SECOND-HAND SENSE: In less than a decade we have gone from getting used to the idea of buying Korean cars, to seeing one of its biggest car makers become part of the Chevrolet global brand.
And we have become comfortable with Korean cars - they have made quite an impact here, largely by offering well-equipped cars at bargain prices. There is, however, a disadvantage to this - in many cases the cars look and feel as cheap as they are.
The Daewoo Matiz (now called the Chevrolet Matiz) is something of an exception, but not totally. Helped by a European styling input to give it an imaginative front and back end and a relatively high roofline, the Matiz looks a tad more distinctive than many of the super-mini pack. It can hold its place with a Ford Ka, for instance, but it will never drive like one.
It has been around some seven years now and has sold in good numbers. It is a popular car with learners and first-time owners because of its affordability, its nippy town performance, economy and spacious interior. Its disadvantages are its 50 horse power engine with a capacity of 800cc, its lack of finesse in terms of handling and ride, and its very small boot space.
The Matiz is a city car and does not feel at all comfortable on long journeys or at motorway speeds. It is a light car and ideal for nipping from home to town, to the shops or work or wherever, but you would be a brave traveller to take it on a cross-country trip.
It also feels tinny and this is where cars like the Ka outshine it. With the Matiz you get what you pay for and that includes a lot of stark plastic moulding, soft seats and little other imaginative finishing.
However, the Matiz scored an impressive three stars out of a possible five in its EuroNCAP crash tests. The performance was described as "reasonable with the survival space mostly maintained, but compromised by chest contact with the steering wheel and problems in the footwell". Child restrains also showed up some problems. The big plus for the car was the fact that it has two front airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners to pick up slack and prevent excessive forward movement in a crash.
The Matiz has a reasonably good recall record. Some 4,600 were recalled in 2000 for possible perforation of fuel filters due to corrosion, which could cause a leak and possible fire. Others were recalled in 2003 and 2004 because of problems with clutch cables and high engine speed idling. Timing belts also need to be changed at 40,000 miles, so make sure any car you might be interested in has it done if it is at that mileage level or nearing it. The Matiz comes at a reasonable second-hand price because it does not cost all that much new anyway. You will get a four-year old one with 27,000 on the clock for about €4,500 and a two-year-old one with 11,000 on the clock for about €10,500. - DONAL BYRNE