[chbpreddy]

Thanks Vikrantj. Sure, I will try to take it out. I told them no stickers. But they told me this sticker comes right from the workshop or something and they cannot do anything.

[Sawyer]

The Spark is back from its 6 months service and this is a last update for the new car as it heads into what will be a long service life.
Absolutely no issues with the car, except for poor ( against claimed ) economy of 12 km in the city. I was again told at the service station that it gets to 14 by the time it clocks 5000, if so that will be a bonus.
The car is a joy to drive and sit in, within the city constraints and it has exceeded expectations and delighted my wife, who is the main user of the car.
Service has been excellent, the only gripe I have is that today I was told that the cost of the drain washer is not covered by the cashless cover for three years! It cost all of Rs 16 and I am sure that the cost of making the paperwork to bill it is more than that. Something to take up with GM, it is these petty things that need to be ironed out.
I do not know how the OE Acceleres would have been, but I am very happy with the Michelin XM that were installed on day 1.
I got a chance to check out the Beat, and I am not overly taken up with it. I think the Spark still is the better looker, and while the Beat feels more substantial inside, I understand that this confers weight, that drains the 1.2 litre engine of some drive. Also, for the same space inside as the Spark, the Beat is a little longer and wider, and that defeats the purpose for congested city driving and parking for which I got the Spark. I prefer it to my i 20 in that environment!

[SPARKled]

Yes I cant agree with you more about how good the Spark is for the city. Parking is now such a breeze compared to my Ikon where I am absolutely clueless about where the car ends behind. I am also nearing 5000Kms and the only problem I see so far is the slight pull to the left on straight roads when the steering is left free.

[Sawyer]

It should not pull - I suggest you get the wheel alignment seen to, that is covered under the cashless thing.

[nairrk]

[quote=Sawyer;1680543]The Spark is back from its 6 months service and this is a last update for the new car as it heads into what will be a long service life.
Absolutely no issues with the car, except for poor ( against claimed ) economy of 12 km in the city. I was again told at the service station that it gets to 14 by the time it clocks 5000, if so that will be a bonus.

+
quote]

Dont you think 12kmpl (even 14kmpl) is low for a hatchback?
I had Zen estillo which was giving 16/17kmpl easily at all time (more on highways) with 100%A/c.?
Is that all Spark cars are getting only this much FE?

[Latheesh]

I get 13-14 in city and 17-18 on highways. You will get different mileage based on which 'city' you are driving.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

You will get different mileage based on which 'city' you are driving.

Exactly! And which part of the city too.
I am told that it will get better, it has done just 3500 kms, but even 12 is something I am ok with, my earlier hatch that shall remain unnamed gave me 7/8, so this is 50% better already! Time will tell, I suppose.

[Sawyer]

I emailed Karl Slym, the head of GMI just an hour ago with some feedback, and he acknowledged it with evidence of having read it, within the hour, from his BB.
It takes that attitude at the top for the foundations of customer focus to be built across a company, and while this kind of response must be rare even for him, I can't think of too many other auto company CEOs that would do this even on an exception basis. GMI has made rapid advances in being customer oriented in the last couple of years, and one can see why.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

It should not pull - I suggest you get the wheel alignment seen to, that is covered under the cashless thing.

Yes I will have it checked in the first service which is due any time soon. BTW I am getting any where between 12.5-14 in Pune city and 16-17 on the expressway at speeds greater than 100.

[jeevmenon]

Wifey says this is a good long SPARK related post and we need to definitely update our little one's status here for all to read. We clocked 6000 km last night on Mount Road on our way to the central railway station. Its now 3 months and 20 days old. We did lots of trips - right from the 3rd day when we went to Mahabalipuram. All details are in the forum under Initial Ownership.

Service experience twice now - first checkup and first-service (I used the KLN motors Rs.100 pick-n-drop service here in Chennai. Very good. They gave it back to me in the evening. No additional costs in the first service. It was really muddy all-over after our long Christmas to NY vacation trip (still need to write about it at team-bhp.) Good job I would say. However, some things we notice:

- the back doors dont open unless opened from outside. scarry - what if the front doors also happen to work the same way - oops Probably will have to show actions like Mr. Bean from within. I could still try it from the windows - but still will check up the next time.

- the accelerator pedal tightens up off and on. Never was the case before. Once I go over some rubbles - probably it gets/got corrected.

- But its pretty smooth overall. Enjoyed the drive last night thru to Central station with very less crowd on the streets (Pongal holidays in the state here.) All the fly-overs and govt buildings were all lit up. Did additional routes - beach-road, Adyar, Guindy at 10 pm - which I usually avoid because of the jams and the crowd. I really enjoyed it and am feeling good about owning up the 6K, 3.5m-old Sparky.

- Other experiences - 5 people + AC => one can feel the drag. The moment one puts on the AC you can feel the drag. But thats normal I guess. Pick-up - is found a bit wanting at signals - maybe I am comparing with my Splendor bike of 8 yrs. But no complaints. Wifey adds - boot-space can accomodate quite some stuff - On our 9 day year-end trip we carried 1 backpack (1.5 x 2 ft), 1 suitcase (1.5 x 2 ft), VIP bag (1ft x 2ft) and 2 other kutti bags and it all squeezed in well. And I was very particular - no one kept anything on my JBL speakers.

Also, I felt the vehicle a bit light and does not sit well on the road. In other words - sensitive even to small bumps, pits and scrapped-roads or stony-rural-untarred-roads, however its exactly the opposite on good roads - perfectly smooth, might go off to sleep.

All the above I conjured and wrote out - just to be not biased in favour of my vehicle and just write +ves about it. I must say these are few minor things and we all are enjoying drives on it and its in our mind all the time.

Regards,
jeevmenon

[sparkguy]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

- the back doors dont open unless opened from outside. scarry -
jeevmenon

Child lock at work!! You need to disengage child lock and doors will open from inside too

[jeevmenon]

Thanks sparkguy. I immediately rushed towards the xeno manuals - my ignorance - its a mechanical part on the car, the spark manual is in the car - rushed to the car park. Did not pick up the manual but sat in the back seat - opened up the door and voila - found the white switch which did the trick. Nice feature. Just 115 days gone since my first car. I can be forgiven for that, I guess.

[jeevmenon]

Ah! And about the mileage so far. Wifey informs me just now from the dining area that we would have got say 15 kmpl thus far which includes city, highways, hills, sea, rural-roads, winding-and-up-n-down roads of Kerala. My calculations based on every full-tank fills upto auto-cutoff => 16.72, 14.43, 15.5, 18.08, 15.6 kmpl.

An intermediate approx calculation to get some highway mileage - 18.28 kmpl (after the last leg was a 10hr highway drive.)

So pretty satisfied with the mileage so far.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Service has been excellent, the only gripe I have is that today I was told that the cost of the drain washer is not covered by the cashless cover for three years! It cost all of Rs 16 and I am sure that the cost of making the paperwork to bill it is more than that. Something to take up with GM, it is these petty things that need to be ironed out.

Update...after an email exchange with GMI and the dealer, I am told today that this charge has been withdrawn in the future for all cars under the cashless cover. Kudos to a very responsive GMI!

[kenpachigamer]

Originally Posted by sparkguy

Child lock at work!! You need to disengage child lock and doors will open from inside too

hey sparkguy, how to disengage childlock? I have also experienced the same thing sometimes.