Chevy Spark

[nookandcrannycar]

Will never buy a GM or Chrysler car post bailout. One of the previously paramount reasons people loved to invest their money (from near and far) in this country is that we could be counted on re rule of law when compared to other countries. In a public corporation, the common stockholder's equity evaporates first, then Preferred, and the bondholders are at the end of that line. The bondholders re GM and Chrysler were told to stick it where.....and equity was given to the unions instead.

[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.

[TPA5]

Eh, it's kinda ugly. The entire front styling reminds me of the receding hairline of a middle-aged banker. Bleh.

[thebarber]

i sat in one the other week

i REALLY want to like the car, but some design features are just kind of dumb. like if you want the rear seats to fold, you need to flip up the bottom. in order for the bottom to fully flip up, you need to move the front seats forward. if i move the front seats forward, i have no room to sit (im about 6' tall).

also, while in canada the pricing STARTS at 13495 (12995 in the US) once you get up into the 1LT package to get cruise and some other nice options, you jump to 16795 or so....so its up in the b-segment price range....and id rather have the additional space..

[yarisugi]

Originally Posted by thebarber

i REALLY want to like the car, but some design features are just kind of dumb. like if you want the rear seats to fold, you need to flip up the bottom. in order for the bottom to fully flip up, you need to move the front seats forward. if i move the front seats forward, i have no room to sit (im about 6' tall).

Wow, that sounds really stupid! Why would someone spend all that time just to fold down seats? Engineers I tell ya. lol.

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by bronsin

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.

Thanks. One thing I did notice that Toyota does way better...the carpet and the plastic trim in the hatch area of the Yaris was nicer, but most things appear to be very close in quality, so far. The Spark doesn't feel under-powered at all to me. That surprised me.

Originally Posted by thebarber

i sat in one the other week

i REALLY want to like the car, but some design features are just kind of dumb. like if you want the rear seats to fold, you need to flip up the bottom. in order for the bottom to fully flip up, you need to move the front seats forward. if i move the front seats forward, i have no room to sit (im about 6' tall).

also, while in canada the pricing STARTS at 13495 (12995 in the US) once you get up into the 1LT package to get cruise and some other nice options, you jump to 16795 or so....so its up in the b-segment price range....and id rather have the additional space..

Good thing I don't live in Canada (well, not really. I love Canada...) because my OTD price for the 1LT was $14,454.00 ... a good $3K savings over the local Yaris that was similar in options. And the seat design didn't factor in for me because I doubt I'll ever lower the rear seats anyway. I might have lowered the rear seats in my Yaris, once, maybe.