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Middle Aged Spark Owner


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Howdie all,

I just purchased a 2013 Pink Spark for my wife. We are not the average buyer. We are 53 and 47, empty nesters, and we purchased the Spark because we would rather put our $$ in new condo rentals, and retirement investments. We don't believe that cars are investments.

We like the way it drives, the features, and value it offers for the money. We like the MPG too.

There are better cars that are of higher quality, and MPG, but they're often much more expensive.

In short, we bought the Spark for it's value, and it's bigger bang for your buck factor.

The Spark is too new to know just how reliable it will be, so that is the gamble for us: reliability.

We also have a 2007 Toyota Yaris, with 160,000 miles. We have paid $0.00 for repairs to that car. The Yaris gets the same mileage as our Spark, yet has much more HP, bigger engine, and is even lighter in weight then the Spark.

So yes, we have been spoiled by Toyota ownership. We hope our new Spark will deliver similar reliability and economy.

We'd have bought another Yaris, but the best deal for similar features was over $17,000!!! This is way too much $$!! My 2007 cost us just $13,800 out the door. It's no surprise Yaris is now very expensive because it has made the list of the top 10 most reliable cars in the world.

So two things: Will the Spark live up to our expectations? Will the Spark's lack of power become an issue for us?

Anyways, glad to be here with you all!!

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Welcome! I'm also a Toyota fan, a friend of mine had 2 Echoes and one Yaris. The current Yaris has 330k miles on it's original engine and auto transmission. I was put off on the price of a new Yaris, as well as the new Hyundai Accent, so I bought the Spark. Check reviews of Chevrolet dealers before you visit their service departments, some dealers are good, many are bad. If your used to the treatment at Toyota dealers, you maybe appalled by GM dealers. I finally found a good dealer who took care of a couple minor unresolved issues after multiple attempts at another dealer. These small, quirky cars actually appeal more to the adult and mature crowd than the younger crowd, like the Yaris and Scion XB did.

Edited by austex04
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I got a 5spd for the gf's Spark. More fun, better MPG, and it seems to pull better. My parents both got Sparks with autos, to save on gas, as they are both on the road for work constantly. I find the auto can't get out of it's own way. The 5spd is more tolerable.

Intake and exhaust have been dyno proven to add 8-10 HP, and when you have 80ish HP, that's a big deal.

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Welcome to the forum. I am 46 years old and love this car. I know it is going through some growing pains, as most new model release's do when being sold in the U.S. I am hoping that General Motors will step up and make good on their commitiment to not only their customers, but actual investors as our tax money helps keep this company going.

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  • 2 months later...

Welcome. My wife has a pink '13 spark and my daily is a '10 yaris sedan. The yaris is definetly reliable as gravity and much faster. I tend to get mid 40s on average beating the hell out of it. We love the spark so far, and mid 30s in this cold air so far with runaround town stuff. Worlds better then her previous '95 protege (faster then that too).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Welcome All and Marry Christmas. Just signed in, checking things out. I purchased a 2013 Spark yeasterday, Christmas Eve,,, pick it up Saturday,, considering undercoating it. I'm 60yo, with a few more years to work I needed some gas savings, 60 miles round trip every day to work. Was driving a 2003 Selverdo 2500.. I used to have a Geo Metro, several years ago, ran it 13 years till bottom rusted out. That was a good work car. So I'm here to listen and discuses any tips or tricks for my Spark. Thanks for the forum, I will keep in touch......

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  • 2 weeks later...

Welcome to the forum lovcom and congrats on the new Spark! Please feel free to email me at socialmedia@gm.com or send me a private message if you have any questions or need any assistance.

Jackie

Chevrolet Customer Care

OK, so you are a marketing person with GM, I truly hope you are pushing support to get on top of these nagging problems that many of use are experiencing! The glad handing does nothing but make us all resent the company more, we want more than "welcome, glad you bought a Chevy".

I haven't looked at all the "new posts" from last time I was here, but was that it from Chevrolet?

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