[karty_83]

i am planning to buy my 1st car in about a while now. just two days back i saw the chevy spark being launched. i did check out the website and i am very impressed with this car. we are just a small family of 4 and are all average built so i am hoping that this car wont pose me any problems with space and so i am seriously considering it. i intend to buy the fully loaded varient which is very well priced at 3.9lac.

so whats your opinion of this car, what kind of performance and average can i expect with this coming from city like bangalore. would this car be a good option over santro and estilo(incidentally those 2 were my earlier choices). what about the after sales services from gm.

and i wanted to know just one more thing. i came across some blogs on net which said santro or zen are much better options simply because they are proven vehicles with proven engines and a impressive track record and not to mention the after sales service as well. they felt the spark should be given a 6 month run before plunging into it, so that they could analyse its performance and average on indian roads and indian conditions.

so if approved by the team bhp can i go ahead in buying this car right away or wait over a period to see how it fares or rather fall back on the more tried tested and trusted hyunda or maruti.

[windsurfer]

Originally Posted by karty_83

so whats your opinion of this car, what kind of performance and average can i expect with this coming from city like bangalore. would this car be a good option over santro and estilo(incidentally those 2 were my earlier choices). what about the after sales services from gm.

and i wanted to know just one more thing. i came across some blogs on net which said santro or zen are much better options simply because they are proven vehicles with proven engines and a impressive track record and not to mention the after sales service as well. they felt the spark should be given a 6 month run before plunging into it, so that they could analyse its performance and average on indian roads and indian conditions.

so if approved by the team bhp can i go ahead in buying this car right away or wait over a period to see how it fares or rather fall back on the more tried tested and trusted hyunda or maruti.

GM Service may not be as good as Maruti or Hyundai. But i would not call it bad though. My friend owns Aveo and never seen him complaining about it.

Regarding, Zen and Hyundai being tested vechile - Spark was Matiz (if u remember this cute car) earlier. I don't think GM has done too much with this. Just some minor modifications. Ask any Matiz owner and he will be happy with his car.

as always chevys hav not suffered reliability issues to date... it should be a safe bet the cars been tested for a few years by the manufacturer ... so no problem ... and owning a newly launched car is a level up.....

[Equus]

Also, Chevy is going to be a mass player in 3-4 yrs time with atleast 10% market share.. So I wouldnt worry about the service (which is currently not bad at all as per some chevy owners)..

1.0 LT seems like a lot of value for your money.. But has it been launched in Bangalore as yet?
The extra money for the ABS is often worth it - do give it a thought as well..

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by karty_83

so whats your opinion of this car, what kind of performance and average can i expect with this coming from city like bangalore. would this car be a good option over santro and estilo(incidentally those 2 were my earlier choices). what about the after sales services from gm.

The Spark has performance to match the rest of the cars in the segment, ie, Santro, Xeta, Wagon R etc. In city, with A/C, expect around 13 kmpl with ease, which is very much the norm in this segment

The main adv of the spark over the santro/estilo would be the looks and ofcourse space

Originally Posted by karty_83

and i wanted to know just one more thing. i came across some blogs on net which said santro or zen are much better options simply because they are proven vehicles with proven engines and a impressive track record and not to mention the after sales service as well. they felt the spark should be given a 6 month run before plunging into it, so that they could analyse its performance and average on indian roads and indian conditions.

so if approved by the team bhp can i go ahead in buying this car right away or wait over a period to see how it fares or rather fall back on the more tried tested and trusted hyunda or maruti.

As written by other members here, GM has already done a lot of research on the car. There is absolutely no thing about it being reliable or not. GM, over the years have improved their after sales service along with slashing of car parts to make maintainance lighter on the owner's pocket

[karty_83]

thanks a lot for your reply guys..
@equs..
the car has not yet been launched in bangalore. the official website of spark says it wud be launched only in july, so eagerly waiting..

@bunny...
1st of all thanks for ur detailed reply .. i have a question 4 u.. i haven seen spark in person as yet for the obvious reason of it not being launched in my city as yet. so what ever info i have about this car is from the net and spark website. based on the comparisons(in dimensions) between santro estilo and spark, i was expecting santro to be the more spacious of the 3. the website says wheel base, length ,width of estilo and spark to be same.
but u have stated in your reply that spark scores over santro and zen in space which has caught me by surprise. IF it indeed is true, than its great news for me, but is it possible to get the max space from incidentally the smallest of the 3 cars????

[BunnyPunia]

well, from what i could gather from my short 10km drive i had on the spark in pune, and then a return ride in which i sat behind, i think its on the better side in the segment. we own a wagon r and zen back home and in comparison to them, the back seat did feel spacious. in number, the shoulder space is 1254mm..comparing to it bigger cars, getz is 1333mm, U-VA is 1355mm

Min rear legroom (with the front seats pushed back all the way) is 670mm, which is more than the likes of U-VA and Palio

In Delhi, the car is on display already, do look out in ur city

[cartech]

@karty_83, As far as GM service is concerned, I am quite satisfied. I own a Corsa for last 4.5 years in Mumbai. I have no complains. Spare prices also have been reduced recently.

[zakaaaaasss]

happened to see a green car parked at Pashankar today, on my way to office....planning to take a TD today......

having owned matiz for 7 years now i feel i need not think twice before goin' in for spark...but heart feels heavy with the thought of departing with my 'daweoo' companion

[babhishek]

yeah looks cute and sporty, saw one at a showroom in mumbai during my trip on Monday close to marine drive.
Also read the Business Standard supplement on Saturday; BS Motoring.
The reviewer is damn impressed especially, with the engine and more importantly handling of the car at speeds around 160.. says it better than some of the c-segment cars.

[csentil]

If its anything like the Daewoo Matiz then just go ahead. I've had the Matiz for 6+ yrs, 70K kms. I've not had a single major issue till date. I've hit speeds in excess of 130 km/hr and I've not felt any handling issues. It still gives me 14 kmpl in the city today (which some say is less for a matiz).

Matiz has a lot of space in the back, because they have compromised on the boot space. The book space is typically less but you can sit comfortably in the back. The seats are also bigger and give you better sitting comfort even when compared to the Estillo.

[iraghava]

Well my Bank Manager has been after my life asking whether he should choose Estilo or Spark for his wife. But due to lack of TD reports I've told him to hang on till next week before deciding. If anyone has a chance to TD it I would appreciate a quick report!

Originally Posted by Equus

Also, Chevy is going to be a mass player in 3-4 yrs time with atleast 10% market share.. So I wouldnt worry about the service (which is currently not bad at all as per some chevy owners)..

Says who? GM? They are the last people to trust for that sort of thing. They've been here for well over a decade & hardly have done anything worth mentioning. They need to do HUGE work on all departments of their strategy to get 10% of our market.

[Equus]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Says who? GM? They are the last people to trust for that sort of thing. They've been here for well over a decade & hardly have done anything worth mentioning. They need to do HUGE work on all departments of their strategy to get 10% of our market.

I know the GM (especially Opel) ways very well. My uncle once owned an Astra and he vowed to never buy GM ever again He sold it off and bought a Qualis and lives happily..

Recent comments by fellow comrades here indeed show progress! Either way, if they want 10% - now that would be close to 1.5 to 2 lakh cars per month by 2010 - wouldnt you bet?

[vasudeva]

As a GM's Opel Corsa owner from Oct 2003, I can testify that GM after sales is quite good but there is some variability in service levels across Delhi dealers. Do not know about Bangalore. Corsa has been a reliable car overall with some minor problems, which are no more than what I encountered in my previous cars-Zen and 800.

If your mind is set on Spark, Yes you should wait for some time for the initial hype before settling on Spark. Perhaps some discounts may be available after 4-5 months and you may also get feedback on Spark's initial quality. I know personally the works manager of a GM service dealer in Delhi, and so get honest feedback on the problems incurred on various cars, and their performance. Do not expect any feedback though for Spark for at least 1-2 months since the car would not yet have a service history.

If you wish to buy now, go for Santro which is a much better car overall over Estilo. Even the previous Zen and the new Estilo is very cramped at the back, and expect rear passengers to sit tight in Estilo.

Santro is a much better option than Zen Estilo. Zen is a proven vehicle and proven to give rattles, bumpy ride and cramped space. Estilo should be no different. Hyundai's after sales is as good and it is a myth that Maruti's service is best. MUL may have more service dealers in a given area and so proximity may be better, but for GM, I do not have to travel more than 7 kms (3 kms for nearest MUL service at Competent in East Delhi). Hyundai also has a growing service network. So that should not be an issue in purchase decision.

[zakaaaaasss]

Originally Posted by zakaaaaasss

happened to see a green car parked at Pashankar today, on my way to office....planning to take a TD today......

finally managed to take some time out and visited Pashankar this morning...

a cute little green 'spark'le welcomes you at the showroom' door. the car has an amazing stance. a LT with optional pack (ABS+alloys) is put on display. since they were just opening the showroom this morning, there wasnt much rush...i got sufficient time to 'feel' the car.

Off-road:
1) looks really good. i know this is individual' taste but with estilo to compare, u'll agree what i mean, b'cos both of them fall into 'monoque' body design.
2) interiors do feel rich...the upholstry color (bluish grey) is same as that of Matiz. the dash material quality is nice and yes the center console looks awesome...i did not feel it absurd- the reason could be that once you're in driving position the eyes now need to turn few degrees horizontal (inearlier case, its vertically down from your line of vision)
3) front speaker pods are now moved to dash (earlier they were in the doors)
4) glove box is good and big enough. however the glove box lid kiss your knees when opened.
5) small tuck-away places below the dash are real utilatarian
6) front seats are same as matiz. 7) rear seats with 60:40 split come with height adjustable headrest
8) rear seats fall full flat (not just tilt) when folded
9) boot space seems same as that of matiz
10) engine bay now looks more roomy (in matiz, its really difficult to fit an extra pair of horns even)
11) headlight reflectors look classy
12) tail lamps are class-apart
13) reversing lamps are embedded into bumper and have jewel effect reflectors
14) LT comes with 13" alloys shod with Apollo Accelere 155/65/R13
15) all the tell-tale lights are placed on the dash just above the steering

I could observe following common points retained in the Spark from the Matiz:
1) molded rooftop
2) interal rearview mirror, sun visors, grab handles on roof, cabin light
3) seats
4) gearknob position
5) wipers
6) many parts in engine bay are retained. changes were visible for air filter assembly, windwhield washer, off-course engine (engine cover now reads s-tec earlier m-tec)
7) OVRM lower base


On-road: I'm promised a Test drive this weekend....till then goodbye