2009 Pontiac G3 review from North America

Nothing yet. There are a few things that I am not too happy with, but have accepted them as being something that all mechanical machines will do. The drivers side view mirror seems to vibrate a little more than the passengers side. Also you can hear the seats click into place when you step on the brake hard. But that is normal for manually adjusted seats. The car has heated side view mirrors. I haven't had the chance to try them out since they are not needed in Los Angeles County.

The ride can get jittery over the bumps and at high speeds. But keep in mind that this car hardly weighs anything and it has a very short wheel base and the car has a narrow track. It's what you would expect from a subcompact car. Apples to apples here, it's no Mercedes-Benz S-class.

This car is metallic red. It is very good on gas at 34 mpg highway. The car is in reality just a re-badged Daewoo Kalos from South Korea. What happened was Daewoo went bankrupt and GM bought them out. In the States you can buy this car as a Pontiac G3 or a Chevrolet Aveo in both sedan and hatch back versions.

Overall so far I am very impressed with this cars initial quality and fit and finish. They really took the time to make a quality vehicle with all the sound deadening material in places where Toyota and Honda omit for the sake of expense. The Honda Fit is a noisier ride than this car.

The fact that it is a South Korean built car does not take away from the car itself. S. Korea are our allies and buying their products helps them monetarily so they can buy stuff from us and have the money to defend themselves from their neighbors from the north. It's like giving aid and helping oneself at the same time.

Sure we could of bought an American car, but the Ford Focus is an archaic model and this Daewoo Kalos is all new for 2009. It is in it's second generation with a totally different engine/motor. The North American Ford Focus is still the first generation only with a cheap facelift! While the UK and other parts of the globe got the new version of the Focus that shares its platform with the Mazda 3.

These cars used to get really terrible gas mileage before they had them fitted with engines that offered "Variable Valve timing", which made all the difference. The fuel economy got boosted up from a measly 28 to 34 highway.

I don't know how this car will be in the reliability department, but it's no matter since we bought the GM extended warranty so the car is covered bumper to bumper for the next 75,000 miles or 7 years.

There are already plenty of Chevy Aveos out there. It's really a good choice for those who want an alternative to the Japanese marque, and it spreads the wealth to other parts of Asia who desperately need a steady flow of money as well.

Note: We bought this car under the "Cash for Clunkers"; "CARS-Car allowance rebate system" federal government program of 3 million united states dollars.