2004 Chevrolet Optra review from North America

I'm leasing a 2004 Optra and would strongly warn against purchasing or leasing one. Some of the little problems: little rust spots on the roof, hood and sides, the paint chips extremely easily, one area led to the discovery that the back driver side door was misaligned, the trunk as well, the steering wheel had been put on crooked. I’ve had the headlights replaced within the first year – both burnt out so I couldn’t drive when dark (in winter, that’s most of the time). I've had it recalled for some signal light issue. It had issues with the gear shifting (it’s an automatic) and they had to reprogram something in the computer to fix it. Seems to jerk often if I hover at 51-53km/hr, but the service department can't find it. Every six months it gets very creaky, I take it in they say they fix it, but six months later it's there again and I take it in once more. Yes, it's all under warranty - I actually complained about the car so much and had it in for repairs so often that they extended the warranty to 5 years, a year past when my lease is up. The latest thing that happened was the head gasket going (left stranded with a steaming car), a major thing and very expensive. I believe there are other things, but there’s so many I’ve forgotten a few. Way too much hassle to bother with, even if it is covered by warranty. I’ve had car rentals provided to me at least four times in the past two years while they do repairs.

Terrible car, big hassle with constant repairs. I suggest staying away from an Optra.