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Old 12th September 2012, 18:59   #16
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Congrats on adding the spark to your family Ajay

I had one in the family & know the joy this cutie is in the city. I absolutely second your thoughts that it does not feel claustrophobic or small even with 4 on board - but that's it. It is NOT a 5 seater.

You should think about upgrading the tyres & headlamps especially if you are planning to do highway runs. For city you'll find it pretty adequate.

Keep sharing your experiences.

Happy Motoring.
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Old 12th September 2012, 21:59   #17
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

First off, a hearty congratulations. Thanks for the Quick & Spot-On review. If you are thinking of upgrading the lamps, check this out. A standard relay would cost you around Rs.600.

More pictures please.

OT: Sorry for the one-liner I posted a while back(deleted now). Was in a hurry!
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Old 13th September 2012, 14:52   #18
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Sharing some interior photos

Driver seat view:

Chevy Spark comes home-front-seats.jpg

Steering:

Chevy Spark comes home-steering.jpg

Glof-ball style Gear knob:

Chevy Spark comes home-gear-knob.jpg

Central console:

Chevy Spark comes home-console.jpg

Glove box:

Chevy Spark comes home-glove-box.jpg

MID:

Chevy Spark comes home-mid.jpg

MID close-up:

Chevy Spark comes home-mid_closeup.jpg

ODO:

Chevy Spark comes home-odo.jpg

Stock HU:

Chevy Spark comes home-stock-hu.jpg
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Old 13th September 2012, 15:22   #19
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Congrats on your spark!

I am a big fan of spark since the days of Daewoo Matiz. I wanted this to be my second car but my boss (wife) did not want to spend anything more than the Alto.

IMO It is better than Eon and K10 in most of the fields, particularly interiors, and 3 years maintenance is the icing on the cake.
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Old 13th September 2012, 15:24   #20
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

AC controls:

Chevy Spark comes home-ac-controls.jpg

Support handle:

Chevy Spark comes home-handle.jpg

Headlight leveler:

Chevy Spark comes home-headlight-level.jpg

Headlight and fog-light stalk:

Chevy Spark comes home-headlight-stalk.jpg

Wiper stalk:

Chevy Spark comes home-wiper-stalk.jpg

Inside door handles:

Chevy Spark comes home-inside-door-handles.jpg

Outside door handles:

Chevy Spark comes home-outside-door-handles.jpg

IRVM:

Chevy Spark comes home-irvm.jpg

ORVM:

Chevy Spark comes home-orvm.jpg

ORVM manual adjustment stalk:

Chevy Spark comes home-orvm-adjustment-knob.jpg

Key in place:

Chevy Spark comes home-key-place.jpg
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Old 13th September 2012, 19:21   #21
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Thanks for the Pictures! Now, Exterior pics please!

Seat Covers
Connectivity
CarCare
Mats
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Old 15th September 2012, 08:58   #22
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Congrats Ajay for this cute baby. Good color as well.

I have a 2007 spark used by my wife & its serving us very well. No issues what so ever till now (29k kms).

It has perfectly calibrated steering. Sometimes I feel it better than my Punto. Its a breeze to dirve in city conditions.

And don't worry, its good for highways as well.
Have done a return trip to Hyderabad from Mumbai & was surprised to have a decent & plesent drive as againts our perception of a very tirying one.
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Old 16th September 2012, 16:52   #23
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

The Unthinkable happened!

Saturday, 15-Sept-2012 Time: 12 noon

We had to get the seat covers done for the Spark. So this accessory showroom in Kothrud "Phadke Car Decor" is kind of renowned on TBHP as well as generally. We reached the showroom at 12 noon. Wife chose the best dual tone art leather covers that will go well with the sea of beige inside the car. I also asked him IF() he can install the Roots Windtone dual horn on the Spark, to which he promptly said YES. Total order placed as:

1) Autofoam Art leather seat covers: 3250/-
2) Roots Windtone dual horne: 680/-

Owner told us that car will be ready in about 1 hour and 30 minutes and we left the place.

We came back to the place after 1 hour and 40 minutes and the work had not even started. First shock of the day!

I lost my patience a bit and gave him some diplomatic harsh words. He said " I will get the job done in 20 mins, sir. " Why the hell he did not say this in the first place??? I said "OK do it fast! Grrrrrrr..."

Seat covers were done in about 20 minutes. Then the electrical guys came and started opening things from the car to replace the horn. Another 30 minutes gone. Total time spent(wasted)- 3 hours 30 minutes. These guys are somehow not able to install the new horn. After their another 15 minutes R&D, I ordered the owner to stop the non-sense and put back the original horns. OI pay him for the seat covers and pick one Ganesh Idol, which he did not charge me for.

We enter the car, I crank the engine and KAPOOT!

The car just won't start. I checked petrol, key position, all doors and no issues anywhere. I cranked the engine 3-4 times and its just not working. I call the owner and ask him to check. He tried 3-4 times and then calls his stupid electrical guys to check. They don't know a S@#$! Another 30 minutes gone in this mess. The owner calls some local garage guys to check the problem. I literally shouted at them and told them not to touch the car at all. I call the GM helpline and the engineer said he is nearby and will reach the spot in 30 minutes. Time is now 5 PM.

GM engineer reaches the spot and checks everything under the Sun and tells me "Sir, car needs to be towed to the workshop". Damn!

I call the crane service which has tie-up with the dealer from whom we purchased the car. The crane service was immaculate. Crane reached the spot in 15 minutes. The car was attached properly to the crane and we left off for the workshop.

Time is now 6 PM.

In the mean time, I called the workshop to inform them about the incidence. They said that 6:30 is EOD for them and nothing can be done today. I requested them to arrange for at least one service engineer to wait for 5 minutes extra. They said OK.

Car reached the workshop at 6:20 PM. The crane guys helped me push the car inside the workshop compound and they left. I went to the Service section and spoke with the lady officer at the reception. She immediately made the job card and took charge of the car. A senior officer from the service department came out and spoke to me. I narrated the whole incidence and he said that the idiots must have cut some wire while trying to install the horn. He said that nothing can be done and I will have to leave the car at the workshop. Sunday being a holiday to the service section, things will only move on Monday.

When I stepped out of the workshop which is on a highway, was wondering how the hell will I reach home. Wife called and said that she will come and pick me up. As soon as dropped the call, I saw the owner of the accessories showroom walking towards me. He asked me about the problem and what the Chevy guys said. I told him that nothing can be done till Monday morning and I have to leave the car here. He said (in apologetic tone) that he will drop me to my place and he did. He said that he will bear all the charges and I need not worry.

All in all, most unthinkable happened to our 7 days old Spark. Its now lying idle at the showroom. The owner of the accessories showroom did handle the things OK and did accept that his staff is not well trained for electrical work. Too late for the confession.

I would not recommend PHADKE car decor in Kothrud for any kind of electrical work on any car. We had the worst experience we could think of and I don't any fellow BHPians to go through the same.

Hoping for the best on Monday and hoping that the problem is minor and can be resolved soon.

Will update the thread then.

Cheers!
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Old 16th September 2012, 17:32   #24
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Very shocking indeed.

I was going to visit Phadke tommorow to get Music system installed in my car, your thread has saved me that visit and impending trouble ( anyway its too far from my place as well, since i stay near Wakad ).

I might consider going to CARAX baner now.

Apart from that , congratulations and car looks great in this colour.
Hopefully it should be a minor issue.

BTW how is the ride quality compared to Sedan Class Vista?
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Old 17th September 2012, 10:49   #25
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by silverado View Post
Very shocking indeed.

I was going to visit Phadke tommorow to get Music system installed in my car, your thread has saved me that visit and impending trouble ( anyway its too far from my place as well, since i stay near Wakad ).

I might consider going to CARAX baner now.

Apart from that , congratulations and car looks great in this colour.
Hopefully it should be a minor issue.

BTW how is the ride quality compared to Sedan Class Vista?
Shocking indeed. I would have passed this one on, if it was a one-off case. The owner himself accepted that their staff has done this kind of a blunder 4-5 times before. One i20 had to be towed away in similar fashion to the workshop before it could be driven.

Thanks for the wishes. The ride quality of Spark is actually slightly better than Vista, since Spark has hard suspensions. There is lesser body-roll and the irregularities on the road do not come as thuds. Perfect for city driving I say.


UPDATE:

The car is on the floor and being checked now with the help of the scanner. It seems to be a minor issue on initial diagnosis. The Chevy guys would drop the car at home once the issue is resolved. I don't have to intervene, thankfully.

Word about the accessories showroom:

Even though I and 4-5 others had to go through this terrible nightmarish experience, its not necessary that everyone will face the same issue. You can give it a try yourself and hope nothing gets screwed up. After this showroom is here since last 4-5 years and the guy is established. 2-3 TBHP members have got their complete music systems along with all wirings from him and they have had no issues. So its a gamble IMO.
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Old 17th September 2012, 11:29   #26
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajay_satpute View Post
Even though I and 4-5 others had to go through this terrible nightmarish experience, its not necessary that everyone will face the same issue. You can give it a try yourself and hope nothing gets screwed up. After this showroom is here since last 4-5 years and the guy is established. 2-3 TBHP members have got their complete music systems along with all wirings from him and they have had no issues. So its a gamble IMO.
Sorry to hear about this Ajay. I don't have any first hand experience with Phadke Car Decor other than buying wiper blades from him. But as you mentioned there have been some good reviews about him. I guess electrical work needs to be avoided other than maybe music system

Couple of questions:
- Why change the horn? Is the Chevy horn not good enough to move the stubborn pune folks out of their slumber?
- Is this repair work now going to be done for free?
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Old 17th September 2012, 11:33   #27
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by amitwlele View Post
Sorry to hear about this Ajay. I don't have any first hand experience with Phadke Car Decor other than buying wiper blades from him. But as you mentioned there have been some good reviews about him. I guess electrical work needs to be avoided other than maybe music system

Couple of questions:
- Why change the horn? Is the Chevy horn not good enough to move the stubborn pune folks out of their slumber?
- Is this repair work now going to be done for free?
The horn is very basic and not that scary for our kind of traffic. I have driven about 170 kms already and people don't bother to budge for the current horn.

I too hope the repair work is done for free. Otherwise, anyways, Mr. Phadke has taken complete responsibility of the issue and will bear the expenses, if any.


UPDATE:

The car is back to normal. The fuse of the ECU (related to the startup motor) had been misplaced at the time of installing the new horn. The fuse has been placed back now and the car will be driven back to home in a while. All this is done for FREE. I spoke to Mr. Phadke, the accessory shop owner, and told him that he has to bear only the crane charges which are 1500/-.

Thank God, it was a close escape. Wife has decided not to make any change in the car henceforth, for 3 years at least.

Last edited by ajay_satpute : 17th September 2012 at 11:51.
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Old 17th September 2012, 11:49   #28
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Really disturbing when a new vehicle gets jacked. Check out my thread for my experience.

Just ensure that if the wires were cut, your warranty doesnt void out. God forbid if yes, make sure you spell it out strongly to the accessories guy and get him to compensate.
Perhaps my thread for honda might help.

All the best.
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Old 17th September 2012, 18:57   #29
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Nice to know that the angel is good. The mistake made is he has not disconnected the battery terminals before tampering the wiring. It is always safe to disconnect the battery before working. There may have been a short circuit during the process of fixing horn and hence the fuse has blown out. I remember a similar incident while swapping the head unit in my Spark and then the car not starting, my brother-in law knew well that it was a fuse blown out problem. There are two places in the car where the fuse box are located, one inside the engine bay near the engine bay and the other one is located slightly awkward just above the throttle pedal difficult to reach, there are 4/6 spare fuse of different amperes if i remember correct in both the box. The box cover also has marked out all the fuse of what it is related to, know this it may help you to do a quick check.
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Old 17th September 2012, 23:03   #30
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Re: Chevy Spark comes home

Chevy Spark comes home-dsc029521.jpg

Chevy Spark comes home-dsc029511.jpg

Chevy Spark comes home-dsc03089.jpg

No changes to fuses, A Relay coupled to original wiring(on the left end of battery bracket) + Bosch Trumpets(near coolant reserve). Costed around INR900

Good to hear car is back to normal now!.
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