1996 Daewoo Cielo GL from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

I purchased a Daewoo Cielo about a 2 months ago, I have just got my licence and I think it's a good little car. I have just had a few minor problems, but that's expected with a car that's over 10 years old:

Radiator has a crack in it, is being replaced at the moment.

Back windscreen wiper doesn't work.

Drivers side seat is broken.

Driver side door leaks.

My Cielo still had the original head unit in it, that also was broken as you couldn't get reception on any of the radio stations.

But all in all, I think it's a good little car, and as people in the previous comments have stated, all you need to do is get it regularly serviced and your car should run quite well.

Yes, my 1.5 motor pulls strongly enough if it's just me and no luggage in the car.

Yes the handling and ride are adequate if it's just me and no luggage in the car.

Yes, fuel consumption is great if it's just me and no luggage in the car. That's about where the joy ends.

Componentry, fittings, trim, seats etc is all way waay out on the bad side of cheap, nasty, plasticky and un-ergonomic.

High beam won't turn off.

My back hurts from the shabby chair.

The brakes really assist with acceleration.

Vibration and rattle are my constant journey mates.

The fan temperature dial is just wicked lies - it gives only heat in the hot hot Australian summers when bitumen becomes wallowy morass. In winter only cool air comes out.

The gear stick feels like I'm rattling a wooden spoon in a large plastic bucket.

The car is about as secure as a wet paper bag, it's just a good thing that there aren't so many of them that thieves all know this.

No thought went into the usability of any single design, let alone the whole cruddy package. It doesn't blow smoke and starts first time every time, though this may be because of the nice shiny new cylinder head. The new clutch gives it a nice feel too.

Those poor long suffering previous owners. If it weren't reasonably reliable for the 5000kays that I've driven it I'd have taken the guy I bought it off, cut him into a thousand little pieces and FedExed him to Iraq. I can't wait to get rid of it, even though that means inflicting it on some poor fool.

Very economical, *however* I'm just in process of replacing head gasket at 165,000 k's. Besides not being able to find a manual, unusually - two of the cylinder bores inside the engine are already breaking down. The car has had a good history, they are not built for many year service.

I own a 96 GLE Automatic. 80000 Kms done. Here in India this is a very affordable car now.

Drive seat height adjuster is shot and as said earlier unable to find some one to fix it. Right side axle broke and had to get it replaced, but still have a bone crackling sound when I turn the steering initially. Unable to fix that, right side driver power window mechanism was done for and had to replace it. Vehicle overheats very frequently and engine shuts off often. Two days ago radiator had a major leak getting it replaced today.

Service is costly, but still I love this car, It is spacious and very Classy looking. I feel like a king driving my car.

Fuel consumption is OK. All I can say is every car will have it's share of problems, Cielo will have two added more to it's share.

First of all: I bought my new (right out of the factory) daewoo cielo 3 years ago, I've had absolutely no problems since, the car works perfectly and I never changed anything (except the fuel). So, please stop with negative posts about cars you've bought 10 years ago.

Hi all, a quick note to add, & a few quick questions for the poor few that have had to go through it.

I was given a Cielo 97, which had the camshaft connection pin snapped off. This was easily enough replaced by myself. I have been informed by many mechanics that this is the major issue with the engine. Replacing the cam means replacing the head gasket, and this issue usually arises around the 120,000km mark.

If you are working on this engine yourself, another little mechanics tidbit is the fact that the wiring harness has been incorrectly set up. The wires that connect to the bottom of the distributer do not come out of the same place on the wiring harness. This little beauty had me scratching my head for 2 weekends. One of the connections on the distributer & the connection that goes into the head are identical. If you have rebuilt the engine yourself & you are not getting any spark, swap these connections around.

I currently have 3 of these cars, the other 2 I have picked up from damaged car auctions for next to nothing. Main damage to the cars is paneling, so I now have heaps of spare parts for mechanical, electrical & interior.

Has any one got a manual of any sort???

Some issues I would love some help with. First, 1 of the engines lost power the other day. It has recently been rebuilt. I have seen a few comments regarding the same. What did your mechanic say the issue was.

Secondly, the back windscreen wiper won't work. Again from previous topic, how was the issue solved.

Thirdly, the FM stations are not working. How is the antenna replaced or fixed?

Any help would be fantastic.

Cheers!!

A good few years ago I used to have one of these cars - a daewoo nexia. A very reliable car in my experience. I drove it from 48,000 miles to 104,000 miles. (work that out in kms!!) During that 4 yr period aside from routine servicing it needed: 1 ABS sensor, 1 alternator, 1 middle and back box sections of exhaust. It also needed the front windscreen wipers re-earthed, but this was a minor task. Thus my running costs were minimal and a good deal less than some of my colleagues who owned toyota lol.

In respect to the back windscreen wiper that the previous commenter enquired about, if it is the same design as the nexia, the back windscreen wiper receives its electrical input from 3 prongs which make contact with 3 copper coloured square contactors. These are found within the boot/trunk, near the latching mechnism. The copper contacts will need cleaning as they oxidise. You could use a special cleaner, but I used to use a coin to scratch off the green oxidised colour! Worked every time!

These days I have a chevrolet lacetti, I recommend you all to upgrade.

Its been 2 months I bought a daewoo cielo 97 hatchback as second hand and it has about 260,000 Km mileage..

Its very economic car, due to high fuel cost in my country and maintenance is not much expensive due to cheap spare parts and used second hand parts as well. the only problem I have faced so far is the engine belt bearing it made noises,and the non stop inner vibrations...and now the back windscreen wiper doesn't work.

Over all it's a nice car with a good sporty shape.

Hi, I bought a 96 Daewoo about 3 years ago. The cambelt broke; that is very expensive to repair.

New stainless steel exhaust fixed the one that lasted about 1 year.

I am looking for a workshop manual. Please help.

Right side electric window winder lasts about a year.

Parts for the car are freely available in South Africa, but General Motors are the sole agents.

We have a 1996 Daewoo Cielo GL. My daughter seems to have blown the head gasket. We have been trying to find a manual, but have had no luck so far. We have noticed that a lot of other people are looking for one as well. Did anyone find one? Please help.

My 96 Cielo is just coming up to 113,000 Kms. Bought in 04 secondhand with 90000 on the clock. The headgasket went just before the 3 month warranty expired (phew). Water pump and then headgasket went again in Feb'08. The speedometer has now packed up. I am in the grip of taking out the dashboard and would like any tips/tricks/traps. Any advice for speedometer cable replacement, manuals? and /or parts suppliers.

I find those saying that if the car is taken care of that it is reliable... You are accusing a lot of people of neglecting their cars. That out of the way, I have a 1996 Daewoo Cielo, forgive me if I can't remember all that has gone wrong:

- Replaced CV joint

- Replaced ignition switch

- Replaced entire exhaust

- Replaced radiator (car still overheats)

- Replaced tyres

- Replaced spark plugs and leads

- Window winder falls off

- Interior of doors is falling off

- Drivers side door is not on hinge properly and needs to be lifted to open as top corner of door falls in behind the rear door.

- Seats are uncomfortable+++

- Rear window wiper does not work

- And most recently fuel pump stopped working, cam shaft seized, and timing belt broke.

Cheap car to run fuel wise, very unreliable. After latest problem, although not too dear to fix ourselves, we will be getting a new car - not a Daewoo.

We've got a 96 Daewoo Cielo... so far (at about 110,000km), it has had the breather hose from the cam to intake hose replaced 4 times, the head gasket blew, the rocker cover gasket continually leaks (even with new parts), the interior is pretty much falling apart, everything is rattly and crap.

Now, it has fairly major oil leaks from at least 2 spots (one looks like camshaft seal, and the other, maybe crankshaft seal (can't really tell, it's running down the cambelt cover)... the cars are a joke... they're made to be disposable.

Those of you who have one that has lasted 200,000 odd km, think yourselves lucky... it's NOT due to good maintenance. You just happened to get a decent one. The rest of us, unfortunately did not.

Firstly to help with the rear windscreen wiper, I know this sounds simple and I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence, but with my 96 Cielo, it was a simple matter that the nut had to be tightened (hence if it's loose, the teeth don't connect on the inside of the cover).

As for the front wipers, I've noticed the paint seems very cheap, and to be quite honest I've had to change the wipers themselves about 3 times, due to the wipers losing paint, then rusting, then breaking.

I've gone through 2 door mechanisms since owning it, and believe me, I was exceedingly gentle after the first went, but that didn't seem to help.

The head I've replaced also; I had absolutely no warning that the engine was over heating; it just simply went (though I have learned that since the heads on Daewoos are alloy, if you use water instead of coolant, they corrode to the point that the head will blow at the drop of a hat before any thermostat will alert you.

Also the heater hoses on the engine are renowned to go on these things so, if you have heating issues it might simply be that. Mine had a a 10mm slice in it, which was enough to make the engine run very very hot.

I've gone through 2 CV joints, both on the same side, which makes me wonder what's going on there, but the 3 different mechanics assured me that everything was straight.

The fuse box has melted 2 times to the point it resembles a art piece. The auto electrician has told me it is the heater that keeps blowing the fuse (so now I don't bother using it).

The seats are comfy if you like late stage lower back arthritis, and this is no word of a lie.

I locked myself out of the car, and I got back in with a stick! That's right, a stick!

Now I have to tell you in all fairness this is an old car, and I get that, but this car is only second hand from my sister that drives like she is 80, not Colin Mcrae, so the car hasn't gone through extreme stress. Not only that, I drive like I'm 80 as well, and yet this car seems to continue to rack a bill.

With this experience, I cannot advise others to buy them if you want a long term vehicle. If you buy them brand new, I have no doubt they would probably produce a sound ride, ie you get what you pay for. However in my experience, I bought the car second hand and have paid upwards of 8500 dollars in mechanical parts and labour; why do I hear you ask? Because since owning it, I have just about replaced the entire car in parts, so now it runs pretty good. But if I had this knowledge in hindsight, I would most definitely not advise me or anyone else to buy one of these second hand.

I bought a 97 Daewoo Cielo recently, and have found the fuel usage to be more than 12l/100km, which is very heavy. The car has 87000km on the clock and is in very tidy order. We have pulled the fuse on the air con and still the fuel use is heavy. Any ideas???

Ps my dad had a 1990 Pontiac Lemans (Daewoo) and put 200k on the clock. He thought it was a great car and very cheap to run, so we are surprised at what we are finding.