Overview & Reviews

The Cavalier gets a refresh this year that adds new front and rear fascias, revised headlights and taillights, redesigned ground effects, body-colored mirrors and door handles and a new hood. LS Sport models also get integrated foglights and new rocker moldings. The 2.2-liter Ecotec four-cylinder is now the only engine offered, as the Z24 model has been dropped from the lineup. Base model Cavs no longer come with standard ABS brakes, but it remains an available option. Inside, the Cavalier now features a center rear three-point seatbelt, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift lever, a rear 60/40-split bench seat, new child-seat anchors and optional side airbags. Finally, you can get XM Satellite Radio on all cars, and LS and LS Sport trims are available with the OnStar communications system.

• Low price, torquey four-cylinder engine, optional satellite radio and OnStar.

• Ancient design inside and out, cheap interior materials, poor build quality, low resale value, poor side-impact and front-offset crash test results.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 167.00

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  Never buy governmert motors - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By danddad33 - August 29 - 4:26 pm

  bought the can new with 7 miles on it. around 350 miles the heater switch went on it. Next one happen around two years after owning the car. wife called and told me car will not stay running. I ran the car about a mile to the house, with it stalling about 100 times. this is 36,000 the fuel pump went. well the good news was that the car was too new for the bolts to rust. I changed it. around 54,000 miles the gauges on the dash went hay-wire. Stepper motor bad, easy fix with the dash pulled apart. Now that the car is 12 years old and 97,000 miles the motor went. I have a ford ranger close to 200,000 miles only thing went was the timing belt. I love my ford!!! NO MORE CHEVY!!!!!

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  115k miles and... - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By neil27 - February 22 - 10:02 pm

  Ive put 115k miles on my Chevy cavalier. The price was very attractive. The car has surprisingly good slow speed acceleration. However, Ive had numerous mechanical difficulties including: fuel pump failure, multiple evap canister failures, serious wire harness failure, ventilation blower failure, speaker problems, hood latch failure, power steering issues, broken seat. In addition the car eats front end brake rotors at high rate. The transmission failed with 12k miles, but was replaced on warranty. The rear suspension is noisy and rides really rough. Road noise levels are high. The interior design, especially the placement of the cup holders, is terrible

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  Cheaply made lemon - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By Washingtonian - May 21 - 9:08 am

  At 4 yrs. old this car has developed a number of problems that a car its age should not have. The entire serpentine belt has slipped off and the car periodically stalls when stopped. The trunk latch also broke, a problem the dealership tells me is very common in in the Cavalier. Weve also had smaller annoying problems -- a buzz in the ventilation system, a CD player that skips incessantly, and a fuse issue that causes lights to burn out quickly. Aside from the reliability issue, the car is poorly designed. Sun visors droop low across the windshield over time, the seats are uncomfortable, the cup holders block the climate control, and the roof pillars are in the drivers line of sight.

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  Not so great - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By mellyc - January 15 - 2:00 am

  I bought my 2003 cav brand new and ive had nothing but problems with it. Its definately a piece of junk. I will come to a stop and my car stalls.. Ive taken it in to be fixed many times and nobody can find the problem. Its definately a lemon, i would not suggest buying a cavailer.... Definately not worth the money..

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  This car is pure junk - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By JulieKay - November 7 - 10:00 am

  after only six months it is now sitting back at the dealership and has been for two weeks with the transmission out of it, the steering shakes and something is wrong with the brakes and the heater control switches are broke for my first new car i bought a pure lemon

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  I hate my 2003 Cavalier - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By Allana - September 19 - 2:00 am

  Well where do I start! I have owned this car for 10 months now and I have had nothing but problems. 9 warrenty issues including a knocking noise in my front passenger side tire area which has been unsuccessfully fixed with 4 attempts now. The interior squeaks all the time, the breaks arent that good, the car rides like its falling apart. The only good thing about it is the a/c and Im sure that will go soon enough! Being a student, its all I could afford but if I had my time back I would have listened to everyone who told me that GM cars are no good and went without food to lease a better car! No more north american made cars for me ever!