Beat It !
No, this is not another one on MJ. ..tis' about our latest car .
The Beat.
From August on, have been looking around. POLO was the obvious choice almost....from day one of reviewing its looks , and the added on "German" engineering.
Off to "xxx" motors ( I had to nearly chase the dealer for the test drive slot ) & a red POLO was waiting. What looks...MAN !. Length of the car was much more than I thought it would be( always thought it was in the small car segment ). The sales man offered to drive so I could sit by him ..I said I came for a test drive !!. He meekly handed the keys and I “offered” him the co-pilot seat …then off I go……well , not really…. after shifting to second gear ; to get to third, I was finding the much dreaded Turbo lag too painful. This, mind you with the A/c off.
Interiors were just ok and the features, average. Half thru' the ride I was already telling the sales man – that the car will have trouble for the price they were selling at. Exchanged pleasantries and feedback ( I asked him hopefully if there was any way of tuning the engine for higher pickup – he said NO and I walked away gloomy )
The Figo showroom was just nearby and walked in. This was not pre-planned – it was there –waiting for gloomy me :) ... so I went. Pretty courteous staff. Nice price for the features they showed me on paper. And the drive was good too. But there was no reason for me to buy –“ just another car”. I had noticed the Hyundai showroom during the drive and went in mainly because I was emotionally starved for a good car( but no intention of going Hyundai again though my i10 is a great piece of technology combined with driving pleasure ) . Took the i20 drive with half a heart . Looks like the test-drive car was scheduled for an overhaul for long. It was noisy !! and also painful to drive. Pickup was good though.
Back home depressed and began active search on TEAM-BHP( The one stop shop for car reviews). Swift came on top ranking wise – ( not another Maruti – I already have one ) ; second came i10 …then Figo, i20, , Fiat Grande Punto not in that order. Every car had its good points and bad ..some were beaten to trash badly by all. The Chev. BEAT too was reviewed – hmmm. I hadn’t heard much about it until then …still "OK" reviews, overall. There were many “love at first sight" buyers and not many repenting after purchase.
I wanted to go see what they fell in love with .
Booked a test drive for the weekend . But when I went there I did not find the car waiting. Waited for 30 mins and still no car . Finally they gave me a unregistered car; due for pickup from a new buyer that evening ! ( imagined my new car being picked up by someone else for a test drive & decided that this will not be the dealer for me, even if I do go for the Beat. ).
Still took the test drive ( apologies to the car owner ) - Turbo Lag again ( worse than the POLO ) but they comforted me that it could be tuned...some firmware programming it seems.
Next weekend - Went to another Chevvy dealer for one more Beat test drive ( the dealer said their test-drive car was tuned and I will not face the pickup issue ) . Cool – and he was right – the test drive was good.
And now to mention the features – Automatic climate control & funky lighting on the panels and controls inside, Merc style glossy paneling, most comfy seats in all my driving experience yet plus the rear door is placed so the car looks like a Two Door model. Best in class looks – this Car was debuted in the film “Transformers” and looks like it is about to “take-off” from a top corner perspective. ( guys sorry - damsel in this photo is an accesory and not part of standard equipment !! )
I did not need anymore reason to decide.
Color – wife’s choice though I wanted to buy the shiny blue one. She wanted a sober one as the i10 is red. So went in for "Linen beige" as per the brochure. Great color – but it actually means "plain steel grey" !! . I was not disappointed – My Maruti is “California Gold” and i10 is “Blushing Red” !!
The new car “as it came” was poor on pickup but is now tuned after first service and doing good. Hardly any body roll ( lots of it on i10 ) and seating is the best part. I haven’t got the converter for the Mini USB yet on the music system – so getting to hear all my fav. music with a AUX input from my mobile.
Hi Small car buyers: I will not recommend the BEAT for your first car folks – but still if you do want to skip the safe choices Maruti and Hyundai(both are the best value for money and for resale value – which is what all Indian buyers look for !! even before the buy; think of resale value, right !!!! As Team-BHP says – why do cars like Indica still sell in India ? . Do you know what Toyoto is doing to the yet to be launched ETIOS. They have made it with "Plain Jane" looks to cut costs - but they know Indians will buy. )
But for those with a set of little wild nuerons ...just look what a "made-up" BEAT can look like below!
From August on, have been looking around. POLO was the obvious choice almost....from day one of reviewing its looks , and the added on "German" engineering.
If it were not for the notorious dealer I would have really bought it without much investigations into elaborate technicals & post purchase experiences.
The only dealer in Chennai was poor in response . Also came to know that there was just one service center at Ambattur ( ahem ….good 35 kms drive from home ) . Well let me drive and see.
Off to "xxx" motors ( I had to nearly chase the dealer for the test drive slot ) & a red POLO was waiting. What looks...MAN !. Length of the car was much more than I thought it would be( always thought it was in the small car segment ). The sales man offered to drive so I could sit by him ..I said I came for a test drive !!. He meekly handed the keys and I “offered” him the co-pilot seat …then off I go……well , not really…. after shifting to second gear ; to get to third, I was finding the much dreaded Turbo lag too painful. This, mind you with the A/c off.
Interiors were just ok and the features, average. Half thru' the ride I was already telling the sales man – that the car will have trouble for the price they were selling at. Exchanged pleasantries and feedback ( I asked him hopefully if there was any way of tuning the engine for higher pickup – he said NO and I walked away gloomy )
I wanted to go see what they fell in love with .
Booked a test drive for the weekend . But when I went there I did not find the car waiting. Waited for 30 mins and still no car . Finally they gave me a unregistered car; due for pickup from a new buyer that evening ! ( imagined my new car being picked up by someone else for a test drive & decided that this will not be the dealer for me, even if I do go for the Beat. ).
Still took the test drive ( apologies to the car owner ) - Turbo Lag again ( worse than the POLO ) but they comforted me that it could be tuned...some firmware programming it seems.
Next weekend - Went to another Chevvy dealer for one more Beat test drive ( the dealer said their test-drive car was tuned and I will not face the pickup issue ) . Cool – and he was right – the test drive was good.
I did not need anymore reason to decide.
Color – wife’s choice though I wanted to buy the shiny blue one. She wanted a sober one as the i10 is red. So went in for "Linen beige" as per the brochure. Great color – but it actually means "plain steel grey" !! . I was not disappointed – My Maruti is “California Gold” and i10 is “Blushing Red” !!
The new car “as it came” was poor on pickup but is now tuned after first service and doing good. Hardly any body roll ( lots of it on i10 ) and seating is the best part. I haven’t got the converter for the Mini USB yet on the music system – so getting to hear all my fav. music with a AUX input from my mobile.
Hi Small car buyers: I will not recommend the BEAT for your first car folks – but still if you do want to skip the safe choices Maruti and Hyundai(both are the best value for money and for resale value – which is what all Indian buyers look for !! even before the buy; think of resale value, right !!!! As Team-BHP says – why do cars like Indica still sell in India ? . Do you know what Toyoto is doing to the yet to be launched ETIOS. They have made it with "Plain Jane" looks to cut costs - but they know Indians will buy. )
But for those with a set of little wild nuerons ...just look what a "made-up" BEAT can look like below!
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