So long, and thanks for all the help!

[BSeward]

Well, I guess the person who said that good things never last was right. I traded in my '02 Lanos today. Bought a Kia Rio/5 LX. All the goodies - automatic, power everything, Air conditioning, a real nice car.
I managed to talk them into giving me $2500.00 US on trade, and after the rebate from Kia, got into the new one for less than $12K.

I realised that the Woo was going to turn into a money pit soon, and it was time for it to go.

However, I didn't think it was going to be so difficult to say goodbye to it. I won't lie here - I have sold or traded many vehicles since 1967 when I started driving, and letting the Woo go was the only one that brought a tear to my eye.

Bought new 9/2003 - $6995.00
Traded 10/2009, and I got $2500.00... About $4500.00 for 6 years, and 83,000 miles. No complaints at all.

If the Kia is as good a car as the Woo was, I'll consider myself lucky. At least it isn't going to the boneyard. Gonna be auctioned.

I hope I did the right thing........

Best to you all - I'll stop in to see what's going on here once in a while.

Bill Seward

[buddha102]

Not to be a bitch but... thats the best car you got? Kia? thats even worse than woo.... you should have got a honda or maybe even hyundai...

i sold my woo, and got myself a 1997 bmw 528i which to me is a sweet car...

but everyone got there own taste of cars so its not my decision to make....

[BSeward]

Well, seeing that I'm 60 years old, and like small economical cars that I don't enjoy beating the crap out of, I think I did OK with the Kia.
Also, saying that a Kia is "worse than a Woo" isn't fair to the Daewoo. I never had any problems with it in the 6 years I owned it, and got a great trade in price on it. When the Daewoo dealer was selling them for $6995.00 new, I should have bought 2 of them! If they were still being made and sold as Daewoo here in the US, there wouldn't have been any question I'd have bought another one instead of the Kia..

[buddha102]

well, i never owned a kia but i seen s#$% load of them in my local junkyard and to me it shows that they are not that reliable

i had three reasons that made me sell my daewoo: lack of parts (online and at junk yards), electrical issues (idle) and company went bankrupt (which means no more daewoo dealers, etc.)

i was lucky that some1 bought the daewoo (few ppl called, never showed up...)

I understand you wanted a economical car, but hyundai has good cars too... ive checked reviews on there cars and they are not that bad (for korean cars)

[Trey05Woo]

Did you ever even replace the t-belt on that 80k + Woo? If not hopefully the auction buyer knows about the premature failure rates looool.

Anyways, Woos get alot of bad rep IMHO. its funny people don't seem to realize it was Daewoo that sparked life back into the chevy line with all the rebadging, and the reason they were even QA problems is because of GM to BEGIN WITH!!! Second DAEWOO IS NOT OUT OF BUSINESS! they still operate in Korea and Europe under the Daewoo name. The brand just disappeared here in US, but guess what that new malibu everyone raves about is a undercover Woo.

But honestly, if you replace the belts on these cars every 40-50k they will run problem free. The idle issue a ridiculously easy fix so long as you have the GM Chevy/Daewoo diagnostic trouble shooter.

I will admit the Nubrias/Leganzas are more prone to interior wear, (dashboards panels fall apart) but again what GM doesnt? The Lanos IMO is the mort reliable of the bunch and the most hardy seiing most of the interior is hard plastic, and sturdier. IMO the 1.6l is light years more reliable that the 2.0l

[Trey05Woo]

oh and BTW Kias are good cars, they have Mazda engines (1.8l) same workhorse found in the MX5 Miata so that engine speaks for itself. The auto cars are prone to transmission failure. But funny the cars you seen at the wrecker are usually crashed, neglected, stolen recoveries etc. Reason they go there is due to their value which drops considerably more than say a honda or toyota...

[BSeward]

I did a timing belt change at 60K. At 72K the water pump I replaced with the belt (and tensioner and idler rollers) failed, and was replaced with an OEM pump. I always kept the maintainence done, in fact - I changed the oil a week before I traded it in.

It was a good little car.

[BSeward]

2 1/2 years into owning the Rio, I'm 100% satisfied with it. 35,000 miles, still runs like a top, no rust at all - and gets 35+ mpg.
I put a set of tires on it a few weeks ago, and with the exception of normal stuff like 3000 mile oil changes, and a air filter or two, that's it. I liked the Kia so much I bought my wife a 2011 Soul last year.

But I'd buy that Lanos back in a heartbeat if I could ever find it. I still find myself waving at Woo drivers I see out on the road.