Daewoo Matiz > Reviews (58)

OK, it was bought for my sister, not me, but I get to go on her insurance. For young people such as myself, getting insurance for any car (let alone a decent one) below £1000 is a nightmare. With the Matiz , however, I have a brand new car for a good price and low premiums.

I'm 6ft 2", so when I first saw the car I thought I'd never fit in it without breaking my back and legs in several places. But it's like the Tardis, with plenty of room even for me. I didn't think much of the 0.8 litre engine either, but it sure does go and it gets better and better as the engine is broken in.

---- Specifications ----

The standard Matiz (the SE) comes with:

- power steering
- engine immobiliser
- twin airbags
- side-impact protection bars
- 60:40 rear split seats
- body-coloured bumpers
- Sony RDS radio/cassette player
- 3 years free AA cover

We bought the SE + model (in silver) which has the standard spec and:

- central locking
- 13" alloy wheels
- rear spoiler
- electric front windows

The next model, the SE + A/C, is the same as above but includes air conditioning.

All models come in a range of colours:

- super red
- leaf green metallic
- cobalt blue
- copper orange metallic
- poly silver metallic
- golden yellow mica (a special sparkly paint finish and a £200 extra)

Optional extras include:

- ABS (£400)
- Side body protection stripes (£65)
- pop-up sunroof (£175)
- Sony CD player (£200
- we had one of those)
- Sony MiniDisc player (£200)
- Sony CD changer (£225 and you need a special radio/cassette player for £180)
- Sony MiniDisc changer (£300 and as above)
- Deluxe mats (£40)

The car's trim is the same for every model and is quite cheap, all platsic and paper thin carpet for which you really need mats to stop you wearing holes in it, though the seats are nice. But what do you expect for such a low priced car.

The boot isn't cavernous but you can still fit a suitcase or two in the back and the seats fold down to give you more room. And it looks pretty stylish to boot!

---- Prices ----

Matiz SE * £6600
Matiz SE+ * £7300
Matiz SE+ A/C * £7800

They gave my sister a respectable £1200 for her old J-reg Clio and also promised us that the prices would not be dropping the moment we'd paid. However, they did, with a special offer of £600 cash-back. We rang and complained and without any fuss they paid us the £600. Top-marks for customer service!

---- The Drive ----

Despite its piddly excuse for an engine, it is still quite a fast little car and I've managed to accelerate up-hill even with another 3 adults inside! The power steering makes manoeuvring a dream and with it only being 3.5 metres long there's no trouble finding a parking space. Fuel consumption is quite good at about 40 miles per gallon.

The main trouble I have when driving is that the front door posts get in the way and I have to look around them at junctions etc. The other niggle is that 2nd gear is very stiff and difficult to change down to. We've sent the car back to Daewoo half a dozen times and they've changed one part after another but still the problem stays.

I think the later models on sale now have had this problem fixed. But it is a shame that, despite their usually good customer service, Daewoo have dragged their heels so much in getting our car fixed once and for all.

Overall I think this is still a great little car and well worth the money we paid for it. It's the cheapest car around and is very practical and spacious even though it looks like a dinky toy. If you’re looking for a small, safe, stylish and economical car then I definitely recommend the Matiz.