[ghodlur]

Hi Guys,
This is my second thread of the cars I am going to test drive and this time it is Chevrolet Aveo 2009. Everyday whenever I read Times of India an advertisement used to scream at me " Chevrolet Aveo @ 5.49 Lakh". So finally decided to see whether the car was worth the advertisement atleast. Reached the SC Auto Showroom in Thane which is actually owned by the Modi's who also own the Hyundai dealership. Had fixed an appointment for test drive a day earlier and was hoping the car would be ready for the same. Was interested in 1.4LT ABS model. Was met warmly by sales co-ord Shashank who showed me the model in the showroom & took time to explain the features. Here are my observations

Exterior: Smooth finish lines, nice looking Chrome grill with + logo. Rear spoiler, good boot space, Great gnd clearance, Front Fog lamps, Nice looking headlights, rear defogger coupled with rear printed antenna (that was new to me), Alloy wheels, Electric OVRM's. Class, No frills contours, hard to forget car feeling.
Interior: Good dash with dual tone interiors although the wood apptern was not that appealing, Manual seat height adjustment,Tilt steering with leather finish and leather gear knob, 2 Din Mp3 player with 6 speakers. Instrument cluster with chrome was not to my liking. Upholstery was leather, colour & feel not so good. Rear arm rest was nice. Only driver Airbag was available.
Now for the test drive. As usual I asked my wife to sit at the back to review the rear handling. Started the engine, found engine to be very silent, could not make it out whether the engine was running. Moved out of car to confirm still found no engine noise, super silent. The test vehicle had done just 930 kms and was relatively new for test drive. Now it was time to move on. Again found the turn indicators to the left of the steering and the washers to the right as I had done in Ford test drive. But this time I was prepared. Took off on the busy Ghodbunder Road, nice accelaration, touched 80 KMPL in 15-20 secs. The gear throw was not very smooth, found a bit hard. Also the reverse lock was hindering my full grip on the knob, very irritating. Had to adjust the gear on couple of occasions. The accelaration was smooth, steering was repsonsive. Found a lot of stares at the signal, dont know whether it was for me driving or for the car. Took the car to a stretch notorious for potholes, speed breakers. Nice handling, even wife complemented on the rear ride was smooth over the potholes, good feel, a little body roll but that was OK. Came back on the highway and on the return to showroom applied sudden brakes, found braking to be superb, car came to a stand still within no time. Checked the reverse parking and found a good view of the back. Overall the test drive experince was good, felt really nice about the car. Was confident the car would perform well on the highways too.

The OTR for 1.4 LTABS was 813567/- Thane w/octroi for which dealer offered me 58K as flat discount for the ongoing period with the usual freebies of mud flaps, floor & dicky mats. They offered me to buy back my Santro but the price quote was too low for my expectations. Have to really think about that. Also the insurance quote was inflated atleast by 10K.


Asked the sales co-ord regarding the 5.49 L price tag and was told it was the cost of the base model with 48K discount and ex-Thane outside octroi limits. So you dont always have to go by the ad gimmick. The actual scene is something else. The test drive feeling is still lingering in my mind even when I am writing this review. I hope the review was useful and would request BHPians to give their valuable feedback.

Just crossed my mind as there is check list for PDI should there be one for test drive, maybe some senior BHPians can take a lead and pen a few words, will definetly be useful for first time buyers, novices or maybe existing people who normally would start to compare their car with the test driven car and lose out on a genuine good cars.

[Firebird]

Thanks ghodlur, so are you sold to the new Aveo 2009

Would it be possble to comment on the gear shift.

I got hear that they have resolved th gear shift issues in 2009 and has new throttle body for quicker response.

A friend of mine has booked 1.4 LS a week back. I will try and see if I get to check the gear shift quality

NVH levels have always been a selling point for Aveo.

[jasher26]

do a mileage test before you buy the car. had a friends car for two months and it proved to be an expensive keep.

[ACM]

I seriously would recommend a rethink on the Aveo if you wish to buy it. Rather would recommend that there are better options, close by in pricing. (Linea - better Interiors, features & VFM, Fiesta - better self driven car.)

Aveo is due for a face lift and sells in miserable numbers right now, its' resale value too is low, if you really like it's interiors and the drive is acceptable go for a second hand 2 year old version, (prices will be a steal and 1 year of warranty still would be pending.) Will not recommend that you buy new.

[SPARKled]

I think the Aveo is a pretty competitive car for its price and I guess with the 3 year maintenance package and warranty its a pretty safe bet as far as running expenses are concerned. I really liked the interiors which to me felt better than the Ikon, DZire and the Accent which cost about the same. I have driven one at high speeds and was pretty impressed with its road holding and low NVH levels. For the base version at 5.49 its pretty good value when you consider that there are many hatchbacks which are way more expensive.

[GTO]

By itself, the Aveo is a pretty decent sedan. Unfortunately, it lacks in any single USP and is outclassed by the competition on different parameters. Too bad because it is a looker, has great interiors & ride quality as well. That petrol engine + transmission are probably its weakest links, a diesel with good pricing could turn the table.

[Technocrat]

Yes Its a good Sedan & I think GM needs to price it in the Ikon & Dzire price bracket to make it a VFM buy.