1996 Daewoo Cielo GL review from Australia and New Zealand

Power Steering Leak on Delivery.

Broken Drivers Seat 1 week after delivery.

Safety Belt Lock problem rectified on recall by manufacturer.

Windscreen cracked near base cause unknown 25000 km's.

Irregular coolant loss from about 45000 km's.

Breather hose to top of cam cover replaced 50,000 km's.

Drivers side door window winder 80000 km's.

Clutch replaced 85,000 km's.

Head Gasket at 90,000 km's.

Left hand passenger door mirror.

Drivers seat fails again at 100,000 km's.

Windscreen cracks centre top to mirror and is replaced again.

Breather hose to cam cover replaced again 110,000 kms.

LH front CV Boot replaced 110,000 kms.

Muffler replaced 150,000 km's.

RH CV Boot failed 160,000 km's.

Oil Pump and Main Engine bearing fails 160,000 km's.

This car was the 4 door version of the Daewoo GL.

Generally it ran well and had enough power for most situations.

The build quality of the car I purchased was poor with leaking power steering lines and a manufacuring defect in the driver's seat. Panels were poorly aligned.

This car was purchased just prior to Daewoo introducing the 3 year Freecare program consequently services were paid for and in some cases not performed by a Daewoo dealer.

This car was relatively economical for fuel, but became too expensive due to the extremely high cost of replacement parts.

For example the retail mark up on a genuine Daewoo CV boot compared to the same part provided by an automotive parts chain is in excess of 300%

The quotes to rebuild the engine start at $2700. The Daewoo is heading to the wreckers after 7 years.

Daewoo makes home maintenance difficult by refusing to provide workshop manuals and prohibitive maintenance costs.