1998 Daewoo Nubira SE review from Australia and New Zealand

Annoying rattle in the Dash after 6 months. Fixed it by packing 10x5 mm pieces of old carpet material (!) between the windshield and the dash.

A horrible, horrible moaning noise coming from manual radio aerial in the second day due to vibration in the wind when fully extended @ 80km/h. Was told the aerial was standard equipment and there was no fix, so my aerial has always been 1/2-3/4 extended. Have since noticed that no Nubira with manual aerial has it fully extended.

1st set front brakes worn out by 35000 km, very surprised since I'm considered by all a gentle driver. New brakes have done over 70000km and are less than 1/2 worn.

A/con compressor made a rattling noise after 1 year, was replaced under warranty by dealer.

Central Locking system stop working just after the A/con compressor, also replaced under warranty.

Driver automatic window motor burnt out, straight after central locking, replaced under warranty.

Exhaust pipe rusted through in 2 years & replaced under warranty.

Tape Deck konked out and was replaced twice by the dealer under warranty - Got a CD player upgrade in the second round after providing my SOB story. CD deck holding out very well so far.

Internal door trim peeled off after approx 1 year. New door trim installed under warranty.

Luckly, nothing's broken yet after warrany one and a half years on...

An economical and affordable family car. To be fair, I got what I paid for.

The 1.6L engine, coupled with Australia's lousy fuel puts the car way down on power.

The engine's well balanced however, with little noticeable vibration. I've also improved low end torque by installing a Hiclone system in the air intake port.

My Nubira didn't require much maintenance expcept the normal stuff like oil change and rotating of tyres from front to back for even wear. This car can be adequately maintained by the average home mechanic.

Genuine Daewoo parts from the dealers like oil and air filters are very expensive and you're better off buying equivalents and installing yourself.

I've been very pleasently surprised by the fuel economy of the 1.6L and I'm consistently getting 6L/100km, of course I don't push the car very hard (engine sounds horrible if pushed over 4000 rpm) and have always made it a habit of giving myself plenty of time to get to where I want to go.

I noticed Daewoo Dealers in Perth, Western Australia were more friendly than other car brands.