At 60K miles, the timing belt snapped and destroyed the engine, bending valves and cracking pistons.  GM refused to honor this as a warranty repair as it was 200 miles past due even though I had scheduled the service before the warranty expired.  Even though the car was only two years old, the repair cost more than the car's wholesale value.  If you own one of these or are considering buying one, change your timing belt every 45K miles!  This car is poorly designed and poorly constructed... but what can you expect for the cheap price they fetch?  Just keep a spare engine handy... you will need it.

This is a small car that is very comfortable to use for long journeys. The suspension is stable and gives a comfortable ride. Too bad the engine and the manual transmission doesn't have a really good performance. The fuel consumption is average, nothing special about it.
The interior is quite roomy and the luggage compartment is quite big for a car its size.
This car is quite average in its class and I still recommend it.

its small and good to drive in busy areas. Lacks passing power

In the four years we've had our Aveo, it has been back to the dealer 22 times, 8 on the back of a tow truck.  At 43000 km, it has had two sets of pistons, 4 cylinder heads, four head gaskets, fifth thermostat (it still does not heat up in winter) the wiper arms have fallen off the car while on the interstate twice, the car had to be driven non stop for four hours through rural minnesota because the gear selector was locked in drive, creaky suspension, water in the oil, constantly stalling, poor fuel milage for a 1.6 l and the latest is that it leaks corbon monoxide into the cab.  And the GM support.  What support.  They refuse to take the car back saying it has to bereak down a "few more times" .  I gave up a 1991 Mazda protege with 300 000 km on it for this...and that car is still on the road.