2006 Chevrolet Epica LT 2.0
Summary:
Classy underdog that makes you feel/look good
Faults:
As soon as I bought the car, the front and rear bushings and control arms basically went bust and needed replacement. Not bad for a car with over 200 thousand km.
The central alarm and locking system is dead and needs replacing (€500 cost).
General Comments:
Great car. Totally underrated. Seems very reliable. Smooth, easy to drive, perfectly equipped, fantastically designed seats. Roomy and comfortable.
The engine is extremely quiet, you can't tell it's running. I can tell it was designed by Porsche.
The gearbox is a masterpiece in accuracy and control, extremely smooth and no jerkiness when you cruise, accelerate or decelerate. It takes a bit of practice to learn what is the "sweet spot" for accelerating. Flooring it really yields no extra "punch", yet if you step on the accelerator 2/3 of the way down, it will downshift just enough to give you a healthy "oomph" to make any BMW, Benz or Audi blush.
I have no complaints with this car.
We initially bought it as an "in between", to be sold as soon as we found something better, but user ratings for this model are higher than most Volvos, so I'm not sure if we'll be selling it any time soon :)
Highly recommended if you want something comfortable and easy on maintenance. Careful with gas mileage, it isn't exactly an "economy" sedan :)
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 22nd May, 2017
17th Oct 2017, 10:40
This is an update for this review:
As refined as the car felt/drove, the transmission basically started making horrible grinding noises after 200.000 km, and for some reason there would be a random strong vibration every now and then, that would disappear when I'd stop the car.
Careful with getting high-mileage units. I spent almost €1000 in repairs in the 4 months that I owned it, plus I was basically facing a transmission rebuild that would cost upwards of €5000.
The nice things were that it was tremendously comfortable, felt very solid and it didn't leak any fluids at all, even with 200.000 km.
But I would never buy another Chevrolet again.