[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by sukhoi30

Very nice and informative post. I especially liked the photos taken periodically. I owned a Chevy U-VA untill recently. In my experience with U-VA, I found that the vehicle is literally maintenance free for three years. After three years you need to spend a bit on replacements and parts overhaul. Keep an eye on the radiator of Chevy... Mine developed leaks after four years of running. Cheers!!! And congratulations on your Chevy's 2nd anniversary.

Thanks sukhoi30 !! Yes, even my Beat's been maintenance free practically. I'll keep an eye on the radiator part. Hopefully things go good.

Originally Posted by khoj

This is the best bit
I have to hand it to you though it takes guts to admit that on an automotive forum, no less.

Honesty is the best policy.

Originally Posted by khoj

A very enjoyable read overall but this was the damper for me ...
I know this is my pet peeve but I if I could I would rip out all of the reversing sirens in the whole wide World

I assure you that its not the "Airtel Tune" or "Saare Jahaan Se Acha" or "Dhoom Machale" types.


Mine is just a soothing tweeter, i swear. I understand the pain of these things going off early morning. Worse, when people come back late at night. A peaceful sleep is suddenly killed by these loud tunes !!
And yes, I don't have a reverse sensor or camera either, so I keep an eye on both of the ORVMs' and the IRVM to keep a track of what's behind. The sound actually irritates me too, if its a long back up in a narrow lane.

[dass]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Then, I sheepishly asked the sales guy, whether I could get a driver drive us home, because nobody knew driving. He readily arranges for a driver

.

Congratulations on a cute buy and wish you many happy KMS on this beauty.

I kind of liked that quote of yours above, as I believe you are the first person that I know of who has actually got a car, without learning to drive first. That takes some courage man.

[samarth.bhatia]

Nice review there Soumyajit!

Hats off to your better half & you for purchasing the car back then, before knowing how to drive. Determination to learn at its very best.
And frankly, it's pretty romantic as well: Miya biwi learning together and what not :P

You've maintained your Beat really well.

About the fuel pump issue: Get it replaced under warranty. It is a common problem with the Petrol Beat, and many were recalled for the replacement.
I had gotten mine replaced as well. No problems now.
I remember saying this on the Beat thread as well.

Hope you guys have a blast!

Cheers and drive safe.
Sam

[Batfreak]

Great write up! Wish you many more happy miles on it.
One question: Why didn't you change your service station after such a nasty experience with the guys at Kropex?
Cheers!

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

Nice review there Soumyajit!
Hats off to your better half & you for purchasing the car back then, before knowing how to drive. Determination to learn at its very best.

Thanks Sam for the appreciation !! I got my Learner's License within 15 days of bringing the car home and started driving to office immediately. It's the "Live to Drive" quotient which made me learn so quickly.

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

And frankly, it's pretty romantic as well: Miya biwi learning together and what not :P

Frankly its not at all romantic. Every morning I would ask her to get up first and get ready, so that I could get that 20 mins of extra sleep and vice-versa.

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

About the fuel pump issue: Get it replaced under warranty. It is a common problem with the Petrol Beat, and many were recalled for the replacement.
I had gotten mine replaced as well. No problems now.
I remember saying this on the Beat thread as well.

The fuel pump replacement is on the cards for a long time now. I am superly pre-occupied in May and June. Probably around end of June, I would take up the replacement task on a serious note.

Originally Posted by Batfreak

Great write up! Wish you many more happy miles on it.
One question: Why didn't you change your service station after such a nasty experience with the guys at Kropex?
Cheers!

Thanks Batfreak !!
There are two Chevy dealers in Bangalore - Kropex and Trident.

Trident specializes in Hyundai products. When I bought my Beat, Trident had just opened up their Chevy showroom. I was not confident of them.
Same with Service. Since I had visited Trident once during the buying of the car and saw that their service area was very small, I didn't think of visiting them for service.

On the other hand, Kropex is huge and their service area is very good. It's just that their people are very laid back and have this 'i don't care attitude'. Everytime I escalate, some things are taken care of. Just that I waste a lot of energy and pressure to escalate.

Since I realized that I have already started the paid services, I am on the hunt for a good local service center, which specializes in Chevy Beats. Carnation is one of the service centers I have thought of. There is one of them nearby my house.

[Wireless]

Congratulation Soumyajit9 on your Chevy's second anniversary
I would suggest that you should start keeping a track of mileage as well. This figure will help you in gauging the performance of your vehicle.

[Shiv_1984]

It was cool to read your ownership report, ironically found it in the Hot Threads section

On a serious note, nice car and well maintained. How about switching over to alloys now ? Those steel rims aren't adding to the looks at all.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by Wireless

Congratulation Soumyajit9 on your Chevy's second anniversary
I would suggest that you should start keeping a track of mileage as well. This figure will help you in gauging the performance of your vehicle.

Thanks Wireless !! Although I haven't kept a track of the mileage, I still have kept all the Fuel Receipts. Kinda fascination. I'll keep a track on the recent refuelings to check on the mileage. Its' definitely a wise thing to do just incase the car is gulping down fuel crazily. Need to fix that within the warranty.

Originally Posted by Shiv_1984

It was cool to read your ownership report, ironically found it in the Hot Threads section

Haaahaaahaa. I just recalled a line from the title song of Shahrukh Khan's show 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Hai'. There was line - "Is a hot chick cool, or a cool chick hot ?"

Originally Posted by Shiv_1984

On a serious note, nice car and well maintained. How about switching over to alloys now ? Those steel rims aren't adding to the looks at all.

Thanks for the kind words. Just a hint, I am up for a 3M Package at Sidhu's 3M HSR next weekend. This would probably get the car to shine more !!

The alloy and wider tyres upgrade is pending ever since I bought the car !! The OEM Alloys from Chevy are not at all appealing. So never thought of upgrading to alloys at the dealer. I have been eyeing a lot of nice looking alloys at Reliance Autozone, HSR. For some reason or the other I have not yet been able to "save for alloys" yet. Will get the much required Alloy and Wider tyres in the coming months.
Probably that would make my car an entrant in the Show Off your Alloys thread.

On the other hand, I have been building a Wishlist for my Beatie. Hopefully will fulfill them soon.

[AbhishekB86]

Soumyajit I've been wanting to comment on this thread for a long time now. You will not believe what all is common between us :

In early 2011 my mother insisted I get a car. The problem was like you, I didn't know how to drive. Like you in my eyes the Chevy Beat was one of the best looking cars at that time.

I remember staring inside Chevy Beat's parked in markets and admiring it. Scanning through the car, the funky speedo, the nice devilish look up front.

I finally decided to get this car. I didn't take any alternates into consideration except the i-10 which I though was a little bland when it comes to looks.

I too had a test-ride so to speak. My delivery experience was good and I did not have to wait long.

Like you, I had a driver from Chevy drop my car till home. I used to go and sit inside the car 2-3 times a day and click pictures of myself. Frankly if now I saw someone doing that I would laugh.

I finally put a call to a training school. The guy assured me he could teach me how to drive on my car. While you touched 100 in the run in period I was stalling the car and driving around in a park and with its puny wheels you can easily consider that offroading. Lol!

I used to wake up at 5 am and ensure I would return by 7 so as to avoid the traffic. Then get ready and go to work and come back & sleep. I did this for over a month till I got a hold of the car.

A year after the purchase I did a Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi road trip followed by many other road trips including Himachal Pradesh.

So yeah unfortunately I don't have a wife to get those extra 20 minutes of sleep otherwise we've had very similar experiences. I too own a cocktail green beat.

Very well written ownership review and I wish you have an awesome time with this reliable hatch

[Auto freak]

Thats a beautifully written review of your Beatie!
Wish your lots n lots more of happy miles with her!!

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

Soumyajit I've been wanting to comment on this thread for a long time now. You will not believe what all is common between us :

Very well written ownership review and I wish you have an awesome time with this reliable hatch

Phew !!! That was the longest feedback I have ever received. Even my Annual Appraisal Feedback in office is shorter.

From your Buying to Learning to Drive - Everything matches with mine !!! I can so well relate to my each and every experience with yours.

Unfortunately the place where it differs is the trips part. The only Long Drive that I have made with my Beatie is ~ 220kms (Up+Down) on state highway. Its' been more of the city explorer.
So the hunger of going for a long drive on a 4/6 laned highway, or to a scenic place like HP still remains as one of my dying wishes.
And the way my family life is shaping up in the coming months, I don't see me driving far places in the next 1 year or so.

By the way, put up some nice pics of your trips on the Travelogues section. That's one place I visit so very often to see through a fellow BHPian's eyes, places which I haven't seen.

[AbhishekB86]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Phew !!! That was the longest feedback I have ever received. Even my Annual Appraisal Feedback in office is shorter.



By the way, put up some nice pics of your trips on the Travelogues section. That's one place I visit so very often to see through a fellow BHPian's eyes, places which I haven't seen.

Haha. I could relate so much to the thread I just went on typing

I have infact put up a travelogue before. But do forgive the quality since I was a newbie and did not really know how to post pictures in between lines. Here you go :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ll-dreams.html

[Soumyajit9]

A long pending item from my Wishlist comes true. My b'day was coming up and wifey was discussing with me for a useful gift. Anything related to me was ruled out. Convinced wifey for something for our Beatie. I forgot that she had to order something for the car and eventually on my birthday (9th June) she gifted me 2 nicely wrapped boxes. I still had no clue as to what were they. Opened up and was surprised to find Scuff Plates and a Mobile Holder .

Installed the Scuff Plates from a local car accessory shop - Rs 300.

The mobile holder has two clips. It can be mounted on the windshield and can also be fixed on the AC Vent.

[Soumyajit9]

Some magical figures reached.
Those who are interested in what isthat km that shows above the ODO, it is Distance to Empty (DTE), that has been Unofficially Unlocked in Chevy Beat.
For further info, please refer to THIS thread.

[Soumyajit9]

30,000Kms – 6th Service – Paid @ Kropex Chevrolet – 08/02/2014 - 22042 KMS Done

I missed my 25,000kms Service which was due in Oct 2013. I was busy juggling between being a new parent and planning to change workplace. In all the chaos, I forgot to service my Green Bolt, intentionally. Finally the 30,000kms service was coming up in March 2014. But the car was not in a position to wait for another 1 month. Below are the list of issues I was facing.

Issues Faced:

- 1st to 2nd Gear - The shift had become very short. I had to immediately switch to 2nd gear at a speed of less that 20kmph, else the RPM shoots to almost 3k !! I noticed that the RPM hovers around 3k+ at just a speed of 75kmph !! This seemed abnormal !!
- 2nd to 3rd Gear - The infamous problem of pick up. So can't really comment on how bad my car was.
- 3rd to 4th Gear - I had to push the RPM to atleast 3k, and then shift to 4th. Else, there used to be a terrible ring sound that came when I pressed the accelerator.

I had reported this ring sound to my SA during the 20k service and he said that I was releasing the clutch too soon and wanted me to ride the clutch for a few fraction of seconds more before releasing it completely. I was not convinced, but then lived with it. Now the ring sound during each gear shift had become very loud and annoying.

I had been using FuelLog app on my Android device to record mileage of my car. The results were highly unsatisfactory.
I had been getting an average of 14kmph without AC.
I drive in B'lore, so unless I pass through very dusty area, I don't use AC. The weather helps maintain the coolness in the cabin. I leave a very small gap while my windows are rolled up.

At the same time the suspension had given up. There was no more that "phus-phus" effect when I went over potholes. Instead there was this loud thud and the whole car used to shake violently !!
These were some of the major problems, apart from the regular ones like brakes, etc.

Apoointment with Kropex Chevrolet and Service Details:

Booked an appointment with Kropex Chevrolet at their Singasandra outlet at 9:00 AM. Went there at 9:30 AM. There were lots and lots of new faces. Infact, I did not see one single old face. All those old junk and incompetent fellows were sent to Kropex Service @ Marathalli.
Made the SA do a test drive and acknowledge the problems. Estimate given was around 5k. The new guys seemed pretty much quick and dedicated. The SA said that some bigshot of Kropex group had come. Some lady, I forgot the name. May be I had good luck with Kropex this time. I gave the car and went back home by bus.

Had lunch and was about to get down for a short nap. Around 3PM, I get a call from the SA, saying that they have to dis-assemble the Gear Box to identify the cause of the ring sound. He said that most likely the Clutch Plate had worn out. I was in shock and asked him to not touch anything till I arrive. I reached the service center at around 4PM.

I called up fellow Beat BHPian Salbin and asked for advice. He was shocked as to why they wanted to open the gearbox. Salbin said that they may have to de-mount the gearbox so that the clutch plate can be seen. I checked this with the SA, and after a long discussion he re-phrased his statement and said that they have to only remove the gearbox from its location. I stood there watching the removal of the gearbox. In the meanwhile salbin said that he had some work at Kropex and was on his way. It took a good 1.5 hrs to remove the gearbox. It was around 6PM.
Salbin and me analysed the clutchplate, flywheel and the release bearing. I was a newbie in these things. Salbin suggested that they look fine and there was no un-natural or even natural wear and tear. The plates were looking absolutely fine. The SA called upon the Warranty Manager to have a look at the scene. The warranty manager initially said that he won't be able to replace the parts under warranty. But then the SA and the Warranty Manager had another round of inspection and discussion and decided that they would replace all the neccessary parts under warranty. I was relieved.

The parts replaced under warranty were:

- Clutch Plate
- Pressure Plate
- Release Bearing
- Clutch Cable

It was almost 6:30 PM by the time these things were replaced. Integrating the gear assembly into the car would take another 1.5 hrs. So they asked me to leave the car and pick it up on Monday - 10th Feb.

I left for the day and..... my Samung Galaxy Grand Duos mobile phone was stolen from my pocket in a crowded bus while coming back home. HERE are the details.

Net Analysis for the day - I saved around 12k on the parts for the car, I lost my 18k mobile.

Apart from this major issue with the clutch plate, regular service was carried out.
Received the car on Monday, 10th Feb, around 3PM. The car drives like a butter now !! Super smooth, gears are much smoother, no ring sound at low RPMs'.
Pending job from my end to take care of the entire service - Get a Wheel Alignment and Balancing done ASAP. Will take it to Madhus as soon as I get some free time.

Expenses for the 30,000Kms Service.

Total Amount Paid: Rs.5896

Break Up of Expenses:

Clutch Release Bearing: Rs.0.0
Clutch Cable Assembly: Rs0.0
Clutch Plate: Rs0.0
Pressure Plate: Rs0.0
Clutch/Brake Oil (500ml): Rs.206.55
Engine Oil - 5W30 (Rs.293.45 x 3.75litres): Rs.1100.44
Washer Fluid (1litre): Rs.17.47
Air Filter: Rs.441.05
Fuel Filter: Rs.275.11
Oil Filter: Rs.116.16
Spark Plug (4 nos.): Rs.79.48x4 = Rs.317.90
Screen Wash: Rs.34.93
ELEMENT ASM A CL LH (No wonder what this is): Rs.200.87

Paid Service: Rs.1175
Both Front Brakes Cleaning: Rs.425.00
Both Rear Brakes Cleaning: Rs.485.00
Consumables: Rs.400

Spare: 14.50% on Rs.1368.56 = Rs.198.44
Oil: 14.50% on Rs.1306.99 = Rs.189.51
Accessory: 14.49% on Rs.34.93 = Rs.5.06

A Stolen Mobile Phone: Rs.18,000 (approx).

A few pictures I had clicked and shared with Team-BHP WhatsApp group before losing my cellphone.

Clutch Plate:



Flywheel:



Clutch Plate:



Clutch Plate: