daewoo?

Misticles

im looking for a new car!! i liek the look of the lanos.
its surprisingly cheap... 3000e for a 01
are they any good?

Dilbert75

Depends on what you want from the car. My father has one since new in 2000 and, without being overly fussy, I really dislike it. I find it tinny, overlight on the road and not particularly comfortable.

He on the other hand finds it perfect for his a-b and it has been 100% reliable and cheap to run. That despite the fact that he's the world's worst driver means the car deserves not a small amount of respect for taking the punishment (4th & 5th gear at 20mph, changing from low revs 5th - high revs 3rd in one jerky go, pulling away from standstill in 2nd, etc) without a murmur of trouble.

ninty9er

the reliable cheap thing would seem to work. one of my uncles guys tried to sell me one, but a) I'm a badge snob to an extent and b) I think it's damn ugly.

Having said that he wouldn't have tried to sell the boss' nephew a piece of sh1t so they can't be all that bad.

I know of 2 people who got rid of them simply because they hated the things

Owen

Dilbert75 wrote:

That despite the fact that he's the world's worst driver means the car deserves not a small amount of respect for taking the punishment (4th & 5th gear at 20mph, changing from low revs 5th - high revs 3rd in one jerky go, pulling away from standstill in 2nd, etc) without a murmur of trouble.

I'm wondering if your Father is related to my Mother. She's still convinced that if the car is going 1mph, it's bad to put the car back into first. Having said that, her 91 Starlet is as good as they day she bought it (After eating 3 clutches), and she has no intention of changing it.

To the OP, Daewoo is a cheap and cheerful brand, Opel engined IIRC, and as a commuter, it's hard to beat. Yes it's cheap, and the materials used ain't the highest quality, but it's a horse for a course.

bazz26

Daewoo = basic no frills cheap reliable A to B transport.

Seth Brundle

The newer ones must be good because they aren't Daewoo - they are chevvys.

legs11

they are cheap because they are shyte, if you are involved in an accident in them its curtains for you.
buy an opel astra or somethin. new-ish fiats daewoos and hyundais are all cheap for a reason..:rolleyes:

Max_Damage

I used to work in a Daewoo garage (not as a mechanic though), but from what I saw, the Lanos (as well as the Matiz and Kalos) used to get through head gaskets fairly regularly. Other than that, they seemed to be fine reliability wise.

To drive, they are crap in my opinion. Bad road holding and they are fairly gutless on the preformance side of things. But if your looking for something to go to the shops and back, they'll do the job.


@kbannon: Unless they have a 350 small block V8 in it, it ain't no Chevy!

Nightwish

The ex has been driving one for 5 years now, and he puts up a lot of mileage on it. Its cheap and reliable, which is what he want from a car. He had a head gasket problem with his once, and a problem with some spark plug but other than that its been great.

Owen

kbannon wrote:

The newer ones must be good because they aren't Daewoo - they are chevvys.

That'll be the Daewoooooooooo. It was a terrible brand to use when selling cars, and the model names were even worse. Driving the car is one thing ... explaining to your neighbours that you bought a Daewoo Tacuma/Daewoo Nubira/Daewoo Leganza/Daewoo Lanos is priceless.

Jeremy used to keep a stern face on top gear when saying the "Dae" part and then his face'd light up with a childish smile and he'd say "woooooooo" everytime he'd to mention the brand.

I remember having a discussion with a yank on holdiays in Blarney who was car mad, he'd visited the local Chevvy Dealership and was very very disappointed

colm_mcm

legs11 wrote:

they are cheap because they are shyte, if you are involved in an accident in them its curtains for you.
buy an opel astra or somethin. new-ish fiats daewoos and hyundais are all cheap for a reason..:rolleyes:

I would have thought new-ish Fiats would be the Punto (4 star NCAP) Grande Punto (5 star) Croma (5 star) Idea (4 star)

For the price range that the OP is looking at, you'd have to go for a very old model in a "safe" brand.
Any Golf Mk3 or 90's Astra etc. for that money would be pre-ncap and unlikely to have dual airbags, ABS, etc that most Lanos' have.

unkel

ned78 wrote:

I remember having a discussion with a yank on holdiays in Blarney who was car mad

That must have been Jay Leno so

ninty9er

also at OP €3k is about right for a 01 in "as new" or "showroom condition". No great bargain...maybe an Astra as already suggested; would be a better buy in 97-98 range

Misticles

my own car is a 98 so im looking to move up a few years....

zilog_jones

colm_mcm wrote:

For the price range that the OP is looking at, you'd have to go for a very old model in a "safe" brand.
Any Golf Mk3 or 90's Astra etc. for that money would be pre-ncap and unlikely to have dual airbags, ABS, etc that most Lanos' have.

The Lanos is apparently one of their better cars safety-wise - according to the EuroNCAP in 1998, it was just as safe as the Honda Civic (the fake 5-door one), and safer than the Mitsubishi Lancer, Suzuki Baleno, Nissan Almera, Hyundai Accent, Fiat Brava and Ford Escort of the time. Granted many of those models were replaced by around '01, but as colm said above most of them would cost a lot more than €3k.

Now the current successor - the Chevrolet Aveo - got woeful EuroNCAP results. OK, the ratings aren't comparable to the 1998 tests (they have much higher standards now), but they are awful compared to all the competition which are nearly all getting 4 or 5 stars.