Are you ready for this?
1999 Daewoo Leganza SE
Now, I know what you're thinking (what a POS). But, with a Daewoo, there's more than meets the eye to them. After the Asian financial collapse of 2000, the company finally agreed to be bought by General Motors in 2002. (The part of them that they didn't already own.) This was after heavy bidding by DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Toyota and several other companies. The reasons for Daewoo's demise:
1. Corrupt CEO pulling an Enron type of crime and felling the country. The South Korean authorities are still looking for him.
2. The horrible Asian economy at the time.
3. Since the early 70's, Daewoo has been sort of a "captive import" company to General Motors, due to a joint venture that was started in 1973. You could have driven a Daewoo and not even known it! Daewoo has made cars for several other companies, too! here are some examples:
1989-1993 Pontiac Lemans and GSE, and Opel Kadett = Daewoo Nexia and Daewoo Racer
2004-present Suzuki Verona = Daewoo Magnus (formerly Leganza)
2004-present Suzuki Forenza = Daewoo Nubira
2004- present Suzuki Reno (wagon) = Daewoo Nubira (wagon)
2004-present Chvrolet Aveo = Daewoo Kalos
There are others, but here's a general list of companies that Daewoo has built cars for:
Buick, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden(Australian GM), FSO, SEAT, ZAZ...
In a typical Daewoo, there are more GM components than anything GM makes in the United States.
In my Leganza, here's a rundown:
Engine: Holden (GM Australia) an an interpretation of a Mazda design tha twas licensed to Holden), Transmission: Toyota Electric: GM Chassis: GM, tuned by Lotus (another GM division).
Daewoo is now known as GMDAT (General Motors/Daewoo Automotive Technology) and is owned jointly by Holden (58%), Suzuki (30%), and SIAC (General Motors China) (12%). Sadly, the only place that Daewoos are called Daewoos is South Korea!
Anyways, back to my car...I have had one problem with this car, and that is that the oil pump went bad and lunched the engine. It wasn't the car's fault, I bouth it used (as a repo) and apparently, the previous owner never changed the oil. I drive 108mi/day round trip to and from work, and it never has given me any trouble in the 40,000 miles I have put on it(after the oil pump) so far. However, due to being hit by a truck, it now looks pretty ugly. I'll post a picture when I get one.
