Team-BHP - I chose to Cruze, with a white Cruze LTZ

After a lot of looking and Advices, I finally decided to go for the Chevy Cruze. I previously drove a Cedia, and wanted to upgrade. Before I start I would like to Thank Tsk1979 & sameer sultan for their excellent reviews on the Car, which did help me choose the Cruze.

Exterior
Well the main reason for my buying this car was the looks. The front has a very in your face look. The Chevy logo adds to the look too. The rear kind of looks like the civic from some angles, in the night from a distance the lights do end up looking like the civic. The build quality of the exterior is pretty good. And in white the car looks stunning.

Interiors
The Seats are very comfortable, But the knobs used to adjust the seats are if very poor plastic quality. The rear seats are comfortable too. But the leg and head room is a problem if there are quiet a few tall people in the car. The AC requires a special mention, its got 6 blow speeds and the climate control works like a charm. It’s also got a feature called AQS (Air Quality System) which purifies the air from the outside before letting it into the cabin. The only negative about the interior is the Plastic quality, it looks pretty cheap, The car is designed so good, but the plastics spoil it. May be this was a way of controlling costs. But on a 13L+ car it doesn’t end up making sense.
Features
This car is loaded with features, Its got a 6 cd changer. Parking Sensors, Electric Windows with Electric Fold option. A sun roof with two modes (Full open and Tilt), The steering wheel has Tilt and Telescopic adjustments. And it has cruze control on the steering wheel. The speed of the car can be increased on the steering wheel itself. Rear Park Assist. Aux support for the 6 CD Changer. Auto Rain sensing Wipers.

Performance
Well this car is all about performance, It’s a car that’s saying give me a chance to run wild. The torque is pretty good and the pulling is awesome as well. Coming to the Turbo lag I personally didn’t have much of a problem with it, having driven a Laura L&K and experiencing it’s turbo lag I am pretty used to it. The key is to be in the correct gear. A lot of people have also been complaining about the Clutch and the Kick back. Now honestly after reading all of those it looked to me as tho the car was impossible to drive in the city, Yesterday alone I clocked about 150 Km’s and most of it was in bumper to bumper traffic and I felt it’s fine in bumper to bumper traffic, Also I didn’t have a problem with the clutch and the kick back was not present at all. I am getting an average mileage of 11 KMPL.

Overall
In all the car has been upto my expectations, Execept for the plastics and the rear leg room I think the car is pretty good. It’s the most VFM car out on the road right now.

Dealer Experience.
I booked my car with Kropex. I booked my car on the 6th of march and was informed that a White Cruze was in transit and that I could expect the delivery on the 12th. Surely enough I did get the delivery on time :). From start till delivery the Kropex team was actively involved in giving me updates on the car and were quiet responsive. They were also very supportive of the PDI and cleared a lot of my question during the PDI. On the day of the delivery the sales consultant there did a wonderful job of explaining the entire car and its features to me. Starting from how to adjust the seats to opening the boot. Surprisingly the keys to my car was handed over to me by the VP of Kropex and only once he did the final inspection was I allowed to go. Customer services is definitely a thumbs up for them. Chevy needs more of such dealers.

Pics
A few of them now, will upload more later.

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I chose to Cruze, with a white Cruze LTZ-dsc_0347.jpg

Congrats on your Cruze, Ajay. My opinion on the car is almost same as that of yours. The only difference is that I found Turbo-lag highly irritating and decided to go with an Automatic version (Misty lake colour).

However, my experience with the Kropex sales team is pathetic to say the least. I test drove the AT version on 30-Jan and booked the car on 1-Feb. I was told that I'll get the delivery on or before 22-Feb which was later revised to end of Feb. When I followed up with the Sales rep (Mr. Gangadhar) on 25-Feb he told me that he is yet to get an update from GM. I immediately escalated to his manager (Mr. Prabhu) who told me that I'm most likely to get the delivery by mid-March. Again I called Prabhu on 5-March to check if things are on track and to my dismay he told me that he has no clue when they'll get the car from GM. After this I spoke to Mr. Sharath (Sales head) who told me that GM will send Cruze AT cars to Bangalore only in April. By the time I get the delivery of my car, the prices would've gone up by at least 65 k. I've already paid INR 13.5 lakhs and am keeping my fingers crossed about the delivery.

I also contacted GMI through the email id provided on their portal & got connected to Mr. Manish Rathore (Regional Sales Head, South). Even though I've sent him 3 emails in the last couple of weeks, he hasn't bothered to respond. I've spared all these bunch of jokers & not given my peace of mind only because I love the car too much.

@aman9393, @Bubby, @theragingbull, @bnzjon: Thank you for the well wishes. Will keep you all updated, will be heading out to Nandhi hills for a drive this weekend and will do a photoshoot as well , Will post more pics after that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranjitkodali (Post 1782379)

Wonderful choice, enjoy the new ride. Is it an auto?

Its a MT. Personally i love Manual Transmission, because it gets you very involved with the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingspur (Post 1782365)

Hearty congratulations !! The Cruze looks best in white.

Wait till you get open roads, that 11 kmpl will come crashing down :)

Ha ha, yes i await for the run in period to get over, and then i want to see what this beauty can do. As for the performance from what i have seen its a raging bull.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prateekm (Post 1782384)

Nice review. Do agree with you that it's VFM. What's the on-road price? What were the other cars you have in your mind?

I dont remember the exact figure, but it was 15L something. I was looking at the New laura, but then again we already have the old laura and the new Superb, so didnt want to buy another skoda and open up a skoda showroom in front of my house :D. the other option was the Sonata, but i didnt quiet like the exterior styling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by recshenoy (Post 1783162)

Congratulations Ajay. I had been to check out beat at Kropex at Hosur road. Sales men were pretty good. I checked out the Cruze also. Looks very hot!

How is the gear shift of cruze? the gear shift of vehicle on display was not good (compared to POLO)

The OEM alloys look little plane, they could have been better!

Well i have to be honest the gear box is a bit notchy, needs a bit more refinement. The hardest is locking it into 2nd gear. Its not very smooth. I felt overall its a very small thing, and once you start driving you would not notice it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by narendra_urs (Post 1784170)

I think i did hear your story from the sales guys there. And i was lucky they had a car in transit. Honestly i couldn't take the wait even tho it was so small. The problem with GM is they have an awesome product and when they are finally building up the demand. Their plants dont have enough Production Capacity which is what is killing them. I also heard quiet a few people have cancelled the orders due to the long waiting periods. I hope GM is listening and does something about it. There is another thread from by Sameer Sultan, who also faced some issues with the delivery schedule and he was able to sort it out with the GM guys, may be he could help, you can find the thread here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...t-5000-km.html