Ataristic

Well, I went to the dealer, they drove it around, and blamed it on me coming off the pedal too fast. But just like before, they will not admit that this car is just underpowered and one has to baby the clutch. I even tested it on an uphill, it is absolutely anemic starting uphill, even frightening, It will just not move without giving it some serious revs , over 3000, and even then, it will loose rpms fast.

Mine has the symptoms of clutch chatter, also known as shutter, the clutch begins to skip towards the end of its travel. The only way to mitigate this is to rev really high, around 2000, or modulate clutch and throttle to keep rpm constant. This effect is specially noticeable when moving off from a stop on a mild uphill grade. I will be going to the dealer first thing tomorrow so they can diagnose this. I have never had a manual with clutch chatter. In this spark, the chatter has always been there, hence my journey on trying to find what I was doing wrong, but now it is getting worse.

Just use regular, but watch out for cheap high ethanol gas, some places have ethanol up to 15%, this really kills power and gas mileage. As per the user manual, I only use Shell regular on mine.

Here is what I have received: "Is that electric?" "is that a Smart car?" "Is it three cylinders?" "Are you not afraid of dying in a car crash?" "Who makes this car?" "Why are you driving a girl car?" "Can you drive it on the freeway?"

The only major problem I have experienced was a bad wheel bearing on the rear left wheel. The bearing was replaced under warranty. Another problem I have experienced, and that is by design, is how the clutch is set up on this car, it is very light and travel is very long, first gear is also very tall, so I have had to relearn my driving method to be able to perform smooth take offs, one basically has to modulate the clutch and throttle. Minor gripes would be how the passenger seat rattles, creaking plastic panels when there are temperature changes, Low profile wheels that are easy to scratch,

1. Shorter first gear on manuals, put in a heavier clutch, or at least one that is travel adjustable. This would be an inexpensive option for GM. 2. Put in the 1.2 engine from the Opel Adam, or a down stroked 1.4 from the Sonic, which I think they will eventually do, this would bring up the Spark to compete in power with the Fiat 500 and the Ford Fiesta. 3. More soundproofing, specially on the floor pan 4. Make the hood from fibreglass, this would mitigate the onslaught of rock chips and lower weight even further. 5. Make a spare tire kit optional. 6. Make cruise control optional on LS m

I do not trust goo bottles, it is a true temporary fix when it works,and will require the tire to be serviced later to remove the goo. As soon as I got the Spark, I bought a tire plug kit. Most flats will be caused by nails on the road, which is easily fixed by a plug kit, and will not require the tire to be serviced further, like the goo would. I also purchased a tire inflator with higher CFM than the included one, and a good pair of needle nose vice grips. I have used this kit with most cars I have owned, even with ones that did have a spare, never have I had to bring out the spare.

The best thing to do, is get an appraisal at Carmax first, expect them to low ball. My LS with 9500 miles was appraised for $9000, the cool thing is that once you have this sheet of paper, whatever dealer you go to, will have to maneuver around the Carmax offer. One thing to remember is to absolutely reject any offers from dealers who would have you sell your car to Carmax instead of matching or besting the Carmax appraisal, if they bring that up, take your business elsewhere.

Did not work for me at my purchase dealer, Ron Craft Chevrolet in Baytown Texas. It really depends on the dealer, some never check web page appointments, I reckon the app uses the same method. I find it best to just call using the old fashioned phone.

This is the method I have been using for years, but it just does not seem to agree with my Spark, how much RPM's do you first set your throttle to? I find the method you have described only works well for me if I set throttle at 2000rpm on a flat surface, which seems high for me, then again, I have never owned a car with such a tiny engine. The method i have had more success with is the UK driving school method: set throttle at 1500 move clutch to biting point and hold add more throttle roll off clutch Even if it does work, this method just seems to involved, too many steps and too much t

at 9500 miles, I was being offered $9000 at Carmax for my LS, does not seem like a great deal. I will have to take more bites off this note before I consider anything else. Owning the Spark has been an experience of ups and downs, I get to the point where I feel I can live with it, and then something new pops up. I have mostly mastered the horrible clutch setup on on the Spark, I still have to think about it way too much though, and now, I am getting creaking from interior panels and rattling from the passenger seat. I know this is a cheap car, but come on GM, you could not put more glue or so

I am feeling the urge to give up on the Spark too. One of the reasons I bought it is that some reviews considered similar to Honda Civic's of the 90's. I owned a 95 Civic dx manual, best car I have ever owned, easy to take off, plenty of power, great fuel economy. I have not had the problems with the A/C, but the thing I just cannot get over is how horrible the clutch/gearing/torque is set up on this thing. Never had I had to think so much about moving off from a stop as I have had with the Spark. Having driven manuals for life, I have not had stalls, but I just hate how if one does not rev up

I think they method I have posted will help you. I was having the same problem you are, and It came down to the fact that the clutch on these cars has no feel, so it is very easy to miss the bite point and actually release the clutch too much, which will cause the shuddering. These cars are meant to be slipped, all cars are to a certain extent, but specially in cars with very low torque such as the Spark, this is why the clutch travel is so long, to encourage clutch slippage.

hood paint chips are a big problem on the Spark because of its sloped shape, the quality of the factory paint does not help either, I had a ton of them on my Salsa red. The easiest solution is to call the dealer parts department, give them the last 8 digits of your VIN, and ask for "Touch up paint". It should be around $15. Its in the pen form as aftermarket touch up paints, but it also includes a brush. The paint color is perfectly matched. Wash and dry the affected parts before applying. The paint is very runny, so you want to have plenty of paper towels to wipe off excess, and just dab it i

I was having the same problem.

1. Cant help with this one 2. Shift indicator is supposed to indicate the best time to shift based on engine load, but it is seldom accurate in any car, let alone the Spark. It is better to just shift up around 2500 for best fuel economy or higher if needed for acceleration 3. Sparks have a temperature trouble light, Sparks sold overseas are the same way.

Update I have been using the previously mentioned technique, but the process was still bothering me, it just seemed unnatural for a life long manual driver, and that I was putting undue strain on the clutch, so I decided to do some exhaustive comparative research that I could share with you all. I first went to the Chevrolet dealership to drive a 2014 Spark, they drive identically to my 2013 so I can rule out clutch problems. I asked the Chevy saleswoman about the proper technique to overcome the shuddering, I asked her to drive the 2014, she was no better at preventing the shuddering than I

I felt they where trying too hard to be a B movie. A "good" B movie is one that is made with the highest film making expectations , but turns out to be terrible, such as "the room." Movies like Sharknado are intentionally made to be bad are too self aware, and serve up only the cheapest form of audience pandering.

I sold my 95 Honda civic Dx with 175k miles on it in 2011, it had a bunch of water leaks and the A/C and clutch where starting to go out, so it was time to let it go. So I purchased a 2004 Chevrolet Colorado with 50k miles on it, bad mistake. I went from 35mpg average to 22 mpg. The truck was the completely bare bones fleet version, which would not have been that bad, until little problems started to pop up;bad cam position valve, leaking valve cover, bad throttle position sensor. I purchased the truck with a powertrain service plan, but they consistently found "nothing wrong with it." I knew

26mph, I don't even understand the purpose of having this readout instead of something useful, like coolant temperature.

Mine is the Tomato, as it is red and looks like a Roma tomato on its side with cheap Goodyear tires attached to it.

Check your oil when the car is cold and on a level surface. The oil should be somewhere in the cross hatched area, but never above the indented spots. Check the color of your oil, new oil is clear brown, used oil is dark brown but should still be translucent. If your oil is light brown and not translucent, looks like cappuccino, this means coolant is leaking into the oil, bad head gasket. If they oil color is translucent but your oil is above the indented spots, it means your oil has been overfilled at the factory or the dealer. Overfilled oil is a bad thing, it can blow the front or rear cr

Finally got the car back yesterday, 2/20/2014. The problems was the left rear wheel hub (driver side). The howling noise is now gone. Surprising how a bad bearing can add to the already excessive amount of noise we get in these cars. Even though the problem has been fixed, this experience has completely eroded my confidence in this car. I normally own cars past 100k miles or even more, never have I had a bad wheel bearing until now. I can understand how cheap plastic parts can go bad on a new car, but bearings are supposed to be built with hardened steels and machined to tight tolerances, capa

At least they let me have a 2014 Malibu LS as a loaner, other than the intense cigarette smell, this Malibu is a very nice car. Who knows how long its going to take to get my Spark back, in the mean time, I guess I will be "Malibuing" with almost no cabin noise, 35mpg, and a sound system that actually has some bass. I will update here as soon as I get word from the dealer on the Spark.

Depending on how recent your Spark is, it will take time for the inner exhaust surfaces to cure, that is, to form a patina, or coating, until this happens, you will get a metallic smell out of the exhaust, the smell is similar to leaving a non coated pan on the stove too long.My car had that smell for about the first 5000 miles, its pretty much gone by now at 7000