2013 Chevrolet Spark
Complaints about this year name having far more often than the model's other years — 11% of them, about 27× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 146 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 19 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 32.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- call — 12.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the model's other years (5.1×). Owners wrote it as: call, phone, lack, early.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- fix — 10% of complaints, 26× usual
- gear — 10% of complaints, 26× usual
- days — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
What owners wrote
LATELY I HAVE BEEN HAVING ISSUES WHERE THE HOOD LATCH STAYS IN THE OPEN POSITION. ACCORDING TO A VIN CHECK THIS SUPPOSED TO BE REPLACED AND THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP SAID IT WAS ACCORDING TO THE GM DATABASE, BUT I DON'T THINK IT EVER WAS REPLACED. THE DEALERSHIP WA…
UNDER EMERGENCY BRAKING FROM 45MPH THE GEAR SHIFTER SLIT FORWARD TO NEUTRAL WITHOUT OPERATOR INPUT.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V422000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V298000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V593000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 16V257000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 22V640000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Spark was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Chevrolet Spark? What happened to yours?
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