2016 CHEVROLET SPARK — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 42 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (18 complaints · 42.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2015 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution SERVICE BRAKES appears in 18 of 42 owner complaints (42.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 18 complaints, 42.9% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 18 · 42.9% · 1 crash reports AIR BAGS: 5 complaints, 11.9% of reports AIR BAGS 5 · 11.9% · 2 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 7.1% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 7.1% · 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 3 complaints, 7.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 3 · 7.1% ENGINE: 2 complaints, 4.8% of reports ENGINE 2 · 4.8% FUEL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 4.8% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 2 · 4.8% STEERING: 2 complaints, 4.8% of reports STEERING 2 · 4.8% VISIBILITY: 2 complaints, 4.8% of reports VISIBILITY 2 · 4.8% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 1 complaints, 2.4% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 · 2.4% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 5 complaints, 11.9% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 · 11.9% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
SERVICE BRAKES 18 42.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 5 11.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 7.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 3 7.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 2 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 2 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 2 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 2 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 2.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 11.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 2016; the first recall shown was reported in Sep 2016. 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2017-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 2016 Oct 2025 Recall campaign 16V651000 ◆ Recall campaign 16V651000 Recall campaign 17V307000 ◆ Recall campaign 17V307000 Recall campaign 17V437000 ◆ Recall campaign 17V437000 Investigation EA21002 ● Investigation EA21002 Investigation EA21002 ● Investigation EA21002 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005
  • Campaign 17V307000 was reported 230 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 17V437000 was reported 292 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 3
2016-Q4 Owner reports 2
2017-Q1 Owner reports 9
2017-Q3 Owner reports 2
2017-Q4 Owner reports 2
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 1
2019-Q2 Owner reports 3
2019-Q3 Owner reports 2
2020-Q2 Owner reports 2
2020-Q3 Owner reports 2
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 2
2022-Q1 Owner reports 1
2022-Q3 Owner reports 2
2023-Q4 Owner reports 2
2025-Q2 Owner reports 1
2025-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 16V651000
Recall campaign 1 17V307000
Recall campaign 1 17V437000
Defect investigation 1 EA21002
Defect investigation 1 EA21002
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 16V651000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    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.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 17V307000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    Consequence:
    In the event of a crash with a frontal air bag deployment, an unbelted child in the front passenger seat has an increased risk of injury.
    Remedy:
    GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger air bag module, free of charge. The recall began July 5, 2017. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 17199.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 17V437000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    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.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 42 complaints · page 1 of 2

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources