After having driven my 800 for 2 years and very happy with the maruti service and insurance, it should not have been difficult for me to determine which car from the maruti stable to finalize. However I was too bored looking at the Zen, Wagon R and specially the Swift which my wife and myself could spot more than the people on the roads of India. Therefore we went for the test drive of the U-VA at National Garage Mumbai and liked it straightway.
Now having owned the car for a little over 2 years we are really satisfied with its performance. Its done 30000+ kms and I should say that apart from the normal service cost which is close to 2k every 5000 kms, I have only spent 2k on repairs and that was for the front brake discs.
The car has been driven all the way from Raipur to Mumbai (1100 kms), Mumbai to Somnath (2000 kms)and back, Mumbai-Mahabaleshwar (700 kms), Mumbai-Ajanta/Ellora(1000 kms) and has returned a mileage of 15+ on the highways with 100% aircon and speeds not less than 100 kms/hr. While in city traffic I constantly get 14-15 kms/lt. That may not sound wow to many, however I would say that it is something that noone expects out of a Chevy. So those numbers are real heart contenders at the end of the day.
The comfort and space on the car is something to talk about. With leg space at the real specially good for tall people, it can eaily seat 5 adults without crushing them on indian roads. The back is so comfortable that you really dont get to know the bad patchy indian roads. The boot space too is pretty large to accomodate luggage for a family of 4-5 eaily.
I have also found all the dealers to be very helpful. The only cons about the car is the agility on the second gear with full load. It does not make much of a difference in city traffic, however you tend to accelerate a little more on the highways for that instant overtaking.
The engines on the i20, i10 1.2, Figo, Polo are of same configurations as that of the U-VA. One only comes to know if you compare the engine specifications closely. All at 70-77bhp with the same kinda torque. Therefore U-VA becomes all the more exciting to buy because of its pricing compared to i20, i10 1, 2 or the Figo. I would’nt say the Polo here because it has German built quality and looks better than any hatchback in the country.
My verdict: My next would be a Aveo U-VA RS which I am sure would be launched sometime in 2011.
All the best Chevy.