[superutp]

First of all, no offence to MJ and his fans, not my genre of music personally but there are millions out there.

Now to start off (Note: I have tried to keep things short & sweet to prevent drowsiness, but somehow I don't think that has worked). As it turns out my buying, booking experience is pretty lengthy so I hope you will forgive me for almost writing a 3 week blog about my life.

Also please do not mind my 'Obsessive Tense Changing Disorder' That's just my writing style.

Background Info:

I have recently moved back to India (Oct 2011), got a job in Bangalore which required a means of transport. I have a Pulsar 180 in Chennai (where my parents currently live) but after a minor accident involving me riding and mom sitting pillion (bike hadn't been used for sometime, front brakes locked and we went tumbling over), the chances of me riding a bike in India or anywhere for that matter is pretty much non-existent. Anyways, I started driving & riding when I was 18 (in the interest of cops reading!). I learnt driving on Maruti 800 & Maruti Wagon R while I learnt riding myself on a Pulsar 180 (the most powerful bike at that time), The contrast! I also drove a Swift (1.3l Petrol) regularly and more recently a Chevy Aveo (1.4l Petrol) in India. But considering I have been absent from India for the past few years (I am 23), my experience of driving in the land of chaos is quite rusty. However, I have full confidence in my driving ability.

Regardless, my search for a small hatchback started as soon as I came back.

The Search & Elimination:

I would like to mention that I believe in the principle that the top model of a ‘lesser’ car is better than the base model of a ‘superior car’ at the same price. I also wanted my first car to be brand new.

I was looking for a Petrol car (ya ya sue me! I know it makes no sense in the ‘modern petrol prices are like a hit to your groin age’). But for my initial budget, diesels were out of reach and even if I could afford them, more than half of my usage would be reimbursed, so it was a Petrol for me.

From the onset my funding was going to be 75% car loan and 25% savings. My early on budget was between 3.5 to 4.5 lakhs tops. My initial contenders were-
- The Hyundai Eon
- The Chevrolet Spark
- The Maruti Alto K10

I started off by visiting the Hyundai showroom near Brigade road. I was quite impressed with the Eon (as an entry level hatchback in terms of quality and appeal). The top model was coming to 4.6lakhs on road and no discounts were being offered. Regardless, I was pretty convinced that I would be booking the Eon, I was planning on visiting other Hyundai showrooms just to check if any SA buckled under any form of pressure. In the meanwhile I also wanted to visit Chevrolet so that I could check out the Spark (though I was never a fan of the Matiz resembling looks) and also because I had a secret crush on the Beat (sounds stupid/lame you say? Sad but true). So one fine Sunday I headed to Sundaram motors only to realise they were in the middle of shutting down Chevrolet operations (A few days later and I would have entered a Mercedes showroom asking for a sub 5 lakh hatchback!). They had the Spark on a 55k discount, which was the 2010 model though. The 2011 models were out of stock. I did quite like the Spark and now was confused between the Spark or Eon especially because the top model of the Spark would be a good 60k cheaper. Confusion transformed into excitement when I sat in the Beat. Oh you Beastly Angel of a Car (something is wrong with me you say? I agree). No discount on the Beat, but it was possible to get the LS version of the Beat for the same price as the Eon, but I wasn’t too keen on that. That same day I decided to visit Kropex Bangalore a good 15-20kms away. I went there and found out that I could get 60k off on the Spark and 16k (plus 5k accessories) off on the Beat. Test drove the Spark first, just felt average. Test drove the Beat, felt bigger better and more like the Swift (though a bit slower). I probably spent 30 mins on the Beat while 10 mins on the Spark. I was sold on the Beat but unless money grew on trees I would have to decline the sale.

The Alto was never really considered in my head, it was only there in my list because it was available in the market. I did go to Maruti, but they were trying to sell me the A-Star and the Zen Estilo. Both were outside my budget (for the top models).

I went home had a chat with my parents and thank god for parents! They agreed to fund the remaining 50k to get my budget to a healthy 5lakhs or so.

Now the whole world changed, I could finally seal the deal on my crush-the Beat LT but there were also many equally likeable & competent models who could not be ignored. My new contender list comprised of-

- The Chevrolet Beat LT
- The Ford Figo ZXI
- The Nissan Micra XE Plus/XV
- The Hyundai i10 (asta, magna, sportz? Don’t remember)
- The Honda Brio (don’t remember)
- The Toyota Liva G?J? (don’t rememeber)
- Maruti Swift VXi
- Maruti Ritz VXi
- Maruti A-Star ZXi
- Volkswagen Polo Trendline or Breeze (Not sure)

Now the thing is, I am a Bachelor, I am not really looking for a big-small car, practical car, with a big boot and the works. I need a car which looks awesome (preferable like a two door (am I being biased?)), is different, is nimble, chuckable and a competent city car, is fitted with all the gizmos that a 5lakh car can have, decent fuel economy, doesn’t have a long waiting period, fits in around the 5 to 5.2 lakhs range.

Well its true to say that in the elimination process my heart prevailed over my mind and I was biased towards the Beat. But then, the funny thing is that everything about the Beat suited me perfectly. It was almost like I didn’t require any other car to be there.

- The Ford Figo ZXI was something I considered seriously. Maybe it was taking me to a time not too far away in the future where I would have to sober down with regards to my thinking and choices. Test drove it, liked the already praised Ford handling, It wouldn’t have mattered if it had 70BHP or 90BHP because in traffic all cars felt almost the same. I was able to get a deal for the ZXI (not Titanium) for 5.1 lakhs with 10k accessories free. The reason for ruling it out will be mentioned below.

- The Micra was ruled out because Nissan were out of stock for XE Plus and XV was coming to more than 5.4 lakhs even with a massive 50k discount and was only available in Silver.


- The i10 was never really considered, was too expensive for the 1.2 Kappa engine and at 5 lakhs the Figo & Beat were much better equipped. I didn’t even test drive it. Plus, it’s too common on the road.

- Honda Brio, I am still confused as to whether I like the styling. Should probably stop worrying about it now though. Ruled out mainly due to the long waiting period and the model for 5 lakhs or so was not well equipped.


- Toyota Liva was never really considered, I am not a fan of the styling plus it’s not well equipped at the 5 lakh budget.

- Maruti Swift Vxi, well you guessed it right, its waiting period was way too long, Vxi is not fully equipped and it came to 5.5 lakhs on-road plus its just too common for me. Its a great car though!

- Ritz Vxi was more expensive at 5.4 lakhs on-road but I am not a fan of the styling plus not fully equipped.

- I actually did consider the A-star. The ZXI version came fully loaded with the ABS & Airbags and pretty much everything. At 4.9 lakhs on-road it was within my budget. But its styling, 3-cylinder engine and completely cramped interiors made me turn away.

- Polo, just love the simplistic yet well designed, balanced and well proportioned looks. The German charm is an additional plus. However, it was a lot more expensive and at 5 lakhs I was only getting the base model.

So at the end, it was between the Beat LT, Figo ZXi and the A-Star ZXi. Now you may say that I am contradicting my own logic with regards to buying a top model for the Beat & Figo. In my own defence, The Beat LT has everything that the Beat LT (option) has minus the ABS, Airbags & Alloys. Similar is the case between the Figo ZXi & Titanium. ABS & Airbags are something which you cannot see (excuse my narrow mindedness here) and alloys are something which I rather buy myself through a complete tyre upgrade. So effectively these ‘2nd to top’ models mirrored the top models and once you stepped in you really couldn’t make out the difference unless you planned to brake hard, try to skid and crash straight into a pole to check for ABS & airbag deployment.

I ruled out the A-Star for the reasons mentioned above however I did think a lot considering I would be getting essential safety features with it. The Figo was finally ruled out because it was not the Beat. More specifically, Ford had stopped production of 2010 models resulting in shortage of stock. This resulted in SA’s annoying me to book the car ASAP which I didn’t like. This persistent nagging, boring looks and unavailability of colour choice made me drop the Figo.

As I have made it pretty evident, to be honest it was always the Beat for me since the start. Others were just customary and mere formalities/technicalities which needed to be ironed out to give my mind some peace (considering my heart was literally threatening it!).

I do feel I should have somehow extended my already extended budget to get ABS, Airbags & Alloy wheels but as I mentioned before, money doesn’t grow on trees.

Booking to Delivery experience:

To start off this section, first, I must admit that I knew that buying a car in Dec would be negative marketing when it comes to selling the car after a few years. However, I would have to wait till Feb for 2012 model. I didn’t want to wait for 2 months and decided that let ‘future superutp’ deal with the situation when it comes. I am completely sure of the fact that this is going to come back and bite me in the ‘you know what’ later on.

With Sundaram closing down the options for buying a Chevrolet in Bangalore was between Trident Chevrolet (15-20kms NE of where I stay) and Kropex Chevrolet (15-20kms SE of where I stay). There is was another Kropex Chevrolet (Indiranagar) slightly nearer but I never realised why I forgot to consider them. Anyways, I had first gone to Kropex so just out of morals & courtesy I gave them preference. They were also easier to get to in terms of public transport. But of course, I wasn’t just going be sucked into whatever the SA was offering and had plans of my own to get a better deal.

As mentioned before, I was getting the 16k off (basically insurance which I have no idea why it was worth 16k) plus 5k in accessories. This was in Kropex. Then, I contacted Trident, did a bit of haggling and managed the same 16k plus additional 5k and the 5k accessories. This still wasn’t good enough. I decided to go visit Kropex and try harder. An intense 30 mins of haggling face-face with the SA resulted in a final offer of a total of 22.5k cash discount, freebies in the form of Garware 75% Sunfilm, Remote Locking, Rear Parking Sensor and Standard fitment. I wasn’t too proud of the way I haggled and decided to book the car off at Kropex. Apparently nowadays different dealers of the same manufacture (especially if there are only 2 in the city) are pretty much aware of the max discounts each other can offer. I had already exceeded the maximum they could offer and I gave it a rest. I was not entitled for any corporate discount (unlisted company). So I gave the 5k (pretty small booking amount I thought) and returned home. This was the 9th of December and I was told by the SA that it would take a maximum of 15 days for the car to be delivered. I did however tell him that I would pay him up before the end of the month (scared of the price hike which still hasn’t happened for Petrol cars) but would want registration in Jan 2012.

So the final car price came up to – 501878/- after the discounts plus all the accessories thrown in.

I had to get my loan sanctioned with my dad as co-applicant since I had no prior work history, address proof etc in India. For this purpose I had to head to Chennai over the weekend (17th Dec). My parents being customers of HDFC bank since a long time resulted in my loan application through this bank (though I have heard several horror stories about them). I got a fixed rate of interest of 11.75% for a loan of 375000. Again my unlisted company plus no history in India resulted in the end of any further negotiations with the bank. I was just glad that I was able to apply for a loan. The loan was going to take 3-4 working days.

Having never in my life applied for a car loan before, the process, formalities were all a learning experience for me. The loan did get sanctioned in 4 days however it would only be disbursed when I paid the dealer a booking amount greater than the EMI (didn’t know of this, the dealer neither the loan manager told me this before). Resulted in a delay but this really didn’t matter since it was almost 2 weeks since I had booked and there was no sign of my car. My SA never bothered to call to update me about the status. When I went to the showroom again (23rd Dec), to pay another 5k for the sake of loan disbursement he said that the car has been built and it will arrive on the 28th. I asked for the VIN and he said that we will get it the next day and sms it to me. I was starting to get a bit irritated by the SA’s attitude. It was almost like he was forgetting what he had told me before and was making up new promises by the minute. So the next day, as expected I got no response and I decided to call him on the 25th. The loan also got disbursed the same day (I was rushing things owing to the fear of a price hike). On the 25th when I called him for the VIN he told me that the car has still not been built and will be built on 28th. His attitude, failure to reveal facts correctly made me lose my temper a bit and I asked for the Manager’s number. What I was angry about was the lies, considering I had even got my loan disbursed and displayed no intention of going back on my booking. I talked to the manager and set things straight. Indeed the car was going to be built on the 28th and would take a week to arrive in Bangalore.

New years was approaching and I had plans to go to Chennai so I decided to pay the remaining amount before going. Not knowing how the loan process works completely I told the dealer that I was going to come on the 28th and pay the remaining amount. On the 27th the dealer realised that the bank hadn’t sent the delivery information or something to them and that’s when I became the centre of two unreliable ends (like a seesaw). I had to call up the bank, tell the bank to talk to the dealer & vice versa. On the 28th all information was sent to the dealer and I also got my VIN (now I was sure that my car was indeed coming). On the 29th I went and paid the remaining amount. I was told that everything was in order and as soon as the car came I could get it registered. I told them that I wanted to do a PRI so I should be informed about when the car comes (just to make sure they don’t go ahead with registration without a PRI, I didn’t give them my photos, PAN card copy etc). The car surprisingly arrived on the 2nd of Jan itself and I went on the 3rd to do a PRI as per the TBHP checklist (the SA looked completely disgusted about it but I didn’t care). There was also some confusion regarding my VIN as it had been changed with respect to one digit. Due to this I first did a PRI on some other car. Then did the actual PRI on my car. Oh! There she was shimmering in the golden sunlight, with intent and mischief in her eyes (I Swear!). I asked the SA if all documents were in order, he said yes and I gave him the green light for registering the car on the 4th. I also told him that I would take delivery on the 5th.

I was so excited, that night and the next morning at work, until a call came from my SA. ‘Sir, have you given me Form 20?’ he said. I was like ‘What the bleep!’. Turns out that the bank never sent the signed copy of Form 20 to the dealer and there began round two of helping out the bank and the dealer to do their own work. It was almost like I became a Car Sales Assistant, Marketing & Sales professional & car loan manager at the same time. It was just so funny & sad at the same time. The dealer had forgotten to send the bank the insurance and invoice which resulted in the bank forgetting to send the Form. I could go on about the tussle between the bank and dealer with me trying sort things out. At the end the bank finally sent Form 20 through courier on the 4th which was expected to reach the dealer on the 5th. It never reached and BlueDart showed ‘Delivery Premises Closed’. I was convinced that the Bank goofed up and put the wrong address. I had to call up and follow up with BlueDart and finally made sure that someone collected it when they tried to redeliver on the 6th. Finally it did and registration was possible on the 6th itself with 7th being the delivery date. As all TBHPians have experienced the sleepless night before delivery (baby or car!), so did I.

But things were not going to be that simple. Turns out, there was still one thing between me and my Beat. An LG repair guy who was supposed to come on the 6th decided that 7th was better. So I had to wait for him until 2PM. As soon as he stepped out so did I. The 1 hr bus journey from my place to the showroom took one day and when I finally reached I was told that the RTO has messed up number sequencing I would have to wait for 2 days for the number plate. Didn’t matter, since I could take the car anyways.

So there was she was again, all dressed up, ready for her first date with me. I did a thorough PDI while the SA was sorting out documentation. All accessories barring the mud-flaps (out of stock) were installed. Went through the delivery process, thanked the SA (though I didn’t have the smoothest experience) and drove off into the afternoon sun!

Initial Ownership Review:

My Black Beat LT (even though I understand the horrors in keeping a Black Car clean) had 5 kms (respectable) on the ODO when I took her. I drove the 20 odd kms from Kropex to my home. At the time of writing, I have driven close to 700kms. Its soon going to be time for my first service hence I wanted to get the Initial Ownership Thread before I went for that. Most of it has been in the city, though I also did a few stints on the Elevated Expressway & the NICE expressway.

Without being biased towards the Beat-

Here is what I like:

- I adore the looks, always have and will continue to do so. I seriously doubt the design is going to age anytime soon. A good thing about the black colour is that it smoothens out some of the over-styled design features. Gives it a more balanced look.

- I like the sporty, low slung driving position. While the high-bonnet coupled with a low seating position (without height adjustment) has a drawback which I will mention later, it suits me just fine.

- I like the ride quality, no choppiness or bumpiness. Quite decent for car of its size & cost. Though there are times when I feel it wobbles too much. The handling even with the stock tyres is decent. Ride & handling will only improve with better rubber.

- I like the feeling when I sit inside. Cost cutting isn't very obvious and things feel more premium than average. Plus the heavy face of the Beat gives it a bigger car feel (unless and until you turn your head towards the rear seat).

- I like the storage spaces, pretty much have space to keep everything from small to slightly bigger.

-I like the interior design matching up to the different exterior design. The bike-inspired instrument cluster definitely is unique.

- Being smaller than cars such as Figo, Swift etc the Beat feels very easy to drive, fit in parking spaces and basically steer your way through traffic. The ease of driving this car is something I have liked. While the HPS is not like those feather light EPS units, at low speeds its light enough and I have never found it a problem. After realising that my parking space is slightly more than a nightmare, I was so thankful I got the Beat and not longer cars such as the Figo, Swift. The size is just right for me, even though I have managed to get it scratched thanks to that near impossible parking space.

- I really like the blue lighting of the interiors in the dark. Can never stop looking at it.

-Refinement in Idle is pretty amazing. NVH are decent are low RPM levels.

- The Auto AC is pretty neat, though I use it more in manual mode. It also chills the small cabin pretty fast.

-After getting remote locking fitted from the dealer, I dont think there could any other feature fitted into a 5 lakh car (apart from the lack of an electronically adjustable ORVM's & seat height adjust).

- The engine performs really nippy over 2.5k RPM with a surge of power.

-Did I mention how much I like funky design of the Beat?

What I dont like: ( I am being very honest and literally blasting my dear Beat here)

- First of all its the tyres, definitely needs an upgrade both visually and for road performance/safety. The 155/65 JK Vectras provide decent grips at 'lower speeds' and in the city at tortoise speeds but otherwise they are noisy and not confidence inspiring.

- Was expecting slightly better FE especially considering my sedate driving style during the run-in period. Its giving me anywhere between 10-12km/l. Will have to wait and watch.

- Not the best road/rear visibility. While the low seating provides a nice sporty feel, its horrible for practical use especially because of the bulging arches at the front and rear which are very difficult to judge.

-A drumming sound coming from the boot of the Beat since Minute 1. This can be heard when you drive over bumps or bad roads. Apparently its a Beat specific issue which several owners have faced.

-Undecided about the build quality of the Beat. Sometimes its feels solid while other times it feels flimsy/tinny.

-The doors need to shut with some force or else they remain open. There is a very thin line between shutting it with a good thud and shutting it with a noisy bang.

-The Beat is a narrow car and the ORVM protrude out a lot. I feel the OVRM could have been better designed for width saving. The narrow width is good for parking spots but not when there are more people in the car. I mostly drive it alone but when I have had company over, it does feel cramped. At my driving position (which admittedly is pretty far back), there is absolutely no space for someone sitting behind. And how can I forget the 170ltr Boot (maybe its called a cubby hole and not a boot). These aspects dont bother me too much though and was not a criteria when I was deciding on which car.

-Some of the horses from the 80.5 horse herd seems to be lost/lazy/sleeping. A power to weight ratio of 84BHP/tonne is not bad. But the gearing ratios and horrible low end torque make roll on times especially in the 15-35km/hr in second gear horrible. This is probably the most disappointing aspect about the Beat for me. The 1k-2.5k RPM range is pretty much useless in all gears. Slow down from 50 in 4th to around 10-15 in 2nd for a Bump and then try to accelerate. A rick will probably 'Beat' you over a 1/4th mile drag race. Matters are much worse when you have Air conditioning running. While I knew that the Beat was not going to give me staggering performance I didnt expect it to be as bad. However, take the engine above 3k RPM and its like someone whipped those lazy/sleeping horses. Definitely feels a lot lot better. Unfortunately in my current run-in period I rarely go over 3k RPM and most of the times I am a slow driver (not my fault!).

- The clutch pedal could have been lower especially when punting around city traffic. One way to offset this is to sit slightly back (at the expense of the rear passenger).

- The Black piano finish on the dash gets scratched much like anything that is black and glossy. The tacho should have been analog and the speedo should have been digital. Maybe the designers were confused. The gear lever design is very odd. Doesn't make any difference while driving but when you look at it you feel as if something went wrong there.

- I dont know why by I feel like the feedback from the HPS steering is inconsistent. I honestly prefer a heavier steering to a lighter one but sometimes the steering on the Beat feels life-less and then jolts back to life. Maybe its a HPS thing which I am not very used to. This is felt more at higher speeds.

- The stock speakers, both front & back are hopeless. They could do with better, well just about everything. Its fine at low volume, go higher and its a completely different song altogether.

- The horn could have been stronger to help in melting ear-drums better.

- The quality of floor mats are not really up to the mark, but obviously they can be changed. (thanks a lot dealer for cost-cutting wherever possible).

- While not a drawback of the Beat, I really wish I had ABS & Airbags. Though the LT (o) comes only with ABS and not ABS with EBD. Not sure how useful ABS without EBD is.


Some Pictures. All of them have been taken using my mobile phone. So please excuse the quality.

On Delivery Day. First Sighting!



During PDI, 5kms on ODO, pretty neat.


Drive Back from Delivery. Stepped on Cow Dust, auspicious beginnings I guess!


Oh! Just love that blue lighting!



My night-time setup, I think I look at the interiors more than the road!


My keys, remote lock and trademark skull key-chain.


Look into my eyes! Pretty decent headlights. Havent tried out night-time highway driving though.


Wasn't too fond of the rear tail lamp design. But have grown to like it.


Just to give you idea of how tight my parking space is.



The result of which is:



Is there even a boot?


The interiors are pretty neat, decent quality for a 5 lakh car and well equipped. Love them!


Rear Parking Sensor, pretty useful.....

considering this....


The customary bangalore-new car-nice drive



Relaxing somewhere. The Beat's design makes it stand out from even a million miles away.


Anyone fancy a drive?


Plastering with TBHP stickers, Literally messed up this sticker thanks to me trying to stick it while it was windy.

The stickers at the rear. TBHP'ians in bangalore, if you see this rear then its me.



I havent really got the chance to take pics using my actual camera. Once I do, I will upload them here.

To Sum it up:

The Beat is exactly what I was looking for and suits me perfectly. While I probably have more points in my 'dislike' section this is mainly because I have tried to be absolutely critical and unbiased. My head did win over my heart here!
While I did criticize the performance, for city use its more than adequate. And to quote GTO from his review ' What this car is, is a competent city hatch'. And I completely agree. The features, size and acceptable performance make it extremely useful. I can't judge highway performance yet but with wider tyres I am sure it won't be too bad either.

Future Prospects/Additions required for my Beat:

- Upgrade those damn tyres to 175/65's once I am able to synthetically produce Vitamin M in a lab.
- Replace front & rear speakers based on the residue left over from the synthetically produced Vitamin M in a lab.
- Get alloys!
- Get leather seat covers.
- Get DRL's
- Construct a Robot who cleans my Black Car for free better than 3M car professionals.
- Clone a few of those horses inside the bonnet and get more than 100BHP.
- Get Racing stripes, OVRM mounted indicator and few more beautification mods.

Thanks a lot for reading! I do apologize if I kept you waiting!

cheers,
superutp

[.anshuman]

Thread moved here from Assembly line. Thanks for sharing the review with us

[mi2n]

Hearty congratulations on your black beauty! Like you, i was also sold on the looks of the car itself. Once you see it in person, concerns like F.E., A.$.$. worries, etc. will be shoved into the cramped backseat.

[motomaverick]

Congrats on the beat and wow that was a pretty lenghty log. Get those scratches removed, looks nasty, i think u can use com-paint, should do the job well.

[Daewood]

Congrats for your new Beat.

A good thing about the black colour is that it smoothens out some of the over-styled design features. Gives it a more balanced look.

+1
Thats precisely the reason i too wanted a Black Beat, but had to give up due to wife's cribbing. No doubt Beat looks best in Black

- I dont know why by I feel like the feedback from the HPS steering is inconsistent. I honestly prefer a heavier steering to a lighter one but sometimes the steering on the Beat feels life-less and then jolts back to life. Maybe its a HPS thing which I am not very used to. This is felt more at higher speeds.

Are you sure it's a HPS? asking because i read somewhere that Beat's steering has been changed to EPS for better fuel efficiency, post the launch of it's diesel sibling.

[Auto freak]

Awesome! I can see it being straight from the heart but you've somehow managed to keep it unbiased as well!
Nice to know you are loving your Beat. It in fact does a lot of things better than asked for. More car per car indeed! Hehee

Wish you a lot of happy miles ahead with your black beauty!
Have you named her as yet??

[superutp]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Congrats on the beat and wow that was a pretty lenghty log. Get those scratches removed, looks nasty, i think u can use com-paint, should do the job well.

Thanks motomaverick! Well I was jobless at work so thought of cranking up my writing engine!
thanks for suggestion though I plan to do nothing about the scratches right now since the fear of another scratch is just around the corner.

Originally Posted by Daewood

Congrats for your new Beat.

+1
Thats precisely the reason i too wanted a Black Beat, but had to give up due to wife's cribbing. No doubt Beat looks best in Black
Are you sure it's a HPS? asking because i read somewhere that Beat's steering has been changed to EPS for better fuel efficiency, post the launch of it's diesel sibling.

Thanks Daewood. Yes, Black is an awesome colour on the Beat (if you can manage to keep it clean that is). What colour is yours?

I still think the unit is HPS. Definitely feels like HPS atleast, but I am not an expert.

Originally Posted by Auto freak

Awesome! I can see it being straight from the heart but you've somehow managed to keep it unbiased as well!
Nice to know you are loving your Beat. It in fact does a lot of things better than asked for. More car per car indeed! Hehee

Wish you a lot of happy miles ahead with your black beauty!
Have you named her as yet??

Thanks AutoFreak! Yes, the review comprises of thoughts from my heart, mind & soul!

Name? haha, not really thought of that yet. My brain is too busy looking at her and driving her so far. btw, whats your Beat called?

Originally Posted by mi2n

Hearty congratulations on your black beauty! Like you, i was also sold on the looks of the car itself. Once you see it in person, concerns like F.E., A.$.$. worries, etc. will be shoved into the cramped backseat.

Thanks mi2n, true what you said. If she looked the way she did and had nothing inside, I would still sit inside and push her on the road

[Auto freak]

Originally Posted by superutp

Name? haha, not really thought of that yet. My brain is too busy looking at her and driving her so far. btw, whats your Beat called?

I call mine Red Arrow! Hehe

[nevertouchme]

Congratulations superutp!
Happy Mile crunching. My sales experience with Kropex was good. But service, the less I talk about it, the better it is.

I would suggest doing the complete vinyl floor mats, as the carpets are difficult to clean. More insulation & cleaning inside the car is pretty easy.

[superutp]

Originally Posted by nevertouchme

Congratulations superutp!
Happy Mile crunching. My sales experience with Kropex was good. But service, the less I talk about it, the better it is.

I would suggest doing the complete vinyl floor mats, as the carpets are difficult to clean. More insulation & cleaning inside the car is pretty easy.

Thanks nevertouchme! Ya ill probably get my floor mats changed as I feel I have the spark's mats since they seem to be a tad small for my Beat. Plus they are too rubbery and feel cheap. Spoiling the otherwise excellent interiors!

Talking about service..


I went to Kropex for my First free service at 1000kms (actually was at 992 when I got there). Was handed over to a Service Assistant who did a check on my car and asked me if I had any issues. I mentioned the Thud sound from the boot, poor roll on times with A/c on as well as not satisfactory FE.

He said he had no clue about the boot sound but he would give it a check, for acceleration he said he would clean a filter I have no clue what he was talking about and for FE he said 12 is fine for the first 1000kms in the city with A/C.

Another TBHPian ' whiterabbit' had adviced me to get the ECU setup changed and reset but it required a good 100kms of clean highway driving after that so I did not ask the SA to do this.

Gave the car at 10:30 in the morning, finally got it back at around 5:30. Man! Kropex really needs to expand its service bays. I was literally running out of Fuel when I got it back and the traffic on hosur road made matters worse!

The car felt better than new to be honest. Same problems persist, but it just felt better.

Also got my free mudflaps fitted finally and had a nice chat with the accessories manager about the overpriced GM accessories for the Beat!

Checked my FE (this is the 2nd time I have checked it using the Atuo cut-off method). The first time I got exactly 12, now I got 11.6

[KarthikK]

Nice title for the ownership review. I was wondering what Michael Jackson thread was doing in ownership reviews section . Congratulations on the Chevy Beat, superutp The beat looks ravishing in black. I hardly see any black beats around, so that increases the value and makes heads turn I guess! Wishing you many happy miles with this car!

I loved the superbike-styled dials, especially the digital tacho and the all-blue themed cockpit lights. Do post a few more high resolution pictures of your beat. Real feast to the eyes. If you get alloys and some wider tyres, your car would become a super hot hatch on the roads of Bangalore

P.S - Did you get the car detailing done?

[superutp]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Nice title for the ownership review. I was wondering what Michael Jackson thread was doing in ownership reviews section . Congratulations on the Chevy Beat, superutp The beat looks ravishing in black. I hardly see any black beats around, so that increases the value and makes heads turn I guess! Wishing you many happy miles with this car!

I loved the superbike-styled dials, especially the digital tacho and the all-blue themed cockpit lights. Do post a few more high resolution pictures of your beat. Real feast to the eyes. If you get alloys and some wider tyres, your car would become a super hot hatch on the roads of Bangalore

P.S - Did you get the car detailing done?

Thanks Karthik!
Keeping it looking ravishing all day (& night) long is a pain though!

and man! those interiors especially at night keep me drooling to a point of no return!

Sure, will post pics when I get the chance to shoot my Beat with my propah camera!
and yes, I cant wait for the day when I transform my hot hatch to a super hot hatch

Haven;t had the time to go to 3M, had my first service & work to keep me busy through the week. Probably sometime in the next 2 weeks!

[nevertouchme]

one of those evenings near varthur, blr

[salbin]

Excellent write-up..

BTW, when was the meet @ varthur? Call me next time.
Nice photos.. Like the" face to face" pic of Beats

Hey.. Thanks for sharing T-bhp stickers.. Finally I pasted it on the number plate

[DevilsCry]

Awesome write-up superutp! When I first saw your thread, I knew I had to read it. Finally got time to read it. And boy! I really enjoyed reading it. Your review is truly from heart and soul. Congrats on your black beauty!

Being a Figo owner myself, I would say that you were quite lucky that you didn't pick a Figo as it's quite a sedan-like car when it comes to handling narrow parking spaces (due to long wheelbase). In fact, my old Esteem was easier to drive around in cramped areas. And, I actually wish for a hatchback as a 2nd car instead of a sedan since I already have this almost-sedan.