Faults:

The airbag warning light has been repeatedly illuminating through out the last year. It is now on its 9th visit to the Chevrolet appointed garage to have the problem fixed. Each time they have repaired it, I'm sure with the best intentions, but each time it comes back on within a matter of weeks.

Now one year after its first visit, the fault has finally been diagnosed, and I am confronted with a £200 repair bill. Because the dealer who sold us the car in the first place did not keep up the warranty servicing, Chevrolet customer care have advised that they will not honour the warranty, but that as a goodwill gesture they will pay half the cost of the parts. This is a nice gesture, but my argument with them and the garage is that, why has it taken so long to find the fault? It has now cost me one month's motoring throughout the year. A very unsatisfactory situation.

General Comments:

Very pleased, with the exception of the above fault.

Faults:

Nothing wrong with the car at the moment, but when it was delivered, it was supposed to have a spoiler on the back. It did not, and it had a big scratch on the inside plastic of the door. After weeks of backwards and forwards, they finally did the scratch, but I am still waiting for the spoiler.

The after sale services is terrible. I've been told now that the 2008 model does not have a spoiler on, yet I picked the car because of the look of it.

I could not test drive one as they did not have one in, so I picked it from a book and off the web, which both stated it came with a spoiler. They should get something done with their aftercare.

General Comments:

When you just open boot of the car, you have to remember to lock it again as it does not lock on closing.

Does not tell you if you leave your lights on, but in another way it must turn them off.

Faults:

Various quality issues: various trim rattles, sharp edges on steering wheel rim and back, warped passenger airbag cover, some rusty bolts around fuel filler.

I have run the car as a hire car for 1300 miles across a variety of rural, town, city and motorway standard roads, and find it has many good attributes, but is too compromised to ever consider buying one.

I currently run a 2007 Perodua Myvi with the previous car being a 2006 Suzuki Swift. We (my wife) runs a 2007 Fiat Panda Diesel and we have experience of most 2006/7 cars made in this price class - Getz, Picanto, Ignis, Wagon R, C1, Aygo, Swift, Panda, Sirion, Myvi etc.

General Comments:

Good points: This SE spec model has an excellent level of standard spec, and does come with three years free servicing - all for £6750 discounted.

Spec includes remote/keyless entry, four electric windows, air-con, four speaker CD, electric mirrors, five full seatbelts and headrests, split fold rear seats, colour keyed bumpers, handles & mirrors as standard.

Nice touches are plenty-tinted sun strip across the windscreen, mobile phone pocket on side of passenger seatback, asymmetric cupholders to deal with any size cup, seatback pockets, boot light, a proper boot handle (curiously not in the centre!), well designed remote key is easy to use, intelligent electronics-delayed courtesy light and a seatbelt alarm that quits after 5 dings, nice front sidelight style.

Driving the car would be fine with a different power unit; it handles tidily, rides reasonably, has pliant and quiet suspension and good traction. It is stable and brakes well, inspiring confidence.

Bad: It has simply the worst engine possible, being terribly underpowered with poorly matched gear ratios, thirsty (I averaged 35mpg) and is just plain frustrating to keep up with everyday traffic. The poor economy results from spending 50% of the time absolutely flat out trying to keep it moving with the traffic - hills scare this car too. It cannot be driven gently just over tickover, is raucous over 2500 rpm, and anything over 3000rpm is just pointless.

If this was due to a stringent ECU emissions setting, you could forgive it, but amazingly for a 1.2 it emits a very high 153g/km, taking it into a high UK tax band of £140 per annum. Ignore the magazines and their 0-60 figures - the 1.0 Daihatsu Sirion, the Toyota Aygo and the Citroen C1 would leave this for dead in any situation - and all emit less than 120g/km, and therefore lie in the £35 per annum tax bracket.

The wheel trims expose the steel wheels and make them look cheap.

The interior fabrics smell of oil and are horrible - scratchy, synthetic and very sweaty.

There are various unsightly blanking plates for missing kit, and quality control issues as above.

The seats are flat and uncomfortable, with headrests that are sited too far forward, pushing your head forward and keeping catching the back of your hair.

The old fashioned rear headrests are not child friendly and block rear vision.

It has a daft space-saver spare wheel.

The stereo is a dated face-off unit with fiddly buttons.

Not enough storage cubbies.

No clutch rest.

The steering wheel is slightly too far away, and does not adjust for reach.

A general feeling of cheapness pervades the whole car - because it is cheap.

To sum up, it is a flawed cheap car with lots of equipment for the money and a good servicing package. It has a variety of talents, but the awful power unit, cheap finish and general discomfort will very quickly irritate you and outweigh the other benefits.

Honestly, I will be glad to give it back soon.

Faults:

Brakes have failed on three occasions. That is total failure.

Last failure was the steering. It went its own way causing a collision.

General Comments:

We have two Kalos cars bought within one week of each other. One has quirky irritations, but is OK in general. The newer one has brakes and steering issues. It is currently being repaired in a body shop because of the last fault.