[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by CarsPG

GM will mostly file for chapter 11 bankruptcy which is basically a re-organization. I don't think you'll run in to any issues.

Thanks, We have booked test drive online.

[Latheesh]

Took a test drive of top end LT variant, but somehow we are not fully satisfied with the engine performance with AC on.

OTR price for the white color LT variant is 445000
discount
GM discount - 45000
corporate discount - 5000
Dealer discount - 8000

Final OTR price (Bangalore) = 387000
(Incl 3 year free serv/maint offer by GM)

Guys please let me know whether it is good deal or not

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Took a test drive of top end LT variant, but somehow we are not fully satisfied with the engine performance with AC on.

OTR price for the white color LT variant is 445000
discount
GM discount - 45000
corporate discount - 5000
Dealer discount - 8000

Final OTR price (Bangalore) = 387000
(Incl 3 year free serv/maint offer by GM)

Guys please let me know whether it is good deal or not

I am in the same predicament! I am looking at the LS model and Sundaram Motors offered Cash discount 45000+Corporate discount 4000+ 3 years cash less maintenance. They did not mention about dealer discount.

I was also worried about the GM bankruptcy issue, but the reply by CarsPG has cleared that. But what about service/spares issues if we suffer a break down in rural areas?

[Takumi-san]

With regards to spares in rural areas, you would just need to make sure that there are service stations of GM along the route. The same is true for any car (even SUVs) if you are going on a long drive.

That said, the Spark is primarily a urban commute. But given that it comes from the Matiz , the engine may feel underpowered but never lets you down. We have used the Matiz for numerous long distance trips and other than regular servicing, it never broke down on us during these. Not even once. She took good and bad roads all in her stride, though overtaking on highways would always play havoc with your blood pressure.

I do have my reservations about GM. Daewoo's going belly up affected Daewoo car owners in a big way. While GM may seem to huge to die, we never know what might happen with their India operations - spare part availability etc.

Personally I love the Spark and hate writing against this little beauty, but after having agonised over spares of the Matiz - I think you should be warned. A lot of people have the same concerns which is the reason why the Spark is being offered with such fabulous discounts. Otherwise this car really doesnt need a discount to sell.

[CarsPG]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Took a test drive of top end LT variant, but somehow we are not fully satisfied with the engine performance with AC on.

OTR price for the white color LT variant is 445000
discount
GM discount - 45000
corporate discount - 5000
Dealer discount - 8000

Final OTR price (Bangalore) = 387000
(Incl 3 year free serv/maint offer by GM)

Guys please let me know whether it is good deal or not

I haven't driven it yet but have heard others say it is underpowered as well. I think if you are using it primarily as a city car you can't go wrong.
You should be able to get an exchange discount of Rs. 10,000 if you have another car. You don't need to exchange it. Rs. 8,000 is the standard discount being offered by dealers. You should push for some freebies or some additional discounts. I have a feeling that the discounts will go up my month end when GM starts it restructuring! I might pick up one at the same time!

Originally Posted by Gansan

I am in the same predicament! I am looking at the LS model and Sundaram Motors offered Cash discount 45000+Corporate discount 4000+ 3 years cash less maintenance. They did not mention about dealer discount.

I was also worried about the GM bankruptcy issue, but the reply by CarsPG has cleared that. But what about service/spares issues if we suffer a break down in rural areas?

Service/Spares of GM in India is no where close to Maruti/Hyundai. The good thing is that enough Spark/Matiz have been sold so roadside mechanics should be able to deal with them.

Originally Posted by Takumi-san

With regards to spares in rural areas, you would just need to make sure that there are service stations of GM along the route. The same is true for any car (even SUVs) if you are going on a long drive.

That said, the Spark is primarily a urban commute. But given that it comes from the Matiz , the engine may feel underpowered but never lets you down. We have used the Matiz for numerous long distance trips and other than regular servicing, it never broke down on us during these. Not even once. She took good and bad roads all in her stride, though overtaking on highways would always play havoc with your blood pressure.

I do have my reservations about GM. Daewoo's going belly up affected Daewoo car owners in a big way. While GM may seem to huge to die, we never know what might happen with their India operations - spare part availability etc.

Personally I love the Spark and hate writing against this little beauty, but after having agonised over spares of the Matiz - I think you should be warned. A lot of people have the same concerns which is the reason why the Spark is being offered with such fabulous discounts. Otherwise this car really doesnt need a discount to sell.

For all practical purposes GM is already bankrupt. Their stock is trading at ~ $ 1. By early June they should start the restructuring process. The only question is if they will do with the help of the bankruptcy court or not. In either case the existing shareholders will be pretty much wiped out and the US government and UAW will own the company!

[Latheesh]

We three people are planning to buy top end LT variant
offer they gave is 3.87 OTR (for white colour)
incl. 3 year cashless maint

freebies:
music system - kenwood 7160 + 2 speakers
Keyless entry w burgler alarm - Autocop 2170

I do not know much about these two, Are they good?

We asked additional 7K discount since we are booking 3

[Latheesh]

Dealer is not ready to offer any further cash discount So we did not book Spark.

I was ready to spend an additional 50K for alloys+new shoes+ 2 tone seat covers. that means total close to 4.4L.

I am waiting for Grande Punto now. If they price it right I will try to stretch my budget a bit and book Punto.

[tortoiseNhare]

Originally Posted by Takumi-san

With regards to spares in rural areas, you would just need to make sure that there are service stations of GM along the route. The same is true for any car (even SUVs) if you are going on a long drive.

That said, the Spark is primarily a urban commute. But given that it comes from the Matiz , the engine may feel underpowered but never lets you down. We have used the Matiz for numerous long distance trips and other than regular servicing, it never broke down on us during these. Not even once. She took good and bad roads all in her stride, though overtaking on highways would always play havoc with your blood pressure.

I do have my reservations about GM. Daewoo's going belly up affected Daewoo car owners in a big way. While GM may seem to huge to die, we never know what might happen with their India operations - spare part availability etc.

Personally I love the Spark and hate writing against this little beauty, but after having agonised over spares of the Matiz - I think you should be warned. A lot of people have the same concerns which is the reason why the Spark is being offered with such fabulous discounts. Otherwise this car really doesnt need a discount to sell.

My brother-in-law owns a Matiz (from the 1st batch in circa 2000). We all love the car and it never played any dirty trick in so many years of ownership. B-i-L was involved in many minor accidents too and fixing car had never been a problem due to spare parts. The paint and sheet metal quality of the car is outstanding. All cars from that batch were specially painted with multiple coats. According to him he has already got back the investment he made on the car. Needless to say, the car is still going strong.

[rahul153]

I recently had my Chevy Spark LT delivered. A silent engine. Lot of Spark owners do over crank. I was particularly careful not to do so. Till date not one. Whenever i had the feeling that the engine died, i look on the indicators, the one behind the steering, if not much signals lights are on, i gladly drive ahead. Not once have my engine died. My maruti was an expert in it...

Initially, i was a bit worried not seeing any Spark on the road because with its spec,performance and price as seen in the reviews, it should be a better choice than WR or Santro.
But now when i hit the road, i see atleast 2-3 near my home and 10-15 in the city 3 kms away.Now i feel i am in the middle of a Sparkie Trend !

I do find a bit of trouble with the reverse gear, while engaging reverse, it will not fully engage and i will have to **** to neutral and back to Reverse for it to fully engage. I heard new gearbox takes some time to set in. Well otherwise all the shifts1-2-3-4 are smooth.

With the accelerator, i found that even after stepping off it, for a few seconds you feel its still accelerating.

The fuel tank opening is on the right side, now i have to get around the pump unlike when i was in Maruti. But its not a big deal.
Even the Indicators and the wiper switch are interchaged, i mean the indicator lever is on the left. initially i used to engage my wipers often...but now i used to it. No trouble at all.
Another change is the speedo, its centrally placed. It wasn't a problem getting used to it... the bigger trouble is the speedo is avilable for view for the entire occupants.Since i have my mom always doing the backseat driving, i wish i had it in front of me just me !!

AC is a bit slow to chill when you have parked the car under the sun for quite sometime else its fine..chilling from room temperature is quick.

Steering a fast a very responsive. You will find it a breeze to drive it in the city.

The brakes too are very resposive. The slightest pressure is enough. If you go hard on the brakes i stops abruptly (at lower speeds) with a jerk stop feel.

With all the reviews i saw that the ower is too charmed by the sparkie that he adds up in his review, hey me too; quite charmed with this sparkie. But not added up.

I would prefer spark over santro,WR, or any other in its class. Its a pleasure to drive her around.

[akkiman]

I've been having a Spark LT model since September 2007. I can only say that the experience has been excellent so far.

So far I've driven around 31500 kms in 26 months, i.e. around 1200kms per month. I am from pune, and I have gone at least 15 times to mumbai and back, 4 times to goa and back, and once to Kokan coast. Here are my observations of the car :

1) The engine is very silent as everyone says. But I don't have a hard time distinguishing whether the engine is on or off.
2) I get an average of around 14.1 in city (with ac on 100%). I calculate this by setting the tripmeter to 0 and then filling up my tank. The next time I go to a petrol station, I again fill it up and divide total number of kms in tripmeter over the amount of petrol filled.
3) I get an average of 20 on the highway. This inculdes the Mumbai Pune Expressway, NH-4 type traffic. I drive on a average speed of 90 at all times.
4) There have been no mechanical troubles so far, no breakdowns. I guess the quality of the car can be termed above average.
5) Many people have complained about the tyres, but so far I haven't had a puncture even once (Seriously).. and my spare tyre has been just lying inside for over 2 years.
6) The ac does take a very long time to chill if the car has been kept outside in the sun. But once it starts taking the effect, it is pretty average. I have travelled only in mumbai,pune and goa, so haven't gone to 40deg+ areas still.
7) The back of the car keeps making a sound after going through bumps. The problem is because of the cover over the spare tyre keeps bouncing up and down. I guess the new cars have some cushion like thing which prevents this problem.
8) Brakes are good, but sometimes there is a tendency to brake too hard which can make the car skid.
9) If the car is fully loaded with 5 people with luggage, it has a tendency to hit speed bumps. You really have to take it very very slow over bumps to prevent the bump from hitting the underside of the body.
10) The servicing that I get from Pashankar auto is excellent. I also have an Optra serviced from the same guys, so the real reason I initially bought the car was the quality of service.
11) Over the past one year my wife has been driving this car, and from what she tells it is an extremely easy car for a woman to drive.
12) The handling of the car is superb in the city. I drive an optra ,and also an indica.. and I can say I find this car the easiest to manouvre through traffic.

Overall I have been extremely satisfied with the quality of the car, and I can strongly recommend buying this car.

[Takumi-san]

With regards to the reverse gear complaint, shift into first - just take the car a few centimeters forward and then try reverse, it will be much easier.

If you feel car a/c isnt cooling enough after parking in sun , get a good sunfilm. The V-Kool one despite its high price is well worth it. I speak from personal experience.

[BomBatt]

Originally Posted by akkiman

5) Many people have complained about the tyres, but so far I haven't had a puncture even once (Seriously).. and my spare tyre has been just lying inside for over 2 years.

Akkiman did you miss on tyre rotation ?

Whereas your spare tyre will be new, other 4 tyres will have uneven wear & tear over time.

I get tyre rotation done every 5000 to 6000 kms which includes spare tyre also.

[autotranny]

I saw this picture on a friend's facebook page. I'm not sure if this has been discussed/posted in this forum before.

This person seems to be very frustrated with his ride.