[StrangeWizard]

We had a 1994 Maruti 800 red colour which we had been using since long. It covered around 61000 odd KMs in nearly 17 years! This shows that our usage is quite low.
It was time to hunt for a new car. We never even thought of buying a used car. We started shortlisting the options in 2010. Options considered were:

Chevrolet Beat-Loved the looks! Rear felt a bit claustrophobic because of the windows. Gearshift was a bit notchy. The ride quality was really good but the car would vibrate a lot on higher speeds. Visited Ashtavinayak Auto at Goregaon and the experience was okay.

Hyundai i10-Really good car with the peppy 1.2 kappa engine. Hated the beige dashboard though. Experience was kinda okay at Modi Hyundai. The SA just explained the price of each variant and gave a test drive.

Ford Figo-Just opposite Modi Hyundai is SC ford. Went to check out the Figo. Experience was really good. The SA first showed the car properly and explained the features and then gave a test drive. No power windows and alloys even in the top variant. Handling of the car is superb. Was unsure of Ford maintenance costs though. Still it was a good contender.

New Wagon-R-The SA drove the car and not me. A car with really good space, ingress-egress was really easy. Ride Quality was also good. Experience was decent enough at Vitesse Andheri.

September 2010
Went to check out the Beat again. Went for a long drive with the SA driving. I always loved the car so we decided to book it the next day. Went to the showroom the next day and booked a Red Beat LT. Was supposed to get delivery after 3-4 weeks.
Then due to some problem we had to postpone the buying of the car and cancelled the booking after 4 days.

May 2011
Went to the Palladium at Lower Parel with family. I had some free time so decided to visit the Sai Service Maruti showroom there at Phoenix mills. Saw that they had a used car section too so decided to check out the cars.
There were around 4-5 Santros, Honda City ZX, Accord, Corolla, Octavia, Spark and some others.
Checked out a red Santro Xing 2005 model with 10000 kms on the odo. Car was in excellent condition but 10000kms felt too less for a car that is 6 years old. Smelt something fishy.

Then saw the Black Spark LS. November 2007 model, showroom condition with 27000 odd kms on the odo. Went for a drive. Ride quality was good. No strange sounds coming from anywhere. Gearshift was notchy. Came back and inspected the car properly. AC was cooling like a charm. All lights working properly. Tires were in a good condition with plenty of tread left. Checked the papers. Everything was in order with complete service history from National Garage and comprehensive insurance from Tata Aig. Price quoted was 2,23,000 and they brought it down to 2,20,000. Liked the car a lot so paid 50k booking amount right away! Decided to take delivery the next day.
Reached the outlet the next day at 3pm. My car was getting ready. They polished the car thoroughly and gave it a showroom-like finish. Completed the paperwork and again checked the car properly. All was well. The showroom guys even provided a driver who dropped us home.

Initial Impressions:

What I like:
Really easy to drive in the city.
Engine is quite peppy and responsive.
AC cooling is really good.
Handling is good.
Rear seat can seat 3 average sized adults comfortably.
The car provides good pick-up.
Interior quality is quite good.

What I don't like:

A-pillar blocks vision while turning. Got used to it after a while.
Front seats lack under thigh support.
Switching on the AC affects the acceleration of the car.
Does not feel planted enough at speeds above 80. I took it to a maximum of 130 but did not take it further.

Mileage

My Spark gives me a mileage of 10-11 kmpl in the city with 90% AC on.
Have taken it on the highway only thrice and it gave a mileage of about 15kmpl with AC at speed 3.

Accessories

Bought a car cover from National Garage for Rs.1600 IIRC.
Also got new art seat covers. Black and silver colour.
Installed Garware sunfilm for Rs.1800 on all 4 windows and rear glass.
The car came with a decent head unit and 2 front speakers. It offers USB, CD and Aux support and the sound quality is decent. I will upgrade it soon though.

The car came with Bridgestone tires of 155/70 R13 size mounted on stock rims. Grip is good enough. I once changed 4 lanes at about 90kmph on an empty road when it was raining and the car handled it quite well. The tires give considerable amount of road noise though.

Took delivery on 19th may and have covered about 2500kms till date. The car has not given me any problems till now. Just got a small problem once. The driver side door wouldn't open! I sat in the passenger's seat and shifted to the driver's seat and took it to the Ashtavinayak Auto service station at Kandivali(W). They were quite prompt in solving my problem. The mechanic removed the door panel and removed the central locking system. The previous owner had fitted an aftermarket locking system and there was a problem with it.
Now I'm planning to fit a new central locking system with remote. Any idea how much would it cost?

Also, I've noticed since some days that the AC takes a longer time to cool the cabin than before. I generally use blower speed 2. What could be the reason for this? I plan to take the car for its 30000km service in a week or so.

Conclusion:
Would I recommend a Spark to a 1st time car buyer? Yes.
Would I recommend buying a car from Maruti TrueValue? Yes.

I'm attaching some pics which were clicked by the dealer. I'll upload some nice detailed pics in some days.
If you guys have any questions then please feel free to ask them.

[StrangeWizard]

Guys I'll be taking my car for its 30000km/4 year service in a day or two.
What are the things that i would need to keep in mind?
And which service center provides better service? Ashtavinayak auto or National Garage?
Do reply
Thanks

[MAS]

Congrats on your pre-worshipped drive.

The car looks immaculate except for a small scratch in the front bumper. Shod it with a good pair of alloys and the Spark would look more desirable. Drive Safe...

[dockap]

No clue about which service center but congrats on the car and she looks awesome in black

[kkg]

Congrats for your Sparky. Mine has done around 56000kms in four years. It has covered almost all of the north India and has never landed me in trouble on the highway.

Your FE is identical to mine. Get it checked on the service although I am afraid anything can be done about it. Enjoy it.

[StrangeWizard]

I'm really very sorry for not updating this thread!

The car went for its 4years/30000km service in november 2011. Done by Ashtavinayak Auto. The experience was decent enough. I had dropped the car at 10am and the service was done by 6pm. The ac issue took 2 days to fix though.
I opted for the annual maintenance plan offered by chevrolet for about 6k excluding taxes. Also, some parts needed replacement and the ac was also not cooling properly. Got everything fixed and the total bill came up to Rs.13000.

I also got white abarth punto-type vinyls on my car from a local accessory shop for 650 bucks. Looks neat. Will post some pics soon. Also got a new skoda-type horn from minda.

BTW, today someone stole the front left wheelcap when I had parked the car outside my college(mithibai). It looks quite ugly now with 1 wheelcap missing. I was thinking of removing the other 3 wheelcaps too to give the car a full black look. Any suggestions? Also can anyone tell me how to remove the wheelcaps?

Else, the car is doing great and has covered 33000 kms now.
I'm getting a FE of about 10-11 in city with 70% ac and about 14 on highways with 95% ac. No issues with the car.

[StrangeWizard]

A couple of street experiences with the car:

1) It was really dark and I was reversing the car out. To the left of my car was a black sx4 parked in a slanting manner. So while reversing and turning, my car's RHS quarter of the rear bumper banged into the sx4's LHS quarter of the rear bumper. I heard a thud so got down from the car to see the damages. While my car got quite some scratches in the banged area, the SX4's bumper had caved in from the banged area! And the caved in hole was BIG! I was actually shocked when i saw this! How can a smaller car suffer less damage than a car which is almost double its size!
This shows that the spark's build quality is pretty good.

2) Once my friend (who has a swift) and me had parked our cars and gone somewhere. After returning after about 1 hr we saw that both our cars had been towed away. When we reached the towing centre to take our cars i saw that there was NO damage at all to my car's front while the swift's front bumper looked real bad! Again shows that the spark's build quality is actually good.
Even the ORVMs on the swift and dzire feel as if they are light and would break easily when compared to a spark or an i10.

I'll post some nice pics soon. Waiting for my exams to get over on 9th.
Also, need to buy a new wheelcap and a front logo

PS I hope someone replies! :|

[StrangeWizard]

Here are some new pics which I clicked yesterday at Malad.
Btw I went to linkway honda to test drive the Brio and I have really fallen in love with the car! I'm really tempted so now lets see what happens...

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

A couple of street experiences with the car:

1) It was really dark and I was reversing the car out. To the left of my car was a black sx4 parked in a slanting manner. So while reversing and turning, my car's RHS quarter of the rear bumper banged into the sx4's LHS quarter of the rear bumper. I heard a thud so got down from the car to see the damages. While my car got quite some scratches in the banged area, the SX4's bumper had caved in from the banged area! And the caved in hole was BIG! I was actually shocked when i saw this! How can a smaller car suffer less damage than a car which is almost double its size!
This shows that the spark's build quality is pretty good.


PS I hope someone replies! :|

I pity the SX4 owner whose car got damaged for no fault of his. Pray that he is not one of the tbhpian, else you are now caught.

Re: wheelcaps, not sure of the cost but you should be able to source it from GM A$$. Why not go for alloys? Considering you saved some $ by not compensating the SX4 for the damage . They would look great on the black spark.

[pganapathy]

Congrats on your purchase. The car really looks nice and you seem to have maintained it pretty well.

The bumpers of a lot of modern cars are made of plastic and designed to go in at the slightest impact and if they are not broken, they will then pop out again. Part of that is because it will cause less harm to a pedestrian when you hit them.

Are you sure you will be able to find the same design wheel covers. If not, you may have to change all four. Removing them is pretty easy. You literally pull it off. Just be a bit careful to not break the clip like things that is holding it in place so you can put it back on later if need be. Any tyre guy can show you if you are unable to figure it out.

I have test driven the Brio and it is a brilliant car with go-kart like handling. Not so great on the highway though most small cars, like the Alto, Spark etc. are not that great either.

The logo should be available from the A.S.S obviously, but also from those car accessory shops.

Looking forward to the pictures of your car interiors with the leather seats et al.

[lobojames9]

Congratulations on your buy. My dad has a spark. Great for city runs. Very eager engine and feels very refined. I would say the AC is not the best out there. Usually takes sometime before it cools. Please do post some interior pictures. Would love to seat the new seat covers.

[StrangeWizard]

Completed 35,000 kms today. The car was idle for 1 month when I was in uk but it started in the 1st attempt after I came back.
Giving it for servicing to Ashtavinayak auto soon.
I want to increase the exhaust sound a bit. Suggest some mufflers which are good and not so expensive. Or should I first just try and see drilling a couple of holes in the existing muffler?
Also, I got a pair of jbl speakers fitted at the back. Ordered the pair from Buy Online at Best Price in India, Camera Lens, Car Speakers, Car Navigation devices, Fastrack , Titan Watches, Offers, Deals, Discounts, Sale . Took 3 days to get delivered.

Also Im planning to get a stock replacement performance filter soon. So please suggest which one to go for.

Overall, no problems with the car and Im pretty happy but a bit bored with it
I get a mileage of approx 8-9kmpl in the city with 80% ac but with quite some enthusiastic driving. On the highways I manage 12-14kmpl.

Feel free to ask any questions if you have.
Thanks

[StrangeWizard]

Guys Im having 2 problems with the car:

1) Rain water is leaking from the area near the cabin light above the dashboard. The whole area over there gets wet and water starts dripping near the gear lever and the whereabouts. This exact thing had happened last year too and the A.S.S fixed it by removing the cabin light and tightening the antenna from inside. So I'll get it fixed today itself.

2)Im getting this irritating noise whenever I start the car and switch on the ac. It gets louder with increased throttle and shuts only after frequent gear shifts or by turning off the ac for sometime and turning it on again. I don't know how do I explain the noise here , its kind of a "khhhhurrrrrrrrr" irritating noise I've heard this same noise on many Indicas and Indigos and some Santros. Help me out with this so I'll get this also fixed today itself at a known garage.

And now my running has increased and this car doesn't give a mileage above 8-9kmpl with ac.
This time I filled in 42 litres and the tank was empty at 411kms.

Enjoy some pics but please help me out with problem no 2.
Thanks.

Edit : How does this look? Planning on getting it done:

[deehunk]

Petrol tank capacity is 38L only, how is it you got 42L, verify next time while filling petrol. Try filling at Shell station and check the mileage.

[Eminenttismo]

1. I've faced the exact problem,i.e water leaking from the cabin light. Antenna as you said is the culprit here, next time you get it done make sure you make some proper gasketing.

In my case, I've fitted an aftermarket antenna so there is no fault of GM in this. Previously the car used to have a cap on the antenna hole with a gasket which never leaked water.

2. I CAN understand your problem. I've experienced it in my matiz. Let me help you, it is kind of noise coming from radiator with kind of "friction" sound added? It irritates me and makes the car "feel" sluggish. May be it's the thermostat which makes the radiator switch on unnecessarily or thick dust /bent fins of radiator and condenser preventing smooth air flow. Give them a check. I believe it's the thermostat though.

Regarding your mileage it's really really low. Do you get your car serviced as per correct intervals? Please take advice from your service adviser at Chevy Service.

The bonnet paint wouldn't suit the car IMO. Instead I'd recommend you this