I’ve seen only one Daewoo car on the road in the U.S., and maybe a few KIA’s. What I want to know is, how good are these cars? They seem rather cheap. Is that because they’re crap, or do they just not have all the bells and whistles? Do they cost more to fix, and/or find parts for?
When I was car shopping, I asked a friend, who used to sell cars, if there was anything in particular he unrecommended. He said that there’s nothing really bad on the market right now, and a Chevy Malibu is good vlaue for your money, since the basic package includes a lot of stuff that’s an upgrade on other cars.
I don’t know much about Daewoo, but test drove a couple of Kia’s two years ago when I was buying a car. At the time, Hyundai had just bought Kia. The warranties are therefore the same-10 years; whether they have the longer warranty because they need it, I don’t know. They have all the same bells and whistles available as the more expensive cars.
I ended up with a Chevy Cavalier because I wanted a small car. It’s 600 lbs. heavier than the same size Kia. I bought mine at the end of May, with a huge rebate and additional off if I sent my newly minted diploma. There was a noticable difference in the weight of the car, and the Chevy just felt more like a car to me. With my rebate and the rest of the they knocked off at the dealership, I paid the same as the Kia and the Hyundai were quoted for but ended up with one of the upgrade packages so have all kinds of crap I don’t care about (spoiler, grocery net, bigger engine, alloy wheels, block heater, keyless entry, cd player). I’m very happy with my car.
I have a friend who just went back for her second Hyundai and has been very happy with it. Another girl has a Kia and likes it. I’ve seen a lot of Kia’s around here, and only driven past the Daewoo’s on the lot.
After the University of Minnesota hockey riots, one of the car dealerships donated a used Daewoo (2 yrs old and 15K miles) to a student whose car had been torched.
I drove a Kia once, and, like the previous poster, felt like it wasn’t quite a car. My only other objection was that some of the interior design was a litte inconvenient/annoying (sorry, I don’t recall what, though i was disgusted with it at the time), but the guy who owned it bought a second one…
My overall impression was firmly anti-Kia, but not for any logical reasons.
I rented a Kia Optima last year when I was out on the East coast. It was really nice, much nicer and with more extras than what I usually drive. That said, it had that feeling that it wouldn’t stand up to the test of time. That after 2-3 years it would start falling apart–this is just the interior, the engine felt fine. My opinion is to lease, not buy.
I knew somebody who had a Kia and HATED it – it was always breaking down. YMMV, but I get the feeling that sometimes you get what you pay for.
I rented a Kia at the airport in St. Louis last year. It was an okay car, but the interior molding seemed a bit cheap looking. Also, the car had a squeak that came from the glove compartment area. I was ready to commit suicide by the time I got to my final destination.
As for Daewoo, I have heard nothing but bad things about these cars. I’ve heard that they have questionable brakes. We used to have a Daewoo dealership in town, but they closed a year or so ago. Personally, I’d never own a car that is made by a company that also makes VCR’s (Daewoo) or sewing machines (Mitsubishi).
I’ve been driving a Kia Rio that I bought new a year ago, and have had zero problems with it. It is tiny, but I’ve always driven econoboxes (previous two cars were both Escorts), so it feels perfectly carlike to me. My bf, a burly six-footer, complains of claustrophobia, so you may want to take your size (or the size of regular passengers) into consideration.
Overall, though, I really like it – it handles fine and gets decent (though not mindblowing) mileage – significantly better on highway driving, which, alas, I do very little of.
Had a Kia Sportage for a couple of years in the 90s.
It was OK. Small, though, for something built on a truck body. Decent mileage for what it was, too.
Daewoo’s logo looks like a jock strap. No matter how good their cars might try to be, it’s just not something I’d like to drive.
Last year, I wound up in a rented Kia for a couple days. I was quite happy that I was only renting the silly thing as it had no get-up-and-go and was noisy - engine/transmission whine and road noise as the only way normal-sized adults would fit in this car was to leave out the usual padding and insulation.
I can’t imagine either brand will be easy to find parts for, especially in smaller cities in your home state of Confusion. They’re hard enough to find parts for in San Francisco, or even online at something like www.kragen.com Anything more exotic than gas filters or brake pads came up “we can special order this”
We’ve got a Kia Rio RX-V (or Rio Cinco in the US) and we love it. We’ve only had it since February but it’s been a great car. It had some hesitation problems but a faulty spark plug was the problem there. My step-mom has the same car, had it since December and again, no problems.
We both drive our cars a lot, thanks to commuting and I don’t have any complaints. I find it roomy in both passenger and drivers seats. The backseat is pretty small, but still seats 2 adults comfortably. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fold down rear split seats. We bought 6 ft shelves from Ikea on the weekend and were able to bring them home ourselves.
The ONLY problem I have with it is, it’s VERY light. I’m used to driving heavier cars and find when it’s windy it moves quite a bit. We went on a little trip the weekend we got the car, in a BAD snowstorm and despite it’s lightness, it handled very well.
It has power everything, brakes, steering, windows and locks, as well as keyless entry.
Also, for being a 4 cylinder with DOHC, it’s pretty peppy. Unlike the 93 Cavalier we had before this. When you press the accelerator, it delivers.
Well said!
Stay away from DAEWOO-the company went bankrupt 3 years ago-owing the Korean government >$18 billion! Nobody is importing parts for these cars, and they cannot be insured because of this (for collision anyway). KIA is a copy of a mid-80’s japanese colt. From all accounts, they are good transportation cars, but fall apart at around 80,000 miles. Zero resale value, and questionable crash safety.
I’d buy a used American or Japanese car instead!
Of course, do you really want to own a car made by a company that makes the Focus (11 recalls, or is it 12 now?) or the Neon? I drove a Neon once. Once. It was like driving a go-kart except less fun.
Buy a Hyundai. Worked for me.
KIA’s, used ones, are cheap because they are very unreliable. epinions.com might have more opinions, as does edmunds.com & oh, look at Consumer Reports too…
I drove a Kia Optima back when they were having their promotion to get a free copy of Lord of the Rings if you test drove a kia.
The car drove pretty nice, had adequate power and everything, but it had this overally really tinny feel to it. It kind of made me sad, because prior to driving one, I really wanted to like those cars, but afterwards it just left me with a bad taste. Nice to drive around town, but the whole driving experience was one of cheapness.
A rental Cavalier I drove, IMO, felt better, albiet with less power.
My ex has a Kia Sedona (mini-van) and is very pleased with it. It actually had the highest safety/crash test ratings of any minivan. Perhaps because it’s bigger, i.e., a minivan, it drives just fine and doesn’t have any problems with wind or feeling lightweight.
I’ve driven it around some, too, and it handles quite well, is very quiet, and really seems like a good deal. Of course, there’s no telling what it will be like at 80,000 miles, but I’ve seen nothing to suggest that it is destined to turn into a bunch of problems.
It has a nice complement of extras, too. I’d recommend it to anyone shopping for a minivan.
My uncle the former test-driver has a KIA. He loves it, and the 10-year no hassle warranty.
I figure any car that satisfies a guy who used to test drive Jags and Porsches on the autobahn has got to be pretty good.
I own a 2002 Kia Spectra GS (That’s the 5-door model). I like the styling of the exterior, in that it looks like a sedan but still has the hatchback. The interior is very boring and the driver’s seat gets uncomfortable after a couple hours. The engine is very loud at highway speeds. The stereo is better than I expected, although I am considering new speakers with more range. The car handles very smoothly (is that a word?) and has no alignment problems. I get about 25 MPG around town, and 32-36 on the freeway. I can fit three other adult males with lacrosse equipment and clothing in the car. I have, however had some problems with it.
- The radiator had to be replaced after a hole developed in it
- The blower motor (for heat) seized and was replaced
- The stock windshield wipers do nothing and must be replaced the day the car is bought
- The check engine light came on at 10000 miles due to a bad sensor
All problems were fixed faster than any I had in any previous car.
As an econobox goes, a Spectra GS is a good car. If I could do it all over again, though, I’d have kept my Ranger.
Well, I own a Daewoo. It’s not the most reliable car in the world but overall it’s not too bad. Kinda sporty to drive but it eats gas like NOTHING else (and it costs a lot more over here!).
Never heard anything about the company going bankrupt and never had any trouble insuring it either…
Daewoo did in fact go bankrupt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1012473.stm
The US dealer network has been abandoned, more or less, as GM bought out the parent company, but not the US dealer network.
If you live in the US, I would highly advise against buying one of these cars.