1996 Daewoo Nexia GLXi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Hi there I acquired my nexia gli 1997, 1yr ago, with the engine seized, a garage decided to write the car off, and so I took a job to sort the engine out, after a deep investigation, I noted that the oil pressure switch started leaking, then got progressivly worse and let go, droped oil and seized the engine, on seizure the cam belt snapped and the cam shaft seized in the carrier, inspection of the bores, found them to be fine, all except the cam and carrier, I found a new cam and carrier from a local scrap yard and replaced that as well as a switch and headgaskets,oil seals etc, since then I've given the car hell and shes still goin strong. overall I do find the car is very cheaply built and probably the older astra would be better than the nexia on engine and interior, but hey that`ll be the daewoo.

I bought a new Daewoo Nexia GLXI from the Camden Town NWI, showrrom on 1-8-96; I've always been very pleased with it and if available today wouldn't hesitate to buy another one, Until very recently I had major no trouble with. The radio panel was replaced twice under warranty - been OK for last 8 years. Its done 65000 miles, and was regularly serviced by Daewoo in North Road N7 who did a good job, I wasn't as pleased with results when servicing moved to Edmonton, I mark key nuts and bolts with tippex which gets cracked off when undone. Several 'checked' items were obviously not touched. They are always done without argument when bought to the attention of the service desk. The car has always passed MOT until this year when a new exhaust CAT was needed. Original brake pads and shoes were replaced two years ago. This year the clutch and alternator needed replacement too, recently the spring switch for the boot light broke, it was easily replaced. The original tyres did 50000 miles, it has its original battery, headlight bulbs, shock absorbers. All in all a very good purchase that I'm well satisfied with.

What prompted me to post is a call for help, yesterday in sub zero weather the heater stopped working, coolant fluid is at the correct level, hoses to the radiator get hot which indicates the water pump is functioning; but hoses to the heater remain cool. Any ideas for a fix would be much appreciated. Please email ricardopuertas@hotmail.com.

Regarding the comment made on 12th October 2005, such comments are completely unhelpful and pointless. If a car fails its M.O.T, like both of your Mazda's apparently did, how is it the cars fault? It's likely that the cars were in bad condition in the first place. A Lada made in 1985 could pass its M.O.T, whereas a 3 year Lexus could fail for a balled tyre. Such comments are utterly unhelpful. Theres no doubting it, Mazda's make some of the best cars out there. Daewoos are a completely different story, I guess this is why they went bankrupt!

OK Daewoos are not great, but buying second hand is cheap & they serve a purpose to get from A to B, main dealers are expensive whatever car you have, but there are alternatives! Second hand parts are a good way to go - besides I reckon its getting harder to get parts now. I think they still outrank Rover!! Haha

to the owner with heater problems - check the 'stat is working OK - radiator should not get warm until gauge reads midway when 'stat opens & lets hot through, failing that a blocked heater matrix is likely, take off hoses & flush / blow through, might even be a vac hose to shutoff valve split & valve has closed so temp control is innefective (its under dash left side)

Can anyone help me? My Nexia 'P' 1.5 auto 8valve heater keeps blowing fuses - have disconnected motor and resistor & still have a major short until it cools down then is OK for a while with a new fuse, as car warms up it blows again!!

Confused in Aylesbury.

To the commenter of the 30th december, I am the optometrist who placed the comments of Nov 2005. I find it very interesting that you are able to assess the condition of my cousins mazda's from afar. These cars are 4 years old and previously purchased new by my uncle - both serviced on the dot by mazda. Clearly, the experience of my cousin does not sit squarely with your somewhat deluded belief that mazda cars are some of the best around. Quite how you are able to throw around generalisations of comparisons between lexus and lada staggers me. When a car goes in for mot, one should not be comparing the replacement of consumables (tyres, backbox section of exhaust) to the mechanical integrity of the other. That is just a nonsense.

I am currently looking at a new chevrolet or toyota and I will not be considering a mazda/ford.

To the commenter of the 30th december, I am the optometrist who placed the comments of Oct 2005. I find it very interesting that you are able to assess the condition of my cousins mazda's from afar. These cars are 4 years old and previously purchased new by my uncle - both serviced on the dot by mazda. Clearly, the experience of my cousin does not sit squarely with your somewhat deluded belief that mazda cars are some of the best around. Quite how you are able to throw around generalisations of comparisons between lexus and lada staggers me. When a car goes in for mot, one should not be comparing the replacement of consumables (tyres, backbox section of exhaust) to the mechanical integrity of the other. That is just a nonsense.

I am currently looking at a new chevrolet or toyota and I will not be considering a mazda/ford.

To the commenter made on 7th January, I have to say that you are probably one of the only people who actually rate Daewoo's. Maybe you know someone who used to work for the company, but I am simply in the dark as to why you rate them. In 1996 we were loaned a Daewoo Espero as a courtesy car. This car was brand new, it had covered about 480 miles when we got it and it had the following faults: The bonnet would not open, the windscreen wiper stalk could not be set at any mode- it was so loose that it kept falling back into the off position, no screen wash would come out despite there being a full tank and the heated rear window would not work. I was also generally unimpressed with the whole finish of the car, it was so far off a Japanese car I couldn't believe. The tackyness and brittleness of the plastics were also shocking and reminded me of my old 1989 Vauxhall Cavalier, and why put a 1.5 engine in such a large car? It's like putting a 1.6 litre in a Mercedes E-Class!!! We have had Mazda cars for years and they really do make some of the best cars out there. Compared to Honda's (I have also worked for Honda) and Toyota's, the Mazda's, either present or past models, are all nicer to drive with a better finish. It's a shame that the writer of the comment made on 7th Jan didn't read my previous comment properly. I was not comparing a Lada and a Lexus directly, it was more a comment on M.O.T's and how you can't blame a car for not passing it's M.O.T. Just out of interest, what did your Mazda's fail there M.O.T's on? It would be very intersting to know. I guess it's good to know that Daewoo had at least one fan. We had a Mazda Xedos 9 2.5iV6 that had covered 178,000 miles and was still on its original exhaust. Can I suggest that you read all of the JD power surveys and What car? surveys in the last 5 years and Mazda's all come within the top 5, religiously, whereas Daewoos are in the bottom 10. I don't think Mazda will be too disappointed that you are not buying one of their cars given your lack of appreciation and experience of quality, that is on par with Lexus, Toyota and Honda.

It is interesting that you have made your decision on daewoo cars based on the hire car experience of 1996 daewoo espero. I think the fact that you are able to make such swift and ignorant opinions, based on such a limited driving experience, says more about you than the car itself.

Clearly I was not the only daewoo driver happy with the reliability of my car, as the hundreds of thousands of other daewoo/chevrolet cars on the uk roads serve to testify.

I have no affiliation to daewoo, other than being one of their professional business customers and owner of different new daewoo cars for the last 7 years.

Finally I would refer you to the following 2005 WhatCar? opinion of daewoo as a manufacturer.

Daewoo

• League position: 8th

• Claims per 100 vehicles: 21.9

• Average age (years) : 4.52

• Average mileage: 38,634

• Average repair cost: £278

• Average time for repair (hours) : 2.1.

Daewoo continues to improve its reliability by moving up two places from last year’s 10th position.

The number of claims per 100 vehicles fell by 7.6% and the average repair cost dropped by £17. Not a huge difference, but they are still moving in the right direction.

The Matiz supermini was the company’s most reliable model, in front of the Leganza and the Nubira. Nearly 40% of all problems were caused by axle and suspension issues, while 17% of faults were the result of engine problems.

We will have to wait and see whether the name change to Chevrolet affects the brand’s reliability.

Verdict: **** Daewoo is still climbing, but how will Chevrolet fare?

It is clear that the WhatCar 2005 drivers do not share your somewhat bigoted views on daewoo/chevrolet as a car manufacturer. I noted with interest that mazda moved down into second position in the survey, not such a good result for mazda bearing in mind the size of the mazda/ford corporations and how long they have been building cars. Daewoo's position considering it's a much smaller and younger car company is in fact a good performance.

As you appear to place great importance to WhatCar reviews, you will perhaps note that 8th position is hardly at the bottom of the league table as you persisted to claim.

It has appeared to me that you have an ability to manipulate statistics and figures, this has lead me to consider if you were a mazda salesman? I have made my background as an optometrist professional daewoo business customer prefectly clear.

Yes, I made most of my opinion on Daewoo's after I was loaned one, I'm sorry, is this wrong of me? I was loaned it for 3 weeks and put over 1000 miles on the clock. We have also had a friend with a Daewoo Nexia 1.5GLXi Twin cam, which cambelt snapped at just over 500 miles after the service schedule for it to be changed. Interestingly, I notice you didn't respond to what my question about what your Mazda'a allegedly failed their M.O.T's on! How on earth can you talk about the size of a car company as a basis on their success/wealth? Lexus, for instance make roughly the same amount of models as Daewoo did. No, I am not a Mazda salesmen, nor would I want to be a car salesmen, but if I did, I would certainly not work for such a budget, basic, low image car company as Daewoo or Kia. You obviously don't like Mazda's for some reason, which is fine, but you seem to be talking about opinion rather than fact. Whereas I am talking about fact rather than opinion- If Daewoo were so great in the eyes of, errr, yourself, please tell me why they went bankrupt! We shouldn't be comparing the two cars. Can I ask what the relevance of an optometrist is that you keep bringing up, we are trying to discuss Daewoo cars and this is irrelevent!

Hi, I have owned a Nexia GLXi p Reg for approx 18 months, no real problems to start off with, had the cam-belt changed when I bought it and had a full service. Radiator went - got it replaced. Brake light won't go off sometimes which is annoying. Cat needed replacing which cost a fortune - it had completely disintergrated. Last week it threw the cambelt off at 70 mph on the M20, my mechanic has said it will cost approx 1000.00 to fix. My dad looked at the engine and 8 valves are bent on the engine and it needs a new cambelt kit obviously, the problem is that the head is badly corroded at 75000, is this normal?. The car has always been reliable, but I have found parts are expensive and due to the recent cambelt failure I am seriously considering giving up on the car as it isn't worth fixing. To be honest I have found the car reliable, but when it needs fixing it costs a bomb. If you can afford to pay out a bit more for a car then don't get a nexia - there isn't even a haynes manual for it - so it's a nightmare to try to fix it on your own - or in my case my dad's nightmare. I've got fed up of walking to work now so I've bought an old volkswagen polo - lets pray this one's not a lemon. Happy motoring to you all.

Hi there am new to this posting stuff so will try to keep it short.

Have just been given a daewoo nexia 1.5i, with a full yrs MOT which I must add it passed straight away no problems, but has since suffered a few problems, the alternator has gone, and there is a weird electrical fault.

The fault being no dash lights (except the door open light). Every time I put a new fuse in the ECM (batt) part of the fuse board and turn the key to battery it blows the fuse.

PLEASE HELP this problem is driving me mad.

Thanks.

Please help me.

I own a lanos (1997) ABS light always on new abs pump fitted.

The prob is the loom how can this be replaced and avoid the rip off garages-any hints please?

What annoys me a little about this thread is the bit about the cambelts.

Yes, they have an issue with tensioners, but this is a GENERAL MOTORS fault, and Daewoo cannot be blamed for the basic design. The 16V Ecotec engines, particularly the GM Family II 2.0l engines of the 1990s, are just as likely to burn out tensioners and fail as the Daewoo cars.

It is true that the older 8V GM engines were generally unburstable, but that's comparing apples with oranges.

In general, Daewoo cars are no more or less reliable than any European mainstream brand (ie non-premium). They're behind the Japanese (who isn't?), but on a par more or less with the Fords/Vauxhalls of the same era -- and a darn sight better than those horrible little pushrod engines they put into small Fords of the time.

Well this is is getting really bad. Daewoo is much much better than Mazda & Vauxhall. Well Daewoo has always proved better quality products than other companies.

I m a proud owner of a Daewoo Matiz. It's 9 years old and the only problem I faced was the water channel in the manifold, which got completely damaged; this was due to it was made of plastic, that's it. I got it repaired with the grace of god; its working perfect.

My father recently bought a Maruti Suzuki Swift 1.3; it's a good car, but in terms of performance the Daewoo is very much ahead.

Headlamps, clutch, brake oil, wipers, brake pads & all the original spares are working perfect, except for the water pump & timing bearing that were all due to the damaged water channel in the manifold.

So stop critizing Daewoo; this is the best company ever I have experienced in my life. I have experience Fiat, Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, & much more, but Daewoo is the best. I'm a proud owner of Daewoo.

Vauxhall & Mazda, what are you talking about?

Daewoo cars are known to be the best cars ever made. Well I have sympathy for the guys who got the worst service from the dealers, but I want to make a comment as I have made it earlier. There are people here owning Daewoo for the last 14 to 15 years, & till now no engine complaint despite not getting service from the Daewoo service centers as Daewoo has shut it operations in my country. People usualy go to local service stations to service their cars.

One of my friend's Daewoo Cielo has run more than 4 lakhs kms & no major complaints despite the car suffering one of the major accidents in here, & still car offers more than 9 to 10 kms mileage after 14 years & ran above 4 lakhs kms.

And talking about the Nexia, it's more powerful, steady than the Cielo. I personally own a Daewoo vehicle, but till date no trouble as you guys are facing. The problem can be you don't know how to drive new generation vehicles. Change your habits & then see what Daewoo do for you.