Chevrolet Aveo Limited Edition. UPDATED: 1year and 20,000 kms report

[deky]

WHY THE NEED TO CHANGE
After being a guest in TBHP for over 4 months i realised cars is not just a mode of transport, its much more. And since our 5 year old Santro's loan term was over and we decided to upgrade to a new car. (Our santro has given us excellent and trouble free service, but still wanted an upgrade)
Another reason for a new car was a bigger boot since we have an eight months old kid. So thought an entry level sedan would suit us the best
DECIDING ON THE BUDGET.
We could spare about 4 lakhs staight away plus a monthly instalment of about 8k wld be just right and within the budget. Hence a car worth around Rs 7 lakhs (on road) max was decided upon.
DIESEL/PETROL
Diesel was ruled out right from the begining as wife was dead against it. So Petrol it had to be
ATTRIBUTES IN A CAR
The things which i thought would make a nice buy are as follows. Not necessary in the same order.

1. With a kid in the back seat of the car it should be comfortable to drive and specially with the pot holes ridden roads we have, the suspension and and the ground clearance shouldnt be a problem.
2. with hot weather like jaipur, the a/con of the car shld be the best in its class.
3. Did not hear anything bad about the A.S.S of any dealer here in the city so Was not sure if could judge the A.S.S of a model before buying it. So left it to check thoroughly after shortlisting a few makes.
4. Mileage should be good but here i must admit ride quality was higher on the agenda.
5. I plan to keep the car for 5 years so was not bothered about the resale much. As i think India's car scenario is changing rapidly so no one knows whats instore afyer 5 years.

TEST DRIVES
As my wife and I starting to doing the rounds of Dealers for test drives we had decided on the fact that all cars are good in thier own respect, all of them have some plus points and some minuses, we just had to find one that we liked the best, and most importantly fitted in our budget. (our else she wld have made me buy the Honda Civic). I would briefly mention here the cars we tested and the major points that made us think about them.

1. Ford Fiesta- Ford's name and A.S.S, plus no follow up from the salesman after test drive
2. NHC - loved the car, loved the drive, could only afford the EXI, OK interiors, major drawback IMO ground clearance and the looks.
3. Dzire - took a TD for the heck of it, rejected it staightaway after seeing the non-chalant attitude of the sales guy. I am glad he didnt even follow up with us
4. SX4- better looking than Dzire (IMO), but again Maruti sales agents not very competitive, and the reversing is a bit difficult, Still a good car to drive.
5. Logan - great VHM car, but very bland inside,thought about it for 2 hrs or so and rejected it. BTW i think Logan's breaks were really good
6. Verna - didnt have a TD vehicle, was assured of a TD by 2 dealers but it never happened, so decided against verna ( plus i believe Verna diesel is better anyways)
7. Aveo1.4 - As Triump Motors is the only dealer here for Chevrolet in Jaipur i was a bit apprehensive as to the monoply they have which might result in some high handedness from them. But surprisingly all my qualms were put to rest as soon as we entered the showroom. it was the case of "athiti Devo bhava" (guest is like God) at its best. We were greeted seated and treated to some Tea/Coffee while the sales girl went thru the details of the car and answered all our questions with great confidence, putting to rest all doubts we had about the monoply Triumph Motors has in Jaipur. Plus the 3 years cash less ownership scheme also caught my attention as with that i can be at ease as to the mainatanance cost of the vehicle. Now was the time for the TD and we did that in Aveo Limited addition. The interiors of the car were the best IMO, far above the cars i had TDven, very silent car, infact i cranked the engine without realising the car was on. Drivers seat could be adjusted both ways..that was a plus, the telescopic diplay really looked dashing. I was sold to the car immediately. then i realised it was the car that was trying to sell itself to me so eventually started to drive it. Pick up was ok, not very peppy, bhp not the best but sufficient for me, gears i knew were improoved but still a bit notchy specially 2nd to 3rd (now i have realised thats its just a matter of getting used to them), Ride comfort was really good, suspension IMO is the best (as good as Altis..drove that recently) outside noise in the cabin was almost nill. Was told by the sales girl F.E would be 13+ in city, would be more than happy with that, integrated music system looked great and sounded good to with 6 speakers, drove the car at about 100kmph, was very stable at that speeds

SHORT LISTING
Shortlisting was'nt difficult as my wife and I both thought NHC and Aveo were the best 2 cars we had driven. Now the question arose as to which out of the 2 cars we should go in for. Honda seemed to loose out on the facts that it was somewhat out of our budget (even the base model). The ANHC will be way out when it comes and then NHC will be an old model. Plus the ground clearance of NHC was a major factor of deciding against it.
FINAL DECISION
We thought Aveo Special Edition would be a good choice and would be within our budget, But just to be doubly sure about the gears we wanted to have a TD again, that we were duely given and gave a thumbs up to it over NHC for the following reasons

1. Fully loaded Aveo Special Edition was falling nicely into our budget, NHC GXI was about 1.2 lakhs more expensive than it. Even if there is a differance in milage over a period of 5 yrs i dont think i would spend more than 50k extra on fuel in an Aveo. so seemed a more VHM vehicle
2. Cashless ownership offer was a great peace of mind.
3. Ride quality and suspension of Aveo IMO were better
4. Ground clearance was much much better.
5. Aveo looks better than the city (very subjective i know)
6. Too many Honda City's on road.

DECIDED ON THE AVEO
Next day we went to the dealer and gave them the booking money for Aveo Special Edition and decided on Cashmere Colour (colour was solely decided by the wife and i didnt have any say in it) We decided to get the delievery of the car exactly after 1 week that happened to be Ganesh Chaturthi. Apart from the mud flaps, foot mats, auto dipper that were included in the price we could also choose freebies worth Rs 5000/- and we chose

1. reverse sensors
2. reverse gear lock
3. leather steering cover
4. perfume

I know i could choose more in the money but since it is anyways fully loaded didnt know what else to get. When we came back home My dad offered me to buy the car on his name from the CSD and i happily took the offer as i could further further save a cool 50K from a the discounted price of 6,90,000/- offered by the dealer. I could have further saved 11k if i had not taken the cashless ownership offer. (On road pricing for Aveo LE is 7,20,000 in Jaipur).

CAR DELIVERY
With the delivery check list printed the previous night we were the first ones to reach the Dealer in the morning, our car was standing right in front of the showroom, as it was scheduled to be the first one to roll out that day (were told it being Ganesh Chturthi they have total of 60 cars being delivered that day). After going thru the check list and checking the car for all the details we proceeded to do the paper work. i was impressed by the professionalism since all it took was a mere 15 mnts for the paper work to be completed over a cup of nice coffee. They had infact called for a Pandit in the showroom itself (as all Ganesh Mandir's were out of bounds that day) With the checking done paper work complete and the Pooja done we were ready to roll out of the showroom.
The car as of date has done 1500 km on the odo, Will post some pics with a detailed report on initial ownership in a new post as i think this has become quite long anyways.

[Brosreview]

Hey there, considering the points you have mentioned, it seems you have made a suitable/convenient choice. Congrats on your purchase!!!

[Eddy]

Congo Deky,

Now for some pics

[snaronikar]

Congrats, dude. Nice choice and good justification for buying the Aveo. Post some Pics.

[deky]

Hey! Thanks to all, now i will try my best to give you an honest review about the first 1500kms ive done on the Aveo. The drive of 900 kms has been in semi city conditions (traffic is pretty smooth between home, place of work and wifes place of work) plus about 600 kms has been done on the highway for a trip to delhi and back. I have tried to keep the car under 50kmph in the city and about 80-90 kmph on the highway.

MODIFICATIONS - Since its a fully loaded car i didnt feel the need to get any modifications done except the auto dipper, the reverse gear lock and the reverse sensors that have come as freebies. The reverse sensor my wife feels is of great help for her when she is parking.

RIDE QUALITY Excellent ride comfort, it just glides over the pot holes and the uneven tarmac, dont feel any vibrations of the engine on the steering or the gear stick. Oustide noise coming inside the cabin is almost nil.
GEAR SHIFT Aveo gear shift supposedly has been an issue, but now that i have got used to it i dont think its of any problem at all.

F.E. First tank full in the city got about 11.2kmpl, second tank full in the city again got 12.4kmpl. Third tank full was the highway got 15.1 kmpl. All figures are with 100% a/c. Do u think the mileage will go up after 1st service?

CITY DRIVE Has performed well so far, i think it has enough torque to pull the car in slow traffic even in 3rd gear (though i never am lazy to change to lower gear but did try it). And since i said i am a sedate driver i never felt the need to check if the car reaches 0-100 in 10 seconds. But it has enough BHP for my needs

HIGHWAY DRIVE Highway driving was excellent, the car sticking to the tarmac was very soothing. Did 120kmph just once for a short time and the car handles itself very well. (dont think i will ever do over 120kmph as its not my thing). Best part is didnt feel tired at all after the 270 kms trip. (used to feel in my santro)

AIR CONDITIONING Thats a chiller, no wonder i have a cold now even with the fan speed on 1 the cabin gets cool very fast. I know this is not the best season to judge the cooling but still i can feel it being very effective. The only drawback in the a/c is that if the engine is cold and the a/c is switched on ity makes a lot of starting noise. (never happened in the santro) But after a few kms of driving a/c is noiseless.

FINAL ANALYSIS So far so good, its been a pleasure driving around the Aveo. So far it has justified my decision of buying the aveo over the NHC. For my driving needs Aveo is sufficient and VFM. Maybe if i wanted to be the first one out of the red lights then i would not have gone for it.

The car is due for its first 1000kms "reassurance check-up" ( i had requested them if i could have it done later as i had to go to Delhi). I have booked the pick-up over the phone and they have told me that the car will be picked up by 9.00am on tuesday (mine is part of the cashless ownership package). Few things that i have noted that need to be checked during the check up are as follows.

1. Humming noise from the engine when the rpm's approach 2000. I read somewhere in the forum that its VGIS affect. Is that right?
2. A/c making starting noise when the engine is still cold. Does it happen with any other aveo owner?
3. "click" "click" noise from the drivers side seat belt. I think someone elses aveo also makes the same noise.

This report is totally based on my experience with the car and doesnt mean to offend or degrade any other car's available
And now for some pics

[Strangerintown]

Congrats Deky. That's one lovely looking car. The Aveo is one of the best proportioned cars on the Indian roads right now IMO. Do keep us posted on your ownership experience.

[HappyWheels]

Congrats on the buy!

Wishing you many more miles of happy motoring and a wonderful ownership experience.

So, what is the difference between the LE and the other variant?

[deky]

So, what is the difference between the LE and the other variant?

LE= Limited Edition, earlier they used to have the base model, LS and the Limited Edition. But now they just have the base model and the Limited Edition

The LE has the following things more than the base model.
body colour door handles & OVRM's, B pillar styling strip, front fog lamps, chrome inside door handles,vents, leather upholstry, sun glass holder, height adjuatable driver seat, electronic trunk release, 6 speakers (base has 2), integrated 2-din radio/mp3, rear armrest with cup holder, alloy wheels keyless entry.
Whats the difference between 2-din and 1-din music system?

The instrument binnacle looks cool(reminds me of the Mazda's)-could you post a night shot of the same.

Will do that as soon as i can

How come the black reverse sensors-silver ones would have gone great with the color.[/quote]

I totally agree with you, but now since they have been put cant change it now..till they get damaged.

[TOR]

Congrats on the new car.

Stunning color-the best in GM's range IMHO.

The instrument binnacle looks cool(reminds me of the Mazda's)-could you post a night shot of the same.

How come the black reverse sensors-silver ones would have gone great with the color.

[srijit]

Very nice and detailed writeup deky
My friend has also got a limited edited Aveo and he too is happy with it. I have also TD'ed the vehicle and I must say the ride comfort is superb for that price range.
I think you need to hit 3000 kms and get your car serviced for your FE to reach its max. My friend is getting about 11-12km/l in peak traffic conditions. He too is waiting for the 3K service.

[mjothi]

Congrats friend. I read your decision making process and I could see myself in there

In my opinion, the steering wheel cover is not doing justice for the car. Will look better without that one.

F.E. First tank full in the city got about 11.2kmpl, second tank full in the city again got 12.4kmpl. Third tank full was the highway got 15.1 kmpl. All figures are with 100% a/c. Do u think the mileage will go up after 1st service?

Thats a good mileage. I am not sure if you wiil see any change or improvement in the FE after the first service. I am getting consistantly 12-13kmpl (60% highway driving)

Only once I got 10+ to my trip to Chennai and I think it should be due to the speed I was doing (120-130kmph)

[Dry Ice]

Congrats for the new car!! Sure is looking good. Great color. Great write-up!!

IMO The 'black' reverse parking sensors are spoiling the rear look. Should have gone with silver ones. I guess, the service guys can touch them up with the body color. You can enquire about the same with the dealer.

[shantyrocks]

congratz deky!
the car looks excellent in cashmere colour.
i feel that aveo has one of the best interiors in class.the utilisation of space is excellent.luv the dashboard too.
have u got used to the indicator switch being on the left side?
mileage will improve after 1st service

[itwasntme]

Hi deky,

Lovely car and colour! I have a Black 1.4 Aveo Base (see my gallery) and I have done (unfortunately!) only 7,000 km in it in the last year.

My 2 bits on your issues:

1. Yes, the 'booming' noise is present in my Aveo around the 2000 r.p.m. point but goes away either below and above that point. I think it is just resonance from the engine bay and one has to live with it.
2. The 'click' noise when the compressor is switched on with a cold engine IS noticeable. However the GM Bangalore dealer (Sundaraman Motors) said it is entirely normal and it does diminish when you start driving and the background noise increases :-) What I do is let the engine warm up for while driving for the first 300m or so and THEN switch it on. Gives time for the engine to reach a reasonable temperature before loading it with the compressor. However, this technique works in Bangalore. With Jaipur's daytime temperatures, I don't know :-).

My other issues in 1 year and 7000km: ZILCH apart from changing wiper blades (~350 bucks) and a squeaky driver's seat (to be WD40'ed soon). My mileage is 10km/lt (100% stop & start Bangalore !@#$%^^&&* traffic).

It's a lovely car (maybe not for the out-and-out enthusiast) but very good ride, spaciousness, interior and exterior looks and build quality.

Get your reverse sensors lightly touched up with cashmere paint & welcome to the Aveo TBHP club!

[ashwin_seattle]

brother, congrats for the car.nice color.
if i were u, i wud have waited for the ANHC since it has been launched, and wud have gone for it. Aveo is a great car but the ANHC is just awesome IMHO.

Anyways, all the best with Aveo.

-Ash.