Faults:

A lot went wrong with the Espero. I drive it carefully and maintain it well.

66.000km Wet safety belt after rain (never solved this problem)

70.000km rear spring broke.

75,000km Mechanics of wipers worn

80.000km Belt tensioner of generator belt making noise (never really solved despite three attempts. One needs to remove the front wheel suspension for that...).

88.000km Generator broke down

90.000km Thermostat

95.000km Air conditioner compressor torn

99.000km Five light switches in one year. High beam continued burning.

105.000km Trunk could not be closed because of faulty lock.

107.000km front wheel bearing struts worn. spare was faulty, had to be repaired twice.

110.000km Head gasket blew.

110.000km Heater has a life of its own (never really solved, despite de-airing the system three times).

110.000km Second thermostat.

General Comments:

The car is very comfortable, cheap and spacious. Fuel economy is average, engine is a bit sluggish. It is an Opel/Vauxhall engine designed in the late seventies or early eighties a bit improved to meet emission standards.

Most of all, the quality of the Daewoo Espero, at least mine, is horribly bad!

Faults:

Very few things have gone wrong with this car.

The tailpipe broke down twice. The Daewoo dealer replaced it (for a very cheap price).

The horn seems to have al life of his own.

The last two years it decided to die four times.

It has been repaired three times and the last time it broke down, the dealer told me that the wiring is severely damaged and that a decent repair would cost me more than what the car is worth.

The entire engine needs to be lifted out of the car to fix the problem.

The others things that broke down were just small parts that could be easily fixed by myself.

General Comments:

I bought this car in 1996.

Daewoo just entered the Dutch car market and a lot of people complained about this new brand. They said it would probably be a bunch of crap and a waste of good money.

I didn’t listen and decided to pay a visit at the local Daewoo dealer, because I was very curious about the ‘new’ Daewoo Espero.

I loved the looks of the car and I didn’t care about the brand.

Daewoo was very eager to sell me a Daewoo Espero 1.8 CD, or a 2.0 CD, but one look under the hood was reason enough to hesitate.

I’ve had never seen such an ugly and obsolete engine.

However, the dealer also had a 1.5 GLXi and showed it to me

Now we were talking.

This engine looked great. A very modern looking 16 valve Opel engine.

The deal was quickly made and I finally had my Daewoo Espero.

The first thing I noticed was that the car was very comfortable and that it drove like heaven.

The trunk is enormous; it can easily fit two bicycles, a moped, or two pesky friends.

Sorry, they asked for it.

The engine is very powerful, it can reach a speed of 100 kilometer per hour in less than 10 seconds and the highest speed I ever drove with this car was about 200 kilometers per hour.

But, that will scare the living daylights out of you; the car is totally out of control at that speed.

The cars fuel consumption is impressive.

The car uses 1 liter every 17 kilometers and that’s no lie.

I always hear people complaining about the fuel consumption of their Daewoo, but I think that they just have a very expensive right foot.

Daewoo’s are not designed for racing!

This year (2005) the car will have his ninth birthday and is still in a top condition.

Sometimes people can’t believe that the car is this old; it looks like it is only two, or three years old.

The dealer always gives me excellent service and he always tells me that the car still looks great after all these years.

To this day I'm still in love with this car and as far as I’m concerned it will stay with me for many, many years (well, as long as it doesn’t completely break down and doesn’t get too expensive in maintenance).

And if I ever need to buy a new car it certainly will be a Daewoo (well, Daewoo/Chevrolet).