7500 mile service/recall fix experience

Chevy Spark EV Forum

Help Support Chevy Spark EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Chaconzies

Well-known member
Joined
May 9, 2014
Messages
164
Had my first scheduled maintenance with the dealer.

A little backstory, bought my Spark in May last year. Blew a hole in the sidewall of the tires at about 2500 miles so I bought two new front tires (Yoko Avid Ascends)
Anyways, I knew I should go in for the 7500 miles when I hit that but I wanted to get the recall hood latch done at the same time.
First time I called George Chevy they didn't have the parts. Then things got busy with school. Some time passed but I ended up finally going in last week at around 10,000 miles.

Made an appointment online for 9:40. When I got there I gave them the keys and talked with the service staff.
Alfred was initially not sure of what would need to be done because they don't work on the Spark EVs all too often. They had to look up the service schedule and I was asked multiple times to confirm that my Spark ran on "no gas... like at all right?" :lol: Yes.
Anyways we got it sorted out and they said that they'd fix the recall, and do all the other things on the (very short) maintenance schedule.
I made sure to let Al know that the tires were different sizes on front and rear and asked if they could check to see if there was a software update.
Signed some papers and got an estimated finish time of 12 noon :shock: but they were pretty busy. So I took their free shuttle home (I live pretty close) and watched some Netflix
Got a call about 11:40 saying they had completed the hood latch recall fix and that the car was ready. Got picked up by the shuttle and headed back.
When I arrived I talked to Al he basically said that he was surprised by how little maintenance needed to be done. Aside from the hood latch they basically just inflated the tires and topped off the windshield wiper fluid. Since I had gotten new tires not long ago the side to side rotation wasn't necessary and quite frankly EVs are pretty simple.
Cost for everything was covered under the warranty (it's a lease) and overall it wasn't too much of a hassle except for the time.
Al told me he liked the compactness of the car and asked me how quick it was. I told him that he definitely needs to test drive one!
When I got the car from the service guy he also thought it was a pretty slick little ride and said that he was looking into getting something like it. ;)
Pretty good experience. There was no software update though.
Anyways if you have any questions feel free to comment or message me personally.
 
Pr etty much the opposite of my experience with the recall.

Stopped by the dealer in San Jose one day as I was passing by to make an appointment for my Volt hatch struts recall. While I was there I also scheduled the Spark latch.

About a week later I go a call from them that "the parts are in for the recall". I had to explain that I had two cars that needed parts for a recall, and asked which car? I was told the Volt, so next day I took it in, only to be told that the parts were not in for it, but that the Spark latch had arrived. So, wasted rest of the morning trying to track down the Spark, but was unable to catch the wife before she had left for lunch. Rescheduled for next day...

Next day went about like I expected, I asked them to check the alignment and check the wiper blades. Alignment has always been a bit scary on freeways, especially grooved pavement, and I can hear the front tires scrubbing with the windows down. Obvious case of toe-in needing adjustment.

Also, the DS wiper was bad from day one. Big streak right in front of my eyes, which we did not notice till it rained a few months after delivery. Fortunately it did not bother my wife during the little rain we have had.

I had to wait about an hour to get the shuttle home. As soon as I arrived I got the call that the Spark was ready. An hour later the shuttle dropped me off at the dealer again. There I was told that the alignment was "Normal for Sparks". I asked for the numbers from the alignment check, and was told that they did not check the alignment, but did drive it on the freeway. Interestingly enough this dealer has an alignment measurement system in the service writers area that has been gathering dust since the dealership changed hands last year. Before they would check each car and print out the numbers for every service, no matter what it was for. I'm sure they got plenty of business from that machine whenever they found a car that was out of spec, but I was told that "No one knows how to run it". Apparently the service techs are not allowed to perform checks either...

Wiper blades were diagnosed as bad and both were supposedly ordered.

It's been over a month,and I have not heard from them about the wipers, nor the struts for my Volt.
 
I still need to take my car in for the warranty work but frankly it's not worth the time I'm going to waste there. It's such a hassle.

I have 17000 miles on the car and just over a year's ownership. I'm SO over the lease mileage it's ridiculous.
 
I took my car to George Chevrolet for service. Again I had to educate them. No tire rotation, check for software updates, etc. Per onstar I need to take it to my local dealer to check battery degredation level. George Chevrolet said they cannot do that and I have to call the warranty company. Again lack of knowledge about the product they sell.
 
agdodgerfan said:
... Per onstar I need to take it to my local dealer to check battery degredation level. ....
Seriously? This is a procedure that GM/Onstar is calling for?
Is this in writing anywhere?
 
agdodgerfan said:
I took my car to George Chevrolet for service. Again I had to educate them. No tire rotation, check for software updates, etc. Per onstar I need to take it to my local dealer to check battery degredation level. George Chevrolet said they cannot do that and I have to call the warranty company. Again lack of knowledge about the product they sell.

I had a good laugh when I took mine in for its first service a few weeks ago when they said I was due for an oil change. I told them it's an electric vehicle to which the advisor said he knew that, but even electric cars had a generator in them to keep the battery charged. It was pretty clear they don't see these cars very often.
 
Chaconzies said:
Had my first scheduled maintenance with the dealer.

A little backstory, bought my Spark in May last year. Blew a hole in the sidewall of the tires at about 2500 miles so I bought two new front tires (Yoko Avid Ascends)
Anyways, I knew I should go in for the 7500 miles when I hit that but I wanted to get the recall hood latch done at the same time.
First time I called George Chevy they didn't have the parts. Then things got busy with school. Some time passed but I ended up finally going in last week at around 10,000 miles.

Made an appointment online for 9:40. When I got there I gave them the keys and talked with the service staff.
Alfred was initially not sure of what would need to be done because they don't work on the Spark EVs all too often. They had to look up the service schedule and I was asked multiple times to confirm that my Spark ran on "no gas... like at all right?" :lol: Yes.
Anyways we got it sorted out and they said that they'd fix the recall, and do all the other things on the (very short) maintenance schedule.
I made sure to let Al know that the tires were different sizes on front and rear and asked if they could check to see if there was a software update.
Signed some papers and got an estimated finish time of 12 noon :shock: but they were pretty busy. So I took their free shuttle home (I live pretty close) and watched some Netflix
Got a call about 11:40 saying they had completed the hood latch recall fix and that the car was ready. Got picked up by the shuttle and headed back.
When I arrived I talked to Al he basically said that he was surprised by how little maintenance needed to be done. Aside from the hood latch they basically just inflated the tires and topped off the windshield wiper fluid. Since I had gotten new tires not long ago the side to side rotation wasn't necessary and quite frankly EVs are pretty simple.
Cost for everything was covered under the warranty (it's a lease) and overall it wasn't too much of a hassle except for the time.
Al told me he liked the compactness of the car and asked me how quick it was. I told him that he definitely needs to test drive one!
When I got the car from the service guy he also thought it was a pretty slick little ride and said that he was looking into getting something like it. ;)
Pretty good experience. There was no software update though.
Anyways if you have any questions feel free to comment or message me personally.
I had two recalls on my 2015 Spark EV. The first one was a software update to keep the temperature on the display from shifting back to deg. C when I wanted deg. F. The second software update was to immediately turn on the brake lights when driving in Low and releasing the accelerator pedal. There used to be a 1.5 second delay. The brake light software update also applied to my 2014 Spark EV. The hood latch recall had been performed on my 2014 Spark EV before I purchased it. Other than that I have had absolutely no additional problems with either car.
 
Just to be a little pedantic, the software update for the C to F conversation isn't a recall. It must be a service bulletin of some sort. Last summer when I got my car, the dealer didn't even bother to update the software before delivery. I live further away from the dealer than the battery can muster, so to update the software they had to flatbed it back to the dealer and return it to me.

The dealer network, that GM is so proud of, is one of the biggest reasons keeping me from getting a Bolt EV.
 
Zoomit said:
Just to be a little pedantic, the software update for the C to F conversation isn't a recall. It must be a service bulletin of some sort. Last summer when I got my car, the dealer didn't even bother to update the software before delivery. I live further away from the dealer than the battery can muster, so to update the software they had to flatbed it back to the dealer and return it to me.

The dealer network, that GM is so proud of, is one of the biggest reasons keeping me from getting a Bolt EV.
You are correct. I went back to my service documents and found the deg. C / deg. F problem was covered in a technical service bulletin and required a software update. The brake light issue was covered by a recall campaign and also required a software update. I purchased my 2014 Spark EV and leased my 2015 Spark EV from separate dealers. The service work was done by a third local Chevrolet dealer and without any problems. This will be the dealer where I will have all future service work done for my two Spark EVs if the vehicles ever require service work.
 
Arktctr said:
agdodgerfan said:
I took my car to George Chevrolet for service. Again I had to educate them. No tire rotation, check for software updates, etc. Per onstar I need to take it to my local dealer to check battery degredation level. George Chevrolet said they cannot do that and I have to call the warranty company. Again lack of knowledge about the product they sell.

I had a good laugh when I took mine in for its first service a few weeks ago when they said I was due for an oil change. I told them it's an electric vehicle to which the advisor said he knew that, but even electric cars had a generator in them to keep the battery charged. It was pretty clear they don't see these cars very often.


An oil powered generator? They must have a sideline servicing dams :shock:
 
markusg said:
The folks at FH Dailey in San Leandro have been pretty on the ball for me. No complaints other than it can be tough to get an appointment.
The service department at American Chevrolet in Modesto, CA has serviced both my 2014 Spark EV and 2015 Spark EV with great service.
 
Back
Top