Other engine problem on the 2014 Chevrolet Spark
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2014 Chevrolet Spark report other engine problem at a median of 17,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 2,500 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles, from 25 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 500 miles at the tenth percentile to 80,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 80,446 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
64% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 454 miles | 2,059 miles | 17,756 miles | 60,000 miles | 80,900 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2018, at a median of 2,000 miles, and latest on the 2015 at 50,000 miles.
By volume the 2014 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I test drove a 2014 spark on 3-6-14 at voss chevy dealership, the car that I test drove "check engine" light came on. I did not purchase the car that I test drove...the salesperson said that because it was a brand new car there was probably a minor glitch. I was informed that a new batch of 2014 sparks was coming in, so I ordered a 2014 spark, I purchased the car on 2-14-14, it only had 11 miles on it. I drove my car for about 4 weeks when, on my may home from work, the "check engine" light came on and it began to smoke profusely. The spark had to be towed back to the dealership, I was informed that a whole new motor had to be put in the car. I do not know if these engine problems are a "known problem" with the 2014 spark or if the 1st spark that I test drove and the 2nd spark that I bought were just from a bad batch. *tr
The air conditioner is not cooling the car. Both me and my mom purchased a 2014 chevy spark 2 days apart and we both are having trouble. It will not keep the car cool. It runs warm all the time. I have taken it to the dealer twice and I am really not happy with this. It is also about to be summer here in az. I need a good air conditioner not one that will only run cold at night. *tr
A week after I got the car I was stopped at a red light and it just stopped. It has been doing this consistently for the last 6 months now. It doesn't matter if I am at a stop sign or a red light, but it is always after I have always started to drive the car and have come to a stop. The dealer can not find any code and has suggested I use a higher octane because sometimes when I put on the break it will accelerate and they think it is "starving itself". I have tried higher octane gas and it still turns itself off!! Sometimes it won't restart right away which scares me because what if the computer turns itself off while I am driving and I have no control!!! I have found other people on the internet with similar problem with this car! There is a you-tube video of a spark owner showing his car turning itself off!! I have a manual so it would be hard for me to video and drive at the same time!! Also, the last time I took the car to the dealer they told me there was a recall for the air-conditioning unit and I would have to come back to have that fixed but I can not find this recall anywhere? Do you know anything about this recall? The…
Also reported on the 2014 Chevrolet Spark
Other powertrain problem
Seat belt or retractor failure
Other electrical problem
Other speed control problem
Other body or interior problem
Complete transmission failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 38 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2014 Chevrolet Spark?
Across 25 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 17,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 2,500 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2014 Chevrolet Spark?
38 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.6 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed