2005 Chevrolet Optra 5 2.0L from North America

Summary:

Good little car. Worth every penny

Faults:

Alarm randomly goes off. This occurs fairly rarely though.

General Comments:

The transmission can be a bit sloppy on the on-ramp and when passing cars on the highway. In city driving it performs quite well though.

I have after market low profile tires which really tightens up the ride and improves handling 10 fold over the original tires.

The amount of cargo space is incredible with the hatchback. I am in a band and I often carry a full drum-set and a larger bass amp in the back.

The stereo with MP3 player works well and sounds quite good through the 6 speakers.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 16th May, 2006

11th Jun 2007, 16:34

My alarm has been going off randomly for about 2 weeks. I took my 2005 Optra5 to the local GM dealership and they can't figure it out - in fact they questioned me on whether or not I was being truthful.

2005 Chevrolet Optra LT (5-door) 1.8 from United Arab Emirates

Summary:

We have bought a Daewoo at the price of a Chevy!

Faults:

I bought a 2005 model Optra LT (5door) in Dubai/UAE (elsewhere known as Optra5). Its exactly one year since I purchased it and I drove it only 18000 Km. One day the car broke down while starting the engine! (still under the 3 year warranty contract) This took one month of investigation and repairing by the local GM service center, ending up with complete engine re-assembling! (I mean it, as they have changed the water pump, Cylinder head & full set of 4 Pistons & Rings, 4 valves, plus Timing Belt and the time belt tightening wheel). I wrote a complain letter against the company, they explained (only verbally) that this was all because of a known problem in designing the water pump. In reply to my follow ups, after 1.5 months, they offered me 4 choices; 1) One year extension of engine warranty. 2) Replacement of the whole engine with a brand new engine. 3) Trading in the car with any other model (at the price of: original price – 20% + 10% as trade assistance) 4) Buying back the car without selling me another GM car for 35% less than the original price! (Without bothering about their fault) I am still struggling to get my rights.

General Comments:

Please note that this car is actually a Daewoo and has just received a few touches of design in some non-mechanical items such as exteriors and dashboard, before being introduced as a Chevrolet.

Don't think it is 100% Chevrolet, in fact it is called Daewoo Lacetti/Nubira.

This car (Lacetti/Nubira) was designed & made in Kunsan, South Korea by Daewoo's R&D department (now known as GM Daewoo Auto Technology (GMDAT)!), a company formed in 2002 out of the remnants of the bankrupt Daewoo company.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th May, 2006

15th Jun 2006, 15:46

Well... it's either that the user is brand-sensitive or brand crazy... or someone has forced him/her to buy the car... whatever it is, the user has absolutely no idea of what exactly his/her car is and has exaggerated things... The Chevrolet Optra is a complete re-make of the Nubira/Lacetti from Daewoo (not to mention that Daewoo has been taken over by Chevrolet and Daewoo's plant in Korea is now transformed into a quality GM manufacturing plant)... But please note that, it's not just the interior/exterior looks that they've modified, but also the engine and a few other mechanical parts including the suspensions... the engine is actually manufactured by Holden from Australia.

The Optra is one of the popular cars in UAE.. but there will always be one piece out of every 100 which is defective, and unfortunately the author's car has turned out to be 'that one'!! I've used an Optra (which I had rented with 32000 kms on the odometer) for 5 months and drove it for around 24000 Kms!! I'm a really rough driver and despite such heavy and rash usage, the car was still in an excellent condition with the best comfort one can ever get from a mid-range car, with excellent handling, performance and mileage.. I had even skipped a service scheduled at 40000 Kms, and still the car continued to perform excellently.

Being a Korean built car, the parts are very cheap.. the purchase cost is way lower than it's Japanese competitors, and this car is just worth every penny. This is evident from reviews of this very same car from all over the world.

Regardless, one thing in which I agree with the user concerns the dealer's response. The after sales service of the dealers here in UAE for Chevrolet is sad, which makes up for the unpopularity of Chevy cars.

View 13 more comments