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Bobby MSME

Spark Member
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Everything posted by Bobby MSME

  1. CVT fuel economy is proven to be better than conventional automatic tranny's but not necessarily better than manual. But look at the hundreds of clutch shifts needed on every commute through city traffic with a manual.. Over 3 years of driving my 2017 Spark LS with CVT has been a joy. Note that I have owned manual shift cars before. Those are fine if you drive mostly on highways a lot. The fuel cost of driving a Spark CVT is so low anyways. A fillup on less than $15 good for 300+ miles?
  2. I think you are right. The 2017 Spark barely keeps us cool in Florida summers, but the 2011 Chevy HHR has way better A/C, never had the A/C serviced since it still works great. You can make ice with it inside the car LOL. However the 2017 the Spark A/C is adequate for an economy car. It at least keeps passengers not sweat to death in very hot and very humid Florida summer heat.
  3. How many miles on the car? If over 100k, probably time to trade it in. Otherwise if mechanical condition is good and low mileage, find a good repair shop (not dealer).
  4. When I trade in my 2017 Spark LS, it will probably be another new Spark. This car is perfect for running around in the city. The only drawback of this small car is, if you have 4 people in the car, there is no space for suitcases. With 2 people, no problem whatsoever.
  5. I don't see the need for a blind spot option with added price to the car, but I would like to be able to switch on the rear view camera while driving, to be able to turn on/off by command. That is probably a software change, and would not add to the price of the car.
  6. So I just got my new Chevy spark 2014 and the battery indicator was blinking since I left the drivers lot. I googled trying to understand why it was blinking if it's a brand new car is something wrong. I learned about transport mode and the dealer never turned it off transport mode. Transport mode apparently is turned on by the dealers so the battery isn't drained by the cars computers during transport First turn the car on turn on hazard light press and hold the brake pedal and then turn the ignition key and hold it as if you are trying to start the car after about 5-10 second
  7. Wishing all Spark owners current, past and future, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and keep driving that fun to drive little car called Spark in 2020, and beware of idiot drivers who will cut you off because the Spark looks small and harmless.
  8. I still have the original wipers on my 2017 Spark LS, and still working fine. But may be because I am in Florida and there is no snow, no road salt, no freezing temps, etc. The rains here not ubiquitous. The car has been parked outside for 2.5 years in the hot Florida sun since my condo did not have a garage. Now living in a house with 2 car garage.
  9. After nearly 3 years of driving my Spark LS 2017, these are the items I like the most about this car: 1. Size....big enough inside but so easy to park in small spaces. A great example of this was at the St Augustine Beach. On one popular day at the beach, every one of the 500 or so parking slots were full, except one very narrow space was open, where apparently no one was able to park. Parked there easily! 2. Rear view camera....so great to see what is behind the car before turning my head 180 degrees, my 79 year old neck thanks the car. It even shows the exact track where my ca
  10. Sounds just like my 9 lb Lhasa.. here in her Florida summer haircut http upload image
  11. If you can remove that little white plastic shaft, take it to a small machine shop, and they should be able to duplicate it for you. It is not necessary that exact same material be used to produce a replacement part. For such a small part, weight is not an issue so even a metal part would be OK.
  12. How does one reach that latch? From the rear door? That would not be convenient. My 2017 Spark LS has a cover over the trunk area, which would be in the way to reach the latch.
  13. If you live where they use salt on roads during winter, rust will be a problem. Same if you live near any ocean. So good thinking. I used to do the same thing during my 37 years in Chicago area...throw in cans of rust fighters in every hole and nook and cranny under and around the lower part of car. I am now too old to do car maintenance even though physically I can do it, but let some one else crawl under the car and get hands dirty haha. I just had full synthetic oil change done at dealer on Wednesday, for $53 including tax and disposal, and that includes tire rotation and washing the
  14. Thanks, I will look for chain oil, probably in a auto parts store.
  15. Makes sense since lube property of oil does not wear off for lots of miles. If engine is doing clean burning and not mis-firing, and not doing frequent short trips (which can cause rust inside engine from water condensate not evaporating off with an engine reaching operating temperature) oil can remain good for as many as 50,000 miles. . On the other hand the filter gets clogged with stuff and when changed, helps oil from getting contaminated with carbon particles, which is the main reason to change oil.
  16. What type of lube to you use on door hinges? Grease, oil or something else?
  17. Most posts here deal with problems owners are having with their Spark. It gives one the impression these cheap little Korean imports have lots of problems. My guess is there are many more Spark owners out there who have experienced very few problems. I hope you will take time to post your "good" experience, age and miles driven etc. My 2017 Spark had only one very minor issue, both front doors squeak while opening. Other than that it is running like a clock, very smooth idle, good acceleration, no leaks, no lights burned out. My oil life monitor is at 7% s
  18. I found this OldGearHead's post from 2017...might be relevant for your issues, especially the PCV valve issue with 2013 Sparks. "Just the flashing CEL is an emission issue...could be misfiring due to fouled plug, bad coil, fouled MAS and a whole host of mostly non-critical issues. Does the engine idle smoothly? Does it drive OK with normal power..if so, you can most likely drive the distance to a dealer. I am assuming you had the PCV recall done? "
  19. My seat of the pants guess is dirty carbon deposits on valves. That will cause misfiring and CEL (Check Engine Light) to pop up. Has a compression check been made? How about the spark plugs & coil? First try using something like Seafoam engine cleaner. Since the car was properly serviced, engine wear is unlikely cause. If that does not work, Find a good mechanic shop and have the valves cleaned if dirty or replaced if pitted and burned. Should be lot less expensive than a new engine.
  20. Ray Dockrey, I value your your opinions, so do you think all 3 grades of gasoline's (regular, mid, premium) at every pump have the same amounts of cleaners and detergents, or the premium grade has more of them?
  21. Engine oil has 3 basic functions. 1. Lubricate moving parts 2. Transfer out some of the tremendous heat created inside internal combustion engine 3. prevent premature corrosion inside engine. If oil is not contaminated by carbon dust, looks clear, and has no burning smell, then Item #1 is never going to be a problem for 100,000 miles. If you drive mainly longer longer than 5 mile trips, and drive your car at least 3 times a week, item #3 is not going to be a problem for 50,000 miles. Even dirty oil will transfer heat out of the engine into the oil tank w
  22. I do not understand why even change transmission fluid at all! Unlike the engine oil which is subject to high temperatures of combustion and carbon particles, transmission fluid is in a sealed environment and does not lose lubricating qualities at all no matter how old. As for the filter in transmission, again the only thing it is necessary is to catch metal particles from wear or loose metal particles from manufacturing process. Unless your car has been used to pull extra loads or mountainous driving, the filter should be good for 100k miles or more. During my 60 years of driving
  23. I owned only used cars with manual transmissions until 1964, when I bought a new 1964 Corvair with manual tranny. It had lots of engine issues. So I traded it for a 1967 new Chevy Impala with Automatic and never bought a manual transmission again since I never had a single repair issue with automatics over 55 years of driving them. But those manual transmissions I have owned had throwout bearing issues, slipping clutch issues, gear shift sticking issues. Based on my 60 years experience driving cars, automatic transmissions are the best thing invented since sliced bread. But the CVT is a diff
  24. My 2017 Spark LS came with a mini-spare tire from the factory. And so you are correct, there is space for a mini-spare tire. I know it is there under the cover because I just checked air pressure and it was at 40 psi. I pumped it up to 60 psi.
  25. Next time just ask ALEXA to do whatever need done
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