cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

Chevy Spark

routeforty
Explorer
Explorer
Anyone on here flat towing a Chevy Spark? Looking at a 2021 manual transmission. Looked at Jeeps yesterday-really overkill for what we will use it for, most of the time it will be sitting in the garage waiting to take a trip. Decided $35-40k was more than I wanted to spend to not use it. Can buy 3 sparks for that. Just want something to run around in while on the road. Gary
2018 coachmen leprechaun class c 2008 KZ spree 260FL
10 REPLIES 10

Geeze
Explorer
Explorer
routeforty wrote:
Bought it yesterday-2021, manual trans. Had to drive about 400mi to get it. In Ohio the only ones I could find were black or dark gray(manual transmission). Found one in the DC area(toasted marshmallow color, 5 sp manual, can flat tow). Drove nice on way home. Decent car, not much room inside, but for what we want it for it will work. Get base plate on sometime before spring. Haven't decided it I want to tackle it or just have someone put it on for me. After retirement I've decided to pay others to do what I used to tackle fearlessly,


I put the Blue OX base plate on our 2018. Reinstalling the front fascia was the worst part of the job. There are some weird clips that attach the front fascia to the fenders that are a real p.i.t.a.to get snapped back into place. I ended up breaking one and had to order a replacement online. I couldn't get the panels to line up properly and ended up taking it to a body shop. They even complained what a lousy design it was. I put the Demco Stay N Play duo on and let me tell you there is no good place to mount it under the hood. I ended up mounting it to the frame rail on the drivers side just ahead of the transmission. After I mounted it and had it working Chevy came out with a recall/bulletin stating the negative battery cable must be unhooked when towing to prevent the front wheel brakes from locking up. Now when I disconnect the battery via battery cutoff switch I installed the Demco brake won't work. The car is light enough that it hasn't been a problem so far. We will look hard at a tow dolly with surge brakes next time around. I know they have their disadvantages but you can tow just about any vehicle using a dolly and don't have the added expense to setup another vehicle when you trade.

Geeze
Explorer
Explorer
We have a 2018 Spark manual. It's a fun little car and will keep up with traffic just fine if you keep the RPM's up. First gear is geared a little two high in my opinion. If you pull away from a stoplight with what I would consider normal engine speed its a dog. The only downside to any manual transmission is they are a P.I.T.A. driving around town. We will probably upgrade to a Chevy Equinox just to get back to a automatic and more room. Our Spark gets about 40 mpg most of the time and we've had zero problems in 20,000 miles. They seem to be well made.

routeforty
Explorer
Explorer
Bought it yesterday-2021, manual trans. Had to drive about 400mi to get it. In Ohio the only ones I could find were black or dark gray(manual transmission). Found one in the DC area(toasted marshmallow color, 5 sp manual, can flat tow). Drove nice on way home. Decent car, not much room inside, but for what we want it for it will work. Get base plate on sometime before spring. Haven't decided it I want to tackle it or just have someone put it on for me. After retirement I've decided to pay others to do what I used to tackle fearlessly,
2018 coachmen leprechaun class c 2008 KZ spree 260FL

bob_nestor
Explorer III
Explorer III
Thought Chevy and Ford were getting out of the car business and there weren't going to be any 2021 Chevy cars.

Did have an RVer stay with me via Boondockers Welcome and they flat towed a manual Chevy Spark and said they never had any problems. Based on that I looked at and bought a 2019 Spark but it was a CVT automatic. The Chevy documentation indicated it was flat towable, but I questioned that and had the dealer verify. They came back with a different story that only the manual was flat towable. I did buy the automatic and trailered it to Alaska and later drove it back to Texas. It was a fun little car that wasn't a race car or capable of doing 0-60 in under 5 secs, but I never felt it was underpowered for what it was. I ended up trading it in on a new Wrangler after selling my old Wrangler to a friend in Alaska.

I might have to look at a 2021 manual Spark.

wildtoad
Explorer II
Explorer II
We used to tow a Chevy Sonic and all was good except when we wanted to go somewhere the Sonic couldnโ€™t such as Monument Valley. When we got home we bought a lightly used Jeep Wrangler and now we can go where we want when we want. Easy to setup for tow, easy to connect and disconnect. Check into a Ready Brute tow package.
Tom Wilds
Blythewood, SC
2016 Newmar Baystar Sport 3004
2015 Jeep Wrangler 2dr HT

routeforty
Explorer
Explorer
carringb wrote:
The Spark is a fun little car at low speeds, but ultimately it's cramped and under-powered, especially in the torque department (94 ft-lbs at 4400 RPM). You might find it dangerously underpowered at high-elevations.

Is new a requirement? Have you ever seen a Ford C-Max? It's one of my favorite toads. Crossover-ish seating position, 40+ MPG, good handling, reasonable power, and with the Energi model; 15 miles of all-electric range. Towing it 4-down is simple. No special programming or wiring needed (other than rear lights). It even has double tail-light lenses, so one can be converted to dedicated tow-vehicle-powered lights without diodes.

Getting one coming off a 2-year lease will cost less than a new Spark.
yes, rather have new. Don't really care about lots of power. Probably the only time we will use it is to go from a CG to run errands or local touring. Since we're in the east we probably won't see too much high elevation(did that last year and the high altitude was not kind to us} so I think this will probably work. Had a chevy sprint(3cyl) years ago, when you turned on the AC it was like the car downshifted, so lots of power isn't too important to me.
2018 coachmen leprechaun class c 2008 KZ spree 260FL

azdryheat
Explorer
Explorer
Try the ford Fiesta for size.
2013 Chevy 3500HD CC dually
2014 Voltage 3600 toy hauler
2019 RZR 1000XP TRE

carringb
Explorer
Explorer
The Spark is a fun little car at low speeds, but ultimately it's cramped and under-powered, especially in the torque department (94 ft-lbs at 4400 RPM). You might find it dangerously underpowered at high-elevations.

Is new a requirement? Have you ever seen a Ford C-Max? It's one of my favorite toads. Crossover-ish seating position, 40+ MPG, good handling, reasonable power, and with the Energi model; 15 miles of all-electric range. Towing it 4-down is simple. No special programming or wiring needed (other than rear lights). It even has double tail-light lenses, so one can be converted to dedicated tow-vehicle-powered lights without diodes.

Getting one coming off a 2-year lease will cost less than a new Spark.
2000 Ford E450 V10 VAN! 450,000+ miles
2014 ORV really big trailer
2015 Ford Focus ST

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
Good Sam says the 2020 is four down towable with the manual transmission.

https://images.goodsam.com/newmotorhome/towguides/DinghyGuide2020.pdf
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
Does GM say the 2021 Spark is four down towable?
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad