Daewoo Kalos 1500

Motoring writers with Rolls Royce tastes turned up their noses when the Kalos, tagged as the first GM-branded Daewoo, arrived in Australia in 2003.

One reviewer debunked the interior finish as "spartan"; another said the performance and controls were "stodgy".

Both these critics and many others were wrong. We bought the car, partly because the back seat has almost the same space as our old Ford. Certainly, the Kalos does not drive like a Ferrari but we did not have unrealistic expectations.

Another kick in the guts was Daewoo's withdrawal from the Australian market in 2004.

The new values dropped $5000 off the price we paid.

The poor Kalos suffered a serious dent when I reversed without realising a door was open. The door caught on a post and bent right back against the hinges.

However, it came back from the panel beaters like new.

GM-Holden's announcement in 2005 that the Kalos was coming back to Australia with a new badge saying "Barina", was a nice little payback for the critics.

I remember rival salesmen including the GM-H team badmouthing the Kalos when we were researching to buy.

We are just through the warranty period and a neighbour jibed: "Now everything will start to go wrong. Three years is about as long as those Daewoos last."

Time will tell but at this stage we are very happy, although we could have saved $5000 if we had bought one year later.

At one stage, during the "clear-out", we tried to scrape some cash together and get a second Kalos but we just a bit short of the total.

The smears against the Kalos and the drop in new price probably would still reflect in the used-car price, making it a good buy.

The rebadging has given them Barina status as far as I am concerned.

GM-H made a fuss about certain upgrades. Apparently the motor is 100cc bigger (big deal!) and the interior has a slightly different finish that they say is better (who cares?).

The Kalos suits us.