2020 Chevrolet Spark
Summary:
A surprisingly fun, neat little car!
Faults:
We rented this car for a week and 1000 miles, no issues during that time.
General Comments:
Perhaps I had low expectations since this is an absolute scraping the bottom of the barrel economy car, but I was really surprised how good it actually was for what it is. Granted, make no mistake - it's a entry level car so just keep this in mind. But overall? Not bad!
First, this car is TINY. I'm a smallish man and even to me it felt really small. But the interior was comfortable, decent seats and it had all of the whistles and bells you'd find on any other car. Power windows, mirrors, an infotainment system that had apple and Google play integration, and good AC. The speakers sounded good too - surprising since most cheap cars tend to have awful, tinny sounding speakers.
Secondly? It was actually sort of peppy. It had zero problems keeping up with freeway traffic. Even on steep hills and with the AC on it was totally fine. A far cry from the gutless econo cars I've driven 20 years ago. The small size made it feel more like driving a go cart, which was fun. We were in a few cities and parking it was super easy. It could also just about turn on a dime.
Fuel economy wise it did pretty well. I'm guessing it was getting 35+mpg the whole time. And that was with me flooring the thing.
Yes - some things are definitely cheap. The sheet metal is very thin and you could hear the door's outer panels flex when closed. The interior plastics were also flimsy. But in the end? So what. It's a very inexpensive car and that's kind of to be expected.
I think these would make very good cars for someone in a budget, maybe a younger person just getting started or even for those who live in congested areas where parking is an issue.
Usually when it's time to return rental cars I'm sort of indifferent. But I was actually sad to see this one go. Heck... As cheap as these are new, who knows? I might just get one.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 27th June, 2021
30th Jun 2021, 20:49
Makes me remember my driving lessons I took with its ancestor back in the 90s. I was on a slight incline at highway speed and the engine was gutless. The instructor told me, put the pedal to the floor. As a newbie I was afraid that would potentially blow the engine. So the instructor pressed down with his hand on my right knee. The engine moaned some more and that was it. I could see the sparrows passing us.