3 months

                    My thoughts - I am an proud owner of AVEO 1.6 LT got it delivered last month. This might not exactly read like an AVEO review with regards to its specifications as I am yet to explore those features fully. This is one of my first reviews ever for any car. Have been reading through Mouthshut a lot on Fiesta, Aveo, SX4 and Swift right through December last year. Have gone through numerous car mags just to know more on the cars.  I guess this would be one of the longest evaluation done for cars or maybe not.

My Need - Petrol Sedan in the range of 7 to 8 lakhs.

Swift was there for takes but just went out of my choice as it was a Hatchback. Never really wanted and hatchback
Honda City - Never evaluated - coz i never liked the nosy looks of it.
Fiesta - Was there all along just loved the way it looked. Excellent pick up, silent engine a total drivers car. Not spacious. But if its fiesta its the diesel you should be looking for and not the petrol as it gives you good mileage. Ford is way way high on maintenance. petrol mileage is just 11 to 12 kmpl and not 22 kmpl which we in city or highway wud never get. Diesel is decent 20 kmpl against the 32 kmpl mentioned by company. Ford is a  miser on Features
SX4 - then came the male - truly male from the looks of it. Features to crave for, but ZXI is the best buy not the VXI. The cockpit is way ahead of all the earlier Maruti stable cars. And cheap is what you cud say when compared to market pricings. definitely a value for money. BUT BUT BUT me was looking for a family car, though the company says it’s a five seater - it is just not a 5 seater instead its an luxury sedan meant for 4 ppl. The rear seat though it gives a good front view of the road is by no means comfortable even for the 2 people. as it is little too upright. more like a home comfort sofa which is hard, gives the interiors of the car a congested look and thus making the cabin space look small. And yes compared to its exterior size the space inside is small. The transmission tunnel protruding up in the rear seats adds the uncomfort of the people seating behind. Add to it The cup holder hump is a big problem for me. The mileage just touches 10 but definitely not more than 10. my friends have brought sx4 coz they dont bother about mileage but they care for power. most of them are getting the mileage between 9 to 10 kmpl. My verdict - if not for the rear seat with features and power of 1.6 i would have gone for SX4. but my aim was all - power, economy, family car, features -  difficult to find all of these but thats what  i had to evaluate right!!!
AVEO - then my friend suggested i also test drive the AVEO.

Exteriors, Interiors& Features - At first glance i was all for it by the looks. The rear seat was simply to my liking spacious, wide and comfy inspite of the cup holder arm rest in the center. 10 on 10 for a family car. I chose the Blazing Metallic Red probably the most common colour in AVEO but let me tell you - that colour was kept out of production for quite a while by GM and they were targeting to sell the Ivory and other silver colours. I had a tough time getting the delivery for red colour. I chose red to stand out, probably resembles the aggression to succeed in life. We indians dont want to experiment with colours white and silver is all we have. only if they had some other bright colours like in optra i wud have tried one of them.

There were features as comparable with SX4.
I was first evaluating the 1.4 engine but then with due course of time opted for power 1.6 LT. over economy keeping in mind a shell life of 3 to 5 years fuel comsumption etc.
The dual tone black matted honey hived dash and beige interiors with wooden IP finish gave me a feeling of an rich luxury car.
The 2 din MP3 player integrated with the dash board, keeps me free from worrying about removing the player panel like my friends do in their cars. The music system is complete with 6 speakers and good sound compliments it.
AC knobs in beige gives cool feeling. Electronically adjustable side mirror with defoggers. Rear seat cup holder. Rear vision Glass with integrated radio antenna and defogger.
Height adjustment is not that remarkable but okay. The tacho odo cluster is too good - note this is a new version with chrome rims on the console cluster and all the ac vents.
The red colour gives the car a dashing look with the spoiler on the boot it completes the sporty look.

400 litres of boot space is enough for a family going to far of locales.

I had the car beige fabric seats covered with beige PU leather seat covers – while it kept the ambience of the cabin look the royal it stops me from worrying on kids dirtying my seats.

Not to forget the ALLOY wheels with the bowtie logo looks cooollll
 

Engine – Revvy if you force it. Butter smooth if you handle it well. The 1.6 engine is slow to pickup in comparisons to fiesta but has power to take on any vehicle on the fly great pickup. The body is perched high above the ground on tubeless tyres navigating the speed breakers and the potholes exceedingly well. With no jurks being transferred inside the car.  The hood is protected with hood insulation to reduce engine noise and I think these small things do count a lot.

The sales executive at Udit Motors Thane – Rakesh was really great to have my queries resolve and to bear up with me patiently poor guy had to co-ordinate for me while he was on his honeymoon as my car was delayed.
He was point blank on telling me that the mileage woudl be 10 kmpl whichever way i drive it. i evaluated aveo at other places the sales guys used to give me mileage figures of 12 kmpl or even 13 for 1.6. i would be happy if i get 10 and even if i dont I dont care.

Power windows, Cup holders, height adjustment, sunglasses holder, decent glove box, music system, reading lamp, door ajar alert, belt alert, Keyless entry, anti theft ............you could just go on and on with the features.

Its my first car and i think its the best car with all respects. With Aveo 1.6 Lt my passion for cars have just taken a start.............. i love my aveo.

regards...........joseph