2007 Chevy Matiz Goes for a Drive 

Despite the cheap build and hard plastics, there is something very appealing about it’s basic ‘built to a cost’ and it’s not ashamed of it either. It says “I am what I am” and it’s all the better for it. I’m sick of new modern cars trying so hard to impress with ever ridiculous computerisation and badge snobbery and the little Chevy is the exact opposite. A modern day 2CV if you will, bare basics, does a job and does that job excellently. The ironic thing is how environmentally friendly this car is - parked next to a lard arsed EV with their environmentally obnoxious-to-make batteries - the Chevy is a champion.

My farther used to have a saying 3rd class driving better than 1st class walking

When I worked in a car body shop we had 4 of those as courtesy cars. They just refused to die they went on forever. And we’re never any trouble. And they held up well internally and no rust

I've always had a soft spot for these. Great use of space, a happy face and dependable by all accounts.

I believe that Daewoo is probably the most maligned car manufacturer there is. Their products, although not the fanciest, are typically hard wearing and practical. They are always really well undersealed, don't rust badly and as a mechanic, I've never come across many serious issues with reliability regarding engines, gearboxes, clutches, brakes etc. Our customer traded his 2000 model year Lanos (mk2 Astra underpinnings) for a 2011 Polo and he's regretted doing so ever since. There is a MK1 Matiz in the UK with a 3.0 V6 Vauxhall engine swap, Porsche wheels and huge brakes. They are very popular in Poland and Eastern Europe.

in india this was sold as chevrolet spark. i own one and gotta say engine still runs like a brand new. doesnt give any hiccups. space at back is issue for me lol cuz im 6 foot but drivng pleasure is there and it wheelspins !!

Finally this car gets some appreciation too! I've had it as my first car for almost a year now and honestly I can't complain...it's very reliable so far, doesn't cost my poor student ass too much money AND it takes me from A to B. ;)

My wife had almost exactly this car when we met. Hers had air con which was surprisingly effective (that’s what the blank button on the heater controls is for). She had it from new to almost 100k miles. It was worked hard and not looked after. It looked very tired at the end but never let her / us down. It wasn’t great to drive and while it cost pennies to maintain, it wasn’t that economical. Also, emissions weren’t that low - certainly didn’t fit into the £30 category. It was £130 ish - my 2.0 TDI Golf at the time was only about a tenner more per year. Possibly due to the old tech engine. It was an absolutely perfect car for its target audience.

LOL, very cool! I live in the States and was aware of the "rest-of-the-world" "Chevrolet" (nee Daewoo) Matiz, I was surprised with the term "Masterpiece". Furiousdriving is always a credible presentation and critique of cars, so I find this assertion impressive. This generation Matiz was not sold in the USA. Best I can recall, we did get the generation after this...as the "Chevrolet Spark" but a vehicle seldom seen here even when new. For better or worse (worse in my opinion), city cars are rather iunpopular here despite the "fun to drive" and economy aspects. A spark owner would be a young lady's first car going to college, or an OAP's transport driving slow in the driving lane with the blinker on for a couple miles. Americans in general have been conditioned to believe the motorcar almost solely to be a status symbol and an extention of their personality to the extreme. Thus, the proliferation of large pickups and SUVs to "assert one's presence" and same with loud muscle cars, as well as Mercedes and BMW cars that to me are "lease cars" because after three years, that's when the original owners have switched over to the latest model, and the second owner has to contend with the expensive repairs / costly maintenance on a depreciating asset solely to impress "the Joneses". These are just cynical observations. I must say I really love furiousdriving because every car is given the chance to be judged on its own merits rather than dismissed because of some attribute that is not popular with the hoi-poloi.

When they were new, I thought they were the dumbest things. Now, and thanks to channels like your, I’m learning to appreciate these quirky cars. Thank you for your awesome channel.

I owned two of these cars. A 2000 model 800cc that I did a 1500km trip with my wife and two kids. It wasn't fast and you had to stir the gearbox a bit but it ran without issue. The second car is still being driven by my son. The are surprisingly good.

I had a 03 Daewoo matiz as my learner car back in the day. All the performance of a hair dryer lol

Exactly the kind of car we all need today for moving through cities. This beats any electric monstruosity in terms of running costs. Can somebody please make something like this for under 10.000 euros ???

Had a hire one in Crete. With four up it wouldn’t go up hills without turning off the air conditioning. Other than that , it was a great little car

Another cracking review I had a Daewoo Matiz, smashing little car

In Colombia it is called Chevrolet Spark! And it is one of the most beloved cars in the country. Although it does not have airbags or ABS, it is a reliable car. My family owns a Spark 1.0 with 80,000 km, many adventures have been experienced in it. The car once had a 400km trip with 6 people on board, and it served better than ever. It is a very economical car to maintain and in the time we have had it it has not given a single problem. A thousand thanks to Spark and Daewoo for creating a car legend!

I had two , a three pot 800cc same year as ian’s, and an 07 4 cyl, i actually preferred the 800cc it wizzed along around town which is really what suited them . Did not have issue with either of them tho i did hear some had gearbox selector issue and some had a fuel injector failure, there absolutely loads of these still around my area, more prolific than the spark which replaced it. Ps my wife loved them

This is what eventually became my car, a Chevy Spark in 2012! Funny how it still uses the same exact air vents as my 2013 Spark.

My Matiz has a drawer under the front passenger seat.Very handy.

Here in Costa Rica, the first generation Matiz is coveted for its reliability and economy. 20-year-old units regularly trade north of £2000.

I bought my pre-facelift Matiz new in 1999. The design was so 'radical' it appeared to have nothing in front of the windscreen at all! I used it for three years for my 50-mile daily commute. I carried three adults in the back on occasions and I used it for long motorway trips. It was a very capable little car although you did have to watch out for the engine cutting out when you hit full revs mid-overtaking. I never liked the post face-lift looks and once it became a Chevrolet I wasn't interested - I was happy to have a Korean badge but I wasn't having an American one! 😂

Once No.1 and the only city car that ruled South Korea...until 2008, when Korean city car regulations allowed Kia Picanto be registered as city cars.

My mother has one, but the M250 (facelift of this one) with the 1.0L engine. Can't say it's a bad car, fully equipped and with a very good price back in 2008. Now it has 155k km and no serious problems

The engine in the Matiz and many other Chevy/Daewoo models is based upon a very old Suzuki unit dating back to around 1980 and has been developed over the decades to great success. The 1.2 16V version as found in the 2010 Aveo is a 4 cylinder chain driven unit based upon this type and is a great motor.

This is what people with no special interest in cars or driving should buy, instead if overly large cars. In the old days a family of five with travel luggage squeezed into a vw beetle and travelled around the european continent, and they were perfectly happy doing so. I doubt this got less space where it matters.

My mom had one. Poor mom thought it was a real Chevy and she loved it, me too… however she sold 9 months thanks to terrible servicing It has ac and power steering

Still my family's daily driver for 14 years now, without so much big issue...never regret to have it.

Very cute little car that does punch above its weight. Very economical.

I've had a few of this gen Matiz, the 800cc was great fun! Revvy little engine, didn't go fast but felt thrilling. Admittedly the 1.0 was a slight improvement..

The Matiz was probably the most copied car design by both microcars and "real" cars. Tons of three wheelers and four wheelers from various countries and companies look either exactly like the old one or this.

Love from india❤ My father brought this car in 2010 still we are using, i have one dout this is an four cylinder engine but it has a very noisy engine and short gear.. But the power of this car is awesome!

Had 2 of the 1 litre SE's chez Wilson. Wifey had one for 10 years and 80k before I prized it from her grip as it needed far too much work - clutch, welding, a/c etc. Bought a stop gap Amica for her that did a few years and when I changed jobs and needed a car two and a half years ago and I found another one - one owner - 19k miles on a 59 plate so I bought it for under £2k. Eighteen months later the Hyundai needed some work so decided to bin it and give the Matiz to my Mrs and she is running around in it today - great little cars for the outlay

Mine was a hoot & my cousin & I had some great touring holidays round Scotland in it. It never missed a beat & was actually good on the open road & tackled hills without any great trauma. The engine note was a delight, too!

I remember when I worked at a Halfords in the early noughties and they had a Daewoo dealership at the store, the Matiz was by far their best seller. I’ve heard all sorts of opinions over the years about these, some good, some bad, I think owner apathy killed a lot of these cars, they were seen as cheap throwaway cars, but probably deserve better respect than that, as you mentioned Ian from Hubnut loves his. Thanks for this review Matt.👍

Sadly Marmite for many. I love them. I would say it's something Issigonis would have liked. We hired a Chevrolet version in 2010 and the Mother in Law hated it. We loved it and it bounded up hills in the Lake District better than gutless 1.2 Peugeots we later hired. incidentally that hired Matiz. An '09 model has only done 20,000 miles according to the Govt website and still lives! (Top spec ones had A/C - probably a top speed of 5mph when you turned it on! 😆) The metallic copper is the nicest colour.💞 I remember Channel 4's "Driven" doing doughnuts in one. The pattern on those later seats rubs off after a while, I've seen!

I just bought a second Matiz as a replacement for my first one. The axle in the front gets loose in the bearings. ATG sensor complains stuck, but it is because of some other sensor. O2 sensor in the catalytic converted goes bust once a year, which lights the ABS and handbrake lights. The second one costs 750 euros at 115 tkm. The first one is at 258 tkm. The odometer jumped back to 50 tkm at 250 tkm. I avoid fixing the axle, fog light and the O2 sensor and get new pairs of winter and summer tires. I have to replace the cycle rack, tow hook and maybe all doors and panels. Car repair shops refuse to find parts, which are on Autodoc and only fix cars from 10 years ago. Your car is missing 9:00 the AC which mine do have. The rear wheel got stuck to the part and I couldn't change it.

I'm still using one (2012) and the little man goes for everything when needed, as it is not that close to floor you can go through pretty nasty roads.

Currently own one of these ona 56 plate. It's an SX edition with air con, 4 electric windows, metallic paint and multi folding removable rear seats. Done a little over 44k miles ad drives beautifully. Only issue is the sills are rotten which is apparently very common, they have rubber bungs on the underside that should let any water etc run out of them but the get clogged up and the mister sits inside and rots them. Planning on having them replaced very shortly and at a cost of £45 for a pair of sills it makes sense to keep the car on the road. And I only paid £300 for it nearly a year ago. Cheapest motoring I've ever experienced. Lovely little cars.

Daewoo gave a very good backup with the warranty and free serviceing. Shame the cars weren't the best quality. Still, 10 out of 10 for effort. It would be nice if someone made a proper luxury small car. Not the silly Aston thingy though.

Love these affordable city car reviews.

Very reliable car. It's an absolute keeper.

Oooh, I spy another Matiz lurking in one of them there garages. Love the centre headrest in the rear, like you're gonna go 3 abreast in that! *edit* aaand you mention the other Matiz later in the video. Should've kept me powder dry until it finished, hey?

Lots of those around here, although without the bus upholstery, just dull grey cloth.

That blank button is more than likely for aircon when fitted

I actually drive the Japanese version the Chevrolet spark same 800cc and I love it ❤️👍

Finally drove a 3 pot a few weeks ago, but was a vauxhall viva, and loved it. It will never replace my rover 75, but it was a fun little car and sounded great.

Annual rfl costs quite a bit more than C1 / 107 / Aygo. Think they are £165, compared to £20 for the C1 trio.

A great video as always, but i just need to correct you on 2 thing: the emissions on the Daewoo versions were very high. Back in 2007, I bought a 2001 796cc SE Plus for my 1st car, and at the time, the tax on it was £140. To give you some perspective, the tax for my 2008 Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 8v cost me £155 this year. Also, the Daewoo versions are rather rare nowadays, just a couple of thousand left, which is rather a shame. 🙁 Emissions aside though, I do love the mk1 Matiz, in facelift form. Sadly, mine started rusting on the sills at just 8 years old, so I traded it in for a 2004 Punto 1.2. I will always have a colossal soft spot for the Daewoo Matiz though, and there would definitely be a couple in my dream car collection, lol!

One the most reliable cars I've owned also owned a daewoo version.

I love the Matiz as Ian Hubnut will tell you the 800cc engine is hilarious it sounds like a Rally car but in reality struggles to hit 70 on a motorway but so much fun , If i ever need to get a cheap 2nd hand car this is what id buy

Mine is the base level 3 cylinder with manual everything and I've had it about 11 years. It has been the most reliable car I've ever had and has never failed an MoT. It still has the original battery and exhaust system but I had to do a bit of welding on one rear arch this year. You did not point out that there's no temperature gauge (I would rather have that than the tachometer).

I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for these small Chevys, this, the Aveo and the Spark just have a certain simplistic charm about them, like the Dacia Sandero, which is another car I like

You didn't say what that row of buttons above the air vents were for, i did read the word trip so one is to reset the trip meter but the others? For hazard warning light button read I'm parked in a dangerous place button.

I never owned a Matiz but it's just the kind of car I really like. I owned a 1980 Daihatsu Charade 5 door and a 1983 Daihatsu Charade 5 door, both with 5 speed manual gearbox. I followed that up with a 1989 Mazda 121 3 door 5 speed manual. All of them gave me a good driving experience and excellent fuel economy. The Matiz obviously would have done the same.

An American badge on a car that isn’t legal in America nor can it be imported legally to America. So now an American (me) is enjoying driving one in the UK and loving it

I went from an Alfa 147 to an Aygo and haven't had any regrets. There was an early Matiz at the recent HubNut social with a GM 3.0 V6 shoehorned under the bonnet and Porsche wheels. 190bhp should get you to the shops quickly enough!

never seen a pocket on the side of the pass seat before .. it is genius

I had one of these, in London it's tiny size made my life a lot easier. I could zoom into tiny wee gaps, it was brilliant. Unfortunately it's not ULEZ compliant.

The thing about the matiz is their is nothing wrong with them, they are solid reliable little cars either 1st or 2nd gen models I worked on one for a customer, it was his mothers who'd owned it since new and it only had 8,700 miles on it, after she gave up driving her son could only get £1500 for it and if you look on ebay mot'd examples struggle to get over £600

I am still having my Chevrolet Aveo / Daewoo Kalos in my garage. It's already 18 years old, and done 260,000 ++ KMS.. It's been reliable, and well-built. The interior is super plasticky, but I don't care as it's hard-wearing. Daewoo/Chevrolet cars are unfairly looked-down upon.

#powerlessismore more of a fan of the Daewoo Version but know what you mean about them being still around, there is a couple near me, great review as always Matt on this quirky little car.

8:49 - That blanked-off button is actually where the button to turn the air conditioning on or off would be on cars with air conditioning.

I remember when you could only get a Daewoo via a Halfords store. Nearly bought their version of the Astra but wanted a bigger engine. That little thing does exactly what it says on the tin, it's a cheap little city car and for that it fits the bill. If I wasn't surrounded by hills, I'd have one however, need a bigger engine. When floated early 90's, there wouldn't have been much too beat it, if it had been in production in 94 it would have prob had the market to itself. Great vid 👍

Just bought this (2009 SE plus). Decent little motor but tax in 2024 is £190. At 50.4 mpg, it makes up for it

I hired one in Spain years ago and was quite impressed with the little car.

The binnacle is actually flipped on the RHD cars, the rev counter is on the right on the LHD cars Also, the blank button on the other side of the heated rear window is the A/C button (a very popular option in Greece) Also most of the Greek, LHD Matizes had manual driver and passenger mirrors

Just brought myself one as a delivery vehicle as my dad was getting a new car and this was his old car great little thing. U missed the cubby tray under passenger seat it’s also weird in that it only has a single electric mirror. And the blank near stereo was aircon as mine has 😹🤣😂 mine also has sunroof.

18:29 sorry but thats wrong the tax on this 1 litre is £150+- per year I pay by direct debit £14 per month the 0.8 was £30 per year don’t know if that’s changed. Also if the brakes are that bad I would check them, I change my own brakes and they stop just as well as any other car. The 57 plate you are driving had a recall for brakes ( wrong fluid ) maybe make sure it was done or done properly. Not hating as I love these cars and they are super easy to work on.

Can feel a meatloaf song coming

The only decent, quality thing in the car is the Blaupunkt stereo that can control the optional, in dash 6 disc CD changer. Pre cheap Chinese Blaupunkt, so sound quality is good if used with non cheap speakers.

Well Matt, Ye can talk this up like a good thing but as far as i am concerned it's a tin can on wheels that if you have it long enuf it will fall apart with rust issues. i know this coz i had one. Still get flashbacks today🤣🤣🤣👍

Wouldn't mind that one myself as a second runabout how much is he asking had a 08 se plus 10 years ago and it was very economical not good on long runs but reliable

Pretty much the same spec as my friend's Matiz, though hers is on a 58-reg and has a lot more obvious rust than this example.

I would love to get hold of one of these. I think it would be a great little car to not care about, much like my beloved K11's about a decade ago.

The Matiz , cheap, reliable, economic and easy to park,designed in the late 20th century,makes the ridiculous overblown electric battery cars look moribund.

Couple of questions:: No info on back space. I presume back seats go down to allow more? Are the seats split?

My mum really wanted a Daewoo Matiz when I was a kid (she didn't have a car at the time) and I remember being taken to a dealer in Northampton a few times. She ended up with a Seat Marbella (somehow even more basic haha).

My mom’s friend had one of these. It was a 57 reg and it just fell apart one day in 2016😂

I had a Daewoo one and I miss it , Considering a Chevy one now! I saw one at Lidl yesterday and it ran like a sewing machine!

The run out models started with the 0.8S at £3995 cash

Blank button in center console is A/C button - but this car model doesn't have A/C

I had a 2008 Chevy Spark wich ws the same as the Matiz, very reliable and safe, 'cause even had an accident in it; Chery had the QQ derived from this model too, and we had some of those too; greetings from Honduras 🥳

Shame the manufacturers are killing off small friendly city cars. They are not cheap to buy new any more. For example the price of the base Aygo/C1/107 has nearly doubled over the past 10 years at a time when inflation was running at 1% pa. Guess I'll stick with my 10 year old 107 then especially as a new one is taxed at £120 per year more although the engine is the same and emits the same amount of pollutants. So much for pollution based taxation.

Like another person said here, turning on the aircon slowed the 3 Cylinder one down. I hired one at Luton Airport in 2000 to visit a friend in Deal. I took him out in it along the coast, it was quite hot, he said "can I turn on the aircon?" (which I wasn't aware it had!), pushed the button, and it felt like he had pulled the handbrake on!

‘Woo hoo! A Daewoo on the channel! You should try my Kalos and see how it compares.

The more up to date version is probably my 2017 Suzuki Celerio, zero tax, ultra cheap insurance, 60+ mpg , very comfortable and nippy - possibly because in the 10 years small cars had been refined even more. Sadly now dropped as it didn't figure in Suzuki's compliance share out like the wonderful new Jimny that disappeared alarmingly quickly.

Bet Hubnut is watching this on his holidays....

These cars were sent to South America without airbags or any other safety feature... Chevrolet really put a lot of effort into making this nice car really unsafe.

Daewoo! Da-a-a-aewoo. Daylight come, and me wan' go home...

Nice little car🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

BTW did you not find the slide out tray under the front passenger seat too? Storage galore in these - one minor quibble we got the RFL renewal reminder on my wifes today and it costs £165 pa - these Chevrolets that were rebadged Daewoo's were old tech and quite "dirty" - the 2.0 litre automatic Tacuma was dirtier than the Fukashima plant and was discontinued when RFL went over £500 pa so Motability dropped it from their lists ( that was where its majority of sales for that model came from )

Love your enthusiasm

A review on the Chevrolet Spark LT 2010 would be good as it’s a big improvement on this car. great review on this car matt 👍🏻

It’s still being made but name change to the spark

Hi please test drive a first gen Smart Forfour!😍

You saying this feels tired after 50k, the VW UP (Skoda version) that our local dealer uses feels absolutely knackered and they're all on 20-25k. The other dealership (trying not to name them) uses some older Vauxhall Corsa vans (mostly 10-12 plate models) with the 1.3 diesel and they feel tired and they're all around 70k miles. Think it all depends how they've been used. Loads of people using a car won't look after it. This I assume one/two others before your mechanic purchased it? Be interesting to see how something like a £5k Dacia would compare, although I'm interested to see how Dacia models compare after they've been used a bit, but that being said they're not as cheap as they once were. These really do look a good buy if you don't want much from a car and use it for a lot of city use.

Hired one of these beauts around Ireland. A wee copper colour was nice but interior was a bit tatty but we loved it. We even gave our hired example a name it was that fun. Barney lol I do miss that little car and was great fun to drive as we tested the lad through skinny and hilly sections in Ireland. I reckon in 10 years these will be collectable

An old neighbour had one Matiz 09 reg!

We had this in South Africa. It was called the Chevrolet Spark

I own and I actually enjoy driving that car. I don't know if it's a good place for this, but I noticed a shady/unfair thing done by some car sellers, maybe I'll save someone from wasting money. Seats and speedometer colour should match the car's colour. If the speedometer's colour is different, then expect mileage from different Matiz. Seat/speedometer in different colour = replaced part/repainted car.