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1. CHERY QQ3
USED-CARS

2. The Chery QQ3 has been a source of fascination for many a motorist,
considering its variants, size, price and the somewhat negative reputation
that comes with China-made vehicles. Combine that with seemingly never-ending
oil price hikes, and you have a car that can serve as a strictly
urban mover. But is it worth looking past competition such as the Kia
Picanto, the Chevrolet Spark and the Suzuki Alto?
The exterior is similar to the Daewoo Matiz, with striking similarities at
the headlights, front fascia and tailights. Not surprisingly, Chery got into
some sort of copyright brouhaha not long ago over its alleged "copying" of
the Daewoo Matiz exterior shape (thus earning the ire of the Korean
automaker), and the latter coming out with a super subcompact with
nearly the exact same design. Nevertheless the QQ attracts attention
wherever it goes, with bystanders giving an occasional curious stare at
the bug-eyed front fascia.

3. The interior can be considered as adequate,
but the phrase caveat emptor really applies to
this particular vehicle, especially with regard
to its features. The cabin is expansive for two
and tight for three, but very much packed for
four. Seating can be hard on the lumbar area,
despite the comfortable fabric wrapping the
seats. There's one touchdown power assist for
all four windows, and unlike its Chana Benni
rival there's power assist for adjusting the side
mirrors. There's only one interior lamp, and it's
between the front sun visors, just like in the
Suzuki Alto. It may not be as distracting to the
driver at night, but the location of the lamp
makes it tough looking for lost items in the
rear when the sun goes down. Nigglesome too
is the radio; there's no frequency locking
feature and the sound can be compared to the
Promac audio entertainment systems found in
a bevy of taxicabs.

4. Storage is small given the dimensions, but can
frustrating. There are only two cupholders;
they're in front, but can hold a large
McDonald's softdrink cup. The rear seats don't
fold flat to handle odd-shaped loads. There's
no rear door hatch handle on the outside; you
have to open the driver's side door and pull on
the lever near the driver's seat door sill to pop
up the trunk. Now imagine if you're lugging
groceries in both hands, it's raining and you
have a lot of stuff already in the rear row,
giving you no choice but to open the rear
hatch. You might as well whistle a few bars
from BJ Thomas' Raindrops Keep Falling on My
Head right after you get soaked in the rain -
and with your groceries too - from trying to
locate the trunk lever. Just pray your groceries
aren't consisting of food items that can easily
spoil should that inevitability occur.

5. Getting into the narrow powerband (3750 rpm
onwards) takes almost forever with the P
373,000 800cc AMT QQ, but a given
considering the displacement. Surprisingly,
despite a 900 kg curb weight, the QQ can
reach up to 145 kph yet go 14.28 km/l on four
days city driving. The gearing is even, but the
unruly a/t has a mind of its own, be it on level
or incline tarmac. For example, it downshifts if
you're 100 meters from the apex of a crest.
Irksome too, is a lot of shift shock during gear
transition and shifting to neutral. You
practically have to slam the a/t stick all the
way to the right put it in neutral; doing it
gently just makes the car remain in first gear.

6. Normally super subcompact hatchbacks display little body roll due to their
low ground clearance. The QQ is the exception to the said rule, listing and
understeering frequently on turns like Jacky Chan in Drunken Master, and
traction from the Wingro GT Radial 155/65 78Hs breaking at 75-80 kph. The
ride is hard but tolerable enough to get shut-eye, should you become a lucky
passenger. There's lots of steering wheel wander and little steering
feedback, but steering feel is light though. The brakes and handbrake
provide good bite, but using the headlights is an experience. You turn on the
headlights via the foglight switch below leftmost a/c vent, thus negating the
use of the headlight switch stalk at the steering column's left side until you
push the said stalk forward to use the headlights' bright setting.
The Chery QQ comes at a time when increasing fuel prices and cramped
city parking lots make the SUV obsolete and motorists look for fuel efficient
vehicles. Unfortunately this China car must overcome a significant crisis of
serious transmission, handling, safety, and loading issues for it to become a
serious super subcompact segment contender.