Owners have filed 283 complaints on the Daewoo LANOS, covering 1998–2002. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (174 reports). Worst years by volume: 2000, 2001, 1999; cleanest: 1998, 2002, 1999. 12 reports describe a crash, 4 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 3.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Daewoo LANOS
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 283 LANOS complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 174 Read
- the contact stated that she received a recall letter for the 2002 daewoo lanos on 05/2006. But became drastically ill from a heart attack and couldn't have the recall repairs done immediately. She took the vehicle to steve's repair in idaho falls for the recall repairs in february 2007. She contact ed daewoo at…
The consumer is unable to have the vehicle serviced. The check engine light is on
The consumer was unable to have the cam shaft position (cmp) recall 04V357000 performed because all the dealership in the state were out of business
Air Bags 41 Read
In a frontal collision none of air bags deployed on impact
Recalls 02V131000 and 02V131001/fmvss 201 air bag deployment, vehicle was involved in a frontal and a side collision, however neither air bag deployed. Dealer was notified. *ak there was one injury
Safety recall on daewoo lanos passenger side air bag. *bf the consumer received a recall letter after her daughter had already been involved in an accident. The vehicle was rear ended and pushed into another vehicle and subsequently the air bags did not deploy. The drivers side seat broke as well. (recall 02V131001)
Service Brakes 24 Read
Consimer states while driving at 35mph brakes failed, consumer was unable to stop vehicle, resulting in an accident.just had brakes replaced. Dealer contacted
Consumer received NHTSA recall 04V357000 regarding the crank shaft position sensor. Company was out business. No dealership was available in the miami area. *ak when vehicle stops or turns the brake makes a high pitch noise
When brakes were applied, they didn't hold. Contacted dealer
Electrical System 6 Read
Vehicle shut down while driving, it was towed to consumer's home. While parked in the driveway vehicle started to burn
While consumer's wife was driving to work first thing this morning she noticed smoke coming from underneath passenger's seat. She pulled over, and called fire department. Fire department disconnected battery and put out fire. Vehicle at dealer at this time. $ amount of damage and cause of fire unknown. No injuries
Purchased vehicle new. Idle speed changes at will, so fast I was going 45 mph in 2nd gear. Been to dealer 5 times. Still not resolved. Don't know how to fix it. Dealer one time installed a longer wiring harness, to no avail. Car just sitting and engine speed will raise at drop without me touching anything
Steering 5 Read
Vehicle lost control while traveling on mountain at 25-30 mph. Vehicle went off mountain, and landed in a tree. Accident caused one injury, and one fatality. Dealer was notified. *ak the vehicle's crash worthiness was substandard and the accident resulted in death of one victom. Restraint system failed during the…
I cannot find any dealer/service area to repair any recalled problems. At 18,700 miles the cars steering is starting to make clunking sound when steering is turned when car is not in motion. Clunking is felt at the brake pedal
Engine still makes a tapping sound, air intake lever cable defective(dealership can't get parts), which causes a safety issue when driving vehicle. Steering still pulls to one side and steering wheel vibrates, brakes still don't feel right ( had to replace brake pads and resurface rotors at my expense) but brakes…
Exterior Lighting 5 Read
Consumer was driving on the highway and vehicle parked facing the oncoming traffic. Vehicle turned on its headlights, causing the driver to swerve. The vehicle turned over and ejected the driver. Upon impact airbags failed to deploy. Currently, the vehicle is being recalled by the manufacturer for defective…
The switch underneath the break pedal that controls the brake lights going on is continually malfunctioning to the point that the majority of the time I have no break lights, which resulted in me getting rear-ended
While driving on a country road headlights went out. Consumer had to hold headlight switch for headlights to come back on and to stay on. Contacted dealer, dealer replaced switch 4 times. Problem kept reoccurring.*ak
Fuel System 3 Read
Vehicle left road, struck tree . Within 3 minutes approx. Car was totally engulfed in flames. Driver was trapped, and died
No summary. Dt
Transmission banging up and down, maybe a stripped wire, other problems are fuel injection, transmission oil leak
Suspension 3 Read
Vehicle pulls to right , making it difficult to control. *ak the consumer was concerned that the manufacturer defect was causing the problem to continue and had caused accidents
While driving car pull to the right, unable to align vehicle to proper specs. Due to possible bend in vehicle structure from previous s or recent damage. Front wheel bearings wereloose, replace front wheel bearings both sides
While driving, both rear wheel bearings failed, resulting in a loud roaring sound. This vehicle was in repair shop a year ago for the same problem. *ak idle fluctuated and engine seemed noisy due to a loose fuel pump harness. The seat back latch was inoperable, dealer replaced seat back
LANOS years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1998 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 114 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.5 |
| Worst single series | 15 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.3 years |
A model average of 2.5 hides a worst series at 15. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the LANOS?
By complaint volume, 2000, 2001, 1999 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which LANOS years are the cleanest?
1998, 2002, 1999 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Daewoo LANOS have?
283 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1998–2002. Of those, 12 describe a crash and 4 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.