Owners have filed 304 complaints on the Daewoo LEGANZA, covering 1998–2002. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (244 reports). Worst years by volume: 2000, 1999, 2001; cleanest: 1998, 2002, 2001. 8 reports describe a crash, 9 a fire. On average the car was 3.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Daewoo LEGANZA
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 304 LEGANZA complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 244 Read
Consumer backed out of the driveway and smelled something burning. Vehicle would not restart, and was towed to the dealer, who discovered that the cam shaft sensor burned out, burning the gaskets/timing chain, and wiring harness
Recall 04V357000 concerning cam shaft position sensor. Dealer charged consumer for the repairs. *ak the check engine light had come on and remained on even after the switch was reset
While driving, the engine caught on fire. There were no dealers in the area to make the repair. NHTSA recall 04v3570000
Service Brakes 19 Read
No description given. Nlm
I have constant problems with the brakes, they wear out quickly. Recently had alternator replaced in aug. 2003 and now the sensor valve caught fire and burned up the wire harness, valves, valve cover, timing belt, serpentine belt. $1400 of work to be done and no guarantee that extended warranty will cover. Whenever I…
2000 daewoo leganza check engine light illuminated. Engine made noise and died. *kb when the check engine light illuminated the consumer took the vehicle to the dealer. Each time the vehicle was taken to the dealer different parts were replaced but the light would return. The vehicle was returned to the dealer several…
Air Bags 9 Read
A 2001 daewoo leganza(believe that is the model) hit my parked pick-up. The police estimate the vehicle was going about 40mph. The reason I am getting involved is to inform you that the airbags in the daewoo did not imploy. Even the police officer thought that they should
Consumer lost control of vehicle due to weather, and hit an exit sign. Upon impact, air bags did not deploy. Consumer contacted manufacturer.*ak
Front crash at 40 mph, neither airbag deployed. No injuries, damage to vehicle unknown at this time
Power Train 8 Read
The transmission of my 2000 daewoo leganza ignited and caused the car to burn to the ground and almost killed myself and my 4 other family members almost 2 months ago and daewoo has yet to respond to my faxes, phone calls etc... I want resolution to this matter
The vehicle surged erratically while the consumer was backing out of the garage and struck a wall. The rear of the vehicle was damaged, the dealer indicated that the surge was caused by a defective solenoid
While in motion, and backing out of the garage the vehicle made a loud and continuous rasping noise and surged erratically and rapidly to the rear. The vehicle struck a wall causing damage to the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was difficult to shift afterwards. Consumer took the vehicle to the dealer who stated it…
Electrical System 7 Read
Hesitation, light pulling, smoke under the hood, when opening the hood fire and smoke blaze. I remove myself and childern's away from the car leaving the hood up
Screws that hold plastic housing over the spark plug wires fell off, plastic fell on the engine and caught on fire. Mjs
It is too hard to start vehicle. Has to turn ignition key numerous of times
Suspension 3 Read
While traveling on highway the vehicle veered to the left and hit a guardrail. Vehicle runs hot, there is no air conditioning
Brake pads and ABS sensor need to be replaced. Steering shakes when braking for a stop. Brake and ABS light illuminated on the dashboard. Poor braking has resulted in extended stopping distance dealer notified of problem. Consumer was waiting for parts on back order. *ak also the front end of the vehicle shakes at any…
Steering pulls to left and right. Daewoo stated roads in florida are grated to curve, but wheels were aligned to korea's roads, and not the u.s
Exterior Lighting 3 Read
Dt: while driving the brake lights did not illuminate when the brake pedal was applied. This was the 3rd time the lights went out. The consumer is unaware how long the brake light were out. The consumer did repair the problem. *ak
It is a known fact that the daewoo leganza's brake switch fails. The switch heats up thus causing it to fail. Big issue is brake lights fail also car will not shift out of park without ingaging the unlock swith (must insert key) on the shift column. Extremely dangerous, major possibilities of being rear-ended
The headlight bulb blew out. This occurred because the headlight assembly overheated and broke. The entire headlight assembly had to be replaced instead of just replacing a bulb. The dealership indicated that this was a common problem with these vehicles. *ak
Structure 3 Read
The instrument panel padding is coming undone and separating from the structure. This is causing problems with the heat/air vents. Consumer is unable to control the air flow. The heating/air flow is causing visibility problem while driving, and air flow is constantly blowing into the driver's face while driving, and…
The contact owns a 2000 daewoo leganza. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle was covered with severe rust. The dealer told the contact that the vehicle was no longer safe to drive. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 193,000 and the…
Consumer stated the cd player would not eject
LEGANZA 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 | — | — | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 2 | 6 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 3 | 2 | |
| 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 | 109 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.8 |
| Worst single series | 10 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.8 years |
A model average of 2.8 hides a worst series at 10. 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 LEGANZA?
By complaint volume, 2000, 1999, 2001 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 LEGANZA years are the cleanest?
1998, 2002, 2001 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Daewoo LEGANZA have?
304 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1998–2002. Of those, 8 describe a crash and 9 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.