8th Jul 2008, 15:50

Warning, be careful with this car.

I was given one by a car hire company, I had the car for 1 day when I crashed it.

This was not my fault, THE BRAKES FAILED.

28th Aug 2008, 15:26

I had a Chevrolet Kalos as a courtesy car and it was not much different to the 2002-2005 Corsa, Fiesta etc. The interior was somewhat mediocre but the suspension pretty good. The 1.2 engine is a Suzuki derived unit or so Chevrolet told me.

The fact that the Chevrolet Aveo/Kalos is the USA's best selling small car should say something about the car.

29th Aug 2008, 11:05

It is nothing like a Fiesta! It is cheaper though - and it shows in so many ways. It looks good on the spec sheet but hugely irritating to live with for so many reasons.

In the UK there is fierce competition in the extremely popular supermini sector (we love our small cars!) so these cars are generally of a high standard - not always bought for economy, but for suitability to our roads and towns, and for style choice. In that context, the Kalos really is right at the bottom of the quality pile. If the US sells lots of them, the competing cars in this class in the USA must be of low quality; probably due to larger cars being generally favoured, and smaller cars being the economy choice and priced/equipped/built as such.

To take it the the extreme, compare a Kalos to a new Mini, Honda Jazz, Mazda 2 etc; not cheap, economy cars like the Kalos.

To put into context, even at the same price of £6500-odd you can buy far better in the UK than a Kalos. It is dated, has high emissions, terrible build quality and poor performance.

29th Aug 2008, 12:47

Well I'm afraid I don't agree with you, Suzuki engines do not have terrible emissions and the build quality was fair to good.

Indeed it is Perodua and Proton that are well known to have poor build quality... just check Top Gear and their website, Chevrolets tend to fair medium with 3 star rating... Proton and Perodua are at a 1 star level.

We shouldn't even be comparing Chevrolet (mainstream) to Proton (budget manufacturer)

4th Sep 2008, 03:48

We all have our opinions, but in fairness, I have owned three new Suzukis and three Peroduas to give a fairish assessment.

The Chevrolet Kalos 1.2 emits 153g/km, the Perodua Myvi 1.3 emits 137g/km and has better fuel economy. Kalos uses the last generation Suzuki engine, not the current - but the Perodua uses the excellent DOHC DVVT Toyota engines.

Some Chevrolets may be OK, but the Kalos is awful due to its dated design; I am not saying that other brands are without fault!!

I note that Chevrolet UK are now giving them away at £5999 with three years free servicing. The replacement Aveo has been panned in the UK as a poor facelift of a dated design.

Chevrolet is a budget brand and the Kalos is directly in competition with other horrors like Proton, so it is a fair comparison. You can't compare Chevrolet to say, Audi, VW or even Skoda- Proton, Perodua, Dacia etc are the competition.

Maybe in the future with some modern input from GM, Chevrolet may build good budget cars. One day...!!

4th Sep 2008, 03:54

PS you actually listen to what Top Gear say??!!

Top Gear is a sensationalist chat show - hence Jeremy Clarkson would not drive a Perodua Myvi as it "sounded like a tropical disease". I personally have no interest in racing a daft supercar against a student off a cliff, etc, so whatever they say does not affect my buying choice!!

Top Gear magazine gives both the Myvi and Kalos two stars anyway, so what ARE you on about?!!!

4th Sep 2008, 12:28

And incidentally I would FAR rather hire a Chevrolet than a Skoda - even though Skoda's are know to have improved lately.

If I met up with friends and they found me driving a Skoda I would never live it down!

4th Sep 2008, 16:41

Thanks for the response. As I said, some of the range may be OK, but the Kalos etc is poor and I stand by my comments.

Hire car companies buy solely on what it costs them to own the car for 9-12 months/12,000 miles and so pick up mainstream which has steady demand used or buy rat cheap off desperate sellers wishing to offload poor cars that no-one wants. Chevrolet virtually give them the Kalos in large numbers to get shot of them.

I think we've both said our piece, but I was amused by the fact you would never live it down being seen driving a Skoda - but you would drive a Chevrolet Kalos?

Have you looked at any Skoda in the last five years? If you are saying that the Chevrolet Kalos is better than a Fabia then I disagree!

You have made a few valid points; Proton is poor, Perodua is not the best; etc.

13th Sep 2008, 02:35

I've one, a 2007 Chevrolet Kalos auto; it sucks.

You can hear sounds of tires (Goodyear), rollbar, the ECU, it does not save fuel, 1 litre for 6 km, terribly, the dealer said 1:11, liar dealer.

24th Sep 2008, 17:11

I would suggest you alter your driving style - if you can hear the tyres screech and are using fuel at that rate, it sounds like you should at the very least SLOW down.

25th Sep 2008, 16:20

Note to those sticking up for the Kalos; this is an inferior Chevrolet product, built in Korea to an old Daewoo design from old fish tins.

Some Chevys are OK - but not this car, with poor design, efficiency and economy. Miserable motoring.

26th Sep 2008, 12:20

The car is built by GM Daewoo, it has a 5 star safety rating in US crash tests and is most certainly not built from fish tins, but high grade reinforced steel.

I would suggest you get back in your Perodua/Hyundai car and leave GM Daewoo alone.

27th Sep 2008, 10:44

Look at the Euro NCAP tests and you will find that the Chevrolet Kalos gained a poor three star rating, and the Hyundai Getz of the same price gained a far better four stars.

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/chevrolet_kalos_2006/256.aspx

I hope this clear matter up for you.

Interestingly, the saloon version, the Aveo was also tested in 2006 and was given the poorest marks - one star and classed as unstable in a crash. Great Chevrolet quality, then.

If you looked at fact, rather than opinion, you will see that Hyundai and even Perodua build better, safer more reliable cars in this sector than Chevrolet. FACT!

(The Perodua Myvi is identical to the four star rated Daihatsu Sirion in these tests).

Please accept the fact that, where Hyundai, Kia and even Perodua have made great leaps forward in the last few years in quality, enjoyment, reliability, emissions and safety, Chevrolet has just been churning out old technology with traditional Korean build quality without moving forward.

Your argument may have been correct some years ago, but it is now out of date. If you have a blind loyalty to Chevrolet and would not even be seen in a Skoda, perhaps best not post opinionated but misinformed comments on here - you have obviously not looked at Skoda, Hyundai or Kia in the last 5-10 years. I have no intention of causing an argument, just supplying the facts!