Car went to 500 RPM then dropped to 300 RPM then down to 100 RPM; I immediately pulled off the main road to a side street. Lost power steering and was unable to restart car again. Car taken to local mechanic after running diagnostic tests on the vehicle, determined the car was savable and that the timing belt broke causing three sets of valves to bend. The timing belt kit, head gasket, water pump and valve kits need to be changed. The engine needs to be reconditioned; new engine oil needs to be put into the car along with flushing the fluids. Since this is a massive rework of the vehicle, it will be out of service one week and the repair cost is $2,100. Mileage on the car is under 60,000, I am original owner. General Motors - Chevrolet division contacted because I did not take to a GM dealer for service (unable to afford) and because they advised me this is so far out of the warranty, they would not offer any assistance. However, I did look up a service bulletin and it did say the parts are under warranty.

- Montgomery, IL, USA

For the last two years at random times when I start my car, the brakes will not work. They can not even be pressed down. Whenever this happens, a corresponding weird revving that causes the car to lunge forward in such a way that it doesn't usually also happens. I parallel park on a street daily, and one morning when this happened ended up hitting the car in front of me. Usually the problem stops happening after driving for about 1/2 a mile, but it is pretty scary trying to drive without brakes to get to that 1/2 mile mark. Especially since whenever the brakes won't work the car also seems to accelerate on its own. I have tried to get this fixed multiple times but it always stops happening by the time I get to the mechanic and I've left my car overnight at a mechanic twice and they haven't been able to recreate the issue. I can't part with my car for an entire week so that this problem can be diagnosed.

- Los Angeles , CA, USA

Hi I bough a 2005 Chevy Aveo with $9,000 mile I had no problem. Until one day the car completely stop and wont turn on. It had almost $23,000 when it happen. Luckily for me it stop in front of a mechanic shop. The shop check the car and said the engine is bad. I bough a used low mileage engine replace it and it turn on and drive except for the shifting. It didn't shift to fourth gear and also turn off while driving it. Then I was told the transmission is bad. I change the transmission with low mileage and still I have the same problem I had warranty change it again and still it doesn't shift fourth gear and it still turns off. I change the computer, I did a tune up, engine oil change, I've change the coils and some seal in top of the engine, and I still have the same problem. The car been sitting since then I wanted to wait to have money to fix it, thinking that maybe the shop was lying to me by asking me to replace all this things. I save I few dollars and wanted to get it fix I had another shop looked at it and it seems that is the same diagnostic was detected. I friend told me to google it and I found out that am not the only one with that problem. I just wish I google it before I spend all the money on it. Lesson learn I hope they do a recall because I too was afraid to drive and get in to an accident because it turn off on me.

- Gaithersburg , MD, USA

My wife was driving our Chevy Aveo 2005 on a major 4 lane highway during the morning rush hour. She is doing about 60mph in the inner left lane on an icy Tuesday morning commute.then she loses all power and acceleration, every light in the car comes on and she realizes there is a problem. She is mid way up a hill and has to get over. There is an on ramp to her right and more traffic so she had to go into the left berm. By this time she has peaked the top of the hill and is on the flat mesa. There is very little room to move over and she is over as far as possible. State and local traffic enforcement come to her aide and allow her to wait for me and a tow truck to get the vehicle moved. Nearly a dozen cars almost hit them after I arrived on the scene before the determined that it was unsafe for us to wait with the vehicle. They tagged the car and we had it towed. It turns out that the idler pulley has snapped and it is a very common problem with Aveos. A very common problem that put my wife, two officers and I in harms way. Let alone that recalling the small part would have saved everyone a $1900-2500 repair job. I understand that many consider this style car disposable but I say it as an affordable energy efficient commuter vehicle. However these features are not worth human life...

- Berea, OH, USA

I was driving down the highway at 55 mph and the car started to lose acceleration. I pressed on the gas and nothing happened. I started slowing very quickly and I pulled off to the side where eventually the car completely shut down all on its own and the battery light came on the dash. I turned the ignition to off and restarted the car. I was able to keep going without another incident. The next day on my way home from work the same thing happened again. My check engine light was on at the time for which I just had my fuel cap replaced because it was not locking at all. After a few days my check engine light has gone off. I am seriously concerned about this as this car is my main means of transportation back and forth to work which is an hour drive for me. I just recently purchased this car (within the last 3 weeks) from the Ford dealership in tillamook or and of course they did not report any of these issues.

- Cloverdale, OR, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Aveo. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal failed and would depress to the floor whenever the vehicle was driven downhill. The contact was able to slow the vehicle down by applying the brakes. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and the failure was unknown. The contact also stated that the seat belt material began to get fuzzy and would get caught in the retractor. The dealer stated that the seat belt needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 20,000.

- Arkport, NY, USA

2005 Chevy Aveo I believe my accelerator became "stuck" while driving on the interstate - cannot confirm but when I was exiting, it was extremely difficult to stop and was redlining while at a stop. I turned the corner and the car accelerated up to 50 with no foot on the accelerator nor on the brake. (50 was as I would "let it" go). I was able to make it home, but redlined again when I put it in park. Was to take it in, redlined immediately at ignition. My dad slammed on the accelerator pedal and it stopped. He drove it to the mechanic, and said it drove "fine." The mechanic was unable to recreate the scenario and said the computer did not register a problem and therefore they are unable to fix anything until it happens again or gets worse. Drove the car on short distances again for less than a week. At that time, the battery light came on and steering was horrible - (power steering out?) made it less than 10 miles home, when the car died. Would not turn on, made clicking noise. Tried charging the battery, was able to make it to the mechanic again...where they said a belt had failed. It's the belt that affected the alternator's ability to charge the battery and the power steering. There is also a transistor that went bad. Relatively cheap to fix, but I had my 1 year old son in the car when the car was accelerating on it's own. Not safe! other than that, I have not had a single problem with my Aveo.

- Stoughton, WI, USA

The contact owned a 2005 Chevrolet Aveo. While pulling into a parking space she noticed there was a sudden increase in engine rpms. The engine roared loudly and immediately, the vehicle abnormally accelerated at a rapid rate of speed, crashing front end into a vehicle to her right. The vehicle bounced back at the impact and swerved to the left, crashing into a Jeep. The vehicle did not stop despite the contacts several attempts to depress the brake pedal. The brakes would not respond and the contact was thrust back into her seat. She continued to depress the brakes until finally the vehicle slowly coasted to a stop. There were no injuries, however the vehicle was declared as destroyed by her insurance company. The failure mileage was approximately 4,029. Updated 4/30/10 updated 09/16/10

- Wichita, KS, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Aveo. The contact stated that as she was driving 5 mph into a parking space the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a fence, a driveway and then stopped on a porch. No one was injured. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was available if needed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 54,000.

- Woburn, MA, USA

I purchased a 2005 Chevy Aveo and I have had nothing but problems ever since. After 1 year the car broke down. The idler stuck at full-throttle and burned my timing belt off. Not only the engine but the car was rendered useless after that. I had to replace the engine (my pops did really) and now the second engine has done the very same thing at only 18,000 miles. Twice I was lucky enough to be in a position where my daughter was not with me at the time and I could push my car off of the road myself and not get killed. I called GM and they say that they cannot guarantee that they will fix the problem for me. The first time I talked to them they wouldn't even listen to me. They told me that my VIN number did not match the recalls...though these cars had the very same problem. The car should have either been replaced or I should have gotten my money back. I have been rendered homeless and jobless twice now because of this car. I've lost everything. I can't keep paying on this car with their faulty engines. If I replace the engine it will do the same thing. It's not VIN specific...it's the engines period. I could have gotten killed twice!

- Clearlake Oaks, CA, USA

My 2005 Chevy Aveo RPM's stick and will not be forced down by de-acceleration or hitting the brake. This has been occurring on an irregular basis since purchase (August 2005). I have had the car back to the Chevy dealer at least 5 times for the same reason in addition to other times when the dash board light warnings come on. The dealer can not recreate or fix. The dash board light did come on back in June 07 re: Electrical and the fix to the electrical issue did for a few months fix the RPM sticking. However the intermittent RPM sticking has returned (Jan 2008). The RPM's stick usually between 35 to 65 mph and in any type of weather. Usually when just starting home from work or on highway driving.

- Harleysville, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Aveo. The contact was at a stop sign with the brake and accelerator pedal engaged. The vehicle speed control switch was replaced previously. The manufacturer advised the contact to try another dealer. The dealer test drove the vehicle and stated that it was operating normally. The current mileage was 17,873 and the failure mileage was 3,000. Updated 02-14-08. The consumer stated the speed control switch was repalced. Updated

- Zephyhills , FL, USA

After making a right turn the engine went to full throttle, I applied the brake with both feet on the brake peddle and the car was still moving forward. I applied the hand brake and the car stopped. I then turned off the key to stop the motor.

- Cheney, KS, USA

My 2005 Chevrolet Aveo accelerates or maintains very high RPM's with no pressure on the gas pedal. This has been occurring since my purchase of the car, on an irregular basis. Sometimes it will continue for weeks at a time, sometimes there is no problem for weeks. This problem makes the car extremely dangerous to drive, necessitating very heavy brake use and frequent shifting into neutral (automatic transmission) to try and control the acceleration. I have had the vehicle in to the Chevrolet repair department four times, but it will not show this problem when they test drive it. Chevrolet has replaced one metal washer on the accelerator cable, replaced the atmospheric pressure sensor, and installed a MINIcomputer which was unable to record the problem. Chevrolet seems only willing to make the cheapest repairs possible, and it will be close to two years now that I have had to deal with this uncontrolled acceleration.

- Friday Harbor, WA, USA

Upon coming home we pulled into the driveway and removed the right foot from the accelerator and started gently breaking as approaching the garage. As nearing the garage the engine quickly accelerated to maximum. Maximum force was applied to the break pedal and the engine shut off inches from the front of the garage. We will be taking the vehicle to the dealership today.

- Marion, MI, USA