Chevrolet Beat LT Cocktail Green: Initial ownership report
After lot of research and comparison I booked Beat LT green on 5th Feb from Kropex Bangalore. At the end of long waiting and follow-up, my car reached me on 31st March. In fact I never thought of going for a new vehicle. I was always inclined towards used cars only. Still somehow Beat styling attracted me and I decided to sell my 2001 Santro. Took 2 test drives and made a couple of more visits to the showroom before booking. Eventhough red is my favourite, the launch colour "Cocktail Green" grabed my attention. My wife also liked it very much. Red is very common, so decided on the flashy odd green colour
. When I booked the car, it was told by the dealer that the waiting period is 3 to 4 weeks. Suddenly they increased it to 5 weeks. Since there is a price increase due to hike in Karnataka Road Tax and VAT after Apr 01, I started chasing the dealer continuously. I also told them that I dont require the vehicle if delivered after Mar 31st. Meanwhile I also started searching for some good used sedans in the same price range as an alternate in case if the delivery keeps on getting extended. Finally on 26th, I got the info regarding the vehicle leaving the factory. The vehicle reached the dealer on 30th and I took the delivery on 31st - almost 2 months from the date of booking. Since it was the last working day of the FY and the price increase from next day, there was huge rush for registration. I went early to the showroom on the day of delivery and observed the PDI activities and ensured that everything is fine. The car was handed-over to me by ~8.45pm. The odo showed 4.3km. The vehicle was clean. They also did polishing of both interiors and exteriors(it was a guy with 3M uniform doing this job). Got 5+ lit petrol. Got the regn number on the next day but yet to receive the RC Smart Card. As of now I am happy with the dealer, eventhough there was delay in delivering the vehicle. More over the dealer is only 0.5km away from my apartment - another added advantage for me!
Driving experience: Decided to go for a 500km (one side) long trip to my native making use of the Good Friday & Easter holiday. The entire stretch was driven by me only and I was driving with care and ensured the engine speed doesn't go beyond 2000RPM. So kept the speed @ 80kmph. The drive was very good. There were 4 adults and one child. Eventhough the boot is small compared to other cars in the segment, we were able to load all our luggage(2 avg sized air bags, 3 back packs and 2 more shopping bags). The bottle holders on the doors are really big and I could push one Horlicks bottle in it. All of us were very confortable with the drive. The Climate Control is too good (the feature I liked the most!). The seating posture is good- I did not get back pain. The rear leg room is also good because the rear seats are pushed maximum backwards compromising the boot space. The headroom at the rear is low, but front it is okay. I used ACC for the entire stretch. Checked the mileage (full tank to full tank method) and it was 15.8kmpl. Return was after 2 days. We were only 2 while returning and the route was different- slightly longer and through mountains and jungle! I enjoyed both the trips. Around 1200kms were covered during the trip. I got better mileage during return - 17.8kmpl (may be because there were only 2 persons including me). Actually I was expecting less mileage due to the hair pin curves and steep inclined roads, but got more than my expectation! Regarding engine performance, I know very well that it cannot match the K-series. So the expectations were less. The lower end torque is less compared to the competition resulting in more gear changes. GM could have done something on the gear ratios to improve this. The idling is extremely smooth and silent. I will be able comment on the high speed performance only after running-in. The in-built stereo is good at lower volumes. I use only USB & FM in low volume. I am connecting my memory card using a cable and adaptor. The file check is fast and it starts playing from where it was stopped previously. The blue illumination in the dash board is too good and everyone liked it. I liked the stylish speedo needle and the console very much. There was no rattling even in bad roads.
Got a set of alloy wheels after this trip. As of now retained the stock tyres.
With alloys the car looks stunnig. Now the Wow factor increased
Now the odo is @ 1300 in just 7 days and just got it serviced. It is only a general check-up and cleaning of filters. Oil change is only during next service.
Accessories:
Llumar sunfilms VLT-20% for sides(dark sunfilms go well with green colour)
Floor Mat
14" Alloy wheels
So far I am happy with the car.
I wish the stereo had bluetooth, driver seat had height adjustment and the mirrors were electric.
Here comes some of the photos:
Just before delivery.
On the way to Kerala:
Dash board reflection is less compared to my earlier santro.
Some more pics taken during my Kerala trip:
Roof rail
3 Barrel head lights - The smallest one is just a dummy to improve the looks. Parking light is in the main dome itself.
20% VLT dark Llumar film goes well with the Cocktail Green.
"I love my Chevy" soft toy - gifted with all GM cars.
Dash board
Under seat pull-out tray - Very useful feature (I think GTO missed this one in his review)
I use my MicroSD card along with an adaptor and a mini USB cable (comes with some of the mobiles/cameras/mp3 players - I am having 2-3 with me. The cable and adaptor gets hidden in the cubby hole under the ACC controls.
Doors open:
Rear view:
Under body is neat even after 600kms. The silencer is slightly above - doesn't get hit on rough roads/humps.