Welcome to another edition of Shitbox Showdown! Today’s search takes us to fabulous Las Vegas, home of cheap buffets, a giant black pyramid, Penn & Teller, and, apparently, oddly-hued cars. But before we hit the bright lights, let’s finish up with yesterday’s odd couple:
As I suspected. However, I was in a hurry and didn’t notice what some of you pointed out: there’s no way in hell those photos were taken in northern California. This little yellow Jeep might not be on the up-and-up after all. You know the old saying: if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Well, with that minor disappointment out of the way, let’s roll the dice on a couple of pink cars from Sin City. OK, fine, one is only partially pink. It’s also the newest car we’ve ever featured here, but boy does it have some miles on the clock. Let’s take a look.
2000 Daewoo Leganza – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2 liter DOHC inline 4, 4 speed automatic, FWD
Location: Henderson, NV
Odometer reading: 79,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
Daewoo’s foray into the US market only lasted for five model years. Three models were offered here, in order of ascending size: the Lanos, the Nubira, and the Leganza. Marketed heavily on college campuses and priced less than comparably sized and equipped cars, Daewoo should have made it. But the marketing didn’t work, the college kids who were recruited to sell Daewoos on college campuses sued the company, and the cars themselves, quite frankly, sucked. And having a logo that either looked like tighty-whiteys or a jock strap, depending who you asked, probably didn’t help.
Most Daewoos didn’t last long; despite selling almost 70,000 cars the year this example was sold, they were a rare sight by the mid-2000s. The Leganza seemed to fare better than the smaller cheaper models; whether they were actually better built or just better cared-for, it’s hard to say. I seem to remember seeing one on the road here in Portland recently, but it might have been a couple of years ago now that I think of it.
And yet, here in the Vegas suburbs, here is a low-mileage Leganza, being driven regularly. And even better – it’s pink! I can’t say for sure if it’s the original color, but the door sills match. There is some white paint showing on the plastic bumpers, but they could be white plastic for all I know. The interior looks pretty decent, frankly, which might be due to the low mileage.
Outside, things aren’t quite as, well, rosy. The paint is shiny, but the car has been booped in the nose pretty hard. There is a crease in the hood, and we have no way of knowing if that orange strap is holding the bumper on, the headlight in, or the hood shut. The seller says it runs well, but has a little coolant leak from somewhere.
Two fun facts I learned about the Leganza while reading up on it: the engine came from Holden in Australia (GM owned Daewoo at the time), and the styling was done by Giorgetto Giugiaro (who has one hell of a curriculum vitae). Didn’t help, but it’s interesting.
2015 Chevrolet Malibu – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5 liter DOHC inline 4, 6 speed automatic, FWD
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Odometer reading: 280,000 miles
Runs/drives? Doesn’t say, actually
Quick – name the hardest-working car you can think of. Police car? Nope. Delivery van? Ha. This two-colored Malibu has them both beat: It has spent its seven years since leaving the factory as a taxicab in Las Vegas. The odometer shows 280,000 miles, and you just know it spent even longer idling outside the airport and in various taxi lines at various casinos. It has ferried everyone from businessmen to bachelorettes all over Vegas at all hours of the day, and it lives to tell the tale.
Well, I think it lives. The ad doesn’t specifically say it runs, but I can’t imagine they’d have the guts to sell a non-running car for $2500. This generation of Malibu is powered by a 2.5 liter revised version of GM’s Ecotec four-cylinder, sending its power through a six-speed automatic. It’s not the most exciting powertrain of all time, but 280,000 hard miles speaks highly of its durability.
Inside, things look… sturdy, like a police car or some other no-nonsense fleet vehicle. It has held up well, from what we can see, but the seller doesn’t include a photo of the back seat, which seems important given its history. The outside is clean and damage-free, but it is that wild two-tone pink and white.
No one can say if this car still has any life left in it, at least without a test drive. But it would be sort of interesting to have a colorful car with such a colorful past.
Well, there they are. I can’t say either of them is exactly a good choice, but if you’re expecting decent cars featured here, you haven’t been paying attention. What’s it gonna be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
You’ll never find parts for that Daewoo in a million years, so Malibu it is.
Even with the mileage I’ll take the newer Chevy. Not sure you can even get parts for a Daewoo anymore. And no, you aren’t crazy. I see a white-ish Leganza running around the east side toward Gresham on a regular basis.
That Daewoo is proof positive that the worst, most trashed examples of An Car™ will never be $500 again. The absolute floor for all prices is now four digits.
Yesterday’s GLC wagon too.
Not gonna lie: I read the headline, and looked at the pictures and LOL’d.
Stopped short of a ROFL, but still, solid work.
And I took the Malibu because the Daewoo looks like its front clip could fall off at any moment.
Two truly awful choices this week. Hard no on the Daewoo, it’s just too used up and you’ll have to go through way more effort than it’s worth to get parts for it.
I’ll take the Malibu, I had a similar year one as a rental once and it was a perfectly acceptable car. The taxi livery adds a bit of charm too
The whole Daewoo saga would make a great article for someone. The guy who got it rolling was still on the lam last I knew, hiding from the Korean courts…. BUT: man was he a salesman. He not only sold cars, but whole Daewoo factories to places like Romania, et al and got their governments to pay him to do it. He was the classic, “Guys, we could all have bacon and eggs for breakfast, if one of you brings the eggs and somebody else brings the bacon” con man. He just didn’t have the money to set up a sales network for his attempt to crack the American Market … so he gave cars to college students who were supposed to act as “Influencers” as much as sales people. That didn’t work so well, given that he was imagining American College Students were like Korean college students. So he gave away franchises to anybody who could rent an empty Burger King building and have enough money left to buy a Daewoo sign. They started selling some cars too. I was kind of amazed but, hey, there’s one born every minute and half of them have really bad credit.
“Mr. Daewoo” was really good at riding the tiger and in a couple years he was running a rocket-trajectory growth freaking WORLD WIDE car empire on promises and cash flow, using yesterday’s receipts to pay last week’s bills. And he almost made it work, but one day some executive ordered an extra cup of coffee with dessert, consequently causing a bounced check to somebody who got tired of waiting to get paid and that collapsed the whole house of cards. The crash was as spectacular as the launch. The Korean auto workers unions went nuts and literally occupied the factories and management suites…
He tried to get GM to buy Daewoo as a company, who for once, did things right. They strung the deal along, flirting, until no one else was interested and the company had zero value (actually tons of NEGATIVE value because of debts and a union more aggressive than most terrorist groups demanding back pay). When the company was not merely dead but truly and sincerely dead, GM withdrew their offer. They then bought the factories, designs, and intellectual property and so forth, but NOT the company. Just bought some buildings with equipment in them, and some engineering designs. This meant they did not take over Daewoo’s debts to anyone, including the union workers.
It would make a great novel, actually. As for the cars?
Ha, ha, ha…..
I 2nd this article. I want to know moarrrrrr
I live in Las Vegas, so I believe I’m qualified to tackle this one. And now you know why I’m usually jealous of the Showdown cars on this site. Yesterday, we had 2 interesting and viable vehicles to choose from at this price point, but in Vegas, car prices are so much higher, that these are your sorts of choices in this price range.
The Daewoo is an absolute no-go. It might last a week or a year before a failure, but when it fails, you won’t find parts.
The Malibu cab is interesting. Yes, that’s the livery of a major cab company in town, I think Desert Cab. And I’ve never looked really closely at one, but I do believe it’s paint, not a wrap. Thing is, cab companies are required by law to retire cabs at 300k, so why was this retired and sold before that? But being in Vegas, I’d take a gamble on the ex-taxi.
Interesting fact about the forced retirement. I bet in vegas, nobody turns off a cab on a break as you would die in about 35 seconds in a car with no A/C in 110 deg heat.
Today I learned that the bumper:wing area ratio on a 2015 Chevy Malibu is very high.
God what a cursed pairing. That being said…Malibu. They’re good cars for what they are and despite the mileage you’ll be able to keep this running pretty easily because it’s simple and parts are everywhere. Good like finding parts for a Daewoo.
Assuming it runs (ad says fair condition), the Malibu is easy choice despite the mileage.
Regardless of the mileage, the other is a 22 year old Daewoo, there is no chance it will actually be reliable and won’t be worth fixing anyways. The Malibu is a much newer platform and most repairs will be worth it since the car is quite new and in decent condition.
How in the hell has that driver’s seat bottom held up so well in the Malibu?! Oh wait, it has been replaced. I’ll roll the dice on Malibu Stacy’s ride. I wouldn’t foist that Daewoo off on my worst enemy.
Duckie would’ve chosen the Malibu to drive to the prom.
A Las Vegas taxi? Short of napalm, is there any way to get the back seat clean enough?
I’ll take the car I can reliably get parts for. If the Daewoo had a US GM engine, I might be more tempted, but I would rather risk a high-mileage Chevy than a low-mileage deathtrap.
Those Daewoos were the biggest pieces of shit. Former boss of mine bought one new. It threw a piston rod one day. Repaired under warranty. Then the transmission grenaded.
Anyone here ever actually own a hot pink car?
I think there’d be tangible benefits–easy to find, less likely to be stolen, etc.–but what I find says pink in general has been less and less of a factory option since people haven’t been clamoring for it, and that it hurts the resale value a bunch.
Having said that, with little or no Daewoo knowledge under my belt, definitely the Malibu. With a basic detailing, that interior shot could easily surprise anyone to learn how many miles it has under its belt.
@VanGuy: I see your hot-pink paint job, and raise you a Flower Power Mod-Top Plymouth Barracuda (1969). Yes, vinyl roof and seats had a profound floral-print motif that was loud, and depending on the owner, possibly proud.
In any event there would be no problem finding this vehicle anywhere outside a botanical garden. This was the sixties.
Nope, that pink Daewoo was originally red/burgundy. The paint faded to pink. A few red cars fade to pink because of shitty paint. Another example is the first-gen Acura TSX.
I voted Malibu because the body is actually intact.
My dad had an early BMW R100S with a really cool 2-tone paint job back in the 70’s. The paint faded from red to orange within a year and was apparently a wide-spread problem with those bikes. He talked to a BMW rep at a bike show and explained the problem. The rep said that he should keep it out of the sun to avoid that. My dad replied snarkily: “Are you suggesting that I only ride it at night?!” They went ahead and repainted it under warranty, but it happened again a year later. Even high-end stuff can have crappy paint, apparently..
A little off-topic, but have we done a questionable domestic rebadge choice showdown yet? I can’t recall.
The Daewoo reminded me that I’d love to watch us fight over say the merits of a Ford Aspire vs. a Chevy Aveo.
I think they were both rebadged Korean cars. I know the Aveo definitely was, and I’m pretty sure the Aspire had either Korean or Japanese econobox roots. It makes me wonder how many people with Daewoo budgets bought an Aspire or Aveo instead because “i OnLy bUy AmeRiCaN!”
The Aspire was a Kia, as was the Festiva it replaced.
I was shocked to spot a mint condition early ’90s Festiva as I walked through my neighborhood a couple weeks back. Talk about thin on the ground! Come to think of it, there are several time capsules in my neighborhood with all the old people living here….
I like it. I want Mark to find a Dodge Colt to pick apart. Don’t ask me why.
I want to see this as I have a lasting hate for the Aveo
I went Malibu Barbie.
As an active SCCA volunteer about forty years ago I used my ’71 Mustang as a support vehicle for cornerworkers at various tracks. This meant storing and distributing halligan bars, oil dry, fire bottles etc. in my apartment, loading up, and showing up to distribute the equipment corner to corner.
How? You ask? by ripping out rear seat, passenger seat, and making a pass-thru trunk and cargo hold.
This ain’t no Mustang, but it wouldn’t take me long to pull those seats and hit the road.
low mileage beats newer model any time (well, most times). My grandmothers last car before she passed was a Lanos sedan. Id drive it occasionally and wind it up, just to keeps its blood flowing so to speak. It was a decent transportation appliance at the time.
I’m going to go ahead and disagree with you. Cars need to be driven. A car that sits and has dry rotted rubber and parts failing because they haven’t been lubricated in 5 years is going to need a major overhaul. I’ll roll the dice on a 300k drivetrain as everything else would have been looked after as part of fleet maintenance.
The modern safety features of the Malibu put it over the top for me. Both of these cars are liable to suffer a catastrophic failure soon, but at least the Malibu gives you a chance to survive when you get hit after breaking down in the middle of traffic.
Not to mention the Malibu might even be worth fixing given that it’s so new even if it needs an engine or transmission…
This is one of those times where mileage ≠ condition. That Daewoo was average to sub-average new and it hasn’t improved with age. And although I’ll be the last guy on the bus to admit a GM vehicle other than a Buick 3800 is the winner of a showdown…well, I’ll be dipped, the Malibu wins. Completely by default.
It’s pretty hard to believe that anyone could vote for the Daewoo. They were utter garbage when they were brand new and that car has had a rough 22 years. It sounds suspicious that the thing was driven an average of less than $4,000 miles a year during it’s miserable life. I’ll take the seven-year-old taxi for an extra $1,000 any day of the week.
I had a former boss who bought one of these brand new when they first came to the US. He proudly states that the suspension was designed by Lotus or something. I have seen a lot of shitty cars but the one he had made new VW Beetles look good. I mean it literally started falling apart IMMEDIATLY. The windshield wipers fell off. The transmission grenaded and a whole transmission had to be ordered from Korea which took weeks. When that finally came in and he got it back, a week later he was driving to work and a piston launched itself out of the engine, destroying the block in the process and so back to the shop and a long wait for a new engine. The dealer had to take the car back under our state’s lemon laws.
That Malibu, body-wise, doesn’t look bad. The front bumper and headlights actually look nearly new. It might have been tagged in a crash, but still. Rubber wheel those stickers off, find an engine if it needs it. maybe pull some interior parts from the junkyard, and you can have a pretty decent car.
I finally tried one of those rubber wheels on my Acura to get the dealer sticker off the trunk lid. What a great tool! Agreed on the Malibu. It is worth throwing a few bucks at to have a legitimate decent car, newish car.
That’s exactly it. It’s a seven year old Chevy Malibu. Parts will be plentiful and cheap enough. Vegas car, so zero rust. Don’t see any body damage either. Get it some new seats and if necessary a new drivetrain, check out brakes and suspension bits, and suddenly there’s a boring car that will go another quarter million miles. Ideal shitbox.
How much you want to bet the pink isn’t actually paint, but a wrap?
It’s either a wrap or a rattle can special. Either way it was likely a driveway/parking lot job, because I can’t see anyone paying even Maaco prices to spruce up a Daewoo.
Would make sense for a cab. Just like I feel it used to have a lighted sign on the top advertising cousin Vicki’s pole dancing perhaps.