destroys an Aveo like that, the obvious choice is the Mazda.
I can’t see the rust spots in the pictures, but depending on how close to the beach the car is, it may be getting some rust from the salty air. That sort of rust doesn’t really affect the undercarriage so much as the body.
Over here where that car was badged as the Holden Barina it got a 1 star ANCAP crash rating. My father in law bought one brand new for his youngest daughter when she turned 16 because “I can’t have her driving around in some death trap”. I just had to bite my tongue on that occasion…
Another vote for the Mazda, even though it’ll be orange dust by next spring if I bring it home to the salt belt.
And I thought I’d never consider a Mazda of that era because of known rust… …never expected to see one pitted against an Aveo, I guess.
As the owner of a Chevy Spark, for a brief moment I thought of voting for the Aveo. Then I looked at the other – a stick shift yellow wagon and realized I’ve never owned a Mazda, so this would be a good time to start. In other words, I came to my senses.
I can relate well to the extreme ends of the scale car preferences. In addition to the aforementioned Spark, I’ve got a ’94 Fleetwood Brougham. It’s great to cover all bases.
I once had to drive a Chevy Aveo to Tahoe in a snowstorm, the most terrifying drive of my life in the very worst car I could have driven in those conditions.
By my Minnesotan standards, that Mazda is in mint condition. Most of the ones around here didn’t last much more than a decade. And I’ve always loved Mazda’s designs from that period. And it’s yellow! Think my answer is clear.
A place where I worked had one as a pool car (badged as a Holden Barina) and NO ONE and I mean NO ONE wanted to drive it. It wasn’t ever available to my department, so thankfully I never ever had the misfortune of having to drive it. This thing was so bad, that it made the Head of Department meeting minutes more than once with staff complaints.
Way back then I rented an Aveo at the Detroit airport to get me to a week of training in Aurora. It made it there and back, but it never once felt like it was a sure thing. When my wife was going on about a rental Mitsubishi with a CVT and said it was the worst car ever my reply was: “You’ve never been in an Aveo.”
As long as there is no hidden rust, the Mazda all the way. It’s a much better car in every way except rust protection.
I didn’t even read the article before voting. I saw Aveo and automatically scrolled down to vote for the Mazda.
My wife got an Aveo as a rental onetime after her car was wrecked. I have to say for a low mileage car (less than 10k miles) it was a piece of crap. Damn thing rattled and the road noise was horrible. No power, which is a biggy as we live at the end of the Appalachian range and her commute involved climbing a mountain, going down into the valley and then climbing a smaller mountain. One of the worst new cars I have ever encountered.
One of my first cars was a Pro5. Loved that thing.
I’ve never driven an Aveo, so I can’t corroborate all the bad in the comments, but it’s obvious at a glance that the Mazda has a lot more to offer.
The Aveo was a last-minute substitution, just so y’all know. It was supposed to be a wine-red Scion XB, but someone had the nerve to buy it before I had a chance to write this last night. The Craig giveth, and the Craig taketh away…
The Chevy Aveo is the worst car I have ever driven by far. I would rather use Jason’s Yugo as a daily driver.
The Chevy dealer I used to work at had a red manual Aveo on the used lot for about six months before it eventually went to wholesale. I got a decent amount of seat time during that period. While it had a surprisingly good shifter (only like a step or two lower than a go-kart), it was, ultimately, the definition of a penalty box. The previous owner must’ve agreed, since they’d only put about 60,000 miles on it by 2018. Based on that experience, I voted for the Mazda.
I remember the Protegé growing up. They were cute cars before the Mazda3 came out for the first time and it’s like WOW to a 10 year old.
That’s why post-pandemic, I find myself working for Mazda.
…is that ND in your avatar a company car? Asking for…reasons.
I loved my Protege with the 2.0. It ate brakes for breakfast and the low profile tires were *not* happy with Philadelphia potholes, but it was such a fun car.
No one who has ever driven an Aveo, would ever willingly do it again. Horrible car with 0 redreaming qualities and this one is even a horrible color. If the Mazda was actively on fire, it still would be the right choice.
“…this one is even a horrible color.”
Found the Aggie!
Jokes aside, that last sentence is spot on. Mazda all the way.
Actually, a die hard fan of the real UT, the University of TN! Go Big Orange! I am aware of my hypocrisy in calling a color ugly.
There have been a few times where I voted against my initial instincts because of the relative condition of the cars. This isn’t one of them. That Aveo is a hateful little penalty box, while even with a little rust the Mazda will be a source of goofy joy. Love that yellow!
Those Aveos have to be about the best shining example of a truly shitty car. We rented one that had less than 30 miles on it while in Colorado. The interior door reflector fell off when we arrived at our hotel. Absolutely gutless car that got surprisingly poor fuel economy. So anemic and slow it was terrifying getting on the freeway, even getting on if the entrance ramp was going down hill. I have never drove a car that required having the pedal to the metal most of the time.
Mazda all the way.
We also rented one for one of those “Let’s do a cheap weekend in the City” flings where the car’s only function is to carry you and your suitcases from the airport to the hotel and later on, back. Naturally the Aveo was the el Cheapo’s cheapest choice. Deal. It only has to do maybe 40 miles total. Who cares about the car for that? A lesson was about to be learned.
I was stunned by the Aveo. I have driven a lot of clap-trap, near-scrap, death-traps in my day but wow. Honestly, I drove a few miles after we picked it up, and between it making so much noise and being sooooo sloooow, I was honestly convinced that the parking brake was stuck on. I pulled over to the berm and, flashers on, checked the rear wheels to see if either was hot from a stuck drum. I couldn’t find anything but there must have been something wrong. In the end, we just stayed right and chanted the rosary (well, its New Age equivalent) all the way into the city. In summary, the crudest, noisiest, most disappointing piece of automobilia that I have ever driven.
obviously never got stuck with a Nissan Versa with a CVT I see. but yeah these were actually given away free if you bought a GM truck back in 2007-08
Yes! Hired an Aveo to drive from La Jolla to LA and back, possibly the scariest drive of my life. Being from RHD/left side countries and not used to driving LHD/right side didn’t help, but the lack of an option to pick up speed and having no idea which way the front wheels were pointing until the car started moving in that direction took years off my life.
You rented an Aveo at altitude? haha.
I’ve lost count of the number of people I know who had Protoge5s and loved them. All of them had their affections returned as iron oxide.
It really surprises me that any car so far into the modern era would rust so easily.
Also, that yellow. Be still my beating heart.
I mean, the 90’s pickups are still showing less rust than anything built by Dodge/Ford/GM after Y2K.
I, as I’m sure everyone else has, only read the words “Chevrolet Aveo” and immediately scrolled down to vote for whatever the other car was.
If anyone willingly voted Nice Price for the Aveo, I’d love a college thesis as to why. Not only because it takes a brilliant mind to find anything good about those timing chain eating poo-poo boxes, but because that paper would be more entertaining to read than the worst Harry Potter fanfiction.
Noone voted Nice Price because well that’s a whole different website.
I had to ride in an Aveo once for a 4 hour drive on the interstate. It was almost as loud as driving in a convertible next to tractor trailers at 75 mph. It had to be one of the worst cars I’ve ridden in. It was memorably bad. I had offered to drive (it was for a work project) and he had insisted (probably to get the mileage reimbursement). He didn’t bother to mention that his AC was broken too (it was too warm to not have mentioned this. Shockingly, this person bought another Aveo to replace it when it was time to get something new.
I have to go Mazda because it’s I’ve always thought these were great looking cars and it gets bonus points for somehow not being a pile of rust and for being yellow. And also, because there’s few cars as bad as an Aveo