2003 Chevrolet Cavalier

Nov 16, 2002

Last summer, TV ads began appearing for Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire, announcing almost unbelievably low list prices of $12,800 for a car this big, with this big an engine (2.3 litres, 115 horsepower), a German engineered Get rag five-speed manual gearbox and fair degree of other Good Stuff?

How could you lose?

I myself wondered: if something looks too good to be true, it's probably neither good nor true. Maybe it was one of those bait and switch deals:

"Oh yes, that's the price of the purple car with the lime green burlap interior. We can order it for you. Should be here in six months.

"Meanwhile, how about that black one with the dark gray interior over there? That'll be 20 grand ..."

So Mr. Cynical went into my local store, Richardson Chev Olds in Milton. Brent Richardson said, "Yes, we have one. It's the black coupe with the dark gray interior over there."

So the average punter can actually buy one of these?

"Absolutely. We've sold a bunch. Wanna try that one?"

I didn't have time on that day, but tried to arrange with General Motors of Canada for a proper test drive. They had trouble finding one. They were spinning off dealer lots faster

than they could bring them in.

Part of that was because the price kept tumbling. The final numbers for these 2002 model year cars were something like $11,398 for a Cavalier coupe or sedan VL trim level, $11,488 for the Sunfire equivalents, with 2.2litre engine, AMFM stereo radio, reclining bucket seats, split folding rear seat, etc.

Okay, no air conditioning. That'd be a dealer installed option. And if you wanted automatic transmission, that's a different deal.

But the elcheapo (General Motors prefers the term "highvalue") sub 12 grand Cavalier/Sunfire was a real car.

The low price was actually achieved with various incentives and rebates. At one point, GM even ate the dealer prep and freight.

One casualty of this price cutting was GM's valiant attempt to make ABS brakes standard, even for the entry level segment.

Sure, it wasn't a great ABS system, but soso ABS is better than none.

But nobody else followed suit, the customers didn't care, and GM made ABS an option.

Still, the bottom line for the customer: the Cavalier VL or Sunfire SL was a lot of car for the money.

GM dragged its "no discount division" Saturn into the fray.

Saturn was forced to offer its base level cars for similar prices. In the entry level segment, list price is king.

I finally caught up with a pair of 2003 model year Jcars, to use Cavalier/Sunfire's corporate internal label: a bright blue Sunfire SL coupe in absolutely base trim, and a burgundy Cavalier VLX sedan. The additional "X" signifies what would be considered "popular" equipment: tri-power (windows, locks, mirrors), tilt steering, single CD player. Plus, my tester had the optional auto, air and those ABS brakes.

The list price for the '03 Sunfire SL was $15,970 plus $795 freight and PDI; the Cavalier sedan hit $21,535 plus. The promotional plans for these cars keep changing, almost daily.

Current incentives on '03 models can bring these as low as $12,985 for a Cavalier or Sunfire sedan, $13,170 for either coupe. What GM is doing is tempting cash buyers with a $2,500 credit on the Cavalier VL and Sunfire SL models.

There's still some '02s around. These days the latest incentive is a $1,000 credit and free air/con on VLX models, if you're buying with cash, says Phil Kling, public communications manager at GM Canada in Oshawa.

Okay, price isn't everything. What are these cars like to drive?

Not all bad, actually.

They have always been good looking cars, if you can overcome your prejudices. Clean lines, nicely balanced, no frippery beyond the rear deck spoiler on the coupe.

The Fast And Furious street racing crowd has done lots with Cavaliers. A coupe, lowered, de-trimmed, with big wheels and tires? That's a handsome car.

The exteriors have been refreshed for 2003; the Cavalier now has more of a Chevrolet family, um, "tie" (for those who their Bow Ties, geddit?), while the Sunfire accentuates the typical Pontiac twin nostril look.

(Since I spent the majority of my time in the Cavalier, I'll refer to it from here on in; virtually everything is applicable to the corresponding Pontiac model.)

There's lots of room inside, front and back, in the sedan. The coupe is predictably tighter on headroom, especially in the rear, but is still a reasonable proposition for average-sized

adults for less than Trans Canada journeys.

The front bucket seats offer decent comfort and support, for my backside anyway, with even a fair degree of lumbar reinforcement. The fabric upholstery as it always does made me wonder why anybody would want leather in a car, at any price.

During my time in these cars, I got to thinking about all the stuff I used to whine about in the old days: steering column stalk with both lights and wiper conrols; side view mirror on the right front door; cup holders; round "oven style" knobs for HVAC; proper seating; high torque (as opposed to high revving) engines.

The Cavalier has them all, even if the left side steering column stalk for lights, turn signals and high beam is too far away from the wheel rim.

There is even fairly high-end stuff like delayed interior lighting with "theatre dimming" the lights fade rather than snap off; electric trunk release; tachometer; stainless steel

exhaust system; intermittent wipers (albeit with fixed interval); block heater; two-sided galvanized body panels, except for the roof.

The heater heats, instantly. The air conditioning cools, almost instantly. This is important real world stuff.

The 2.2 litre, twin overhead camshaft, Ecotec four-cylinder engine, now standard on all J-cars, generates a more than competitive 140 horsepower at 5600 r.p.m., and a

way more than competitive 150 lb.-ft. of torque at 4400 r.p.m.

Whenever an engine generates more pound feet than horsepower, you know it'll be flexible and offer good real world performance. Even with the four-speed automatic transmission, the Cavalier is nothing short of quick off the line.

The engine is a little noisy, due mostly to induction roar, but the revving itself is smooth.

The five-speed I drove briefly was a bit notchy, but it had only 500 km on it. It'll loosen up with a few turns around the block.

The Cavalier rides decently, and doesn't even get unduly upset if you try to lean on the handling a little.

But just a little, okay? This ain't no sports sedan, although VW fans will cringe when I mention that the suspension basics are identical to a Golf or Jetta MacStruts up front, twist beam axle at the rear.

Back in the early 1990s, I recall saying that if General Motors would only spend about 10 bucks more on body structure and 20 more on suspension, Cavalier/Sunfire would be 100 per cent better cars.

I'm not saying my words are piped directly into GM's war room, but for the 1995 models, they did just that. No surprise then that Cavalier was the bestselling car for eight years running in this country. (If they'd combine Cavalier and Sunfire sales, they'd be pretty close to that still.)

But you knew a "but" was coming, didn't you? that was then, this is now. There have been great strides in refinement in recent years. Even carmakers like Hyundai have engineered quietness, reduced NVH (noise, vibration, harshness), tighter interior panel fits and higher quality plastics into their cars, and urged higher levels of assembly quality.

These are the areas where Cavalier falls behind the class.

The steering wheel in my car wasn't on completely straight.

There are large gaps between interior trim panels that may not be a function of the assemblers, but of the initial design and specs for the component suppliers.

Still, if Honda and Toyota can do it at these price levels...

Should you hit a bump while taking a corner at anything but a crawl, the noise coming from the suspension will leave you quaking in your boots.

A couple of years ago, GM abandoned, or at last postponed, a plan to put the Jcars onto a more modern, more rigid, European-engineered platform.

As Ford discovered when they went the European route with the overpriced, hence unsuccessful, Contour, this doesn't always work in a very price sensitive market segment.

So GM opted to continue with the fully amortized tooling of the existing J-car.

These models won't go down in history on anybody's All Time Great Cars list. They won't be the car you'd pick for a weekend of driving entertainment, or the ones you'd rent to attend your high school reunion.

But if you're laying down your own hard earned, after tax dollars for a new car, and if you buy cars on a cubic metre per dollar basis, you could join tens of thousands of Canadians in a Chevy Cavalier or Pontiac Sunfire.

Freelance journalist Jim Kenzie (jim@jimkenzie.com) prepared this report based on driving experiences with a vehicle provided by the automaker.

Highs

Low, low price

Strong engine

Performance/economy balance

Lows

Rough assembly quality

Lack of refinement

Cheap interior fittings

Toronto Star

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