शेवरले स्पार्क यूज़र रिव्यूज़

I bought a Chevrolet Spark on 3rd December, and today, it completed 6 painful months with me. I have following problems with the car:

1. AC of spark gives frequent problems. Comfortable inside and silent cabin features of Spark get nullified as one has to drive with windows rolled down during midday, when the AC is as good as non existent.

2. Service/Spare part prices are exorbitant when compared to Maruti/Hyundai vehicles of similar price range. Irrespective of what is shown on website, anything not mentioned there costs a fortune. For example, pair of fog lamps with fitting costs Rs. 4500. AC Condenser costs 6000. A simple wheel alignment and balancing job will set you off by 1000 rupees. I found out all this after a very minor accident, a nudge with car ahead at speed of about 10 kmph.

3. I've driven the car for just 7200 km, but have already visited workshop 5 times for various problems in 6 months. GM believes in selling and forgetting. After sales is practically non existent, and the company is slow to do any repairs under warranty. So you will be expected to leave car with them for days for any minor repair.

4. Spark inherits the poor anti rusting protection from Matiz. Exhaust pipe has already started rusting in my 6 month old car, and I've observed rust in sharp under body parts. It is only a matter of time that the body paint will start bubbling.

5. I pressed GM workshop (Regent Automobiles, Mathura Road) to fix various glitches (headlight bulb fusing, AC not working, central clock getting reset frequently), but was politely reminded that I was expecting too much from their lowest end car.

6. Dashboard is making weird noises when accelerating for last 15 days. And any such stuff is exclusively mentioned not to be covered by warranty. So have no choice but to bear these noises.

I've spent 4 Lakhs of my hard earned cash on Spark LT model, and there are simply no buyers at even 3 lakhs, just 6 months after the purchase.
Good Looks, Silent cabin, Good shock absorbersFrequent problems, Insensitive dealers

I am updating the review after driving spark for an year now. still I would say thumbs up to GM for a fantastic work. To break the Matiz image and making it better while keeping similar identily was not an easy job. I have driven it at 135kmph several times and the way feels, no other 1lt engine can do that. Comfort level is high and quality of plastics in the interior always bring a smile. though the aluminum finish on door pannels (inside) is a letdown, it peels off easily. with all the discounts pouring in it is still the best entry level car.

to all you guys who wanna buy a car i wud say go and drive ur options urself. Mileage, power and space is similar for all in the segment (near to each other). What ultimately matters is the driving and ownership experience. for me Spark scores above all with heavy margin.

wagon r drives really well but looses on looks.

estilo - mix feelings, drive:ok, looks : down

santro: needs a good makeup badly, i prsonally doubt life of engine

 

looks, performance, refinement, response, interiorsaluminum finish on interior door pannels is poor quality

Dear Friends,

I have bought a spark which is exactly a week old and I have spent more time at the work shop then driving this beauty.

My first observation was that the car was rattling when stationary, which GM addressed as all Spark models face have this(let me know if u too notice the same in your car)

They assured me that the car is perfectly alright, I trusted them and drove back home. The second day I took my wife out for dinner and was on my way to a party and the car just broke down, it just refused to start and once again the car is back with GM for observation.

Any one out there do write to me on rohit.asrani@kotak.com

I look forward to the support from General Motors to replace my car and provide us with the safety of my family.

Great Service,God bless you if there is a defect

Unexpected low milleage of 13.85 to 14.66 rated on tankfull to tankfull . Do not expect a Matiz space which is brilliant . This car is closer to Alto size but better lugage space. Ride ,comfort and noise level is superb and handling also stable . There is good power for overtaking but not the friskiness of Matiz . BIG disapointment is milleage .My best milleage was after carefull driving on highway for 60% and AC on 40% .I used to get 17-18 km/l on Matiz .So owners of Spice Version hold on to your car. AC cooling very good . I have done 890kms on model LT Option .Will give further feedback after servicing and any tweaks if possible .Ride ,comfort and noise level is superb and handling also stable . There is good power for overtakinUnexpected low milleage of 13.85 to 14.66 rated on tankfull to tankfull . Do not expect a Matiz spa

Dear General Motors India,

I would like to call my self as a proud owner of the Chevo Spark. My car # is  we had purchased the car on the 6^th of April 2008.

I shall get straight to the problem that we face is that the car rattles when standing still at the signal which gives a very unpleasant feeling. I would request you to have you’re your assistance on the same at the earliest.

We did contact our dealer National Garage (Mumbai) the very day, we in fact gave the car to them to inspect the same they too acknowledged the problem but they couldn’t place the root of the problem or they did not have the equipment for the same.

This is my first car that I have purchased with great expectation from the General Motor Company. I would like to hear from you at the earliest with a solution.

Regards

Style, feelaverage height assumed to be 5.6 - 5.8 above that disaster

Hello All,

Thanks for going through this review.

Before owning chevy spark lpg vehicle,I was seriously looking to all the reviews about the LPG vehicles on all websites.everywhere  i used to found that there was not much information about LPG vehicles especially about the vehicle performance,fuel economy & pick up.

But here i am giving detailed information about my chevy spark lpg experience of 2 months.

i am owning this car from past 2 months.believe me, the vehicle has given me a lots of satisfaction in all terms.

In Petrol Version.

engine is superb with very less noise.

Pick up is awesome as compared to WAGON R,ZEN ESTILLO or I10.

Gear shifting is very nice.

Top speed is 120-130 in 5th gear with flat highway road.

even good mileage.I've driven this vehicle in mys-blore highway believe me in petrol mode i get around 19 km with half the journey in AC.

Now in LPG version.

Vehicle always starts in petrol mode, then you can change to plg mode with just push button.while changing the mode, there will be no jerk in the engine just you can hear a sound.

In highway. i've got nearly 14 km/ltr which i would think best when compare with other LPG cars.

Engine performance is same as compared with petrol mode, bcoz in LPG mode they have give 61 BHP & in petrol mode 63 BHP.

Pick up drops little when AC is ON.but this doesnt matter in CITY driving but in highway it matters.

so overall people with slim,average built will find this car as nice & worth for money.

i'm 5.9 tall & average built, i dont see any problem with car.

In city limits, you can rip this vehicle as how you can.bcoz its not that much big.

so far so good & everything going well.

any buyers of chevy spark lpg ........GO & GET IT.

for any more details.get back to me ... i'll give u the genuine feedback about the vehicle.

 

Thanks,

Manjunath MS

Stylish Vehicle with good mileage in both petrol & lpg versionPeople who weighs more than 75kg will find this car as a small

i  had gone for the test drive of this beauty and believe me it lived up to my expectations.when i tried starting the car it made a jerky noise and i was afraid but was shocked to know that i was trying to start a vehicle which was already on!!!!my god the car is so silent!!!i was impressed.i tried pushing the vehicle to a lil harsh conditions but i was amazed by the confident stans this mini gave.the instrument console felt a lil difficult to adjust but after a while i felt that it was intelligently placed in order to maximize legroom for the driver and once u get used to it ,u will feel this difference what i felt.seats are comfortable but the suspension is the best in the class.(better than estilo,santro,wagonr)the interiors feel good in terms of fit and finish if u compare it with others in this class.i loved the car.moreover autocar verdict says that spark gives an impressive 16.9 km/l which is again best in class as compared to santro(13 km/l),zen(14-15km/l).fiery red and platinum metallic colours rock.anew colour kashmiri has been introduced for diwali and is great.it comes with a three year warranty.so i think the price which is being offered by GM is worth the additional comfots and accesories the car comes with.
i am dissapointed about the colours provided.there are better colours provided for spark in singapore and china.
so friends spark is indeed the best car for a family of four
and for those who give comfort first priority like me.

compact city car,zippy drive,silent engine,great suspension,good fuel economy,class best fitn'finishsmall for family of 5,a slight overpriced

I will try to give you an honest review of the car. If you are seriously considering buying this car then this review might be really helpful. Do give me feedback on your opinions or questions about the review.

I bought a Black Spark 1.0 LS from Shree Gopinathji Agencies, Baroda, Gujarat.

The car costed me exactly Rs. 347,000 on road and this was after all the discounts and accessories about which i will describe in greater detail below.

The following are the discounts i received from them:

1. Rs. 45,000 on basic value of cash discount.
2. Rs. 3,000 less on the insurance cost. (This was given because i got a quote from another insurance company outside of the dealership and they were around Rs. 3000 cheaper so the dealership matched them on the quote.)
3. Free services for 3 years / 45,000 KMS whichever is earlier, so basically i got 9 free services from them.

The cost also included Rs. 3,000 for a selected RTO registration number.

The accessories i got from them are as under:

1. Floor mats
2. Mud Guards
3. Antenna
4. Rear Parcel Shelf
5. Sun control film
6. Keyless entry system.

I didnt go for a music system from them because i had an awesome Sony system with 2 round and 2 oval speakers from my older car that i sold but they did install the system for me at no additional cost.

Now, on to the review of the car.

I think this car is perfect for an young executive who is basically looking for a means of transport to go back and forth from home to office and take his girlfriend / wife out on a drive on the weekends. (This is what i use the car for) But overall its a perfect car for a small family.

The driver seat is very comfy and even driving longer distances dont get you tired. The one important thing that is missing however is a footrest next to the clutch. This is very necessary because the gear ratios are such that you wont need to press the clutch even while driving at 20 kmph on 4th gear except to change the gear.

The low point of the car is that it doesnt have a good pickup if the ac is on so if you're thinking of beating that other car next to you at the stop light immediately after it turns green then prepare yourself for a bit of an embarrassment. But this car is meant for good fuel economy and not for power so i'd be satisfied in sacrificing a bit of power here and there.

And speaking of fuel economy, the dealer said the overall mileage will be around 16 - 17 kmpl. Currently i am getting around 14 with the AC on almost 80% of the time with only city use and i have been told that the economy will improve over time after a couple of services.

Gear shifting is smooth most of the times however sometimes while downshifting i feel that the gears dont fall into place automatically as it should while shifting and i'd have to keep in on neural for a tiny second before pushing it in place. this happens especially in the 3rd and 2nd gears but its not something to worry about.

AC is really powerful in this car and i rarely keep the fan speed more than 1 or 2 and sometimes i even needed to turn the thermostat a bit on the warmer side.

The central instrument is a refreshing change from the standard behind the steering design.

The backseat is a little crampy and since i am 6 feet tall and i drive with my driver's seat all the way back, i dont think anyone who is over 5' 10" will be comfortable sitting right behind me. But as i earlier said, its perfect for a family of 4 with 2 small kids on the back seat.

The 170 litre boot space is meager but can still fit in 3 strolleys easily with space to put light stuff on the parcel shelf.

I have driven so far 1000 KMS in the last 15 days of owning the car and i havent had any major problems or complaints. I am about to turn the car in for its first assurance checkup.

I havent taken the car out on a highway yet but will keep a track on its highway performance and the fuel economy and will update the review as soon as i get the necessary data.

Update after 2500 kms

I have driven the car 2500 kms so far in the last one month and a few days of owning the car including a short run on the highway.

Since i was on an express highway with beautiful roads, i decided to check the maximum speed of the car. Surprisingly, the max speed the car was going at was 150 kmph on a full throttle with ZERO vibration. It was an absolutely smooth ride and comfortable ride with the car going between 130 - 150 kmph during the entire journey. Even with that speed, i got a mileage of 15 kmpl with AC on so I am guessing if i drive in economy mode around 90 - 100 kmph on the highway then i should get atleast a mileage of around 17 - 18 kmph which is pretty good for a petrol car.

In the city, it is still giving me a mileage of 13 kmpl with AC on most of the times. I havent done any major servicing yet with the first proper service due only after 5000 kms but the rate at which i am currently using this car, i should have the car ready for servicing in about 2 months. Hopefully the mileage of the car should improve a bit after that service.

I am still absolutely loving the car. Driving it is very comfortable and even during long distances, i dont feel tired at all.

Update 3500 KMS

Its has been 3500 KMS and the car is still rocking. I got a new highway average of 19 KMPL once but that was because it was an express highway and i was driving at a constant speed of 80 KMPH.

Good Fuel Economy, Funky Styling, Great City CarCrampy back seat, meagre boot space