Chevy Spark

[bronsin]

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...rk_first_look/

[Killchain]

Yawn.....................Detroit always playing catch up. With Japan.

[DMZ]

The styling is a bit swooshy for me, but my wife might like it.

She has been driving a '04 Aveo for 7 years, also built by Daewoo, and it has been a reliable car. Some of the small plastic parts have broken, but she loves the thing.

GM might sell a modest amount of them if they price it in the $9-$12K range.

Daewoo has yet to match Toyota and Honda in refinement and build quality. So I would willingly pay a bit more for their sub's for that reason.

[jpmck03]

Meh...

[bronsin]

1.2 liter engine. Price not set yet. A SmartCar is $13,000-$19,000. The iQ prelim price is $16,000-$20,000. The dealer says their car is $17,000. So the bottom line is what...$20,000 for that car? A $20,000 iQ bottom line is prolly $24,000. I think my wifes 05 Camry was $22,000 bottom line.

If its really that much Im thinking they will have a large inventory come next fall.

Yeah Im not terribly impressed by Korean cars. My friend bought a 1993 Hyundai and it was in the shop several times a year. When it was out of warranty we went to the junk yard to get parts for it. This might be like 1997. At the junk yard were like a dozen 93s just like his all in a row!

A friend at work had an Aveo. Or did now she has a Suzuki. She had trouble with the Aveo and doesnt have much good to say about them.

For $13,100 out the door bottom line write the check my 2001 ECHO cant be beat. My 09 Yaris Im really not sure because I financed $5000. But it was zero percent interest. You cant beat that.

[thebarber]

you cant hammer on korean quality going on a 93 hyundai, lol

aveo...sure....but we have an 06 aveo that has had NO mechanical issues in the 6 years we've owned it

i just don't think id look seriously at an A-segment car...but given the current other options of the iQ and smart, id opt for a manual transmisisoned spark

what would kill the spark, is shitty fuel economy. our auto aveo gets the same city/hwy economy (9.5L/100km city and 7.5L/100km hwy) as our 6spd vibe gt (2zzge equipped)...which is pretty high for a 1.6L

[Kal-El]

Here's a thread on it from 3 years ago. Amazing that it is still not out. Taking as long to hit US roads as the iQ did.

http://yarisworld.com/forums/showthr...ht=chevy+spark

[kimona]

Small, ugly, lightweight, 1.2L engine... and fuel economy estimated at only 30/40.

[Hershey]

There was a time when a new base model Aveo with the 5 speed manual was less than $8,000 ( or was it $7,000 ? ) . We test drove one for that price and liked the clutch / shifting . At that cost you couldn't go wrong for a second car for around town . Those days are long gone .

[Thirty-Nine]

From my blog—photos of the Spark from the 2012 Portland International Auto Show

Does this 'Spark' your interest?

It is interesting to me that Chevy is dipping its toe into the A-segment. I'm still not 100% sure Americans will buy A-segment cars yet unless they live in urban areas, or just really like small cars. The iQ and upcoming Spark will be the first mainstream entries in the U.S. The ForTwo has been a flop; the Fiat 500's success remains to be seen.

[1stToyota]

Still miss my '08 3dr Yaris (saw it again last week, still looks great)...but after driving a '97 Town Car for over a year I've decided to go back to a little , modern car. I just ordered a red 2013 Chevy Spark 1LT 5-speed, sight un-seen. Photos of it look good (looks more like my old Yaris than the new Yaris does) and I can't wait to play with the 7" touch screen radio. Glad mine has the silver interior trim instead of the body color accents.

[bronsin]

I looked at three Sparks at the dealer this weekend.

These are not cheap cars. MT is $16k at the bottom of the sticker. AT nearly $17k. You might do better bargaining with a Chevy dealer than with Toyota. Thats and these cars are probably not going to sell too well. Although people are FINALLY beginning to shop for mileage when they buy.

The styling inside and out is "busy" Not a good busy either. PArts of the dashboards are painted metal same as the outside of the car.

OVerall my gut reaction upon seeing the car (not driving) is "no".

God knows what a REAL car like a Yaris is going for these days. If it was the same price as the Spark the Yaris gets the nod.

Love the 1.2 liter engine though and would love to ecodrive that puppy!

[b20vteg]

Originally Posted by bronsin

God knows what a REAL car like a Yaris is going for these days. If it was the same price as the Spark the Yaris gets the nod.

i got my 2012 L for $14.5k ($16.5 OTD) including mats and tint.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by b20vteg

i got my 2012 L for $14.5k ($16.5 OTD) including mats and tint.

How about tax? In NJ you add 7%. Whats AZ?

The sticker on the auto equipped Spark in the lot was $16,775. With tax that adds another $1175 for a grand total of ~$18,000!

Yummy!

[b20vteg]

Originally Posted by bronsin

How about tax? In NJ you add 7%. Whats AZ?

tax, title, and licensing ended up being $2k flat. az sales tax is about 9%

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by bronsin

The styling inside and out is "busy" Not a good busy either. PArts of the dashboards are painted metal same as the outside of the car.

OVerall my gut reaction upon seeing the car (not driving) is "no".

God knows what a REAL car like a Yaris is going for these days. If it was the same price as the Spark the Yaris gets the nod.

Love the 1.2 liter engine though and would love to ecodrive that puppy!

Should have driven one. Not going to say that I'm enjoying these first few days with it more than my '08 Yaris when I first got it, but the Spark is fun and feels like it's well-built and precise. I think the Yaris handled better than the Spark, and the doors closed a little easier and sounded better in the Yaris. On the other hand, the Spark has the smoother shifting transmission, no 1st gear launch problems, and no noise from the transmission in reverse. Liked the feel of the steering better in the Yaris, the Spark seems a little bit over-assisted, but that might be able to be adjusted via the touch screen; not sure. If it manages to stay away from the service department as well as the Yaris did I'll be quite happy. I'm under 29 mpg average on my 1st tank (all in-town driving and fuel gauge down to the halfway mark), but that should improve...the salesman let the car idle for nearly 1 hour while he played with the radio and on-star functions.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by 1stToyota

Should have driven one. Not going to say that I'm enjoying these first few days with it more than my '08 Yaris when I first got it, but the Spark is fun and feels like it's well-built and precise. I think the Yaris handled better than the Spark, and the doors closed a little easier and sounded better in the Yaris. On the other hand, the Spark has the smoother shifting transmission, no 1st gear launch problems, and no noise from the transmission in reverse. Liked the feel of the steering better in the Yaris, the Spark seems a little bit over-assisted, but that might be able to be adjusted via the touch screen; not sure. If it manages to stay away from the service department as well as the Yaris did I'll be quite happy. I'm under 29 mpg average on my 1st tank (all in-town driving and fuel gauge down to the halfway mark), but that should improve...the salesman let the car idle for nearly 1 hour while he played with the radio and on-star functions.

Thanks for the post and feel free to post again as you gain experience with the car.

Yeah one thing I couldnt BELIEVE about the Yaris (and my wifes Camry) is the impossible to get the car moving smoothly gas pedal. Gald to hear the Spark doesnt do that.

Anything you have to say about the Spark Id love to hear it.

[fnkngrv]

I would think that there should be some wiggle room on the pricing at the dealer for the Spark. There is no way in hell that it cost GM that much to manufacture unless they are taxed heavily at the docks to bring them in to justify the bump.