15th Sep 2005, 16:34
I have an X reg SE and am faced with having to have the gearbox rebuilt again. 14 months ago I was unable to select 1st & 2nd gears. My local garage stripped down the gearbox and replaced the linkages. Yesterday the same thing has happened again! I cannot afford another £700 for a strip down, and am now weighing up my options so I can get rid of it ASAP. It's very disappointing to hear that this is a known fault, and is still occurring to lots of people! Does the new Chevy Matiz suffer from this problem?
22nd Dec 2005, 10:01
Who cares whether or not the Chevrolet Matiz has the same gear box problem! The servicing and parts availability is still appalling. And letters and phone calls are never returned, so don't waste your time trying to complain!
25th Feb 2008, 10:35
Was forced to buy girlfriend a Daewoo Matiz when she passed her test even, though I knew it was a poor performer of a car, but she liked the look of it.
Since then it's just been one problem after another, with the inlet manifold gasket going on it first.
Garages were not keen on fixing it, as everything under the bonnet is on top of each other, with no room to remove nuts and bolts without having a tiny hand, so they were charging over the odds just so they wouldn't have to do it.
I decided to do it myself... one whole day to remove everything just to get the inlet manifold out, and another to put back, after which my hands were cut to shreds :(
You see the car has such a small cheap engine that you have to over work it slightly to enter roundabout's, going up hills and such that no wonder the gaskets go.
Another thing is the front axle, which makes a clicking noise when making a full turn. Oh well I thought, needs boots replacing or axle, but since having the axle problem I've begun to notice Daewoo Matiz car's in car parks that are making the same noise when turning...
Anyway, the car is too weak for the roads, not even 1 litre engine with 3 spark plugs.. kind of makes sense when you think about it, it's just a cheap version of the Merceded A Class.
6th Mar 2008, 13:05
We bought a Daewoo Matiz about 2 months ago from a friend who is a mechanic. It had gear problems with the previous owner, but had a whole new gearbox so we were told we'd be OK. In the past 2 months we have had the use of 3 gears; 1st, 3rd and 5th. Reverse has been intermittent.
It had a new gearbox and cables last week, and as it stands today, now only goes into 1st and 5th with great difficulty. We have been very lucky because we bought from a decent bloke, who is going to take back the car and give back our money. If you are thinking of buying one, I would think VERY carefully; check it over extremely carefully, as this car has a major issue!
12th Apr 2008, 05:46
We bought a Matiz 1.0SE from new in Sept 05. After only 6000 miles it became increasingly difficult to get reverse gear on the first attempt. The dealer altered the clutch cable which resolved the problem for a few weeks only. Selecting first gear before engaging reverse often helps but clearly there remains an underlying problem with the gearbox. All the dealer is able to do is tighten the clutch cable which they added will eventually snap. Providing it snaps within the remaining 5 months of the warranty period they agreed to replace the cable free of charge which I thought was quite insulting.
22nd Apr 2008, 05:37
My Matiz has similar problems with 2nd gear ever since I changed my clutch cable on advice of my mechanic. Each time I reported the gear problem, he tightened the clutch wire until it broke two times in three months. Ultimately he advised me to search for a genuine Daewoo clutch cable and not the one made by other companies for Matiz. I did so and the entire problem was resolved...
Now, my front axle's starting to make that funny noise while turning the vehicle even on moderate speed. My mechanic has advised me to change the axle. Let's see wot happens...
20th Jul 2008, 12:19
I've had my matiz for nearly a year now and have had hardly any problems with it. The front right gear caliper kept sticking when I first got it but it was under warranty so I got a new one and that was that solved.
The only other problem I've really had is more of an annoyance that I can't always get reverse gear on the first attempt, yesterday it took quite a few goes. It seems as if it goes in but then pops back out to about halfway so when the clutch it brought up it just grinds.
I might try the above comment about shifting to first and then reverse but its still a bit annoying that I would have to do that.
Other than that it's a perfect little car and I love it :D.
1st Sep 2008, 21:17
Just bought a Matiz - 2001 model with 93,000 Km's on the clock - and I have trouble getting it in to 2nd gear and reverse at times. Very hard to get in to 2nd if going around 40km's an hour and gearing down from 3rd - really have to push it in.
3rd Jul 2009, 07:15
I have bought a 0Km Matiz in June 2005, and had the second gear problem always... I think it is a manufacturing problem... what I do, it's going down to second gear on 15km/h, at this speed it goes OK, but not more than 15km/h, otherwise it makes a noise and shifts with difficulty, no problems shifting from 1 to 2. Shifting from 2 to 1 at ca. 5 km/h or only stopped. Reverse sometimes needs to go to 1st and then R. If this won't help, then slowly release clutch while pushing gear slightly to R, this works! It is a fine little city car, and perfect for city! So far no other problems had. Hope this helps!
6th Sep 2005, 12:57
I too have had many problems with my second gear and cannot on first attempt gain reverse I have had problems with the car since day one air bag replaced, recall for clutch cable, gear box complete over haul, new gear box, replaced gear cables and STILL crunching around the city. this is the first new car I have had and it has been a total night mare. i have been told it's a charateristic of the car! my daewoo is 53 model and I wish I had never set eyes on it! I have been driving for twenty years and was left feeling insulted when told maybe it was my gear changing that was causing the problems ha ha nice try!! none of my other cars crunched when I was behind the wheel.