1996 Daewoo Espero LE 2.0i petrol

Summary:

If you're a "do-it-yourself"er , you're just fine

Faults:

The spare parts are hard to fine although the price aren't as expensive as Mitsubishis'. Maybe because Daewoos aren't common here so the availability is minimum.

I don't trust the dealer here, and yet they only have less than 5 service stations in Indonesia.

The 195/60 Hankook tires had poor grip, I replaced it with Heron/Marangoni 195/55 and it's way much better now (besides, the rear shock-absorbers were also replaced by gas-filled Monroes).

Sensor Temperature #25036979 cost me just 20US$ but it was hard to find (when it broke, I had to use a relay to directly start the fan everytime the key is on "ON" position otherwise that would mean TROUBLE specially here in this tropical Indonesia).

A pair of front ball joint cost me 40US$, and the tie-rods for 35US$.

The engine had detonation because I once downgraded the fuel from Super (98) to Regular (89), this was mainly because after some calculation, my Espero has only less than 9:1 compression ratio, so Super wasn't needed, I'm using Plus (94) now.

The automatic transmission & the rest of the car is still OK up 'til now, maybe because the car only has 60.000km on it.

General Comments:

The Indonesian Daewoo Espero LE 2.0i OHC has more features/equipment compared to rivals in its class, such as :

SRS airbag, ABS, leather seat, wooden panel, power/winter mode on automatic transmissions, reading lamp, and so on.

If Daewoo Indonesia had put a bigger intention than just trying to sell some not popular autos, it would've been not as pathetic as now.

Anyway, driving the car is okay, the steering feels the wheel as long as the rolling stocks are handling the road okay.

It's very roomy, although a little bit bumpy (and i have gas-filled Monroes, ouch !!!)

The very ideal thing to do with its engine compartment is to re-wire all the electrical cables.

That's probably about it, I'm keeping my Espero, but not another Daewoo in my garage in years to come, NO MORE

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th May, 2003

27th Mar 2007, 08:43

Here in the Philippines, we also experienced the same thing on our Daewoo Espero. The car had a lot of defects and also the service at the dealer is very bad. We will also not buy a Daewoo anymore.