1998 Daewoo Leganza CDX from UK and Ireland - Comments

The remote locking/alarm/immobiliser packed in at 37,000 miles.

The leather on the offside side support of the drivers seat is very worn.

The thrust bearing collapsed requiring a new clutch at 49,000 miles.

Head gasket blew at 65,800 miles causing the ECU to blow. and killing the car. This little bundle of laughs cost me £1050.

New ball joints required at 66,000 miles. £100.

Stereo system and 10 CD player, gave up the ghost at 67,600 miles. Replaced by an MP3 player £170.

At 68,000 miles on Thursday the 13th of November, at 5.45 in the morning whilst on my way to work and cruising at 60mph, down the motorway, the engine decided to let go, thereby blowing two holes, one in either side of the engine block. A surprisingly thin engine block, by the way. This resulted in my having to purchase a replacement second hand engine for the sum of £1309, with fitting. (I was quoted around £4,000 for a new one from Daewoo)

When the car is running and everything is working as it should be, it's fine. But, with what I've had to pay out in replacement parts, for what is, in a car that has been regularly serviced and well looked after, nominal mileage, I'm afraid my love affair with my Leganza is definitely on the wane. Daewoo are certainly cheap cars to buy, but the outrageously high cost of replacement parts is rapidly gaining them a reputation as a car to steer clear of on the second hand market. No wonder the guarantee runs out at 60.000.

So, would I buy another one? Take a wild guess.

PS. The drivers window has taken a dislike to closing smoothly. So that's something to look forward to over the coming winter.

I am a Certified Audi Technician that drives a Daewoo Lanos. I have been very satisfied with my car for the 3 years that I have driven it. In the 21000 Miles I have driven it I have had a Window regulator and an ECM replaced. Also Paint on front and rear bumper were repainted while within warranty. Compared to the Audis I repair every day this Daewoo is a charm and a cut rate bargain at 10,000 dollars. I don't know what you expect from a vehicle nowadays, especially one as inexpensive as a Daewoo, but I would count your blessings that those were the only repairs you made to your vehicle. Most of those things could have been avoided had you performed regular maintenance on your car. Which I assure you you didn't. No one wants to pay for car repairs and that is why after the warranty period is up cars quickly decline in health. A word to the wise, don't neglect your Daewoo or any other car for that matter, you will only be sending it to an early grave, no matter how good or bad you may believe it to be. PS: Take it easy on the clutch and maybe you won't need a new one before 100,000.

How does a head gasket failure blow an ECU? This sounds like whoever did the repairs pulling a fast one to me.

My 2002 model Peugeot 406 ran out of fuel recently (with 35 miles worth of fuel still showing on the fuel computer). I walked to a nearby filling station and bought a gallon of fuel which I put into the car. On attempting to restart the engine, the dash display locked in "ECO MODE" and the starter stopped working. The car was towed to the local Peugeot dealer who called me after a short while to tell me that the ECU would need to be replaced at a cost over over UKP 1,000 because I'd let the car run out of fuel.

I refused to accept this, and sought legal advice which told me that I had a good case for the car being unfit for purpose (running out of fuel should not routinely incur four figure repair bills), and my solicitor wrote to the dealer threatening legal action. Within minutes of the post arriving the next day, I got a call to say they had miraculously "discovered" a fix which would not need the ECU to be changed. The car was returned to me running perfectly, and to this day it is still fine.

Many dealers are capitalising on the complexity of modern cars, to our cost. Anyone with an ounce of mechanical knowledge wouldn't accept half the crap that many dealer service departments come out with. More and more of us are mechanically ignorant and it's given the less scrupulous servicing outfits out there a license to print money.

Crikey mate, Looks like you bought a wrong un!

I have a 99 cdx as a taxi which has done 112.000 miles so far and is still going and looking great.

There is prob not a day goes by without someone getting in and saying what a lovely motor you've got driver.

Oh well, either I am lucky or you are unlucky!