1999 Daewoo Matiz Basic Model from UK and Ireland - Comments

Car has left me on the road twice. First for a reason unknown, the petrol was disconnected from the engine (this is standard in all cars if there is a crash).

Well, there was no crash, the car just stalled on a roundabout. After three days of thinking, and changing the battery and spark plugs, I realised that there is a small button beside the passengers seat. And when I pressed that button, the automatic safety tool deactivated and car started. Miles were around 43000.

Second time was when a cable between the coil and distribution unit was broken, because it was too close to the accelerator cable. So, the car stalled again and left me in the middle of Dublin traffic. Miles were around 43500.

Nice handling, good space for 4 people, quite fast (for 796cc) most of the time, if you use high revs. I like the interior as well.

Easy to drive in the city and really nice on Irish country roads. Not that good on the motorway, because there is not enough power. This is not a big problem for me, though.

Dual airbags are nice as well, insurance is really dear, but this is Ireland anyway, fuel consumption is around 8l/100km, in miles per gallon it is 35.

So quite a nice car, but not that reliable. Cheap to buy, nice to drive, handles OK.

Engine sound is really nice, though.

51 thousand miles and counting.

So far problems has been:

- Left road twice, unknown the first reason, but just to make sure battery (50 euro), spark plugs (25 euro) were changed.

- Second time the cable between distribution cover and coil broke and had to been changed (10 euro from dealer)

- Then interior light was fixed by me, since it went loose (0 euro)

-Heater unit broke and had to be replaced. I found a person to do this, since it requires some dismantling. Price for heater core was 80 euro and also cooling fan had to be replaced (second hand unit 60 euro), work was 150 euro.

-One oil change + filter, 60 euro

-Tracking, cannot remember the price, maybe 30 euro

-Ignition wire set, because connection was loose to cylinder 2, 28 euro

-Brakes got stuck once, some smoking, but it was fixed by time, so no need to fix the brakes (yet)

Now fuel consumption is around 6.8-7.4 litre / 100km (38 to 42 mpg), so it is OK.

So far I have spent fixing the car in (more or less) 10 000 miles 493 euro including work and parts. I was lucky to find someone to fix the coolant leak from heater, because in store that would not be cheap to fix.

So far so good, but not very rust worthy car, although you have to remember that it is 8 years old, but I think Toyota or Nissan would be better choice.