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 31 through 40 of 167.00

• 

  Cheap reliable transportation - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By AP_From PA - June 2 - 11:20 am

  I bought this in 2004 with about 9600 miles on it, no problems, except for a fuel pump that I had to replace. I got it for about 7K and I drove it over 70K miles. I cant ask for a better deal. Even today it has a decent re-sale value (about 3.5K easily). I do most regular maintenance myself and this car has been running like a champ. Fuel economy has been good too, in 2004 I got about 31 mpg combined, I still get about 28-29 mpg combined... even after increase in ethanol in fuel. If style is not your primary concern, and transportation is the only thing you care about then this is a good value.

• 

  Never Again, will i buy a GM product - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By jeff - May 19 - 7:10 pm

  I bought my cavalier new in 2003 and i am not hard on a vehicle. But since i have had this car new it has been thru 3 sets of brakes and rotors, 2 times to have the horn fixed, first time was under warranty second time cost me some major money. The fuel pump went and that was a major blow to my pocket book. Over all the car is ok but when it comes time to fix something you better have a brinks truck in your back pocket to fix the stuff that goes wrong. I have a 94 S-10 that has 126000 miles on it and it hasnt cost me near what the cavalier has cost me. So i will never buy another gm product again.

• 

  03 Cavilier - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By ajpa - May 4 - 10:00 am

  I recently took delivery of an 03 Cavilier coupe. I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent fit and finish of this car, both outside and in. It also has a peppy motor and a smooth shifting 5-speed manual transmission. The back seat is also very roomy for a compact car this size. I also got a great price on this car.

• 

  So far so good... - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By JimP - April 29 - 10:00 am

  In July 03 I purchased a 2003 5 speed, 2 door. I have slightly over 300 miles on it so I cant say much about reliability. Seems like a decent car for $8840 (time will tell). Im certainly convinced that the $14K sticker price is just another marketing scam. You would be a fool to pay that much for any car like this. You know thay made profit on what I paid! I hate the marked up sticker prices and the facade that the rebates are real. Insults my intelligence.

• 

  Good all around small car - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By Bill Spond - January 25 - 3:48 pm

  Great gas mileage, 29-30 MPG on the interstate. I have had one wreck skidding backwards into a guardrail at about 50 mph and very little damage to the car. Very well built.

• 

  The best of compact sedans - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By fasp27 - January 1 - 2:00 am

  It have a very powerful engine for it side. In comparison with cars of the same side and engines less powerful, the fuel economy is very good. The exterior design,engineered more than a decade ago, as you say, still look better than the cars of the same category and with more resent design. The exterior design of this car, give the opportunity for make modification that give it to it a very strong sport sedan look. The weakness of this car, are easy to fix, with just a few money investment. Something almost imposible in others cars of the same category.

• 

  Good cheap car - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By Matt - December 29 - 2:43 pm

  Bought this 03 Cavalier used, 125000km on it, it has 175,000 on it 2 years later. This car was my hero in bad times once I was finished school looking for a job. It is so cheap to maintain and repair. Somebody hit my car and ran, I bought a new bumper for 40 bucks from somebody and put it on. Nothing has gone wrong with this car, except a fuel pump, because all I could afford was to put 5 bucks of gas in it and ran it on the light the whole time (my own fault). You will dust standard Civics and Corollas in this thing, not any Japanese cars give you 155lb feet at mid range. Fuel economy is excellent. Car gets a bit rattly with age, but so does any car. Buy it!

• 

  Junk - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By DaddyHines - December 28 - 10:05 pm

  I bought my Cavalier brand new in 2003. In October of 2008 I had to replace the engine because my oil pump was not working. None of the dashboard lights lit up or anything. It just died one day. My Cavalier has less than 75000 miles and got oil changes regularly. The mechanic says it was a manufacturer defect but of course, Chevy offers no help. My heat only comes out the passenger side vent and my rear defroster stopped working like a year after I had the car. Other than that, its great.

• 

  Good value - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By rt - October 28 - 10:28 pm

  My car has over 145,000 miles on it and virtually trouble free. Only the fuel pump replaced (at $500 at 5 yrs and 125k mark) the rest was maintenance: tires, serpentine belt, battery, brakes, but nothing at all expensive. 2/3 of the mileage is freeway the rest local. I drive 70, get 35mpg without air, 33 with air on. 5 speed. no frills, except CD player. No issues and no worries.

• 

  Worst Cavalier I have ever had. - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By CM - September 16 - 10:22 am

  This is my third Cavalier and I would warn anyone to beware. I have had more problems with this Cavalier than any other and have had over 100,000 miles on all my vehicles. I just had to replace the engine, have replaced the fuel pump and now all the gages are crazy. I can be driving along at about 30 miles per hour and the next thing I know my speedometer says I am going 110 Miles per hour. Same thing happens to gas gauge and temperature gauge and now the tachometer is starting to go crazy too. Also the switch for the heater wont work right either. This car has been giving good treatment and service but this kind of problems should not be happening. Needless to say GM fix it for a price!