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So I'm no longer a spark owner here's why...


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Couple of points.

I now have two Sparks and like them, however, I do have to agree with Greg_E that there seems to be quality control issues with these models. I researching when we were buying the first one we had driven no less than six sparks in differant configurations, and the quality and even performance of the individual cars varied wildly. The one we ended up getting was the most solid of the bunch and on the dealers lot, so we were dealing on (as much as you can tell) a known quantity.

Issues we observed in some of the six were:

  • Distinct lack of power compared to other Sparks in one
  • Poor paint finish on that same car
  • One that had the shifting gates favored to one side, so much so that when you shifted into 1st the shifting lever would scrape along side the bezel holding the shifter boot
  • Grabby clutch on another

Of the six we test drove, only three I considered buyable. One of those had an automatic, but we were looking for a manual, so that narrowed the field quite a bit.

So I would agree that the design seems adequate, but that QA has suffered.

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  • 2 weeks later...

37K is nothing. If it won't reach 200K with only a few problems (not including engine replacement) it is not for me. My '01 Malibu has 187K, and I see no problem with it making it to 200. Those are mostly highway miles. Whatever I buy, I plan on averaging over 25K per year.

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  • 2 years later...

this is a old post, mine is almost 40,000 miles, except for bad rotor and worn spark plugs no issues whatsover, im down here in central america, Guatemala to be exact, I use mine everyday, its a 2013 5speed, i drive around 30 miles everyday and no issues. I do believe this is not a car for long trips or many years, i will use mine for only 4 years so wont deal with major issues then.

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