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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm 6'1, 240 pounds and fit fine. In the 3 rental Sparks I've driven. Unfortunately I would not even consider buying one. GM has shot theirself in the foot again. The Spark is not a Chevy at all, it is a Korean made Daewoo. Of all the third world car companies American brands have used to build cars for them to keep the price down, Daewoo is the worst of the bunch, and not buy any small amount. For anyone looking for as nice late model transportation car, take a look at used Kia Soul. For the price of a base model Spark, you can buy a 2 year old 20,000+ mile Soul, if you buy from a privater seller, and avoid the nearly $2,000 in sales tax, doc fees, and other add ons. The Soul is a real 200,000+ mile car if properly treated and maintained. I doubt I will ever live to see 200,000 miles out of a Spark. Just go compare. The Soul is a solid, substantial car. Slam the door on a Spark and it feels like it is going to fall off. And if you want a 1LT with CVT and cruise control, just watch how fast the price gets close to $20,000.

I set my price limit on a new/used car at $10,000 for a reason. You can save a fortune if you buy from a private seller (no dealer sales tax or all their huge pile of add on fees. You avoid several several thousand %%% on initial depreciation. You literally get the car for $10,000. So yo probably don't need to finance. More thousands saved in interest and not having to pay for full coverage. So, I got my 2006 Miata automatic/cruise control for $10,000, and pay a lousy $72 a month insurance on it. Yeah, I'll move onto a Soul, but right now, playing with such low numbers, I decided. The insurance will drop to about half with a Soul.

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Actually it is a Chevy since Daewoo hasn't existed since the early 2000's and was completely bought out by GM during that time. They kept the Daewoo name only in Korea up till around 2010 because it was what the Korean people were familiar with. Keep in mind that the Kia Soul is also made in Korea.

You keep running the Spark down solely on what you have read. Renting one means nothing. Then you keep recommending a car that again, you have never owned and have just read about.

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bob why are you even on here?! trolling car forums do you work for kia or something?.. talking about 2 cars you've never owned.. i got a 2LT with taxes fees gap insurance all that other good stuff for under 18k. a base soul with just an added automatic trans, spoiler youre at $19k already before any taxes or anything else. I'd never buy either of these cars used, or any used car that wasn't a classic car.. that being said I just had a spark rental for 2 weeks with 37k miles on it and it drove better than my new one.. got better with miles on it.. maaan take your non spark driving kia soul loving self over to the soul forum

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Bob, this is a Spark discussion forum, for Spark enthusiasts to do just what it says.....discuss. You're posts have gone way beyond discussing. There is no censorship on this forum, but you are taking it over the top. You've made it quite clear, that you hate the Spark, by injecting your constant criticism into any topic you can, having never owned a Spark, you are in no position to give Spark owners any first hand knowledge,now give it a rest, or move along.

Edited by WaltK
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At the beginning of this forum site Large Bob did have some good mechanical opinions, but, now after his bad experience with the blown Sonic tranny, it's mostly recommending any car he has never owned other than the Spark he has driven a bit but never owned.

I think that all members like to hear info based on fact and lately there has been very little of that from the 'large Bob'. Saying things like Sparks are not GM because they are built in one of the the former Daewoo facilities, now owned by GM..well, it's just misleading and some users may fall for that, do unnecessary research and start to lose confidence in what members say on this site. We have lots of members asking about this that and the other and those of us who can answer based on fact and/or experience are helpful and can mostly be taken on their advise being accurate or their best guess based on their knowledge/experience. What I am trying to say is that a lot of 'Big Bob's' posts are not accurate or based on anything other than his feelings toward the Spark or GM..this kinda damages the 'trust' factor of this forum site.

You now have a Miata and I'm sure the Miata forums could welcome your experience with that car and your traditional automotive knowledge. Nuff said...

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Dog pile on the wabbit.....! :)

Bob, you should know better than to say anything at all against the Spark here.

All opinions are welcome, as long as they aren't negative, or offend the delicate sensibilities of the Spark owners here.

You'll offend the little old ladies and give them the vapors! :hysterical:

Edited by Gossamer
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Dog pile on the wabbit.....! :)

Bob, you should know better than to say anything at all against the Spark here.

All opinions are welcome, as long as they aren't negative, or offend the sensibilities of the Spark owners here.

You'll offend the little old ladies and give them the vapors! :hysterical:

Then there's this guy ^^^^ but at least he owns a spark so his negative comments are out of experience not out of his ass.

Lol, you guys are too much.

But I have to agree with Walt. It's one thing with first hand experience to voice opinion then to just bash with a few rentals.

I have been down the road with some issues and things said in the moment of being pissed off at the Spark.

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The funny thing is that I have never actually been "pissed off at the Spark".

It doesn't bother me if a new car has some "quirks".

What pisses me off is that the problems don't get fixed.

Don't tell me that when its 88 degrees inside my car with the A/C running that it "operates as designed" or that there's nothing wrong when the car is all over the road, or when I'm getting 24 MPGs that it's the way I drive (especially since I drove a truck for 30 years and have received awards for saving fuel), and so on and so forth.

This is not the first car I owned with problems - far from it.

But at least the problems were addressed by the dealerships and or the company.

I just told someone that was in the car with me tonight that if they would fix the damn thing (or replaced it like they said they would) I would LOVE the car!

Edited by Gossamer
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The funny thing is that I have never actually been "pissed off at the Spark".

It doesn't bother me if a new car has some "quirks".

What pisses me off is that the problems don't get fixed.

Don't tell me that when its 88 degrees inside my car with the A/C running that it "operates as designed" or that there's nothing wrong when the car is all over the road, or when I'm getting 24 MPGs that it's the way I drive (especially since I drove a truck for 30 years and have received awards for saving fuel), and so on and so forth.

This is not the first car I owned with problems - far from it.

But at least the problems were addressed by the dealerships and or the company.

I just told someone that was in the car with me tonight that if they would fix the damn thing (or replaced it like they said they would) I would LOVE the car!

I'm surprised that after all the well documented and serious issues you have had with your Spark that GM HQ has not stepped up and forced the dealer to fix your very real problems, specially the oil burning issue you reported in previous posts.

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Actually, the oil burning was the one issue I haven't had! :)

As far as GM HQ goes, they have been as useless as the dealer.

The dealership mechanics say the vehicle is "operating as designed" (the usual BS), and GM said that they are "certified" mechanics and I'm not.

The best is that the car is out of alignment (according to their own mechanics) but since it is the rear that is out, and there is no adjustments for the rear, there is "nothing" they can do, so they are actually letting me drive around in a car that their own mechanics deemed unsafe.

Now I might not be a "certified mechanic" (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express), but I do know that if a vehicle is out of alignment (front or rear), it will make the vehicle unsteady and cause excessive wear on the tires, bearings, and suspension.

I hope I didn't offend anyone with the "negativity" in this post. ;)

Edited by Gossamer
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Have you taken somewhere else to have the alignment checked? I would be curious to know what a front end shop thought. I find it hard to believe that the rear can't be aligned. I was doing some searching and Rock Auto lists rear alignment shims for the 2015 so they should work on your 2013.

http://130.94.64.193/dbphp/x,carcode,3308760,parttype,10657,d,2015_CHEVROLET_SPARK_1.2L_L4_Alignment_Shim.html

Edited by Ray Dockrey
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  • 1 year later...
On 4/5/2015 at 3:26 PM, Big-Bob said:

 For anyone looking for as nice late model transportation car, take a look at used Kia Soul. For the price of a base model Spark, you can buy a 2 year old 20,000+ mile Soul, if you buy from a privater seller, and avoid the nearly $2,000 in sales tax, doc fees, and other add ons. The Soul is a real 200,000+ mile car if properly treated and maintained. I doubt I will ever live to see 200,000 miles out of a Spark. Just go compare. The Soul is a solid, substantial car. Slam the door on a Spark and it feels like it is going to fall off. And if you want a 1LT with CVT and cruise control, just watch how fast the price gets close to $20,000.

 

I bought a brand new 2017 Spark LS with CVT and drove it out of the dealership for $7674.86

That includes sales tax, documentation fee, everything. And I get 36,000 miles bumper to bumper warranty with road service, and 50,000 miles power train warranty, with a few free oil changes thrown in by GM. Any used car purchased from a private owner has zero such benefits. My net cost includes $3000 trade-in for my 2007 Pontiac G5 with engine issues (check engine light indicating misfire in cylinder #1 and Traction malfunction messages. I prefer trade in with dealer because then I do not have to deal with buyers who are strangers, and all the associated issues.

 

I just went past 500 miles on the Spark LS, and I love driving it. The 2017 model is solid as a rock, and all doors close with solid thump. I like the rear view camera, built-in On-star membership, and love the color. I am sure the Kia Soul is a good car, but I would have serious trouble driving it out of the dealership for $7675 with trade-in.  

 

16k2ybm.jpg

 

Edited by Bobby MSME
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14 hours ago, Ray Dockrey said:

You replied to a two year old thread exactly to the day lol. 

lol you know what they say..better late than never! Anyway, the original poster probably is gone from the forum, but I was trying to show the 2017 Spark is a good bargain. That GM credit card we use saved us $3000 in cash towards the Spark purchase. It credits 5% rebate on every use, towards new GM cars purchase. Make the best deal at the dealer, and then pull out the GM card for instant price reduction. 

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In the long run, specially for people buying every 3-5yrs or so this is good advise. If you are willing to go for a little dealing, you can usually get a fairly big discount..may take a few walk aways, but it is doable, more so for the higher priced units. Never pay sticker price. I do this even for a new watch or last one was a new boat engine. Add those up and you save quite a bit! And as Bobby says don't pull out any coupons or cards until you have the dealer/retailer down to your price. Always go into these things showing the attitude that you really are not all that interested in the item/car.

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