1998 Daewoo Lanos SE review from UK and Ireland

Bought second hand, so far I have had to clean wiper fluid filters. Have done 22000 miles in six months with no breakdowns or faults.

Wellll, I blew the front stereo speakers out, but they had been pushed way beyond all sensible limits.

First off the interior is this car's weakest point. Ugly fabric and seriously cheap looking plastic everywhere.

The controls are functional and do their job with little or no style.

The driving position is flexible with adjustable steering column and loads of head and leg room, but the seats seem narrow and can be uncomfortable during a long (60+ minutes) drive due to poor lumbar support.

Lack of such frills as powered windows is in part balanced by the anti-lock brakes and duel airbags as standard on this model.

The outside looks good for a car this cheap and with a few customisations (14" alloy wheels, spoiler, racing mesh over radiator grill, fog lamps) it looks great.

Handling is great around town, but very bouncy and a bit wobbly on fast roads.

The 1.35 litre engine delivers good acceleration and seems very quiet except when pushing maximum acceleration.

The car seems to be coping with the 40000 mile-a-year foot-to-the-floor pounding I'm giving it with no reliability issues yet. I commute 160 miles (city and motorway) per day and get just over 2 trips from the smallish petrol tank.

There is nothing particularly outstanding about the Lanos, but no major flaws either. It is quick, reliable and an ideal town car. With some tweaks (sports shocks and padded seat-covers) it's great for motorways too.