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Few months back my parents took the delivery of Moroccan Blue Chevrolet Beat LS which replaced our 4 year old M-800. This is my ownership report of the Beat.
What I like:
• Stunning looks inside and out.
• Excellent ride comfort.
• Descent handling
• Super silent engine at idle.
• Space-Lots of legroom for 4 passengers and
• Equipment.
• Its narrow dimension is a breeze in city.
• Comfortable front seats.
• Very good build quality(note:added this on april 11,2012)
What I don’t like:
• Low seats reduce visibility.
• Rear seats don’t have proper thigh support.
• Small boot.
• Low ground clearance.
There were several cars we considered; Beat and Figo were the finalists.
Ford Figo: This was the car we had almost finalized even after TD. It was spacious but my father felt it was underpowered. My father was not ready to pay the extra money for exi trim so it was lxi trim. Me and brother felt it was too basic. But the beat TD changed everything. Everybody now asks ‘why didn’t you buy Figo?’ including my uncle. Earlier my mother used to blame me for buying Beat (there are some other reasons too) but now it changed.
Chevrolet Beat: My father felt it was punchier than Figo. It has better ARAI figures than Figo .My father felt it’s narrow dimensions would be a breeze to use in city and on the same time it was spacious too . Chevy’s 3 year maintenance made my father really book the car. My father was ready to pay the extra money for the LS as it had some useful feature.
All these things happened during the month of November. We booked the car the very next day of TD. The color was black and the delivery was expected within a week which was Monday. The car has to be driven from the stockyard at Calicut to the one at Kannur. The car reached two days before Monday. I, my brother and my father went for the PDI. For the PDI I had done a little bit of home work. When we reached at the showroom for PDI they told the car is getting washed, please wait. During this time I and my brother checked out the Cruze and few accessories for our beat. After a few minutes they asked to have a look at the car. The black beat was stunning. There was middle aged person who is in charge of vehicles in stockyard. He showed us how beautiful is to see tachometer. I asked where I can find VIN number of the car just to know when was the car manufactured. I noted down the VIN number. Everything was fine in the car. When I returned to home I checked out the cars Date of manufacture. It was April. I was shocked. My grandfather refused to believe this. By that time my father had already paid the total money. We enquired to know if this was correct. They replied it was manufacture in 30th of September. Everyone in my home was happy. But the very next day our sales man phoned us and told it was manufactured in April itself. So we decided not to take that car. The next day we went to the showroom, they told green, blue and grey manufactured in September - October is available. So at last finalized on blue and took the deliver the next day and the car was delivered at my homes’ doorstep as my father told them to do so due to several factors. After my father received all the books, warranty card and the keys, the sales man tells my father, ”Sir, thank you for joining GM family”.
After a few days the RHS OVRM’s mirror falls down, there were several cracks in rear tail lamp, thud thud sound from the back. To get this resolved we went to showroom, from there so many people came to check what the problem is. My father was really unhappy. At last a person comes and says he will get everything replaced for free and after that we had a talk with the manager. It was interesting to find few people from a Maruti dealer where we have bought our swift working there. All the problems were resolved. And we were happy.
Now comes the initial impressions of our Beat.
The beat was revealed as a concept car .GM had made sure that the production version is almost exactly the concept one .It looks stunning especially from the front. The front part of the car is heavy. The bonnet has a muscular line; headlights are sharp, big and aggressive and it has the new big Chevy grill and logo. The LS trim lacks blackened B-pillar, roof rails, and painted OVRMs and door handles. This has affected the side profile of the car. But still it looks good due to the coupe like wind screen and the placement of rear door handle. Everybody in my home loved the place of rear door handle which made it look like a 2-door.My father said it’s useful for elderly because they don’t need to bend to open!
The rear end of the car is not muscular or aggressive rather it is cute. My father liked the tail lamp design and he says it’s not a common design. I and my brother and father loved the looks of the beat. But few of my friends say Figo looks better than Beat. Do you agree?
The interior is also unique, thanks to digital and unique instrument cluster and the v shaped central console. The fit and finish is way better than swift but not as good as the VW .The interior build quality is close to that of i20.The upper part of the dashboard has unique texture and feels good and it has little detailing too. The colors used in the interior could have being richer or beige.I also love the way rear seats fold.
Now comes the space. Well one must think that by seeing the car it may be cramped in the rear.But its not. It seat 4 big adults comfortable but rear seats lacks thigh support. GM has made the front seats smaller and the boot was made less to increase the rear legroom (I think so).The front seats have good back support but it’s a bit lack in thigh support and it hugs a medium built adult and its placed low.
A person of 6 feet and above ,their knees would rub against the A/C controls. The wind shield is set high and the seats are low which reduces visibility. The thick A-pillars also reduces visibility.
Overall the interior is quiet nice.
The boot is 170Ltrs. That says it all.
Added on April 11,2012-
The boot was made with less volume to increase the rear space nad that is a very good ting as the space at the back is very very good.Moreover you can spilt the seats.The rer sets split like in the Fiat linea.
The engine is super silent at idle. The engine is rated 80.5@6200 and 108@4400. and ours is not the Smartech. It doesn’t feel as peppy as the specs suggest which is due to tall gearings and the ECU which is tuned for FE . GM provides ECU remap for free for better pick-up and our car till now did not get the ECU remapped . It is effortless to drive in city. One doesn’t need to downshift when slowed to get moving, say, you slowed down the car in 3rd gears you could easily move the car in the same gear itself. But my mother said there a lot of knocking in 2nd gear when compare to other gears.
The gear is not short throw like the swift and it is not long throw and its not very smooth. I think after some use it would become smooth.
Ride comfort is excellent in city for both front and back. Till 100kmph its good but there is a road noise, I think its is due to the stock tires JK . After that I don’t know. This is our second, its petrol
,so rare highway trips.
I would give a proper comment on the handling in future.
• Autocop remote locking.
• 3M anti-rust under body painting.
We are happy with car.It looks good, is spacious, has a good ride. Its a VFM product. The maintenance package means peace of mind.
Some more points observed regarding our beat here-
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post148617
'Images are uploaded below.'
Link for the third service report-
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post144920
Link for the ICE-
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post147255
The Fourth service report is on pg3.Here is the link for the convenience.
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post150840
Please note that to continue reading to get a full view of the fourth service.
What I like:
• Stunning looks inside and out.
• Excellent ride comfort.
• Descent handling
• Super silent engine at idle.
• Space-Lots of legroom for 4 passengers and
• Equipment.
• Its narrow dimension is a breeze in city.
• Comfortable front seats.
• Very good build quality(note:added this on april 11,2012)
What I don’t like:
• Low seats reduce visibility.
• Rear seats don’t have proper thigh support.
• Small boot.
• Low ground clearance.
Contenders
There were several cars we considered; Beat and Figo were the finalists.
Ford Figo: This was the car we had almost finalized even after TD. It was spacious but my father felt it was underpowered. My father was not ready to pay the extra money for exi trim so it was lxi trim. Me and brother felt it was too basic. But the beat TD changed everything. Everybody now asks ‘why didn’t you buy Figo?’ including my uncle. Earlier my mother used to blame me for buying Beat (there are some other reasons too) but now it changed.
Chevrolet Beat: My father felt it was punchier than Figo. It has better ARAI figures than Figo .My father felt it’s narrow dimensions would be a breeze to use in city and on the same time it was spacious too . Chevy’s 3 year maintenance made my father really book the car. My father was ready to pay the extra money for the LS as it had some useful feature.
Booking & Delivery
All these things happened during the month of November. We booked the car the very next day of TD. The color was black and the delivery was expected within a week which was Monday. The car has to be driven from the stockyard at Calicut to the one at Kannur. The car reached two days before Monday. I, my brother and my father went for the PDI. For the PDI I had done a little bit of home work. When we reached at the showroom for PDI they told the car is getting washed, please wait. During this time I and my brother checked out the Cruze and few accessories for our beat. After a few minutes they asked to have a look at the car. The black beat was stunning. There was middle aged person who is in charge of vehicles in stockyard. He showed us how beautiful is to see tachometer. I asked where I can find VIN number of the car just to know when was the car manufactured. I noted down the VIN number. Everything was fine in the car. When I returned to home I checked out the cars Date of manufacture. It was April. I was shocked. My grandfather refused to believe this. By that time my father had already paid the total money. We enquired to know if this was correct. They replied it was manufacture in 30th of September. Everyone in my home was happy. But the very next day our sales man phoned us and told it was manufactured in April itself. So we decided not to take that car. The next day we went to the showroom, they told green, blue and grey manufactured in September - October is available. So at last finalized on blue and took the deliver the next day and the car was delivered at my homes’ doorstep as my father told them to do so due to several factors. After my father received all the books, warranty card and the keys, the sales man tells my father, ”Sir, thank you for joining GM family”.
After a few days the RHS OVRM’s mirror falls down, there were several cracks in rear tail lamp, thud thud sound from the back. To get this resolved we went to showroom, from there so many people came to check what the problem is. My father was really unhappy. At last a person comes and says he will get everything replaced for free and after that we had a talk with the manager. It was interesting to find few people from a Maruti dealer where we have bought our swift working there. All the problems were resolved. And we were happy.
Now comes the initial impressions of our Beat.
Exterior
The beat was revealed as a concept car .GM had made sure that the production version is almost exactly the concept one .It looks stunning especially from the front. The front part of the car is heavy. The bonnet has a muscular line; headlights are sharp, big and aggressive and it has the new big Chevy grill and logo. The LS trim lacks blackened B-pillar, roof rails, and painted OVRMs and door handles. This has affected the side profile of the car. But still it looks good due to the coupe like wind screen and the placement of rear door handle. Everybody in my home loved the place of rear door handle which made it look like a 2-door.My father said it’s useful for elderly because they don’t need to bend to open!
The rear end of the car is not muscular or aggressive rather it is cute. My father liked the tail lamp design and he says it’s not a common design. I and my brother and father loved the looks of the beat. But few of my friends say Figo looks better than Beat. Do you agree?
Interior
The interior is also unique, thanks to digital and unique instrument cluster and the v shaped central console. The fit and finish is way better than swift but not as good as the VW .The interior build quality is close to that of i20.The upper part of the dashboard has unique texture and feels good and it has little detailing too. The colors used in the interior could have being richer or beige.I also love the way rear seats fold.
Now comes the space. Well one must think that by seeing the car it may be cramped in the rear.But its not. It seat 4 big adults comfortable but rear seats lacks thigh support. GM has made the front seats smaller and the boot was made less to increase the rear legroom (I think so).The front seats have good back support but it’s a bit lack in thigh support and it hugs a medium built adult and its placed low.
A person of 6 feet and above ,their knees would rub against the A/C controls. The wind shield is set high and the seats are low which reduces visibility. The thick A-pillars also reduces visibility.
Overall the interior is quiet nice.
Boot
The boot is 170Ltrs. That says it all.
Added on April 11,2012-
The boot was made with less volume to increase the rear space nad that is a very good ting as the space at the back is very very good.Moreover you can spilt the seats.The rer sets split like in the Fiat linea.
Engine & Gearbox
The engine is super silent at idle. The engine is rated 80.5@6200 and 108@4400. and ours is not the Smartech. It doesn’t feel as peppy as the specs suggest which is due to tall gearings and the ECU which is tuned for FE . GM provides ECU remap for free for better pick-up and our car till now did not get the ECU remapped . It is effortless to drive in city. One doesn’t need to downshift when slowed to get moving, say, you slowed down the car in 3rd gears you could easily move the car in the same gear itself. But my mother said there a lot of knocking in 2nd gear when compare to other gears.
The gear is not short throw like the swift and it is not long throw and its not very smooth. I think after some use it would become smooth.
Ride & Handling
Ride comfort is excellent in city for both front and back. Till 100kmph its good but there is a road noise, I think its is due to the stock tires JK . After that I don’t know. This is our second, its petrol
,so rare highway trips.
I would give a proper comment on the handling in future.
Accessories fitted
• Autocop remote locking.
• 3M anti-rust under body painting.
Verdict
We are happy with car.It looks good, is spacious, has a good ride. Its a VFM product. The maintenance package means peace of mind.
Some more points observed regarding our beat here-
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post148617
'Images are uploaded below.'
Link for the third service report-
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post144920
Link for the ICE-
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post147255
The Fourth service report is on pg3.Here is the link for the convenience.
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...t-definite-ownership-report-3.html#post150840
Please note that to continue reading to get a full view of the fourth service.
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