To Buy or Not to Buy?
 

I am 5'2" female, my husband is a 6,1" male. He and I are looking at and test driving a 2013 Chevy Spark with 29,000 miles tomorrow evening. What should we be on the lookout for? Would this car be a good, enjoyable choice for us? It's a 1-owner vehicle, and reviews on it seem average. What about its reliability? How often do you have it in the shop, and what for? Is it a good car to buy and have for the next 4-5 years, or should we move on to something else?

hi cbirch93,

i recently bought a 2015 chevy spark from my local carmax dealership. i also purchased the extended 5-year carmax warranty. as soon as i bought the car, it occurred to me that the buttons on the right side only of my steering wheel (volume, song skip, call answer/voice command, and hang up) did not work. after getting them fixed under my carmax warranty, a couple of weeks later, the entire LCD MyLink touchscreen froze and stopped working. now, in the spark, this screen not only houses your radio (which no longer works at all), but also your phone connectivity, any settings, USB or AUX connections and playback buttons, but even the clock. i was told by carmax that i would owe at least a $250 deductible until they would even look at simply rebooting the system. it is frozen, like a computer. as i am in my early twenties, live on my own and am a young professional who just bought her first car, these are the things i purchased the warranty in order to protect from costing me money i don't have. i have tried taking out the radio fuse from the fuse box, and have tried multiple DIY youtube videos demonstrating a "hard restart." i would NOT advise you to buy the spark for these reasons.

don't get me wrong, i love this car. as far as height wise, i am 5'4" and fit in my spark just fine. additionally, my boyfriend is 6'4" and is comfortable driving around in my spark, even on long road trips. there is plenty of leg room and storage, so as far as traveling long distances, it's great. i also commute downtown 2-3 miles back and forth to and from work in traffic, and it handles just fine. it makes very tight corners and is great for u-turns and parking in tight spots. i would recommend this car 10/10 if i have not been experiencing such annoying technical problems in the two months i've owned it.

i hope this this review helps. spend the extra $2k and get the chevy cruze.

move on to something else that has been on the market for a while and is proven. never buy new design models.

Was your car's build date over 3 yrs ago or the mileage over 36K when you had this issue?
If not your '15 Spark would be under warranty and you go straight to your Chevy dealer to fix all you've mentioned.