This is the second time this has happened. The first time, we got the engine fixed. The cylinders had to be resurfaced and at that time we were unaware about the timing belt. We drove the vehicle for another year, as is, and the day came when our son drove the car up a hill and he heard the "knock" coming from the engine. The car lost power and not sure if he made it home. That was back in 2012. Our Aveo has been sitting in our drive-way ever since. We have not been able to afford to get another engine. We paid over $2,500 the first time; and now, we are looking for an engine and a mechanic who can do the job for a reasonable price. We are hoping we will have the car running again soon. It has been too long to just let a paid-off vehicle just decay away. I could sure use a simple car that will get me to work and to my meetings. Today, is my sobriety anniversary (20-years!). Cool, huh? Thank you...one day at a time.

When the thermostat fails, it causes heat and pressure on the water pump. That pressure along with the heat causes the tensioner pulley to crack and break. In turn the timing belt breaks causing the pistons to mash the valves and blow the head gasket. If it is possible, remove the thermostat and your aveo will run a lot smoother, but you will need it when it gets cold. Also the gas cap never fit tight which will cause your engine light to come on, try to get a gas cap that fit tight. Also check your oil regularly, if you don't the valves will began to start tapping.

No indication of any trouble. Was on my way to the vet with my cat, and car just stopped. Sounded kind of like a tire blew or something hit the car not sure. Car has been in the dealership shop since being towed in on Friday, March 29. 5 days later I am finally getting it back today.

After reviewing this website, I contacted the dealership and asked about the idler pulley as well. They stated that they checked on that as well and it was taken care of. Guess I will find out soon. Love my little car, but if things keep going like this, may end up buying new :(

I'm a 27 year old wife, mother, grocery getter, bar-tending, real estate agent... I NEED A RELIABLE VEHICLE!! And that's why I purchased a brand new warrenteed vehicle in 2005. I don't get cars, I just don't understand (or care about) the mechanics of it... but my husband has regularly serviced it for me, according the the manual specifications. So I was a little worried when the darn thing just wouldn't start in the middle of the night (when I actually needed it to).

The problem- Timing belt... The bigger problem- All the vaulves damaged because of it... The biggest probelm- $100 to have it towed to a chevy dealership, followed by a WEEK of non-communication, followed by "the service bulletin 06-06-01-021 has expired and therefore we will not help you for less than $2400"

now, my understanding of the service bulletin is that it covers 5 years of car ownership- ok that ship has sailed... it also states that GM would cover the cost of parts only replacement for the timing belt between 30,000 and 55,000 miles.... It is also my understanding that Service Bulletins, unlike recalls, are not sent to the car owners- only to dealers and authorized mechanics---so I never was made aware of the issue in the first place!!!

Lets break this down 1) I was never alerted to the potential issue-- this should have been a part Recall-Directly sent to Aveo purchasers

2) I was Never Eligible for the service recall (I do understand Math!) 37,500miles over 8 years of ownership averages 4,625 miles/ year. Which means that at my 5 year limit - I had only reached about 23,125 miles leaving me 6,875 miles shy of the minimum mileage for the parts replacement offer!

3) I hold grudges!!! I personally know about 200 people, and have a feeling that I could reach more than that if I try, so GM has 2 options- fix it and have a happy customer (who will still advise people against the aveo, but will speak of this as a positive customer service experience). OR- don't fix it, and I'll not only never purchase a GM product again, as well as spread bad PR as often and loudly as possible

we'll see how this plays out...

Hello can anyone tell me where to find that TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) 06-06-01-021 I cannot find it anywhere online except for once sentence descriptions of it! I just had my belt break at 133,000 miles, I originally changed it at 68,000 miles so it's been 45,000 miles since changed and it broke...we'll see how bad damage is. I'm trying to find that TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) to see if I can get covered at all.

If you google "The Aveo Shudder and Shake" there's a guy named "Davescort97" with a post saying:

"Chevrolet has a technical service bulletin from October 2006. It is TSB 06-06-01-021 that states if the timing belt is replaced from 30k to 55k Chevrolet will only charge for labor. They will supply the belt. "

please email me danb619@gmail.com if you know where to find this

Same thing here as with all I have read. First thermostat, then replace head, now timing belt. 5,7000 miles on an 05 is not bad. So why is it that with all the complaints we cant get this on a recall list? I don't have the money I'm sure it will cost to fix. I have an illness that prevents me from doing a second job. The damn rims on this car is worth more than the vehicle itself. I took this car in just before pay off and they couldn't find anything wrong. RIGHT!!!?

What is a single female to do but trust the mechanics that are doing the job.....

I bought a 05 chevy aveo new from chevrolet of la quinta right now has 63.000 miles but when it had 25.000 miles had a problem with thermostat and since i bought the extentded warranty I thought that it was covered so had to hire tow truck so i can have it towed in dealers shop, so they dint even bother pulling the car in the shop and check it they only asked me what was the problem so told them that the thermostad housing had a leak so they check on there computer and said that the problem that it had the warranty dint cover it and that i had to pay to get it check plus labor so at that point i told them that when i bought the car they insist to buy the extended warranty for any future problems that it would cover bumper to bumper so they only said im sorry so any way had to order new thermostat from them because nobody sells that part for the car and wasn't cheap paid 110.00 for it ,any way just 4 hours ago just had a problem with timing belt i hope its not that serious its Saturday today but Monday I'm gonna have it towed in at the dealer will see what they say ill get back and let you know what they say hope it shows up as an recall issue.

Update from Jul 14, 2012: as i was saying timming belt failer ,due to a pulley tensionner broke in half thats what cause timming belt to slip off so the consecuence was that cylinder head needed to be replaced the mecanic said it was the first time that he saw something like that would happen any ways car was repaired 2 weeks later my radiator started to leak so i replced it no big deal 2 weeks later my air condition not cooling so to it to the shop now have to spend 500 dls to fix it ,now my fuel pump failed so ,dont know what to do dont want to spend anymore money on this car .i hope theres a recall to all this issues, so im disappointed for buying this car.

My husband was driving home from work when he heard this noise coming from the engine. He pulled into a parking lot and turned the car off. He looked all around the engine and noticed nothing that could be causing the noise. He said it sounded like something was scraping inside the engine when he pulled over. He waited a moment before starting it again and that was the last time it ever started. Let me tell you that I love this car bought it brand new right off the lot with only 98 miles on it. It gets the regular oil change and new tires every year. I have never had a problem with the car until this issue. I was informed that the timing belt was bad which in turn completly killed the engine. In order to fix the problem the head needs fixed, the timing, water pump, gaskets, pistons, and other things. This has really been very stressful for my husband and I due to this being the vehicle that gets him back and forth to work. He is the only one able to work due to health issues on my part so this has caused a very hardship. I was also informed that apparently there was problems with the timing and GM knew and did not issue the report to have the problem fixed. I guess they don't really care about their customers and the sloogan Heart Beat of America is a joke. They should at least help those that are in this situation now and inform others that the problem will be fixed. Seriously how hard is it to say I am sorry we made a mistake and we will take care of the issue. Although I am a die hard Chevy fan this is the last time I will ever buy a car put together like a car from a box. THIS PROBLEM NEEDS FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So driving down a road doing 30mph, stop at a red light and my car dies. Will crank won't start. Get it towed to a shop, but it's Saturday so they can't get to it before they close. I find this website researching over the weekend so have a fair idea of what they are gonna tell me Monday morning, and sure enough, the timing belt had failed. Belle Tire tells me that it would be almost as costly to repair the head/valves as it would be to put a new engine in. After I stop crying, I call a dealer and an independent shop, and they are both in shock over that statement, each gives me a breakdown and rough price and I have the independent shop pick up my car asap.

I then call Chevy 1-800-222-1020 for those who may need it. Get no where, so get off the phone and send an email. I reference in my email the TSB that was issued in 2006 and has been renewed a few times if I am reading the information right regarding them paying for parts only to replace the timing belt on cars with mileage between 30K and 55K miles, and how I never got any notification about this because I would have had it done. I get a call today, and the rep tries to tell me there was no bulletin issued...FYI TSB# 06-06-01-021, google it, it exists. She then proceeds to tell me she understands how frustrating this is, uh no, you don't not unless you bought one of these POS's as well and have dealt with this. Their solution (which is no solution) is to put a note on my vehicle so that if they ever decide to recall this part I can apply for reimbursement. She said because my car is at an independent shop (because who can afford a dealer) they can't confirm/deny that the part may be defective, apparently it takes a special GM degree to tell when a part is faulty (heavy sarcasm), and non dealer mechanics must just be guessing. Now if it was at a dealer shop you can bet there would be some other reason why they can't do anything, which is exactly what I told her.

I am irritated on 2 fronts, first that the belt failed, and this obvious issue has been ignored by the automaker. Second that my normal repair shop, Belle Tire never told me in the 5 years I have been taking my car there for service that I needed to have that inspected/replaced. They knew about all my other scheduled maintenance, surely they get this information, it's how they get add on sales. The only positive that has come out of this so far is that through this debacle I have found a new, reputable repair shop, MAXX Automotive Group. They identified that one cylinder needs to be replaced and whatever else goes along with that. So I guess it could be worse.

For those of you reading this and making mental notes...another complaint on a 2004 Aveo mentioned that 6 months prior to her timing belt failure, she had to have the thermostat housing replaced, I had to have mine done approximately 2 weeks prior to my timing belt failure. Possible connection? Don't know, but worth mentioning.

GM has been so thoroughly unhelpful that I will NEVER purchase another GM vehicle in my life. And since I am pretty young still that is a long time.

Update from Jul 26, 2012: Having read further complaints I feel it worth mentioning that I too had to have the idler pulley replaced, prior to my timing belt failure. GM never did anything to compensate me for their design flaw, and on 12/28/11 I traded that car in for a 2010 Ford Escape. As I said, I will never purchase another GM product, and I mean it.

Letter to the Editor From: James M. Thomsen Box 5572, KW, FL. 33045 June 16, 2011

Living since 2003 in Key West I supported buying from local businesses. As disabled I did not need a car often since I rarely leave the island but got tired of getting caught in summer rains. I was looking for a cheap used car at a local GM dealer but found myself talked into buying a new 2005 Chevy Aveo. I drove less than 9k a year paying extra for the full bumper to bumper service plan. In 2006 GM had sent out to all dealers a warning about rubber timing belt defects which could destroy the car engine even before 30,000 miles. The owner’s manual said the belt did not need to be checked until 60,000 miles. GM told dealers it would pay dealers to replace the defect but the Key West GM dealer (Niles Sales & Service) never informed those of us who bought new Chevy Aveo cars from them.

One night my car with less than 36,000 miles carefully maintained by the dealer just stopped running. I had it towed home as in my youth I was a GM mechanic and look for something simple the next day. After some internet research I found the GM defect notice and dozens of stories how repair costs ran between 3k - 4k which living on disability I did not have. The 2005 Chevy Aveo currently has a book value of 5k, so spending up to 4k to fix a car bought new that failed before 40k miles seemed foolish. I asked the GM dealer to do three cheap tests which would give me an idea of the extend of damage and cost of repair. They said for $100.00 they would drain the oil to see if had metal shards or parts, then print out for me a copy of the car computer status , and do a simple compression test on each cylinder where a spark plug is removed and gauge plugged in. This local GM dealer did not even have the video inspection tool sold under $100.00 at Home Depot which could have looked inside the oil plug and open spark plug which would easily provide the extent of damage and repair estimate.

Later that day the GM dealer service called and said they only did the compression test and refused to do the other two exams and destroyed paperwork and refused to give me my copy of service order. So I had to take the car home and do the three tests myself and ruptured two spinal disks. So if you have a GM 1.6 L engine with rubber timing belt, beware that it could break while you are on a bridge or in traffic causing loss of power steering and brakes and cause a fatal wreck.

I used Chill Factor Automotive for repairs but my costs and losses were extensive and the GM dealer who sold me the car and then failed to tell owners of the defect did not offer even an apology.