What do you think of this car? Matiz, how much would you bid?

[Flossam]

I like it, and so does DP. It's looking possible that within the next six weeks we will be needing a car. Have shortlisted this type as a possible due to insurance, tax economical etc. We do have a budget, but I have a good strong feeling about this one . What do other people think? daewoo matiz

PS, noted the body damage, but neither of us are too worried, as this is the only way we will get a car like this anywhere near our original budget!

matiz are fun cars. i have a blue 98 model lol,, but kids always want to go in it rather than the big car (tino). Its got a titchy boot, and it is a basic car, but fuel consumption is sooo low (i have had the car 2months and only put about 30quid in it lol) i paid 1700 in total, with full year MOT and 6months warrenty, lucky it had that as the timing belt went on it a few weeks back and it was repaired on the warrently.

i have been told there can be problems with the cooling systems in these cars so check that out if u can, mine is fine in that respect so far.

put in how much you can afford.

but the boot is reallly really teeeeeeny lol.

the boots are like... this big [] lol

yes, when i go shopping the bags go in the footwells if i have the buggy in the boot.

and then you should go here for inspiration on how to hide the dents

i used to take the pee out of my sisters one, but i am now fond of mine, which was bought as was in my budget, low to insure, low fuel, low tax.

It's not that cheap for a Matiz, but it is low mileage and having a car that's already knocked means you can be a bit more casual about it getting more (eg in supermarket car parks!)

I just looked it up in Honest John and he says:

What's Good

Tiny and cute. Styled by Giugiaro from scratch and much better looking than Move, Wagon R or ATOZ. Just 11' 6" long by 4' 11" wide and only 778kg. Sensible city car or suburban runabout. Excellent for the school run.

Not bad value with full Daewoo 3-year servicing and warranty package. Handles well enough given its obvious limitations. Tiny size makes it easy to park. Outsold Fiat Seicento in Italy.

Reasonable Three-Star rating in Euro NCAP crash tests. Facelifted inside and out for 2001. Price cut to £5,995 summer 2001. 62.5bhp 1.0 litre four cylinder belt-cam engine finally announced for 2003 at £6,295 for SE and £6,995 for air-conditioned SE+. Does 95mph, 0-60 in 13.4 seconds and combined consumption 44.1mpg. 800cc is IG 2 and 1,000cc is IG 3.

Company taken over by GM in October 2002. Total 52,118 Matiz sold in UK to October 2002 by old Daewoo Cars Ltd. Daewoos generally had below average warranty repair costs in 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability index (index 85.05 v/s lowest 31.93). Link:- www.reliabilityindex.co.uk One Telegraph reader got 5 years and 92,000 reliable miles out of a Matiz.

Telephone number for spare parts and service: 0800 60 60 60, or visit www.gmdaewoo.co.uk Outstanding service and warranty deal transferable to new owners. Rated one of the cheapest superminis to run in 2003 Which survey. Average for breakdowns, problems and faults in 2003 Which survey. May 2004: 64PS 1.0 'Flirt' special with black paint, tinted glass, special alloys, a/c, ABS, PAS and CD player for £7,995. Xtra Cool model with a/c, CD player and 1.0 64bhp engine from July 2004 at £6,495.

Daewoo name changed to Chevrolet in January 2005. Dealer chain expanded to 100.

What's Bad

796cc 50 bhp 3-cylinder engine not quite up to motorway travel. Rolled over on high-speed reverse-turn by Autocar magazine. Trim quality not brilliant. Terrible Neil Lyndon road test report in Sunday Telegraph on 4/10/98 (though Neil later had second thoughts about the car and gave it the thumbs up for what it is).

Joint fourth bottom in 2002 Which reliability survey of cars up to 2 years old; 83 cars surveyed. CO2 output not brilliant at 161 for 800 and 158 for 1.0 litre, means VED for both is £120pa rather than £70pa of new Daihatsu Charade.

Spate of rusty hatchbacks and no replacements available led Daewoo to scrap some early Matiz models and compensate owners under the perforation warranty. Despite one reader's 92k miles and 5 years, they don't generally seem to last much longer than 3 years or so without starting to cost an unjustifiable amout in repairs. Used values now slipping.

What to Watch Out For

Proper Daewoo/Halfords service history. Collapse of servicing network may have lead to service gap in 2002. Timing belt and tensioner pulley replacement at 40k miles or 4 years whichever comes first is critical. Check hatchback for rust, particularly if buying privately or at auction 'without warranty'. Alternators known to fail. Original equipment Power Star 155/65R13 - made in Korea and fitted by the manufacturer can eventually distort and cause a vibration.

Recalls

18-7-2000: 4,837 Matiz models recalled due to possibility of corrosion in fuel filter which could lead to a fuel leak. Fuel filter to be replaced with modified type. 3-10-2003: 389 cars recalled because screw in motorised throttle actuator could be faulty and result in over-revving. MTIA to be replaced if necessary.

You're a bit of a buggy expert aren't you Misdee? Do you reckon we could fit our chicco ponee in the boot?

Thanks Jan. Not too sure what some of that means, but it dosen't come out shockingly at least.

chicco ponneee? does that fold similar to the citisport? think it will fit ok, might need to remove the thingy att he back (mind gone blank)

do get it fully service and timing belt checked, if possible get a wearrenty on it 9he is a dealer i notice so try and swing a deal).

Oooh, Flossam, I've just had a look at the close-ups of the body-work - the damage is quite extensive, worse than I assumed from the description, and some of it looks as if it has started rusting already

You know HJ said something about it rolling? I wonder if this one has!

That damage looks dodgy tbh so personally wouldn't touch it, especially as you haven't seen it let aloen driven it. It looks as if it has been scraped along the side, either against a parking bollard or another car, or someone driving into it. As Janh says it is starting to rust so probably hasn't been sealed properly and won't be very recent. For the sake of £250 wouldn't you have had it done before selling it on ? If the owners haven't had it repaired what else have they neglected ?

have a lok about, when i was looking out for a matiz a saw a few wround the 98-99 mark go for around 1k. check out exchange and mart as well.

and i think the AA do a full check for 100 before you buy.

Surely rolling would cause more damage than that? Well, DP has bid already, doubt very much that his bid will hold (well, kind of hope now!!), but was wondering if people thought it was worth bidding more for, as he's gone to work and it's kind of up to me . Oh well, what will be will be.

Sorry, obviously the question was rhetorical, no-one thinks we should have bid even that! Neither of us have the first clue about car buying, only difference being I fully admit that fact, but Dp likes to think he does!

well i hope you get outbid then

looking at the scuff marks on it it looks like someone has parked too close to it, and it hasnt been rolled, can you get a full check done on it anyway before you hand over the cash?

DP policeman. Abusing the system now and checking out the vehicle history!! I didn't think it looked bad enough to be rolled either, but like I said, I know nothing!!

The ponee isn't an umbrella fold, it folds up long but quite flat. Was hoping we'd be able to fit it up the boot lying on its side IYSWIM.

It checks out fine. Still highest bidder. Dp says not to bid anymore, though, thats his maximum.

V reg here at £1095. Looks a much better bet - is an extra £300 way too much? (The 158 miles is from me in Lancs, no idea where phone code 01638 is)

This has a Middlesex post code in, try it with yours and see if there's anything local.

Thanks Jan. It is a bit, really. We are stretching ourselves as it is. He has a new job down in Bristol which we were originally thinking would start the end of March, but has now been given a start date of the 9th Jan. Hoping to change it, but with so much to sort out, getting the car would (hopefully) be one less thing. Also would be useful for xmas as going to my mums with DS and pressies on the train won't be much fun. Still the high bidder. Might be a bidding flurry in the closing seconds though.

flossam check out the autotrader website... we found our car on there and it was dirt cheap.

would really not recommend getting any car that you haven't seen in person. it isn't worth it... there could be a ton of stuff wrong with it that you can't see and they aren't mentioning.

it's so much safer to get one from a trader with a warranty if you don't know exactly what you're looking at.

a friend of ours bought a car privately for a very good price but has since had to do over £1k of work to it

This is cute

Gone and its not ours! Not sure whether to be or [happy]

Jan, do like the look of that metallic orangey one. Am going to phone and find out tomorrow. Wouldn't be able to get to view it easily though, but it's about 105 mile away from us so not a million miles. DP gets free travel to 80 miles outside of London too.

my parents have cars made my perodua (think thats right) again basic cars, heavy on sterring (matiz is pretty light) but cheap to insure.

be happy flossam! as i said, you really don't want to have to be paying out for repairs and stuff after you get it.
if it is starting to rust then that can be a big job... and if the outside is rusting then the inside could be even worse!