2000 Daewoo Lanos SX review from North America

Air bag light was lit at purchase. Cause was due to original battery discharging, and then jump starting car.

My only unresolved nit is the trip odometer binds when I reset it after refueling. I haven't yet taken the car in for this minor trouble.

I also have a very slight oil leak around the drain plug. These plugs have a silicone rubber "O" ring embedded in the bolt, and I suspect that it's deformed from 3 years of never being touched prior to me giving the car its first oil change at 3152 miles. I'll be investigating this further as it's next oil change will be due very soon.

I bought this car on Ebay for the fire sale price of $4350. The car has almost every option available for the Lanos: Automatic, A/C, tilt wheel, power RHS mirror, power locks, fog lights, AM/FM/CD/cassette player, security system with keyfob, alloy wheels, and antilock brakes.

The 1.6L DOHC four has excellent power, making passing rock haulers on two lane highways a quick and stress free event. Fuel economy is only about average floating between 34 and 35 mpg.

I drive between 35 and 40 thousand miles a year. I bought this car to avoid driving my Saturn VUE into the ground before I can get the loan paid off. The Lanos so far is proving to be a great little basic commuter car that happened to come with a nice batch of extras.

Will it hold up over time? We'll see. For a little over $4k out the door, the risk of driving a relatively unknown car by a defunct manufacturer is worth it.