I am surprised that a car made by chevrolet just dies after 100k. Surprising isnt it ? I mean people in korea were either asleep when designing the car or maybe some super natural force just breaks the engine into two exactly when the car reaches 100k
I think both cars are pretty good. No problem in handling at high speeds or breaking down at 100k km. Lancer has a superb drive.
Chevrolet parts are available and they are not that expensive. I guess most of the people have never even bought any part.
I love lancer and it is a superb car but its parts are expensive plus you wont be able to find them easily on the spot. Lancer has a better resale value than optra.
Optras are pretty durable cars even when driven roughly.
Parts are not that cheap but they are available easily. Routine maintenance is not an issue. If you keep banging your car into trucks etc then both lancer and optra will hurt your pocket deeply.
If you are travelling in villages etc you wont find parts of either optra or lancer :).
If I was in your place I would buy Optra but thats just me.
You will find both cars in used condition for around 1m.