Driven: Chevrolet U-VA. PICS on pg.2

[BUSA]

In case of GM its the Opel ghost which is hounding them.

GM are aware of this and hence they did away with the Opel tag.

[karan561]

Somehow i dont like the shape of the UV-A i prefer the GETZ espescially on design dynamics ....... this is talking in terms of desgn aspect

[gkrishn]

Took it for spin at sundaram...

Gray plastic used was pathetic. Round shapes of the vents and the instrument panel was not at all appealing. The shiny black patches added some richness to the interior. The stalks used for adjusting the ORVMs was too thin and didnt look good. Over all it has a sad looking interiors. It was big let down. The sales guys told me that it is top but one level trim.

The engine was pretty good considering its size and the weight of the car. The performance was better than the 1.2 nv. The gear shift was not upto the mark. Had, comparatively, long throw. Bit rubbery. Inside city, this car is pretty much drivable. But to extract speed, might have to rev hard.

Visibility, in the inside rear view mirror is completely use less. This is due to small wind shield in the rear. The bonnet is pretty tall. Could be a problem for short people.

Ride was little bit stiff, but comfortable nevertheless.

Most of my comments are in comparison to the plaio 1.2 nv elps and sail 1.6 that I drive frequently.

Conclusion: Bit dubious that it got a COTY.

[dipen]

Originally Posted by sids911

I agree. The top end LT model with option pack (which includes ABS and leather gear knob(!)...) is costlier than swift top end ZXI with ABS+Airbags+Climate control.
And that gearbox....why cant GM get their gearboxes right!?? The shifts are long throw and I had real hard time shifting between 2 and 3. Swift's short-throw gearbox is much much better IMO.

very true , No way its price is cheap..... Its rather expensive compared to the compitition.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by dipen

very true , No way its price is cheap..... Its rather expensive compared to the compitition.

From what i felt...

he interiors of the Swift are better... However, U-VA is defenitly more spacious...

But, didnt have a test drive... Not interesed in any case... Seeing the car, i was wondering how 70 horses were going to pull this big car...

[vishnugs]

Originally Posted by abhi182

I'd rather call it the Astra Ghost....The spares for the Corsa, though not cheap, aren't expensive either, in comparison to the competition.

The only two repairs for me in the last 3.5 yrs/50000kms with my Opel Corsa have been :
1) Clutch release bearing replacement (due to water related damage): 4500/-
2) Clutch assly replacement at 45K kms- 9000/-

I do not know how much clutch assembly fixes cost on other cars, but I would think the above look kind of OK to me...
Other than that, the regular 10 K services have been in the range of 2-4K which I guess is fairly reasonable,
and a regular once a year 250/- replacement of the AC microswitch (which due to some weird quirk of the AC system keeps failing once a year)

This is a bit concerning. I own a 2000 Fiat Siena 1.7 TD and I have carried out both these repairs with Fiat Authorized Service center recently. I spent

1) Clutch release bearing at 102000 KM for Rs. 2800
2) Clutch assembly again at 102000 KM for Rs. 8000

Points to be noted are the parts are priced reasonably for a Fiat again the parts have lasted almost 2x despite Fiat being a diesel counterpart.

[cartech]

Just came from GM workshop after my Corsa service. Met the sales person regarding UVA. I was interested in top model. It was 6.06 L, nothing free. Even music system to be bought. There will be 4% payout on finance, thats all. Told the lady that as of today SWIFT/ZXI with all the goodies is around 5.4 L(After free insurance & MGA). She kept on saying that UVA is much better than SWIFT! Got fedup & did not test drive.

The car is big but boot is very small.

[rocksterraghu]

I know it is pretty late to review this car, but I'd still like to contribute my observations.

I wouldn't buy this car, I guess most people here would say the same. 'GM=General morons' holds good for the pricing.

Exteriors: The car looks decent (Nothing great though, I'd still prefer the looks of the Swift/Getz). It has the typical curved front and a fairly flat rear (Again, nothing too different or radical).
'Looks' is a matter of opinion, so I'll leave it there.

Interiors: The dashboard is horrible, amazed at how they can come up with two very deep round shaped greyscale meters right next to each other. In fact, they looked like they've been flicked off a bike!

The gear lever looked crappy to me (Oh, by the way, I had a hard time pulling the lever to the second from third). The glove compartment seemed alright, the space on the inside is good. Nothing more than good. They haven't utilized the space to accommodate holders and accessories, the entire unit is very plain (like the Indica). Seats felt a little harder than usual.

Ride Quality: I had my friend sitting in the rear who was not at all satisfied with the ride quality, even though I found it pretty good in the front. The car seemed to be handling average roads well, but I happened to notice that the car was bumpy on rough or patchy roads.

Performance: Not great. The car didn't respond well. I tried pushing the car a couple of times by doing the pedal to metal, but the car seemed to enjoy it's time not responding. She was so reluctant, I asked the sales person in the car "Do you really want to beat the competition with this piece of junk?" And he promptly responded "Sir, we have the fuel economy, that is all that we have - nothing more"

General: It has a high seating position, I generally had a good view of the road.

The horn is at the center of the steering wheel (Unlike the other cars, where the entire T-shaped unit works as horn). Now this is where GM hasn't done it's homework - Indians honk, for no rhyme or reason. It may be for the cattle or the lame pedestrian or for the waiter to get him the tea. Americans don't. So, why didn't they Indianize it?

Overall, the pricing is exorbitant. The cost of the car comes as a shock to me, when it's competitors are getting smarter with neck to neck pricing.

If you like this car, it's totally your decision. But if you ask me, get the Swift Diesel for this price!

[prabuddhadg]

Any news on UVA's FE? A friend is keen on this car and the only thing stopping him is FE. Someone told him 9, and he is a bit scared. Any news, anyone?

[nitrous]

The spares for the Corsa, though not cheap, aren't expensive either, in comparison to the competition.

The only two repairs for me in the last 3.5 yrs/50000kms with my Opel Corsa have been :
1) Clutch release bearing replacement (due to water related damage): 4500/-
2) Clutch assly replacement at 45K kms- 9000/-

U definitely are not aware of the spares of other cars.
The clutch assembly for other cars cost only as much as ur release bearing.
Not to mention the 45k km clutch life.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by prabuddhadg

Any news on UVA's FE? A friend is keen on this car and the only thing stopping him is FE. Someone told him 9, and he is a bit scared. Any news, anyone?

I havent come across even a single UVA owner on this forum, I could be wrong.

[Dippy]

Going by the Verna Spotting topic I have so far only seen one UV A on the road in Mumbai. Low sales I guess

[wizardofid]

I test drove the U-VA for a friend about a month ago in peak Bangalore traffic. I was put off even before I took the drive when I saw the price list. The On road prices seemed much higher than the 'showroom' prices the papers declared in Delhi. Higher than both the Swift and the Getz (Even before the Getz discounts)

The car is the same as the Aveo hatchback and Sedan which sells or at least used to sell in EU and America. I'm glad GM got Italdesign to re-do the Aveo sedan before bringing it to India. My problem with GM is with their strategy. As a prospective buyer, you expect a new car to be, in comparison to the incumbents leaders,
1. Cheaper if not better
2. Higher priced but offer much more in terms of performance AND fuel efficiency (read higher technology here)
3. solves problems in the existing cars

Unfortunately the UVA does none of these. It has the best seating room alright, but has the worst boot space or at least one as bad as the swift and I dont recall even seeing split seating like in the much cheaper Indica. The drive can be best described as boring. Not very different from the Getz and definitely not noticeably better. Sure it smooths out the bad roads (My friends actually had a good ride in the back seat) really well, feels stable and solid, and seats you at a good driving height. It also looks pretty good from the outside, but the inside plastics make the Indica feel like a premium car (Not to belittle it, just that the Indica is actually a much cheaper vehicle), and the entire dashboard has been done by some uninterested designer after GM ran out of budget getting the exteriors just right. The motor lacks punch to deliver any sort of driving pleasure in the city. I didnt get to take it out on a long drive. I would hazard a guess that it will have good highway dynamics, and might be more torquey at the higher bands (4000+), but at this price I'd have expected a 1.4 DOHC.

Is it the best car in it's segment? I dont think so. It's not even the best car in it's own showroom. That, I think is the Aveo. GM would not be claiming excise exemptions because even though it is a 1.2liter motor, the overall car dimensions is greater than 3800mm. They should have followed Ford's strategy and commonalised things between the Aveo and the Aveo U-VA, like the 1.4liter engine, which even in the larger AVEO feels pretty good.

Yeah the COTY award is very suspect.

[payam]

one friend of mine just delivered his u-av
i drove it yesterday handeling,is good,ride is ok and about FE
IT IS SAME AS PALIO it gave me about 9-10 kmpl in the city with 30% ac on
interior is awfull no tape no spkr nothing but the space is good man
i like the space

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by abhi182

The only two repairs for me in the last 3.5 yrs/50000kms with my Opel Corsa have been :
1) Clutch release bearing replacement (due to water related damage): 4500/-
2) Clutch assly replacement at 45K kms- 9000/-

I do not know how much clutch assembly fixes cost on other cars,

Originally Posted by nitrous

U definitely are not aware of the spares of other cars.
The clutch assembly for other cars cost only as much as ur release bearing.
Not to mention the 45k km clutch life.

You're right. The esteem clutch overhaul is done at 85k kms & does not cost more than 4.5-5k even though there are a few Jap parts included in that.