Daewoo Lanos. (Edit - no good) What next?

[Lankytim]

Ive always enjoyed low end cars like Daewoos and Kias, they are never as shit as you expect them to be, wheras more pricey manufacturers that I expect so much from always seem to dissapoint.

[Guest]

Have to say this thread disappoints, I feel like I've stumbled onto Autocar or something. Quality of interior plastics? Is this Autoshite or what?

[Milford Cubicle]

How much do you have to spend? How about a Honda Civic 5-Door, I always really liked them, Even they they are a Rover 400, Honda engines also FTW.

Rover engine FTW if you buy a turbo diesel one.I don't find Daewoos apalling like most of you - they're just unpretentious, cheap cars based on sturdy GM underpinnings.

[Pillock]

5 Doors

Astra size

 

An Astra?

 

Less than 10 yrs old if poss

Decent boot, no saloons

Not green red or white

 

A blue Astra?

 

Not French, Italian or German.

 

Company or Build?

Like, Fiat is Italian but the Brava was built in Turkey. You have ruled out a lot of options there though!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Have to say this thread disappoints, I feel like I've stumbled onto Autocar or something. Quality of interior plastics? Is this Autoshite or what?

Exactly! I thought we were a place of celebration for all that is naff & crap!?

[pandamonium]

This is an option...

 

But - she doesn't like it in red!

[trigger]

I was looking at Leons before i bought the Passat, I found the one i test drove to be fantasic although that was a 1.8T which went like shit of a shovel.

 

Not really on par to a Daewoo Lanos though!

 

What about a Kia Clarus for £695?

 

[Pete-M]

If you can get a Leon for the same money, and the Leon isn't a 1.4, do it. The Lanos is too mediocre to even be proper Autoshite

[wuvvum]

Does the Leon not count as German then? Even though it's just like a Golf?

[Guest]

Tell her if she's going to be that fussy about the car, she can go look for it herself.

[Mr Lobster]

I'd definately recommend a Leon though 1.4 isn't exactly a fireball. Why not saloon though - Toledo is same car with enormous boot and is generally cheaper. 1.8T is pretty rapid as well and V5 engined ones should be pretty cheap by now. If it has to be a hatch though the Leon is a cracking car.Re Lanos - I know we like old, unloved tat on here. But to me, the Lanos isn't old enough to be interesting, doesn't have any interesting features or character, it's just white goods on wheels.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

What about that £150 Scrote turdblower that was on here of recent?

 

Then spend the other £1450 on a Hyundai Sonata for you! I make that a WIN WIN SITUATIONZ*

 

I know that ^ advice is of no help to you, but shit its what I would do.

[VWPowered]

just got a lanos fer free today (and a xantia) will report next week lol

[vicsmith]

I know the Lanos has been ruled out, but to be honest it sounds like the original poster is gonna end up with a 1946 Tuxter McTuxtable Smoker`s Coupe or something, what can you do, but the Lanos has taken an unjust kicking on here, in the real world it`s a decent car, very heavily Astra based, including the engine, which do occasionally throw their head gaskets , because the Astras and Corsas that share the engine do as well, not as often as a K-series, nothing like, and nowhere near as much of a job to fix, but a lot more likely to stay fixed, so not really a worry. It`s just a cheap way of getting an Astra, unless you`ve got some irrational fear of Astras that only a shrink can sort out, buy the thing and get on with your life.

[Pete-M]

It`s just a cheap way of getting an Astra, unless you`ve got some irrational fear of Astras that only a shrink can sort out, buy the thing and get on with your life.

That'll explain why I don't like 'em then. I had to rebuild the head on a Lanos a couple of weeks ago, belt had snapped and it took 12 valves with it. Easy job, as you say. I didn't even notice it was an exhumed Vauxhall lump as I don't tend to have much to do with Vauxhall stuff. The Daewoo was in a friends workshop and he was busy, so I ended up doing it. I'd not worked on a Vauxhall engine since the early '90s.Thing is, you could quite probably get an Astra for the same money (if that's what floats your boat) and it wouldn't be a rehashed Korean / Polish Mk2 Astra. It'd be a Mk4 Astra, so it'd be easier and cheaper to get bits for, slightly better built, and it may even have the ability to negotiate mild corners without tying itself in a knot. The Mk4 Ashtray was a fair bit better than the Mk2. A Mk2/3 Astra with the suspension tweaked by Daewoo isn't gonna be pleasant.Personally, I'd be spending the money on a Focus, but that's my answer to anything 'family car' related.With the exceptions of the proper Autoshitey Daewoos - white, ex-Avis / minicab Leganzas and the like - I'll be quite happy to spend the rest of my life never driving one again.

[pogweasel]

Thing is, you could quite probably get an Astra for the same money (if that's what floats your boat) and it wouldn't be a rehashed Korean / Polish Mk2 Astra. It'd be a Mk4 Astra, so it'd be easier and cheaper to get bits for, slightly better built, and it may even have the ability to negotiate mild corners without tying itself in a knot. The Mk4 Ashtray was a fair bit better than the Mk2.

Untrue.In my experience Mk2 & Mk3 astra's can be beasted along with abandon, without breaking down, falling to bits or trying to crash into a ditch due to dangerous e-PAS - all of these are reasons NOT to get a Mk4 version. Hateful. Though I will agree that £1600 would buy you a perfectly acceptable Focus or a really quite nice Mondeo, which whilst not exciting or "shite" will do everything you need and not cause crushing embarrassment for anyone from 'the real world' who has to travel in it/look at it. Plus you'd have some chance of getting you money back if you are not intending to be the end-user.

[Rocket88]

Anything with a VAG 1.9 TDI lump gets my vote. I know I've extolled the virtues of Octavias / Fabias on here before, but having had experience of two with circa 200k on the clock, I think they're terrific. Only real fault [and it seems to be a Skoda weakness] is the big fuses located on top of the battery cover can give trouble by partially fracturing, which can cause all sorts of lights to appear on the dashboard, from ABS failure to symtoms of a knackered alternator. At 79p each, it's a cheap fix!Other than that, brilliant cars

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just to cancel out what pog said, I like Mk4 Astras, theyre great. In fact I reccomend a trip to Romania where you an buy a brand spanking new one:

 

http://www.opel.ro/site/showroom/astra_ ... bmenu=true

 

[ashmicro]

My next door neighbour just picked up a minty 2004 Kia Cerato 1.6LX for £1600 from a DEALER. 30 k miles, alloys, front leccy windows and aircon. Not too grim inside and goes quite well as it's not loaded down with ASREBDPCFTCS etc. Worth a look..

[pogweasel]

I don't even know what a 'Cerato' is, but £1600 for anything with 30k on it and under 6 years old is bargainilicious.

[Guest]

To go back to an earlier point - £1500 would get you a MK4 Astra, but you shouldn't be paying anywhere near that much to get the equivalent Lanos. If you want to spend £1500 on a motor by all means get a MK4 Astra - nice motors. If you want to spend £500, you could do a lot worse than a Lanos.Plus it's not exactly like they're a hilarious-looking car which people will chortle at as it put-puts down the street. The handling might be unspectacular, but I doubt it's dangerous and if it's something for the wife I wouldn't expect she'd be taking it on trackdays or anything. Not absolutely unsaleable either - they might get a right old roasting in some Internet column by a spotty junior staffer for MSN Cars or some other tosser-organ but to the world at large they're just a 90s-looking hatchback with small engines. You might struggle if you had a really late one which prices up at £2000 or something, but a £500 Lanos with a long MOT shouldn't stick around forever.

[peter9000uk]

Mate is selling an "R" reg 1.6 Club estate with working air con if any interest. Tax & Test, CD, alloys etc.... Is the later shape. Has a lovely key scrape on NS doors runs well . £600ishGreyish/ silver colour

[Tayne]

.

[pandamonium]

Hyundai Accent is being considered too.

[pogweasel]

Accent , again perfectly decent, but I would not be wanting to cough 4-figures for a 9-year old eggsample*.

 

the x & c buttons on my pooter is temperamental, so eggspekt dubious spellings!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Accent is a good choice, spesh if its the mythical 3-cyl diesel version.

[pogweasel]

spesh if its the mythical 3-cyl diesel version.

Those sound utterly appalling.

[r.welfare]

My take on the Koreans is that if you can find one that has had a caring single owner from new that has money-no-object serviced it, I'm sure it will be a faithful device, and who cares if it won't go round corners at 3g and the dash plastics are a bit shiny.

 

However, quite a few of them tend to be snaffled by folk who buy 'em on tick and don't bother with servicing 'em. This hits the resale values such that they seem like a lorra car for the money at a young age but are potentially going to cost you a lot to run, especially as the parts aren't as cheap as the usual European kit which benefit from plenty in scrapyards and specialists like GSF, Euro Car Parts etc.

 

For £1600 I'd be looking at Foci/Astras/Corollas/323s/Almeras/Leons/Fabias, and buying the nicest one-owner example with FSH of whatever comes up soonest.

 

As a yardstick, I struggled to sell my wife's 1.4 16v Fabia Comfort on an 01/51 in summer 2008 - a 7 year old car that was absolutely spotless but up on the miles (88k), fully loaded, and I got £1,800 for it in the end. So as Pog says, that Accent seems a bit stiff.

 

She might struggle to find something with a sunroof though, isn't AC a more sensible bet?

[Guest]

I would say I've had a fair old experience of Accents now and I think they're pretty nice! They drive and go well enough. The MK1 is better than the MK2 I reckon, feels less cheap and looks smart. Plus the gearbox has a massively long throw which I like. Good motors!

[Mr Lobster]

I've had Accents as hire cars in Crete a few times and whilst the 1.3 I drove was no street racer it was actually a pretty nice car, seemed fairly well built and was ok to drive. Not bad looking as Hirst says either. Surprised me a bit actually as I was not expecting too much at all.