Faults:

The anti-lock braking system failed, which caused the back brakes to completely stop functioning. It is very hard to find the parts to fix this particular problem, and most modulators have an average cost of $500. This happened quite some time ago, and have put about 9,000 miles on it in this condition. It was only recently that I found the modulator, but because the back brakes had hardly been used, I had to replace the brake drums, shoes and cylinders, which also were very hard to find.

The air-conditioner went out at about 50,000 miles, and is much too expensive to replace or fix, so now we drive with the windows down, so hopefully the power window motors don't go out.

The water pump started to leak at 84,000 miles. The shop we took it to said that the whole unit had to be replaced. The water pump is one that is not hard to find, but is very difficult to install. The water pump is driven by the timing belt, so it is recommended to replace the timing belt as well if you are replacing the water pump. Replacing the camshaft seals is also advised at this time, which was done as well.

The check engine light comes on when the gas cap is not properly closed. We learned this the hard way, because we got charged by the dealer to hook it up to the computer to find out what was wrong with it.

The check engine light is on continually now. The car runs, so we tend to ignore it.

General Comments:

We bought this car new after some unfortunate events that removed our two ultra reliable Honda Civics were sent to the junkyard. This car seemed like an answer to our problems. It was cheap, and from a promising maker, and it was from a reliable dealer.

After a few years we got a letter in the mail from Daewoo stating that their company had gone bankrupt. After this, Daewoo dealers completely disappeared from around us, and it became rather difficult to find parts, and it is even more difficult now. Here are two places that I have found a lot of parts: Drivewire.com and RockAuto.com. Thanks to these two parts stores, my Daewoo is still on the road.

This car, when it is working properly, is rather nice.

It is reliable, in that it has never left us stranded anywhere.

Although it is such a small car, it does not get the gas mileage that one would expect from a car this size, but it will save you money on gas compared to other cars of larger stature.

If you have this car and it is broken, I wish you luck, otherwise I recommend putting it in a junkyard, where they will part it out and make it possible for other Daewoo owners to buy them.

Faults:

Tires wore out completely at about 20,000 miles. Very soft rubber compound.

Dashboard squeaks terribly.

"Check Engine" light has been blinking since shortly after I bought it. Neither the dealer nor our mechanic (to whom we've brought all our cars for 15 years) could figure out why it blinks. It's annoying.

OEM brakes wore out right away.

Serpentine belt tensioner broke.

Air whooshes into the cabin from somewhere around the "B" pillar when traveling at highway speed.

At 36,000 miles, the wire loom that services the automatic transmission conked out, causing the transmission to buck and shift on its own. My wife was on the freeway when this happened. The nearest Daewoo dealer was an hour away, and they charged us $650 to replace it!

Water pump and thermostat are in one single housing, and when they failed (this is normal with all cars at some time), the mechanic had to go find a special tool to simply change the water pump... and he has been in business for 15 years and has every tool you can imagine!

The paint chips off the body panels very easily.

De-fogger failed.

The dashboard is so difficult to disassemble, the dealer charged us for 10 hours of labor when the air conditioner's condensor unit failed. Oh yeah... the entire A/C system failed, forcing me to cough up $1700 to fix the system on a car that is listed at a value of only $2000. I live in Southern California, so A/C is a necessity.

Nobody will buy this car from me, so I'm stuck with it until I run it into the ground, which I gladly will.

General Comments:

The engine is fantastic. Very solid, and very strong. Pulls well.

Unfortunately, the rest of the car is so poorly built, I have a hard time figuring out how the Koreans expected to survive in the auto business for very long. This car is a true piece of poo-poo. I would love to transfer the engine to a Honda Civic and keep running it, but I'll likely have to sell the whole car to a salvage yard as soon as I pay it off entirely.

Oh yes... the Daewoo dealership was bar-none the absolute worst I've ever dealt with.

Never, ever buy a Daewoo. Serves them right to go bankrupt.