1999 Daewoo Matiz from UK and Ireland - Comments

I have recently bought a Matiz and am having a problem. when I pull away or brake hard I hear I knocking noise from below the car. I have had it in two garages; no one can find out what is causing the noise. has anyone else experienced these problems? Any ideas; please email me at d12bees@hotmail.co.uk.

Hi I have a 2001 Matiz and have just experienced the "dreaded manifold water leak problem". I wasn't sure what it was until reading comments on this board, but have found it really helpful. I guess what it's made me do is realise I'm not going to chase good money after bad by repairing the fault.It's a shame really because the little car has served me well, although the engine management light has been on for 4 years! I wasn't prepared to pay the Daewoo garage £70 to hook up to their computer and then tell me that it's a little probe that's failed costing another £50!At the end of the day we all want the best deal we can get for our money and at the start the Matiz fits the bill, but you need to run it into the ground as it isn't worth much after a couple of years. When thinking of buying a new Matiz ask the salesperson what he would allow you on a trade in after two years, then watch him stutter the answer.

I've had my Daewoo Matiz (1999 model) for 3 years. Has been trusty so far until recently. Inlet Manifold has gone, water was pouring straight out and the water tank would empty in a few minutes. This forum has been very helpful, didn't realise it was so common. Have been told it's going to cost me around £350 to fix. Car only worth about £500. Not happy, but have had a good few years out of it. I've always had problems with changing from first to second gear too. Definitely time to get rid though and no, I won't be getting another one.

Hi, I have a silver daewoo matiz se plus and have had no end of problems with it since we purchased it as a first car for my daughter, first the yellow engine light started coming on and then it would stall when you braked this got so bad we then took it to a dealership as these were the experts!!! to find that to clear the problem we would need to replace the water pump, manifold a-intake and have a service which we did, it ran great for 10 months and the same problem appeared again stalling and cutting out!!!, took it again to the experts!!! and was told that it was the catalytic converter this time, ran again for 3months and guess what same problem, we have now spent £1,200 on parts and labour trying to keep this heap of tin on the road to no avail!!! and no one seems to no what the problem is so please take note of this and have a second thought about buying a matiz.

I have a 01 matiz engine over heated so I bought a second hand engine fitted it now it won't start have fuel but no spark it was lying for about 4 months could ecu have lost its memory.

I have had my 2004 Matiz from new. The main problem I encountered was the engine management light coming on. After several visits to the dealers to gt it checked under warranty, and reset, a sensor was replaced. I noticed a pattern to the light illuminating, and figured that as long as I didn't let my fuel gauge drop below half, then it doesn't illuminate. It is nearly 1.5 years since it last came on - I think there is a problem with the fuel outlet from the tank being too high, so if fuel levels drop below half, when you turn a left corner the fuel slops away from the outlet, air gets sucked in the fuel pipes, and engine management light illuminates.

So, to preven engine light coming on, treat the half way mark as empty. It works for me.

Hi! I have a 99 Deawoo Matiz. I parked it up outside my house last night; I got in it at 2pm the next day and now it won't start. I have checked my oil and spark plugs and petrol; it turns over but won't start. Any help would be good, thanks.

I have a 1999 Matiz, that cuts out after driving for a while, the engine MIL light comes on and it loses power and cuts out. It won't start for about an hour while the engine cools down. It was suggested to replace the distributor; it seems to be a common problem.

To anyone who has experienced the dreaded inlet manifold coolant leak on a Daewoo Matiz. I am currently repairing this on my sister's car. When the engine management light illuminated she carried on regardless until steam (or smoke as she put it) started pouring out.

Fearing that the cylinder head gasket had gone as well, I obtained a full headset of gaskets and removed the cylinder head. I have found it to be OK, but the plastic inlet manifold has failed. What has happened is that part of the plastic inlet manifold (at the end above the water pump) is acting only as a cover to blank off a water channel. This is simply just bad design. The planned repair will be to simply cut off that end of the plastic inlet manifold and to blank off the water channel it covers on the cylinder head with a small piece of sheet aluminium. Job done and done relatively cheaply.

By the way, to all those wrestling with removing the inlet manifold in situ. I found that the only really practicable way to do it is to remove the cylinder head with the inlet manifold still attached. Hope this helps!

Paul Pierce, South London.

I have a V reg daewoo Matiz, and in the past week, it has jumped about like a kangaroo, then refused to start, only to be fully functioning an hour later. The engine light keeps coming on; on monday it started fine in morning, then cut out at end of road and now it sits outside my house refusing to start at all. Got it booked in at garage for thursday but not sure what to tell them - just read comment above about the petrol being over half to work properly. Mine is on the first quarter line; could this be the problem? I am not impressed with this car; only had it 6 weeks. Does anyone got any tips on how to drive this car properly?