A sound from the steering resembling the sound a plastic bag makes when it's ruffled hard just 30 days after purchase. Till now the dealer has not been able to solve it and few months back when the car was sent to him, he threw up his hands and said he can't locate the problem and I should bear the sound!!
All 4 doors keep creaking and no amount of greasing has solved the problem. Dealer says all Matiz cars have this problem and Daewoo have solved it in the 2002 year model. As for model year 1999 customers, he says you will have to bear with the creaking!!
I had a continuous sound coming from the underbody irrespective of the road surface the car was driven on. The dealer changed the Tie bar and lower arms citing a worn out suspension charging me Rs.6500 ($136 approx) and the problem still continued. Ultimately I had a big argument and after a through check up he said it's not a suspension problem at all!! He changed the brake calipers and strut package charging me another Rs. 2600 ($55 approx). That was 20 days back and till now the sound hasn't come back and hopefully it wouldn't.
The fuel indicator shows me wrong indications of fuel. Once the indicator was at the E mark and when I topped up the tank at the gas station, I could barely manage 15 liters!! Now, the fuel tank has a capacity of 35 liters which meant there was more than half tank of fuel, but the indicator was hovering at the E mark. The dealer says it's a conked out fuel pump and it will cost me Rs. 5500! (approx $115)
The exhaust pipe has corroded and the entire pipe till the middle has to be replaced along with the silencer muffler. The dealer says all cars have this problem and he is right. Water and poor fuel quality in India causes this. But I had got the car treated with Dinitrol Anti-rust agent when I bought it and it still corroded. When I asked the dealer how my dad's 6 year old Suzuki doesn't have that problem yet, he says I am just lucky. OK I agree all exhaust pipes corrode, but do they corrode in 2 1/2 years and after just 25000kms?? How come the Japanese and European cars don't have that problem so soon?
It's a piece of Korean junk and I will never again buy a Korean car.
Performance is pretty good for a car with a 796 c.c. 3 cylinder 6 valve engine. It has a peppy 52 bhp @ 6000 rpm enigne and good low torque of 7.3kgm@3500rpm. Of course at traffic lights the Hyundai Santro-Atoz and Suzuki Alto/Zen are faster, but then they have a 999cc engine and the Matiz is heavier than all these cars. 800kgs for the Matiz as compared to 765kgs of the Santro. However, switch the Air-Conditioning on and the performance just dies.
Ride and handling is much better than it's rival Santro. Coupled with a peppy engine and sharp handling it's so much more fun to drive than the Hyundai.
The Air-Conditioning is fantastic which is a boon in the hot & humid Indian summer.
Good design of the Interiors and comfortable seats. It's also surprisingly roomy for it's size. Inadequate boot space is a bit of a problem. Absence of a tachometer is surprising. Gear shift is vague and clunky with long travels for the gear lever. Daewoo claims it's a superior cable operated shift, but I don't agree.
Incomplete information is always harmful to you as well as other.
Your exhaust pipe gets busted; this is because the Matiz engine splits drops of water from the engine to the exhaust pipe. According to the laws of engineering, any car's engine that splits water to the exhaust pipe is suggesting that engine is giving all the possible high performance under tough conditions.
I own 9 year old Daewoo Matiz, & I have already changed 3 exhaust pipes, & the current one is getting rusted pretty fast. This is not a problem with the Daewoo Matiz, & it's not Korean junk.
If you think I am making a foolish statement over here, then check by yourself. When you start your car in the morning or any time, leave your car to settle for 1 min without doing anything except starting your engine. After that, go back to the exhaust pipe & see you can see drops of water ( don't stop your car's engine). If you can't, then after your drive, when you're going to turn it off, go & check. I'm 100% sure you will see drops of water.
The Daewoo Matiz is a high performance car, & I'm a very proud owner of a Daewoo Matiz.
The Daewoo Matiz packs a lot of value for so little a price. I own the 1999 Model made for the UK market, all I have to say is that this is a brilliant car with a peppy engine although it's slow to reach top speed and is very agile while handling in city conditions.
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