Not for me but tell me if a Daewoo Matiz is worth buying
Discussion
I wonder if anyone has any experience with the Daewoo Matiz,
My Girlfriend has decided she wishes to take her test and wishes to buy a cheap little car.
First of all she wanted a cheap smart car but I know there is no such thing or if you could find one it will be LHD and have a badly borked engine.
She also likes the look of the merc A class but then again there are horror story's about expensive engine out repairs, so that's a no go.
Then she looked at the Matiz and there seems to be an abundance of £500/600 cars knocking about with lowish mileage in ok condition, its not my car of choice but she likes them so is it worth buying one or are they likely to go wrong.
My Girlfriend has decided she wishes to take her test and wishes to buy a cheap little car.
First of all she wanted a cheap smart car but I know there is no such thing or if you could find one it will be LHD and have a badly borked engine.
She also likes the look of the merc A class but then again there are horror story's about expensive engine out repairs, so that's a no go.
Then she looked at the Matiz and there seems to be an abundance of £500/600 cars knocking about with lowish mileage in ok condition, its not my car of choice but she likes them so is it worth buying one or are they likely to go wrong.
Do you like crash protection? Do you like your engines not to be asthmatic and have some semblance of torque?
If the answer to either of these questions is 'no', by all means a Matiz is the car for you.
Little biased perhaps, but from experience, to a woman all driven by the blue-rinse brigade at a constant 20mph, across the European continent. AVOID!
If the answer to either of these questions is 'no', by all means a Matiz is the car for you.
Little biased perhaps, but from experience, to a woman all driven by the blue-rinse brigade at a constant 20mph, across the European continent. AVOID!
Funniest test drive ever... I was buying a new first car for my wife (herself quite a keen driver) and I took her to the Daewoo dealer on the Western Avenue. We looked around the new Matiz as it had just been released. Sales guys was doing his job took us out for a drive, pulled over in a nice wide side street to hand the car over to my wife (I was sitting in the back). Sales guy still going with his patter.... Wife pulls away in 1st, changes up to 2nd, and pulls over, having travelled about 30ft in total. She unbuckles her belt, gets out and says 'No Way!' - The look on the sales guys face was hilarious... I was in tears of laughter. (later that afternoon we bought a 1 year old Micra from Car Giant down the road).
utter sh!te
had the misfortune of doing some work on one owned briefly by my other halfs brother. Put a stereo in for him, had to take half the dash to bits- loads of razor sharp unfinished metal edges and the crappiest plastics imaginable. Replaced an alternator belt on it as well which was a nightmare. apart from being small I can't think of a single redeeming feature and can't work out why anyone bought a new one.
for £500 I'd rather have a mk3 golf or an old polo or anything other than a matiz tbh
had the misfortune of doing some work on one owned briefly by my other halfs brother. Put a stereo in for him, had to take half the dash to bits- loads of razor sharp unfinished metal edges and the crappiest plastics imaginable. Replaced an alternator belt on it as well which was a nightmare. apart from being small I can't think of a single redeeming feature and can't work out why anyone bought a new one.
for £500 I'd rather have a mk3 golf or an old polo or anything other than a matiz tbh
MJK 24 said:
Not sure re reliability but I had one for a month. It was 'ok' when viewed as very cheap urban transport. Not sure I'd want to commute a distance in one. Can you get a decent Fiesta for similar money?
I suggested all the alternatives, fiestas, corsas, Saxo, 106's polo's but she said all the cars are too big.MJK 24 said:
Not sure re reliability but I had one for a month. It was 'ok' when viewed as very cheap urban transport. Not sure I'd want to commute a distance in one. Can you get a decent Fiesta for similar money?
I suggested all the alternatives, fiestas, corsas, Saxo, 106's polo's but she said all the cars are too big.The wife used to drive them when I met her. She rented them for about £20 a month from a friend's company, which should tell you everything you need to know! They never let her down, but they were incredibly slow and you could feel the car flex under cornering load. Ghastly things. She's been driving a '09 plate Agila for the past couple of years and whilst I'm still not hugely fond of it, it's far better than those old Daewoos!
Vince70 said:
I suggested all the alternatives, fiestas, corsas, Saxo, 106's polo's but she said all the cars are too big.
what is she learning in?I've never understood the whole "I can't drive that it's too big" thing. Surely it's just a case of spending 10 mins working out where the corners of the car is and off you go. If anything I find driving very small cars much worse as you have so much less road presence and they all get wobbly over 50mph, and take an age to get there. Egging on a gutless 1.0 engine on an uphill motorway sliproad with a HGV bearing down on you is not fun.
Avoid.
We got had one for a while. Horrible little thing.
Only way to drive it was to keep the speed up, as it just had no power. One up it was OK, but fill it with four adults and hills would make it cry.
Front brake discs aren't top hat style, so if you want to replace them, it's a hub off job.
We got had one for a while. Horrible little thing.
Only way to drive it was to keep the speed up, as it just had no power. One up it was OK, but fill it with four adults and hills would make it cry.
Front brake discs aren't top hat style, so if you want to replace them, it's a hub off job.
Biased but honest advice. K11 Micra the later the better. Get a low mileage one from an old biddy who`s had it serviced every year, loads about for a grand or so. Check it for rust on front crossmember and the rear sills, listen for timing chain noise. Not much else goes wrong ~ if it does second hand and aftermarket stuff is cheap and easy. Sweet little bulletproof 16 Valve Twin Cam engines in 1 litre, 1.3 or 1.4.
Easy to drive, sweet gearchange, great visibility, well built and unerringly reliable.
Bought one 18 mths ago for little Miss H67 to learn and successfully take her test in, 2000 on a W reg, 62000 miles, 11 stamps in the book for £800. Exhaust centre and rear pipes for £60, front discs and pads for £30. 18 months and 3000 miles later ~ expenditure nil. No brainer IMO.
Easy to drive, sweet gearchange, great visibility, well built and unerringly reliable.
Bought one 18 mths ago for little Miss H67 to learn and successfully take her test in, 2000 on a W reg, 62000 miles, 11 stamps in the book for £800. Exhaust centre and rear pipes for £60, front discs and pads for £30. 18 months and 3000 miles later ~ expenditure nil. No brainer IMO.
I've suggested every alternative, I think an old Micra would be ideal, and being Bexhill/Eastbourne there are an abundance of them here.
But please keep up the dont buy the Matiz posts as I have ammunition then to get her to buy something else,
The cars she has taken lessons in before was the Fiesta then a Clio.
She hasn't driven for couple of years and this time will be her 3rd attempt at passing.
But please keep up the dont buy the Matiz posts as I have ammunition then to get her to buy something else,
The cars she has taken lessons in before was the Fiesta then a Clio.
She hasn't driven for couple of years and this time will be her 3rd attempt at passing.
SystemParanoia said:
lufbramatt said:
Surely something like a toyota aygo would be a better bet?
for £500?Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff