1999 Daewoo Lanos S review from North America
"Daewoo Lanos Falls Apart Quickly"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Tires wore out completely at about 20,000 miles. Very soft rubber compound.
Dashboard squeaks terribly.
"Check Engine" light has been blinking since shortly after I bought it. Neither the dealer nor our mechanic (to whom we've brought all our cars for 15 years) could figure out why it blinks. It's annoying.
OEM brakes wore out right away.
Serpentine belt tensioner broke.
Air whooshes into the cabin from somewhere around the "B" pillar when traveling at highway speed.
At 36,000 miles, the wire loom that services the automatic transmission conked out, causing the transmission to buck and shift on its own. My wife was on the freeway when this happened. The nearest Daewoo dealer was an hour away, and they charged us $650 to replace it!
Water pump and thermostat are in one single housing, and when they failed (this is normal with all cars at some time), the mechanic had to go find a special tool to simply change the water pump... and he has been in business for 15 years and has every tool you can imagine!
The paint chips off the body panels very easily.
De-fogger failed.
The dashboard is so difficult to disassemble, the dealer charged us for 10 hours of labor when the air conditioner's condensor unit failed. Oh yeah... the entire A/C system failed, forcing me to cough up $1700 to fix the system on a car that is listed at a value of only $2000. I live in Southern California, so A/C is a necessity.
Nobody will buy this car from me, so I'm stuck with it until I run it into the ground, which I gladly will.
General comments?
The engine is fantastic. Very solid, and very strong. Pulls well.
Unfortunately, the rest of the car is so poorly built, I have a hard time figuring out how the Koreans expected to survive in the auto business for very long. This car is a true piece of poo-poo. I would love to transfer the engine to a Honda Civic and keep running it, but I'll likely have to sell the whole car to a salvage yard as soon as I pay it off entirely.
Oh yes... the Daewoo dealership was bar-none the absolute worst I've ever dealt with.
Never, ever buy a Daewoo. Serves them right to go bankrupt.
Recommended reviews
| Find a different car |
|
| Avoid at all costs- believe me, there will be many |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 1999 |
| First year of ownership | 2000 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2004 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.6L Automatic |
| Performance marks | 7 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 7 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 2 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 3 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 11000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 93000 miles |
| Previous car | Honda Civic |
| Date of Entry | 24th August, 2004 |