2014 Chevrolet SPARK EV - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV does not have an overall safety rating available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, looking at specific crash test ratings, it received "Not Rated" in various categories including front crash, side crash, and rollover ratings.

One positive safety feature of the Chevrolet Spark EV is its standard electronic stability control, which can help the driver maintain control in challenging driving conditions. Unfortunately, this model does not come equipped with forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the vehicle has received a total of 158 complaints and has been subject to 8 recalls. This indicates that there have been some issues reported by owners or identified by the manufacturer that required attention.

Overall, while the Chevrolet Spark EV has certain safety features like stability control, the lack of specific crash test ratings and advanced safety technologies may impact its overall safety evaluation. The number of complaints and recalls should also be considered by potential buyers when assessing the safety of this vehicle.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

158

Recall Count

8

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2014 Chevrolet Spark EV 5 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV 5 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2014 Chevrolet Spark EV 5 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV 5 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2014 Score 2016 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2014 Score 2016 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2014 Score 2016 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2014 Chevrolet SPARK EV

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"10/5/2021 i had the coolant expansion tank replaced because it was leaking. its leaking again 2023 same place. (picture below in now same place as before)"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2025-01-08
Complaint:
"the gas guage meter failed to work and didn't show where the gas was and so this is dangerous because if you are driving and you were on the freeway and the car stopped because of gas, this could cause an accident and you could be hurt or killed. this part should be a recall on the car because i never should had to fix this for the lifetime of the car at all or at least after 100,000 miles, which it only had 39,000 and i had to end up paying for the ecm and having to reprogram it, which cost me over $1,000, which being disabled, i had to borrow money from a friend to do this. i paid $220 to have the chevy dealer tell me that was the problem and have paperwork to prove this. there was also an engine light that came, when this happened."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-02-12
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2014 chevrolet spark. while driving at various speeds, the vehicle intermittently lost motive power with a knocking sound detected in the engine. the check engine warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was taken to independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the vehicle experienced piston failure. neither the dealer nor manufacturer was contacted. the failure mileage was 81,500."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2020-01-03
Complaint:
"when i take off, like from stopping at a red light, and my car shudders and makes a clunking sound when it shifts gears. i saw where there are recalls for the car "hard shifting" and could this be the same thing"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2019-07-08
Complaint:
"the engine coolant/anti-freeze reservoir leaks. ***it only leaks when driving*** i realized this when doing an inspection before a long drive (car was stationary). when i inspected under the hood i could see residue from a leak and smell the coolant. i filled it and the next day it was empty again, after driving 11 hours between 2 days. no light indicators are present or flashing. a few evenings ago some coolant must have leaked onto or next to the engine because there was a small amount of smoke coming from under my hood. when typing 2014 chevy spark antifreeze leak into google, there are many complaints. everyone is having the same issue in the same place. please have this recalled."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2019-03-10
Complaint:
"my 2014 vehicle only has 52,000 miles. the coolant is leaking from the middle seam of the reservoir tank as well as the top hose connection. thankfully i observed coolant on my garage floor to put me on notice of the leak. if i had been parked outdoors, i would not have been aware of the coolant leaking and risked permanent engine damage from lack of coolant. the coolant tank should not fail this soon. this has to be a defectively designed part. i read on a chevy spark owner's forum that several owners of the 2014 spark have experienced this same leaking reservoir tank at the same 50k mileage mark. the chevy dealer is going to charge me $400 to make this repair. chevy should possess a computer record of how many 2014 sparks have had their coolant tank replaced to place them on notice that the part is defectively designed to fail after only 50,000 miles. chevy should issue a recall on the coolant tank so that people do not permanently damage their engine by unknowingly driving without coolant because of this defectively designed leaking coolant tank."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2018-08-01
Complaint:
"2014 chevy spark motor lost compression in two cylinders @ 60k miles, whitmore chevrolet in west point, va. took approx. 5.5 weeks to replace the cylinder head, with no loaner car available to me. service manager yelled at me for stopping when i would stop by to inquire about the cars status, same when i would call. neither the calls or visits were even daily, he was horrible to deal with. in the meantime i contacted gm about this & they did essentially nothing other than state that dealers are independantly owned & they gave me 15 months of onstar...i would rather have a car the functioned as designed. fast forward approx. 2 months & the ac stopped working. tried contacting whimore about the failed ac system, service group either hangs up on me or simply do not call back. contacted another chevy dealer & was told that i either go back to whitmore or pay to have the ac fixed at their dealership. after buying gm since 1987 i guess i will be looking into other manufacturers very, very soon as i now need 3 new vehicles."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2017-01-11
Complaint:
"had to replace thermostat, oil pan gasket and now radiator resivor! has only 51k miles on it!! really??? piece of junk!!"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2018-02-08
Complaint:
"the check engine light starts flashing and the traction light comes on, then the car loses its ability to accelerate properly and shakes all over like it's about to fall apart. this is particularly dangerous when i'm on the highway and the car suddenly forces itself to go slower and won't accelerate beyond 20-30 mph if i'm fully revving the engine. it is an unpredictable on and off issue that the dealership has yet to see and is not related to temperature as the issue has occurred in all 4 seasons. as of last week, the acceleration and shaking issues have started occurring without the check engine or traction lights to warn me it's happening again."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2015-02-04
Complaint:
"engine light came on, and it was an issue to find out what was causing a rough start and a warning i could lose power. after i took my car to my shop, he found that my fuel injector was the cause of my problem. po301 cylinder misfire #1 injector plugged. i was parked, and when i turn on my car, the engine light stayed on when the other lights went off.,"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2016-09-04

Recalls for the 2014 Chevrolet SPARK EV

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 chevrolet silverado 2500 hd, 3500 hd, tahoe, suburban, gmc sierra 2500 hd and 3500 hd, gmc yukon, gmc yukon xl, cadillac escalade and cadillac escalade esv vehicles and 2014-2017 chevrolet corvette, silverado 1500, trax, caprice police pursuit vehicle, gmc sierra 1500, buick encore, and 2014-2016 buick lacrosse, chevrolet spark ev and ss vehicles. in the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (sdm) software to activate a diagnostic test. during this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash."
Consequence:
A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL
Date of incident: 2016-09-08
Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 buick lacrosse and chevrolet spark ev, caprice ppv and ss vehicles, 2014-2017 buick encore and chevrolet corvette, silverado 1500 and gmc sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 cadillac escalade and escalade esv, chevrolet tahoe, trax, suburban and silverado 2500 and 3500 and gmc yukon and yukon xl vehicles, and 2015-2017 gmc sierra hd 2500 and 3500 vehicles. while being previously remedied for recall 16v-651, the affected vehicles may not have received the complete software update necessary to remedy the recall condition. without the update, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (sdm) software to activate a diagnostic test. during this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash."
Consequence:
A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17287.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL
Date of incident: 2017-07-10

CHEVROLET Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

CHEVROLET ranks 2 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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