Chevrolet Spark - Owners report

harishnayak · 6th April 2010, 08:03

Even i agree upon this. The AC of my spark is not upto the mark these days. Even my nano is performing better

. I also smell the outside smell with knob in recirculation mode, what could be the reason?

Also i have done around 38000 kms with the spark and the long term review is definately due.[/quote]

My Sparks service is due this week , i'll get it checked and would also enquire about the reason for the same.

I did not bother to bring this to their notice till now.

Ranjimso · 6th April 2010, 22:34

After reading through numerous ownership posts in T-bhp, i advised my friend to book the Chevy Spark. He got the delivery of the car today.

Now what we both overlooked was the fact that the car is for usage in Coorg. He is aware of service issues - ( needs to go back and forth to Mysore) but otherwise, can anyone tell me if there are any disadvantages in terms of maybe GC ( is all i can think of)..anything else to add? I really hope not

Utopian · 6th April 2010, 23:35

The Sparky looks too cute in the Black dress, perfect for the fairer sex. Some interior snaps would be most welcome.
Edify us more regarding the driving experience.

harishnayak · 7th April 2010, 01:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ranjimso

After reading through numerous ownership posts in T-bhp, i advised my friend to book the Chevy Spark. He got the delivery of the car today.

Now what we both overlooked was the fact that the car is for usage in Coorg. He is aware of service issues - ( needs to go back and forth to Mysore) but otherwise, can anyone tell me if there are any disadvantages in terms of maybe GC ( is all i can think of)..anything else to add? I really hope not

Since i studied in mangalore , i did visit coorg way back in 99 and went around in my friends Zen. Although it was not the rainy reason but he did tell me that he prefers to drive around in his Zeep during the rainy reason rather than on the Zen for obvious reasons.

I think Zen and Spark has almost the same GC but Spark id definetely a lot powerful and should manage to get out of bad situations IMO. I don't see any other disadv of this car in a place like coorg.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Utopian

The Sparky looks too cute in the Black dress, perfect for the fairer sex. Some interior snaps would be most welcome.
Edify us more regarding the driving experience.

I will surely post the interior snaps of the car as i recently got new black leather seat covers and a new music system. Looks nice

harishnayak · 7th April 2010, 08:54

Story Continues..

After getting the Pooja done at our temple in the evening i took the car for a spin and was eagerly waiting to get the alloys fitted on to my black beauty.

The next day i went to a alloy wholeseller in moti nagar ( He's a major importer of alloys - he's got more designs than one can even imagine ).

I was into a shock of my life when i told him that i was there to get alloys for my Spark cos he told me that there are no alloys for spark in the pick and bolt category. He told me that to fit the alloys that i had selected ( HR ) i had to get the internal drum of the alloy altered in order to fit the sparks wheel drums. ( This is the best way i can put it across ).

But since i liked those alloys and was ready to go through the grill to get it fixed on my car i bought them ( Rs 10 k ). The best fit for these alloys were apollo aceller as they were recommended in the manual too.

The same evening me and my friend tried looking for a guy who could do what the alloy guy had suggested but was unable to find one even in Karol Bagh so weary and tired i called the alloy guy and asked him the location from where i could get the job done. He suggested me Bharat tyres in south Delhi where i went the very next day and found the guy who could do it.

He charged me Rs 500 for 4 wheels ( this was at a local workshop suggested by Bharat tyres ). After an entire afternoon in sun the tires were finally on the alloys and the alloys on the car..yipee was what my reaction was.

I think the tyres cost me around Rs 2800 per tyre ( tubeless ) and the original ones with the wheel cover went for around Rs 1800.

After all the efforts of going to showroom , booking the car , loan process , delivery , pooja , alloy hunting and alloys fixing here was my baby exactly the way i wanted it to look like..but this feeling was not there for long to stay..story continues..

Attaching few pics soon after the baby got home.hope everyone likes it.

jaysmokesleaves · 7th April 2010, 10:32

Love your moms jet white hair. She would look really Kool in that black Spark.

harishnayak · 7th April 2010, 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Love your moms jet white hair. She would look really Kool in that black Spark.

Thanks for that , i'll let her know

Quote:

Originally Posted by Utopian

The Sparky looks too cute in the Black dress, perfect for the fairer sex. Some interior snaps would be most welcome.
Edify us more regarding the driving experience.

As requested by you here are some pics of the interiors that i took today with my phone cam because currently i'm unable to upload the pics from my digicam.

I will write in more detail about the driving experience shortly , hope you like the interiors.

kkg · 7th April 2010, 16:10

The outer shoulder of your rear tyres are wearing out. May be this has something to do with alloys?? You must have something to say about this i guess.

BTW we are in the same boat. One of my rear wheel worn out from inside few months back.

harishnayak · 7th April 2010, 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by kkg

The outer shoulder of your rear tyres are wearing out. May be this has something to do with alloys?? You must have something to say about this i guess.

BTW we are in the same boat. One of my rear wheel worn out from inside few months back.

Yes , you're right this is mostly because of the alloys and also little bit on my negligence as i did not get the balancing and alignment on time a couple of times.

These tyres wore out when they were placed in the front wheels , upon noticing i shifted them back as it was not too safe in the front. Changing the tyres soon is in my agenda but for now i think its good enough for another 5k kms safely.

Any thoughts on this? When are you planning to change your sparky's tyres??

h14 · 10th April 2010, 11:37

harishnayak, congrats! A nice write-up too

. BTW, I've got a 2009 Spark LS LPG and I've clocked over 9000kms.

I've also put up my experiences and some pictures at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...er-review.html

harishnayak · 11th April 2010, 12:37

@H14 - Congrats on you new buy.

The first 14000 kms were smooth and that is when we decided to do a Delhi - Udaipur - Mumbai - goa - Karnataka - Mumbai - Indore - Delhi trip. Soon after decided to do this trip i noticed slight squeaking noise while braking ( this was in the winters in Nov'08 ).

I took the car to Vikas motors moti nagar from where i bought it for the 15 k 3rd free service and asked the guy to check the noise while braking. I don't think he was very well equipped cos he directly told me that it would be replaced with new ones and they were not under warranty too. IMO the noise was due to the winters as this noise used to come only during Delhi's early morning time. Since he told me that it had to be replaced i got a little bit wary but got it done as we had to go for a real loooong trip.

This service set me back by about 2K. I think the brake pads costed around Rs 1400 ( with labour )

sumeethaldankar · 11th April 2010, 12:50

Hi harish,
nice set of alloys you have there but i am not sure if the wheels of the car had to be modified to fit alloys on it.Neo Alloys have wheels for the spark, check out the link below.I have a 800 fitted with Neo alloys and did not had to go for any change to get them fitted.They were a direct fit.

Neo Wheels : Wheel Match

Also is your car under the free service scheme from GM?

harishnayak · 12th April 2010, 06:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Hi harish,
nice set of alloys you have there but i am not sure if the wheels of the car had to be modified to fit alloys on it.Neo Alloys have wheels for the spark, check out the link below.I have a 800 fitted with Neo alloys and did not had to go for any change to get them fitted.They were a direct fit.

Neo Wheels : Wheel Match

Also is your car under the free service scheme from GM?

Hey Sumeet - Thanks for the compliment , i think you got me wrong , the wheels of the car were not modified it was the alloy which was modified to fit into spark.

Also mine are HR alloys and were not a direct fit somehow at that time :(. Thats a nice link that you provided. I might reconsider fitting different alloys in my car if i manage to get the finances

harishnayak · 12th April 2010, 10:33

My Baby has gone through 2 minor accidents ending up in 3 doors being repainted ( all doors except the drivers door )

Accident 1 - A hit and run civic being chased by a police zypsy banged into the 2 left doors of the sparky while wifey was driving. He still managed to escape and was gone in not time as my wifey described it.

Total Damage - Rs 900 from pocket. In total around 10 k for the denting painting at the GM workshop. 5 days of her resting there , i did not quite like the finishing after i got the delivery but that was the best they had it seems.

Accident 2 - This crazy MCD rickshaw puller ( manual ) with 2 guys sitting behind him whammed full power on a decline near my house ( luckily ) and hit the right back door damaging the door , and the floor rest ( just below the door ). Wifey was driving again and she called me and we were there within no time and could clearly see that it was that guys fault , also many bystanders vouched for that.

My initial reaction was to bash the guy up but gave up the thought as he was injured in the accident too. Sorted out the issue there as there was no point in talking to a poor man like him.

Damage - I think it was around 1500 or so and again another 5 days of rest in the workshop.

Although women drivers are blamed for most of the accidents and Jams but i gave a clean chit to my wife in both the accidents as it was not her fault at all.

I personally believe that the paint quality of GM sucks as after few months i could clearly make out the difference in quality of paint of that of original and the repaint.

Overall i would rate the accident job as poor

Utopian · 12th April 2010, 19:17

OMG!! You should certainly go for cars that have tank like build quality from mow on. All of your beauties have suffered some mishaps, courtesy the ravaging traffic of the capital.
Nice seat covers, I must say.
The central instrument cluster in the Vista and the Spark still looks a bit queer. Cost cutting certainly takes a toll on the ergonomics.

6th April 2010, 08:03	#16
harishnayak Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: DELHI Posts: 1,396 Thanked: 125 Times	Even i agree upon this. The AC of my spark is not upto the mark these days. Even my nano is performing better . I also smell the outside smell with knob in recirculation mode, what could be the reason? Also i have done around 38000 kms with the spark and the long term review is definately due.[/quote] My Sparks service is due this week , i'll get it checked and would also enquire about the reason for the same. I did not bother to bring this to their notice till now.
	() Thanks

6th April 2010, 22:34	#17
Ranjimso BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 116 Thanked: 21 Times	After reading through numerous ownership posts in T-bhp, i advised my friend to book the Chevy Spark. He got the delivery of the car today. Now what we both overlooked was the fact that the car is for usage in Coorg. He is aware of service issues - ( needs to go back and forth to Mysore) but otherwise, can anyone tell me if there are any disadvantages in terms of maybe GC ( is all i can think of)..anything else to add? I really hope not
	() Thanks

6th April 2010, 23:35	#18
Utopian BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: New Delhi Posts: 603 Thanked: 123 Times	The Sparky looks too cute in the Black dress, perfect for the fairer sex. Some interior snaps would be most welcome. Edify us more regarding the driving experience.
	() Thanks

7th April 2010, 08:54	#20
harishnayak Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: DELHI Posts: 1,396 Thanked: 125 Times	Story Continues.. After getting the Pooja done at our temple in the evening i took the car for a spin and was eagerly waiting to get the alloys fitted on to my black beauty. The next day i went to a alloy wholeseller in moti nagar ( He's a major importer of alloys - he's got more designs than one can even imagine ). I was into a shock of my life when i told him that i was there to get alloys for my Spark cos he told me that there are no alloys for spark in the pick and bolt category. He told me that to fit the alloys that i had selected ( HR ) i had to get the internal drum of the alloy altered in order to fit the sparks wheel drums. ( This is the best way i can put it across ). But since i liked those alloys and was ready to go through the grill to get it fixed on my car i bought them ( Rs 10 k ). The best fit for these alloys were apollo aceller as they were recommended in the manual too. The same evening me and my friend tried looking for a guy who could do what the alloy guy had suggested but was unable to find one even in Karol Bagh so weary and tired i called the alloy guy and asked him the location from where i could get the job done. He suggested me Bharat tyres in south Delhi where i went the very next day and found the guy who could do it. He charged me Rs 500 for 4 wheels ( this was at a local workshop suggested by Bharat tyres ). After an entire afternoon in sun the tires were finally on the alloys and the alloys on the car..yipee was what my reaction was. I think the tyres cost me around Rs 2800 per tyre ( tubeless ) and the original ones with the wheel cover went for around Rs 1800. After all the efforts of going to showroom , booking the car , loan process , delivery , pooja , alloy hunting and alloys fixing here was my baby exactly the way i wanted it to look like..but this feeling was not there for long to stay..story continues.. Attaching few pics soon after the baby got home.hope everyone likes it. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

7th April 2010, 10:32	#21
jaysmokesleaves Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mostly Mumbai Posts: 1,702 Thanked: 1,460 Times	Love your moms jet white hair. She would look really Kool in that black Spark. Last edited by jaysmokesleaves : 7th April 2010 at 10:34.
	() Thanks

7th April 2010, 16:10	#23
kkg BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: India,New Delhi Posts: 320 Thanked: 117 Times View My Garage	The outer shoulder of your rear tyres are wearing out. May be this has something to do with alloys?? You must have something to say about this i guess. BTW we are in the same boat. One of my rear wheel worn out from inside few months back.
	() Thanks

10th April 2010, 11:37	#25
h14 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Coimbatore Posts: 916 Thanked: 2,233 Times View My Garage	harishnayak, congrats! A nice write-up too . BTW, I've got a 2009 Spark LS LPG and I've clocked over 9000kms. I've also put up my experiences and some pictures at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...er-review.html
	() Thanks

11th April 2010, 12:37	#26
harishnayak Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: DELHI Posts: 1,396 Thanked: 125 Times	@H14 - Congrats on you new buy. The first 14000 kms were smooth and that is when we decided to do a Delhi - Udaipur - Mumbai - goa - Karnataka - Mumbai - Indore - Delhi trip. Soon after decided to do this trip i noticed slight squeaking noise while braking ( this was in the winters in Nov'08 ). I took the car to Vikas motors moti nagar from where i bought it for the 15 k 3rd free service and asked the guy to check the noise while braking. I don't think he was very well equipped cos he directly told me that it would be replaced with new ones and they were not under warranty too. IMO the noise was due to the winters as this noise used to come only during Delhi's early morning time. Since he told me that it had to be replaced i got a little bit wary but got it done as we had to go for a real loooong trip. This service set me back by about 2K. I think the brake pads costed around Rs 1400 ( with labour )
	() Thanks

11th April 2010, 12:50	#27
sumeethaldankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Mumbai Posts: 3,971 Thanked: 3,413 Times View My Garage	Hi harish, nice set of alloys you have there but i am not sure if the wheels of the car had to be modified to fit alloys on it.Neo Alloys have wheels for the spark, check out the link below.I have a 800 fitted with Neo alloys and did not had to go for any change to get them fitted.They were a direct fit. Neo Wheels : Wheel Match Also is your car under the free service scheme from GM?
	() Thanks

12th April 2010, 10:33	#29
harishnayak Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: DELHI Posts: 1,396 Thanked: 125 Times	My Baby has gone through 2 minor accidents ending up in 3 doors being repainted ( all doors except the drivers door ) Accident 1 - A hit and run civic being chased by a police zypsy banged into the 2 left doors of the sparky while wifey was driving. He still managed to escape and was gone in not time as my wifey described it. Total Damage - Rs 900 from pocket. In total around 10 k for the denting painting at the GM workshop. 5 days of her resting there , i did not quite like the finishing after i got the delivery but that was the best they had it seems. Accident 2 - This crazy MCD rickshaw puller ( manual ) with 2 guys sitting behind him whammed full power on a decline near my house ( luckily ) and hit the right back door damaging the door , and the floor rest ( just below the door ). Wifey was driving again and she called me and we were there within no time and could clearly see that it was that guys fault , also many bystanders vouched for that. My initial reaction was to bash the guy up but gave up the thought as he was injured in the accident too. Sorted out the issue there as there was no point in talking to a poor man like him. Damage - I think it was around 1500 or so and again another 5 days of rest in the workshop. Although women drivers are blamed for most of the accidents and Jams but i gave a clean chit to my wife in both the accidents as it was not her fault at all. I personally believe that the paint quality of GM sucks as after few months i could clearly make out the difference in quality of paint of that of original and the repaint. Overall i would rate the accident job as poor
	() Thanks

12th April 2010, 19:17	#30
Utopian BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: New Delhi Posts: 603 Thanked: 123 Times	OMG!! You should certainly go for cars that have tank like build quality from mow on. All of your beauties have suffered some mishaps, courtesy the ravaging traffic of the capital. Nice seat covers, I must say. The central instrument cluster in the Vista and the Spark still looks a bit queer. Cost cutting certainly takes a toll on the ergonomics.
	() Thanks