My Chevy Spark.
This is going to be one of my longer COALs. There are two reasons for this: One is that I have fairly strong feelings towards this car, two is that nobody would give this car a second chance. I am a thrilled owner of a Chevy Spark; I bet you’ve never heard that one before. So how did I come upon this sub-compact and more importantly, how does it blend into my life? What makes it one of my favorite cars of a lifetime?
This all goes back to my former job in which I was traveling a lot. During these trips I would receive a rental car to transport me and my equipment. Usually I would end up with an SUV, but as always the car lot is what determines what you end up in. I wasn’t going to have the car too long and I wasn’t going to be carrying much. Scouring the lot before I walked into the office I tried to determine what I might receive. There was a car that caught my eye, a little black Chevy Spark sitting in the corner. I’m one who would rather end up with something memorable than good, so if I didn’t like my prospects with the vehicle I was assigned to I was going to ask to switch. After all, who’s going to deny a man asking to be placed into the “worst” car in the parking lot?
My rental Spark. A 2022 LT trim finished in black
When it was my turn I was to be sentenced to a base model Toyota Corolla. While certainly not a bad car, I determined that more thrills would be had in the pint sized sub-compact than a dull rental car Toyota. I popped the question, and after everyone in the rental agency had finished laughing at me I was handed the keys to it. Immediately, I was filled with joy.
The size of the car is staggeringly small, especially by modern day standards. Measuring 143”x63”x58” (LxWxH) it is something of a novelty. Even with my brain calibrated for Miatas and 80’s cars, it cracked me up. That’s more than a foot shorter than an ’88 Honda Civic hatch and several inches narrower. One of the first things I did on my way out of the parking lot was squeeze by traffic piled up at a light. Often enough you’re expected to wait for traffic heading straight to make a right turn at the light because they’re taking up too much of the split lane. Not in the Spark. Stroking that fancy of mine (the one that’s filled with motorcycle itches), I made plans to meet up with my friends to see what they thought of it.
It’s a rather basic looking car, but it has its merits. The design is hardly offensive bordering on cute, it’s small, seats four, and offers four cup holders. So what’s to stop us from taking it out? Packed with four people and a tank full of gas we went out driving. The car is slow but nimble. Throwing it around corners, it clung to the road with its narrow tires but gave positive feedback for the efforts. Lift off understeer was controllable with understeer when pushed. Impressed, we kept our night going heading out into the countryside. At speed the car rides like a real car and the CVT wasn’t too obtrusive. Curious we seeked to find its limits.
Brakes saw little to no fade. Despite having a split setup disk brake front and drums in the back, it held up even with the extra weight in the car. Perhaps that’s because the car is lightweight itself. Weighing less than my Miata at just over 2300lbs, the car is in a small class of modern cars (pun intended). This is all while providing 10 airbags if something were to go wrong at the humble speeds it could meager. With a manual handbrake and a lax traction control it quickly learned to scandi-flick the corners and handbrake those with less momentum but often failed to power out with any haste.
The mighty ECOTEC branding makes it into the Spark replacing the old S-TEC
Power is provided through a 98 Horsepower 4 cylinder saddled to the CVT transmission. This is on GM’s updated 1.4 liter engine used on their Korean products like Spark, Sonic, Cruz, and Trax. What makes this one unique is that it lacks the turbo that engine is known for. This provides it with the unique ability of being reliable (unlike its GM counterparts). We’ll get back to that later though.
Impressed, we called it a day as I dropped them off and filled up the tank. Despite driving around like a hooligan the car averaged upper thirty miles per gallon for fuel economy. This struck a chord in me that I hadn’t really felt since the Miata. It was a small little car that enjoyed being tossed around, something that I didn’t have to worry about breaking. I drove it for work the next couple of days and returned it a better man. They were surprised to see that I liked the car. So it’s only natural that when the very next time the scenario happened I would try out its arch-rival the Mitsubishi Mirage.
My Rental Mirage. Check out those generic hubcaps
I received the Mirage as a rental car a couple of months later expecting to be wowed like I was with the Spark. It had been on the market for just as long and had a 3 cylinder. I loved the sound of them, heard tales from their owners, and saw a lower curb weight. Boy was I wrong. That thing was nothing like the Spark. The engine was horrible eking out just 74 horsepower. It trembled down the road with imprecision and rattled with every dip and bump. The car felt old, used, and poorly assembled despite being newer with lower mileage than the Spark. It was upsetting because I had been looking forward to that after my positive experience with that class of car.
If there was one thing I could say for the Mirage it’s that it could be driven nearly 10/10ths at all times. Rounding corners with pace, it lifted the inner rear wheel like any good hot hatch, though I’m not certain that was planned on the Mitsu’s behalf. It also got good fuel economy, but it couldn’t match the numbers the Spark put up. The car clearly was left sitting on the market too long as they don’t even bother giving you anything other than an aftermarket radio inside. This information was just more reason for me to like the Chevy. I returned the Mirage after my couple days with it holding my tail between my legs and my memory banks full of what I learned.
Later in the year as one of my COALs documents, I was rear-ended in my Audi by an uninsured motorist. This had me thinking what I might replace the car with. My mind went through cars I had driven and liked, but what ultimately came to my mind was the little Chevy Spark. Given that the driver was uninsured (something he claimed was untrue) it was clear that it was going to take a long time for my insurance to pay me out. So I took some of the money I had in my savings account and hit the market in search for a Spark. Here are some quick Spark hunting tips and information.
The first-generation Spark came to the US for the 2013 model year. It ran from ’13-15 and featured a 1.2 liter engine. You could pair that with a 5-speed manual, 4 speed automatic, or CVT transmission. Personally, I would avoid these as they aren’t much cheaper and have more problems in both the engine and transmission department. The EV spark was based on this generation and would run alongside it into the next generation. That car would be enough for its own writeup.
EV Spark
The second and final generation of Spark came out in 2016 running until 2022. This is the one to go for. It received a more powerful 1.4 liter engine backed by a 5-speed or CVT. All models came with such niceties as Apple Carplay and 10 airbags. Crank windows and manual door locks were offered on the base model if that’s your thing. A facelift arrived in 2019 revising the front end and making a few minor changes. You could even get an “Activ” edition (those will be a fun spot in a couple of years) though the overwhelming majority will be LTs.
Pre-facelift Spark next to Post-facelift Spark
For a few grand I was able to find an ex-rental 2017 Spark 1LT with under 70,000 miles and 1 owner separating it from the rental company. A hard-wearing car like this still looked great despite its age and presumable abuse. A bonus is it’s shockingly easy to work on. I was able to do all the typical services a car would see with maintenance such as fluids, brakes, wipers, etc. in my driveway. That’s something important to me as it lowers the cost proposition and helps ensure its CVT, the Jatco JF015E, which’s shared with other cars such as the Mirage and Versa stays in good condition. I suspect the “developing world” aspect of this car is why it’s so easy to work on it with drain plugs and dipsticks for just about everything.
The mechanic friendly undercarriage of the Spark. Oil filter and pan on located on the left. Transmission pan with drain plug (non-sealed system) on right. The exhaust system separates them. Notice the lack of shielding and room to work.
Getting back to the ownership experience, it hums along perfectly down the highway and is thrifty at the pump (I average just over 40mpg). I even think the sound system somehow sounds better than the Audi. It has all the modern conveniences I’ve come to expect with the exception of keyless entry. Remote entry is good enough for me though. This car has about everything I could want in a commuter while being easy to work on and cheap to maintain. It makes for the perfect car to pair with my motorcycle and what would soon be my latest purchase that I will share in my next COAL installation. I would like to end by making a bold comparison.
Another beauty shot of my Spark. For its somewhat awkward proportions, it doesn’t have a bad side.
I think the Spark is the modern equivalent of the Geo Metro, and I mean that as a good thing. It’s something that was designed by a foreign company (Daewoo) to be sold as cheap transportation by an American Company (GM). It’s far better than the sum of its parts or specifications may suggest and it’s starting to earn some credentials as a spirited little driver. At their relatively young age they’re already at the rock bottom of the market, and time will see how they handle the abuse. Online car culture has started to peak an interest in them as people like Cleetus McFarland’s “Hard Park the Spark” and Regular Car Reviews point out the potential of the package. Even Car and Driver gave the car a rating of 10/10. Funny enough, I think this would make the Mitsubishi in the scenario is the Chevy Chevette. An economical car that’s appreciated for its thrift and durability, but no real redeeming attributes for build or material quality (within its class). Perhaps I’ll come back to this sort of topic and try to give a rundown of modern cars and their would-be spot in the market decades earlier. Until then, keep a look out for my next COAL.
Excellent review and perspective, on a car that didn’t get a lot of coverage. I rented two second gen Sparks, when they were very new. And thought they were great. Modern ICE designs, in a handy small package. Great for mileage, and portability. When I needed to get somewhere within 100 kms of my home with a companion, they provided comfort and flexibility, I appreciated. Nice dash and interior design, Attractive and practical exterior design, and styling. They would not be great for a small family. But for one or two people, they could potentially be near perfect.
Good post and a comprehensive discussion of a car that sounds like it should get more attention than it does. I confess to having a bit of difficulty following the chronology here…but if I’m right that you’ve left a (wrecked) A4 and moved to this Spark as your daily (only?), then I absolutely congratulate you. The fact that you could buy probably 3 Sparks for what it would cost to own 1 Audi represents the kind of economy that I find really admirable. And smart.
The part of your review that strikes me the most is your discussion of how straight forward and simple the Spark is to work on and maintain. Call it engineering for a “developing world” or not, but the bottom line is that the Spark seems like a vehicle that is built with the idea that it needs to be simple to work on, because that’s what people who intend to keep a car going for the long haul need to be able to do. Perhaps that’s a feature that has no (had little) traction in the Spark’s American market (although IMO it should), but for the vast majority of the rest of the world, that’s probably still a very useful thing. As Rich’s posts about the cars of El Salvador often show.
My connection to this type of modern vehicle is one that is in the same category as the Spark…the Honda Fit. A car that of course is also no longer sold new in this country. The Fit is a wee bit larger than the Spark and has awesome interior space utilization (you don’t mention how well the Spark works for carrying anything than passengers…I’d be interested in hearing about this). It’s also has more power, but I’m not sure how much that matters. But after coming off of a week where I was doing a ton of basic maintenance on a Fit, I am truly impressed at how that car is designed for DIY, sounding like the Spark in that regard. It was fun, btw, to reacquaint myself with working on drum brakes 🙂
Overall, it’s great to know that there are still “little cars” (coming from someone who grew up with there always being a Simca, Fiat, etc. in the driveway as the main commuting car) in the modern world that are fun and economical and fill a niche that many – at least in the US – have forgotten existed. Long live the little car. I’m looking forward to seeing how your Spark holds up.
You’ve got me seriously thinking about one of these now. That’s a lot of what I love in a car. I tend to prefer character and good design over horsepower and features.
My first car was the somewhat rare ultra base spec first gen Cruze with the NA 1.8 and steel wheels. Great car, but with a tragically fragile transmission. Very comfortable, looked good, and had much better packaging and materials than you’d ever expect. I see some of that same good design in the Spark given they have a little shared DNA.
Thanks for the writeup. I’m really glad you’ve enjoyed your little Spark so much. And are not unduly worried about winning an arms race of vehicle size like a lot of people.
I like these, especially with the little mag wheels. Possibly the New Improved EPA will allow hot hatches (and cold ones) to be imported from Europe.
Now get all the morons with monster trucks off the road by requiring strict licensing standards and we can all have a hell of a lot more fun out there.
I got a Spark on a 3-week rental a couple years ago while my car was in the body shop. And yes, I too had to request the “downgrade” from the Altima they wanted to give me.
I liked everything about it aside from the CVT, so when I went car shopping I searched high and low for a version with low miles and a stick shift. It appears that a combination of a low take rate for the stick, perhaps combined with the fact that the pikers who bought new Sparks with a stick were the kind of people who ran ’em forever, meant there weren’t any Sparks to be had that met the stick shift requirement.
I love my 2021 Spark! I bought the base model”new”with manual transmission, windows and locks for about $13000.
Joyful to drive if a bit buzzy at highway speeds.
Would buy another in a minute to keep as a “spare”
the Spark is the modern equivalent of the Geo Metro
That’s what I’ve been saying or thinking for some years. And yes, that’s a good thing.
Welcome to the joys of a good cheap shitbox. I love mine and after 20 years, I have no plans to replace it.
Sparks are pretty common around here. I always wondered how well they drove, and what their economy was like. The Smart Car was tiny, but from what I’ve read they weren’t particularly frugal. My ’90 Civic SI was one of, if not the best car, that I’ve ever owned and enjoyed, and I often think about finding something that can revive that feeling. I often thought of getting a GEO Metro convertible as a fun car, but those are getting hard to find, even around here.
Sounds like the car is the embodiment of “more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slowly.”