2001 Daewoo Lanos from North America - Comments

My suspension was thrown out of alignment easily, my error.

Poor placement of cup-holder.

Interior and upholstery has a very cheap feeling.

No power windows or locks.

When I tried to have a copy of the key made, no hardware store had Daewoo blanks.

Steering column and frame shake upon reaching 65 mph (you can hear the doors and windows rattling).

Makes a very strange noise when I turn the steering wheel, like you can hear fluid.

Transmission has a noticeable jerky shift and the brakes squeal when it rains.

Very cheap.

Great gas mileage, approximately 200 miles per tank (this car has a small tank).

Great smooth, fast start with a nice "throaty" engine sound if you like that sort of thing.

Takes turns like a dream, unbelievable handling. I can take a sharp right turn doing 40 mph under try conditions very easily.

Roomy cabin and trunk.

Can handle almost anything you can dish out. I ran my Lanos into a muddy ditch after trying to take a sharp right turn doing 60 mph, and I hauled out of there pretty easily considering I do not have 4-wheel drive.

I, too, am experiencing problems with the transmission-feels like something is getting hung up upon acceleration, but it doesn't do it all the time. Dealer says they can't help me. Sure wish someone could.

Maybe your car would hold up better if you tried not taking turns at 40-60 mph.

Driving it into the ditch doesn't help.

You didn't notice the lack of power windows or locks before you bought it, or that the interior and upholstery had a "cheap feeling"? Those are not things that have "gone wrong" with the car.

All in all, sounds like the little car has held up well against all the abuse you have given it!

My Daewoo also made a weird kind of dull sqeuaking noise when I was steering. My step-dad fixed it somehow. I think maybe he just added more power steering fluid.

(I have zero car terminology knowledge, so bear with me)

Make sure you have lots of spare keys; one night mine broke in half when I was 2 hours away from home.

I'm glad I'm not the only Daewoo owner that gets squeaky brakes when it rains.

Okay...for the person who said they're having trouble with acceleration and it only happens some of the time:

ME TOO! Sometimes it gets up to 50 and will NOT get up to 55. Then other times it goes right back to normal. I notice that when the acceleration is acting up the brakes get weird on me too. When I press them sometimes they just don't go down as easily or as far as they should. Also when all that is going on my car smells bad-like something is burning. Usually if I just pull over and let the car rest for 15 or 20 minutes it goes back to normal. So be warned-your Daewoo might turn out like mine. It just started out with a little acceleration problem.

My mom took my car to a mechanic yesterday and it would cost me 2500 to get it all fixed, when I only paid 2200 for it. That 2500 includes fixing a weird oil-leaking-into-the-driver-side-right-under-my-feet-so-when-I'm-done-driving-my-shoes-slip-on-the-pavement problem. But it would only take about 800 to fix that.

Watch out for your Daewoos! And be careful over pot holes... my car bottoms out way too easily.

Re above comment: your acceleration problem is caused by your front and/or rear brakes not fully releasing, which causes a drag, hence your inability to accelerate. The burning smell is burning brake material. You can't push the brake pedal down because the brakes are already engaged (but not to you, you're not their type).

The "weird oil" getting onto your shoes is called "coolant" and it is leaking out of your heater core or a connection under the dash.

Neither one of these problems will fix themselves, but hopefully before you crash into something because your brakes have worn away and no longer stop the car, your coolant will have all leaked out and your engine will overheat and blow a head gasket.

Either way, you can then throw away the car and get something else. Problem solved.

I have an '02 Lanos hatchback I bought as a leftover in '03 for $5500. For the money it's great, but there are a few things worth mentioning. The gas tank is small; and the mileage is NOT what I expected from such a small car so the range is very poor (250 miles per tank). I feel like I'm constantly putting gas in it even though it doesn't call all that much to fill. The heat is only fair so if you live in a cold climate keep this in mind (yes I replaced the thermostat). The condenser corroded and had to be replaced at 35k miles. It was very expensive too! But the biggest problem, NO ONE CAN/WILL FIX THEM! So even though I like this car, it really is a big gamble. If something major in drivetrain goes, the car has to go.

My engine blew up at 39k miles. It has cost me more than $10k to keep this heap on the road for the last 7 years.

NOT A GOOD VEHICLE!!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!