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Old 13th April 2013, 22:57   #1
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Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km-beat1.jpgChevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km-beat2.jpg

My Chevrolet Beat LT has touched a running distance of 31,500 Km. and no better time than this to put my thoughts around how enjoyable the overall ownership experience has being over the past 2 years and 8 months.

Choosing Chevrolet Beat petrol over Ford Figo was not an easy decision when I planned to upgrade from Maruti Alto VXI. I also had Swift and Ritz on this list however multiple instances of bad experience in getting my Alto serviced with Kothari Wheels had steered me away from Maruti already.

At the time when I purchased Beat, Pashankar Auto sales was the only dealer for Chevrolet in Pune, Shreyans Talera motors had closed down their dealership with the company during that period so I was lucky to get the car without much waiting period.

Okay leaving behind these retro thoughts and getting down to how my car is performing!

Ride quality: Ride quality has improved significantly post car running crossed 15,000 Km. after the first oil change was done; I avoid revving car engine beyond 2000 RPM unless I have to overtake on road for a short distance in city on 2nd gear. I had a habit of racing my Alto on 2nd gear which was one of the changes I had to adapt while driving Beat; service center staff had done an ECU remap to the engine for improving 2nd gear handling performance.

Beat’s suspension handles body roll well with minor bumps or bad patches if you are driving at normal speed, slowing down on very bad road increases body roll for the passengers seated in the front section.

I noticed this low power feel on 2nd gear helped in heavy traffic conditions and prevented the car from knocking or stalling when moving slowly, it allows you enough time to decide if it’s right to move into 3rd gear which in turn reduces the frequent gear changing issue. Gear shifting while in traffic is not difficult however it still feels stiff sometimes.

I never had to do wheel balancing with Beat even once in past 2.5 years, compared to 3-4 instances of wheel balancing I had with Alto. Service staff at Pashankar Auto and Singh Motors both advised me never to go for unnecessary wheel balancing unless you find your car shifting in one direction, no hassles with suspension or ground clearance until now.

Highway driving has being the most pleasant experience with Beat; I have taken my car to few long road trips beyond Pune, have observed minimal drag with heavy luggage and full passenger load while driving through ghats with A/C on else it runs smoothly. One has to be mindful while taking turns on highway as small tyres on Petrol Beat are not very stable at high speed. Good NVH has still being maintained in the cabin and I can comfortably touch a speed of 140 Km/h while on highway without feeling the engine being cranked hard or any other kind of car body vibration in the front section.

Interior/Exteriors: Plastic quality used by GM for Beat’s interior proves its superior quality because I have not seen it getting dull in any area of the car namely around door exits, the main car dashboard, storage areas provided or the doors, I had opted for a 3M package at the time of purchase which gave me car underbody coating to prevent rusting with 5 year warranty and 3 free body coating services.

I do not have a covered parking for my car and there were times in last 2 years when car washing was almost halted for few months in our society due to water problems in Pune, otherwise alternate day car wash with cleaning of the interiors every 15-20 days has helped me maintain the car in good condition. Beat gives you a big car feel and not a typical hatchback look common to i10, Wagon R, Spark etc. even though it falls under the same segment.

Fuel Economy: During the initial 2 years of driving I got fuel economy between 12-14 Km while driving in the city and 17-18 Km on highways, this has now improved to 15 km/l average in the city and 18-19 km/l on highway during past 6 months. I noticed increasing tyre pressure to 34 PSI has helped me to improve fuel economy and also the engine does not feel sore while revving above 3500 RPM after the car crossed 25,000 Km. mark.

This is definitely not a racing machine even with its bold looks and a sporty tachometer so never drove Beat that way, it performs very well as a city car and comfortable during long highway drives for my family of 3.

After Sales Service:
Beyond the initial hiccups with Pashankar Auto after buying Beat, I have being impressed by their service a lot and happened to try Singh Motors which is close to the vicinity I stay in Pune, as dealers both of them have met my expectations and exceeded some. I have being regularly reminded about my car servicing by both dealers, used to get calls asking about the performance of the car, being informed and invited to service camps.

There was an instance when my petrol tank latch had got damaged and I had requested Singh motor’s to order it for me, when I took the car for this latch replacement they informed me replacement was not required as the latch was stuck inside and they fitted it again, this latch costed just Rs 125, they could have replaced it without even informing me.

it’s not just this but even with Pashankar auto a service engineer informed me about front viper wear out problem during one of the servicing visit, I asked him to get it replaced on which he suggested to do it after summer season as the rubber tends to wear out again a little under high temperature in summer , these are instances which instil confidence in you regarding the dealer and this was not the case with Kothari Wheels (Maruti). They just blindly used to do everything I ever asked for during servicing and put it on the bill and sometimes even suggest additional expenses which raised doubt in my mind if it was actually required?

It’s not that both Chevrolet dealers in Pune have a clean record, as I have read various threads across forums of Chevrolet car owners not always happy with the way they have experienced after sales service with these vendors, however I have being fortunate enough that my experience with Chevrolet after sales service has grown stronger commanding a respect for the overall brand. I wish Chevrolet soon has one stable winner on hands to strengthen their position in Indian car market, as a brand it would stand to gain better loyalty and good second sale value for their vehicles.

Some Pro’s about the car:
  • Still stands out in terms of design in the hatchback car category, easy to maneuver in the city, only Hyundai EON has brought in fresh design in the small car segment.
  • It easily touches 60 km/h mark while driving in the city under 10 seconds and races to 100 km/h between 14-15 seconds.
  • Rear seat legroom is very good and it’s not exactly “claustrophobic “sitting behind as this word appeared in most Chevy Beat reviews.
  • Have incurred low maintenance and running cost compared to Alto LXI, A plastic front bumper replacement costed me more in Alto as compared to a fiber material bumper replacement in Beat.
  • Under seat storage tray besides the driver seat which was stopped along with rear parcel tray in LT model, comes handy.

Some cons with the car:
  • 170 Ltr boot is enough for small trips, 60:40 rear seat adjustments also helps in stuffing additional luggage in case there are no rear seat passengers accompanying on the drive, sometimes this boot space falls low when you have more than 3 big luggage items to carry, fitting in smaller bags is still possible above the large ones maybe additional 2-3 and that’s it.
  • Small boot section also posed a challenge for me while going for slightly larger speaker replacement in the rear section, I got stock one's replaced with Illusion speakers which costed me around 9K.
  • Hydraulic steering feels little outdated in an era where most hatchback cars have moved to electronic power steering.
  • Lack of good thigh support on the front seat for driver and co-passenger could have made long road trips less stressful.
  • Storage cups below the main dashboard could have being slightly wider.
  • Adjustment to wide ‘A’ pillar does require some time for the driver to adapt and tends to obstruct peripheral view in high traffic conditions/rainy season.

Sharing some bill screenshots of 2nd major servicing done after 30,000 Km running with majority oil changes done, belt replacements, filter changes etc.

Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km-bill3.jpgChevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km-bill4.jpg
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Old 14th April 2013, 20:08   #2
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Re: Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

Congrats on clocking 30000 kms in your Beat. I've done almost 20k in my Beat, and so far no problems. The car has been very reliable.

Quote:
Hydraulic steering feels little outdated in an era where most hatchback cars have moved to electronic power steering.
The major reason i chose Beat over other similarly priced cars was the 'connected feel' of the hydraulic steering. Sad to know that the Chevy too has shifted to EPS for the currently sold Beat.
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Old 14th April 2013, 20:44   #3
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Re: Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

The Beat is an excellent entry level car with the look and feel of a hatch one segment higher (interiors - plastics, and exterior). The HPS is also excellent and lets you feel the road unlike, say, an i10's video game like steering.

However, the engine's tune for the 2nd gear is pathetic and putting the AC feels like you're lugging another car behind you. The riding position is comfortable but is horrible in a way for there is very little visibility of what's ahead of you. I ran into numerous potholes in traffic due to this. The A-Pillars are very thick and further obstruct view. The provision for speakers is pathetic and you can't fit anything larger than 4 inchers in stock locations.

But I actually like the "claustrophobic" back because it gives more privacy to those sitting in the rear, and saves 'that' much more glass area from absorbing sun's heat especially after the new 'no sun film' barbaric law. In fact, I'd be happy if they'd make a car without any windows (just front windshield) and display the ORVM and IRVM view in an LCD screen. No more sun film and no more peeking idiots (who checks their mirrors in this country anyway) !
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Old 14th April 2013, 23:10   #4
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Re: Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

Quote:
Originally Posted by KreativeGeek View Post
I never had to do wheel balancing with Beat even once in past 2.5 years
Please dont stick to this rule. If you are unlucky - improper wheel alignment could eat through your tyres. Since you dont do much high speed driving - the initial vibration issues with wrong wheel alignment may not be noticeable till its too late for the tyres.
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Old 15th April 2013, 16:03   #5
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Re: Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

Nice Review ! I am also quite a fan of interiors of Beat. BTW you mentioned that you inflate your tyres to 34 psi , what is the recommended limit? Even i also inflate mine by almost 4-5 additional psi as compared to the recommended one.
Seating height and the overall front view is good i must say, it gives a feeling of driving something big, tight and heavy.
My admiration for beat was a result of Transformers 2, I loved the movie and was amazed by the fact that one of the "autobots" is actually for sale in India !
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Old 15th April 2013, 17:16   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
Please dont stick to this rule. If you are unlucky - improper wheel alignment could eat through your tyres. Since you dont do much high speed driving - the initial vibration issues with wrong wheel alignment may not be noticeable till its too late for the tyres.
Yep that's correct, I got wheel balancing done separately before I went on to my Dapoli trip this was just before the major servicing got done

Quote:
Originally Posted by sudeep11787 View Post
Nice Review ! I am also quite a fan of interiors of Beat. BTW you mentioned that you inflate your tyres to 34 psi , what is the recommended limit? Even i also inflate mine by almost 4-5 additional psi as compared to the recommended one.
Seating height and the overall front view is good i must say, it gives a feeling of driving something big, tight and heavy.
My admiration for beat was a result of Transformers 2, I loved the movie and was amazed by the fact that one of the "autobots" is actually for sale in India !
Recommended PSI is 32, even I got a Beat Transformer toy for my kid he was fascinated with the car more than the autobot

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Last edited by Rudra Sen : 15th April 2013 at 17:57.
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Old 15th April 2013, 17:37   #7
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Re: Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

Great Post.

I have to agree the service of Chevrolet is top notch. That is what impressed me the most. To top it off, the spares are also decently priced. I think Beat is a much better alternative to Wagonr. But I still know why the hell do people fall for the cube. I would happily buy another Chevy product considering the service. Moreover I like their design philosophy as well. (Save the Sail) but the problem lies with their products. None of their cars are driver oriented in nature like the Ford or Fiat per say. If they launch a Cruze Hatch with improved handling, I will be there in the queue.
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Old 4th November 2013, 12:13   #8
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Re: Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

Upgraded Tyres post 40,000 KMS running, existing JK Tyres had undergone heavy wear and tear. Opted for Apollo Amazer 4G 165/65 R14 wanted stable handling and better grip for highway driving.

Overall cost: 19K with no scrap value realised out of the old tyres. (D.K Tyres, Kharadi, Pune) Alignment and Balancing done for free.

Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km-20131102_162029.jpg
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Old 7th November 2021, 16:32   #9
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Re: Chevrolet Beat (LT Petrol) - Beyond 30,000 km

Ownership review of Beat Petrol after:
6 years 8 months
73000+ kms

Major issues so far: none

FE with minimal AC
City: 14 kmpl when avoiding peak hour traffic
Highways: 22 kmpl when not exceeding 3000 RPM

Tyres changed after 5 years, 61000 km
Battery replaced after 4 years, 49000 km

What I like:The FE, comfort, handling, the chilling AC

What could be better:
The throw of the gear shift could be shorter, black plastic bumpers instead of body-coloured ones
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