18th Apr 2010, 11:14
Er.. why would I want to drive any of those cars when I have a new BMW 3 series?!
Just because myself (and probably most other BMW owners) don't want to drive a Hyundai, Kia, Skoda, doesn't make opinions worthless. You may not wish to shop at Netto - why does that make the opinion worthless?!
The I30 I saw parked on the kerb certainly had a dated dash that looked around 8 years old. There was a sea of cheap grey plastic squashed into the shape of a dashboard. The i30's (and Kia Ceed) are made for people to use the car as domestic appliance, and the price is reflected in this.
18th Apr 2010, 11:37
Not wanting to shop at Netto isn't the same as having shopped there and not wanting to do so again because of experience. Nobody cares if you say you don't want to try one of those brands like Skoda, but the fact remains they are good cars. You can't argue they are bad cars or even that they are worse than your own without having tried them to compare.
As for BMW's, every Tom Dick and Harry drives one. The 3 series outsells the Ford Mondeo, so unless you have an M3, nobody is going to give you a second glance anyway, LOL.
18th Apr 2010, 12:09
So why stick up for Chevrolet when you admit you know nothing about the subject and have not driven or sat in any of the cars mentioned - this was my point.
Carsurvey.org is a great site offering genuine, useful, first hand experience in order to help people with their choice and ownership of cars.
A BMW driver who thinks his car is the pinnacle of motoring who stands up for a Daewoo/Chevrolet Kalos and Matiz and slates other very well rated cars without any basis in fact is not really much help. Really, what is the point of unfounded prejudice?
I dare say would have some very interesting responses if this was the I30 thread!
Have you tried the various BMW forums? You may well find your niche there, comparing horsepower and polishes.
Those in the know will have their own thoughts on this, but I dare say many will not even bother to spend time on what would be a pointless response.
Last time around, my response was censored... I will be interested to see if this gets on.
9th Mar 2014, 08:52
Oh well, after all is said and done with this thread, the truth remains:
Chevrolet is pulling out of the UK and Europe next year (2015) due to abysmal sales, they admit that buyers who go to look at the cars are simply buying the better quality Opels or Vauxhalls from the same showrooms, and that "restructuring their sales direction will benefit both brands".
Hyundai-Kia are celebrating record sales year on year and fantastic customer feedback, and are now rated alongside the best perceived brands such as VW by most experts.
I will concede that the Cruze was a decent car and the IIHS tests for safety rated the Spark very highly, but anyone arguing that a re-badged Daewoo Kalos is a class above a modern Hyundai/Kia, or that H/K is in any way embarrassing to own and a Chevrolet is a much revered brand that beats the Koreans (IRONIC that these were built in Korea too) is just misinformed.
Chevrolet was an iconic brand, which stood for solid, powerful cars with American style and history, which was catastrophically ruined by GM's choice to use it to sell under-par, old tech rebadged Daewoos in the UK/EUR. Their recent offerings were decent (Cruze, Volt, Trax etc), but the damage was done and the brand tainted beyond recovery, hence pulling out of the market in 2015.
They did it with Saab too, ruined a superb brand with poor generic platform sharing, and lost a truly iconic alternative choice to a BMW or Audi by being too similar to Vauxhall.
Ironically, GM UK's press release states they intend to use the showroom space gained from the loss of Chevrolet to push the Cadillac brand, but that will be a truly uphill struggle with their Saab/Vauxhall clones offered now.
UK and EUR markets would buy American style and history in a decent relevant package (like a small retro American styled Mini-Chevy or similar), but will not be fobbed off by dull marketing decisions to utilise cheap labour and poor products.
It was clear that sullying the name of Chevrolet with dreadful old model Korean cars was a disastrous management decision back in 2004; I'm surprised they lasted ten years in the UK.
What were they thinking?
21st Apr 2015, 07:32
I find the seats super comfy, there's plenty of room to put your foot next to clutch, and the ride is more supple in the Kalos than say the Sirion. I did 70k in a Sirion, the Kalos gear change is nice and smooth, and the 1400cc engine seems very refined.
All cars in this price range have compromises. I only paid £1k for my Kalos, which has had 1 owner and 40k mileage, and it's the SX, so it has all the kit.
One big plus - spare parts are cheap from Motor Factors. There are some excellent cars around for bargain prices.
17th Apr 2010, 16:23
In response:
The Matiz is abysmal compared with the I10, Getz or Fabia-seriously flawed; see NCAP and get out drive the other cars - all are small, but the 1998 Daewoo design cannot seriously be compared with any of the above.
The Matiz is used by hire cars as they are cheapest in bulk, and they can charge as much hire as other better cars in the segment by using the wonderful cover all "or similar". The lips curl UPWARDS at the corners with the others...
Yes you have seen the I30, just check google images and you simply won't find the "airbag cut in the dash that stopped in 1994", that funnily enough is on the Kalos and the Matiz.
The Lacettis are still offered with standard DIN stereos, along with the dated dashes on all Chevrolets pre-Cruze.
As said, I have no issue with the Cruze - this represents the new era, leaving Daewoo behind - and yes the I30 dash is dull (the Cee'd's is more attractive) - but the Cruze is not perfect even though it is newly launched. I noted about 9 shades of grey in the trim, not counting the two-tone design, but it is tidy enough and a world away from the era of Chevrolet I have commented about; the I30 is now a 3 year old design - which put it against the Lacetti at time of launch. The theme of the thread has been how Chevrolet are just starting to launch better cars, but the range up to 2009 was poor in comparison to more modern tech available at the time from Hyundai/Kia and Skoda.
Your final remark shows that you cannot fairly compare the cars I have mentioned as you have no experience of them, just as I had imagined throughout. Now I fully understand how you ever imagined Chevrolet to be better than the other cars - you know nothing about the other cars!
Chevrolet Matiz hire car or Skoda Superb - you would choose the Matiz to save the embarrassment of being seen in a Skoda...
Sums it up so very well!