2014 Chevrolet Spark Electrical Problems

transmission issues

NHTSA ID

11684117

Incident

Aug 30, 2025

The GM bulletin N19227110 indicates that they are aware of over 10% of Chevrolet Spark models from the years 2014-2015 experiencing transmission problems. Although this bulletin expired last year, it is important to note that they do not provide coverage for vehicles purchased used with fewer than 120,000 miles. This situation poses a significant danger, as the transmission may potentially be contaminated with dirt and debris, leading to unexpected jerking or complete failure, and in some cases, vehicles have caught fire. Furthermore, unless the vehicle is taken to a GM service center, the issue may remain undetected. According to my research, this problem is similar to the one that Nissan faced with their CVT transmissions, which were subject to a recall for the same reason.

NHTSA ID

11663106

Incident

Mar 14, 2024

The contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Spark M300. The contact stated that the air bag and the seat belts warning lights were illuminated, and a message stating that the air bags would not deploy in the event of a crash was displayed. The contact stated while at a complete stop at the traffic light, the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. The vehicle was pushed to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an unknown dealer by roadside assistance, who purchased a new battery for the vehicle from the dealer; however, the dealer informed the contact that Roadside assistance could not install the battery because it would interfere with the business operations. The dealer advised the contact that she would need to pay the battery installation and diagnostic testing fee. The contact declined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ID

11632458

Incident

Dec 26, 2024

Mileage

100,000 mi

KEY FOB BROKE WILL NOT REPAIR OR REPLACE

NHTSA ID

11559777

Incident

Dec 12, 2023

KEY BOB BREAKING CAN NOT GET REPAIRED OR REPLACED

NHTSA ID

11559769

Incident

Dec 12, 2023

Si my cars been having issues for about a couple of weeks now with speed and it’s been driving rough, it hadn’t given me any check engine lights so I went to a mechanic he changed the throttle body thinking that was the issue however the issue persisted and even got worse. I’ve noticed it doesn’t seem to go into gear when I’m driving then when it finally does it looses power, it’s also really high on the rpm’s and when it’s in park it’ll seem like it wants to turn off.

NHTSA ID

11452174

Incident

Feb 12, 2022

On or about May 31, 2021 the car alarm began to randomly go off on the vehicle. I took the car to the local dealership on July 20, 2021 and was advised that "hood latch ajar signal showing hood open randomly" was causing alarm to go off. On Aug 21, the part arrived and the hood latch was replaced. Immediately upon leaving the dealership, the radio went blank. I lost all audible sounds and alerts in the car including: seat belt alerts, key in ignition alert, blinker alert, OnStar, and radio power. I returned to the dealership with the vehicle on Sept 21, 2021 and the car was again repaired. I was advised that "relay and battery saver relayed" was replaced. Additionally, the service tech called GM TAC and was advised that "due to the issue being intermit. most likely cause is fuse block overloading circuit and shorting relays. If relay goes out again, will need to replace fuse block." On Oct 30, 2021 I returned to the dealership with the vehicle. At this point the alarm was going off again and the radio (all interior sounds/alarms) had gone out again. I was advised that the fuse block needs to be replaced and that this issue is NOT caused by normal wear and tear or maintenance. I have reached out to GM for assistance with this matter as it is obviously a manufacturer defect. They have refused to help.

NHTSA ID

11444834

Incident

Oct 30, 2021

The contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Spark. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 mph, the instrument panel stopped functioning. The contact was unable to see the odometer, speedometer, and fuel gauge. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to a dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

NHTSA ID

11425014

Incident

Jul 9, 2021

Mileage

60,000 mi

CAR WILL NOT START WHEN COLD. TOOK TO O'REILLY'S AND THEY CHECKED BATTERY. READINGS JUMPING ALL OVER. HAVE SINCE READ THAT IS A COMMON ISSUE WITH 2013 AND 2014 SPARKS. NO WARRANTY ANYMORE. THIS SHOULD HAVE HAD A RECALL. COULD BE AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE FROM WHAT I HAVE READ.

NHTSA ID

11365965

Incident

Jan 1, 2018

Mileage

19,000 mi

IN AUGUST 2019, AS I WAS DRIVING ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY MY VEHICLE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT BECAME ILLUMINATED AND MY BRAKE, GAS, STEERING COLUMN, AND VEHICLE LOSS COMPLETE FUNCTION. THIS INCIDENT ALMOST COST ME MY LIFE. THANK GOODNESS I WAS ABLE TO EXIT THE HIGHWAY IN TIME. AFTER WEEKS AND MONTHS OF FAILED REPAIR ATTEMPTS, I CONTACTED GM HOPING TO GAIN SOME RESOLUTION. AFTER FILING A COMPLAINT IN DECEMBER 2019 THERE WAS NO RESPONSE UNTIL LAST WEEK. I RECEIVED A LETTER IN THE MAIL FROM ,MRS. NEELIE O'CONNOR-GLOBAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE OPERATIONS, STATING THAT MY MECHANICAL ISSUES MAY INDEED BE AT THE FAULT OF GM. THEY WOULD PAY FOR DAMAGES ,ONLY IF MY CAR WAS UNDER 120,000 MILES ,AND THEIR MECHANIC CONFIRMS THE DAMAGES.

NHTSA ID

11363693

Incident

Aug 6, 2019

Mileage

116,000 mi

VEHICLE ALERT SYSTEM SHOWS WATER TEMPERATURE ALERT THEN STOPPED THEM THE TRACTION ALERT CAME ON THEN WENT OFF AND THE TRANSMISSION LIGHT STAYS ON ALL THE TIME. DRIVES FINE BUT JOLTS IF ON AN INCLINE AND YOU PUT IT IN GEAR. THE OTHERS CAME ON WHILE DRIVING

NHTSA ID

11360256

Incident

Sep 21, 2020

Mileage

77,388 mi

BOUGHT A 2014 IN JULY 2016,NOT EVEN HAD THE VEHICLE 6 MONTHS THE RADIO,ONSTAR,SEATBELT CHIMES ALL WENT OUT.IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE RECALL LIST DATED 6/2016.NOW HAVING ISSUES WITH THE IGNITION,WONT START.SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE WITH THIS. GOD FORBID IF THE VEHICLE LOCKED UP WHILE I AM DRIVING. THANK YOU.

NHTSA ID

11342646

Incident

Feb 20, 2017

WHEN MY ALTERNATOR FAILED IT CAUSED AN OVER CURRENT THROUGH THE ABS RELAY CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE WIRING HARNESS MELTING THE BRACKET AND BREAKING ONE OF THE CLIPS THE OTHER CLIP BROKE WHEN THE GMC DEALER WAS DOING THEIR INSPECTION. I'M WORKING WITH AN EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT DOESN'T BELIEVE THE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY THE ALTERNATOR AND NOT THE DEALER.

NHTSA ID

11296788

Incident

Dec 21, 2019

Mileage

75,473 mi

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A 2014 CHEVY SPARK WITH 49,000 MILES. WITHIN A WEEK OF USING THE VEHICLE THE RADIO, CHIMES AND WARNINGS STOPPED WORKING. I WAS DRIVING AND TOUCHED THE REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER. THE RADIO WENT OFF AND WOULD NOT TURN BACK ON. I THOUGHT MAYBE A FUSE HAD BLOWN SO I CHECKED ALL RELATED FUSES. THEN I DID SOME RESEARCH ON LINE. I FOUND NUMEROUS ARTICLES AND RECALLS FOR THIS VERY SAME ISSUE. I AM THE THIRD OWNER OF THIS SPARK. THE FIRST OWNER HAD A RECALL SERVICE PERFORMED ON THE SPARK THAT WAS RELATED TO THE RADIO. JUST A WEEK BEFORE I PURCHASE THE SPARK THE SECOND OWNER HAD THE RADIO "REPAIRED" AT A CHEVY DEALERSHIP. CHEVROLET AT THIS POINT DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THAT THE PROBLEM IS RECALL RELATED BECAUSE THE RECALL SERVICE WAS PERFORMED ONCE.

NHTSA ID

11289142

Incident

Dec 3, 2019

Mileage

49,000 mi

CAR WAS WORKING FINE AND SHUT OFF IN PARKING LOT. THEN AN ATTEMPT TO RESTART IT A COUPLE OF MINUTES LATER LEAD TO FAILURE TO TURN OVER (CRANKING WAS HEARD). CONSOLE LIGHTS WERE LIGHTING INTERMITTENTLY AND VARIED, INCLUDING CHECK ENGINE AND SAFETY LOCK. WIPERS STARTED OCCASIONALLY. COULD NOT PUT IN NEUTRAL TO PUSH IT. OVER A FEW HOURS, THE BATTERY WAS COMPLETELY DRAINED.

NHTSA ID

11277827

Incident

Nov 1, 2019

Mileage

50,000 mi

PURCHASED VEHICLE IN 2014 BRAND NEW. THE RADIO SCREEN SAID CHECK ANTENNA WHEN ON XM (WE HAD A FREE TRIAL BUT IT WOULDN'T WORK) SO WE TOOK IT TO DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSIS, WHERE THEY SAID THERE WAS A CHAFED WIRE BEHIND RADIO. THEY REPAIRED BUT RADIO STILL DIDN'T WORK CORRECTLY, AND SO THEY REPLACED THE ENTIRE RADIO, THIS WAS IN 2015. NOW IT'S 2019, AND SOMETIMES THE CAR WON'T START, THE SIGNAL CHIMES WON'T MAKE SOUNDS AND THE RADIO WILL NOT TURN ON, RANDOM LIGHTS COME ON IN THE DASH - INCLUDING A FAILURE LIGHT ABOUT THE AIRBAGS, AND A BRAKE LIGHT WENT OUT AT THE SAME TIME. WE HAD THE KEY CHIME RECALL COMPLETED, BUT THIS ISSUE OCCURRED ANYWAY. WE REPLACED THE KEY FOB BATTERIES, THE CAR WOULD STILL NOT START RANDOMLY. WE TOOK IT IN TO THE DEALER AGAIN AND THEY SAID THE ISSUE WAS MOST LIKELY DUE TO A LOOSE BATTERY CABLE - IT WAS REPAIRED. NOW A MONTH LATER, THE RADIO AGAIN DOESN'T WORK AGAIN AND THE SOUNDS IN THE CAR (SIGNALS,ETC) DON'T WORK AGAIN, AND WE EXPECTED THE CAR NOT TO START AGAIN SINCE THOSE WERE THE SIGNS THAT OCCURRED BEFORE IT WOULDN'T START. WE TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER, THEY SAY THE RADIO DOESN'T WORK AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THIS IS THE 2ND TIME THE RADIO HAS BEEN REPLACED IN 4 YEARS. ELECTRICAL ISSUES HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM SINCE THE DAY WE BOUGHT IT. . I STRONGLY BELIEVE THERE IS SOMETHING MAJORLY WRONG WITH THE ELECTRICAL MAKEUP OF THIS VEHICLE AND THAT THE RADIO NOT WORKING/ CAUSING OTHER PROBLEMS, IS JUST AN UNDERLYING ISSUE BEING CAUSED BY SOMETHING GREATER. PLEASE HELP.

NHTSA ID

11231362

Incident

May 16, 2019

Mileage

64,000 mi

TAKATA RECALL. MY '14 SPARK HAS GOTTEN THE COOLANT TANK REPLACED TWICE. ALSO MY RPMS ARE SHOOTING UP AND BACK DOWN ONCE I HIT 50MPH OR FASTER . ALSO MAKES A HIGH PITCHED NOISE WHEN THIS HAPPENS . IT'S CAUSING MY CAR TO JERK AT FASTER SPEEDS, ALSO MY CAR JERKS AT POINT OF ACCELERATION FROM 0MPH WHEN I'M MAKING TURNS. ALSO THE BATTERY IS CONTINUALLY BEING DRAINED AND IT'S NOT WORN OUT .

NHTSA ID

11230832

Incident

Jul 9, 2019

Mileage

83,400 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 CHEVROLET SPARK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL GAUGES FAILED TO OPERATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO YOUNG CHEVROLET (9301 E R L THORNTON FWY, DALLAS, TX 75228, (469) 294-3000) WHERE THE POWER TRAIN CONTROL MODULE WAS CHANGED AND REFLASHED. THE DEALER ALSO INSTALLED A NEW AIR CONDITIONING CONTROL MODULE. A WEEK LATER, THE FAILURE RECURRED AND THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE MANUFACTURER DID NOT ASSIST SINCE THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

NHTSA ID

11173260

Incident

Jan 1, 2018

Mileage

100,000 mi

ON 17 SEP 2018 WHILE GOING 60 MPH ON I-65, THE VEHICLE STARTED BEEPING, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STARTED FLASHING, THE DOORS STARTED LOCKING AND UNLOCKING ON THEIR OWN, THE FUEL GAUGE WENT FROM HALF A TANK TO EMPTY AND THE VEHICLE STARTED TO LOSE POWER. PRESSING THE GAS WOULD NOT MAKE THE CAR GO FASTER; MY CAR SLOWED TO 40 MPH AND STAYED AT THAT SPEED FOR TWO MINUTES AND THEN LOST POWER COMPLETELY. I HAD TO CUT OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO PREVENT MYSELF FROM GETTING INTO A SERIOUS ACCIDENT (AN IDLE CAR ON AN EIGHT LANE INTERSTATE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A GOOD TIME), TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF AND THEN WAITED 5 MINUTES. I TURNED THE VEHICLE BACK ON, AND IT RAN FOR AN ADDITIONAL FIVE MINUTES BEFORE HAVING THE SAME SYMPTOMS. REPEAT ONE MORE TIME AND I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME SAFELY. THE NEXT DAY, 18 SEP 2018, I HAD IT TOWED TO MY MECHANIC WHO SAID THAT BASED ON ODB2 SCAN ON THE VEHICLE THAT THE ENGINE COMPUTER WASN'T TALKING TO ANY OF THE OTHER SYSTEMS AND THAT THEY COULDN'T FIX THIS PROBLEM; IT HAD TO BE TAKEN TO A DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP SAID THEY HAVE TO RUN A WIRE TRACE TO FIGURE OUT WHICH WIRE IS SHORTING OUT THE SYSTEM.

NHTSA ID

11132054

Incident

Sep 17, 2018

Mileage

53,099 mi

PURCHASED A USED 2014 CHEVY SPARK IN NASHUA NH IN 2016 I HAD THE VEHICLE NOT EVEN 4 MONTHS WHEN I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND ALL OF SUDDEN THE ON STAR,RADIO,CHIMES FOR SEAT BELTS ALL WENT OUT BROUGHT IN TO SHOP CHARGED ME 50,00 AND THEY TOLD ME THAT WOULD COST ANOTHER 100.00 TO FURTHER DIAGNOSE IT CHECKED OUT THE RECENTS RECALLS ON THIS VEHICLE AND IT APPEARS THAT THERE WERE RECALLS ON THE SAME SITUATION BUT MY CAR WAS NOT ONE OF THE VIN NUMBER SO WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS? I BELIEVE MY VIN SHOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED THANK YOU

NHTSA ID

11120526

Incident

Sep 25, 2016

Mileage

36,900 mi

THE CAR WILL POWER DOWN WHILE DRIVING, DESPITE HAVING ADEQUATE CHARGE. THE MESSAGE "PRESS POWER BUTTON AGAIN TO SHUT OFF" APPEARS EVEN THOUGH THE POWER BUTTON HAS NOT BEEN PRESSED. THEN THE CAR SHUTS DOWN AND COASTS TO A STOP.

NHTSA ID

11072029

Incident

Feb 10, 2018

Mileage

4,500 mi

I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON. THE CAR STARTS TO STALL. I WENT AND GOT THE CODES READ. EVERYTHING CAME BACK THAT ITS THE TRANSMISSION. CHEVY CLAIMS THEY'RE NOT SURE IF THE WARRANTY WILL COVER ALL THE COST. THE PLACE I GOT THE CAR FROM DIDN'T EVEN PROVIDE ME WITH ANY CARFAXS. I CALLED THEM AND THEY DIDN'T GIVE ANY SOLUTION. I AM DISAPPOINTED.

NHTSA ID

11052541

Incident

Nov 26, 2017

AFTER 38000 MILES AND 38 MONTHS (ON A 3 YEAR, 36000 MILE WARRANTY), THE BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR ON MY 2014 CHEVY SPARK WERE BOTH BAD AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. UPON SEARCHING AT 2 DIFFERENT PARTS STORES, THE 2ND STORE ADVISED THERE WAS NOT A PART IN ANY WAREHOUSE NATIONWIDE. THIS LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A FACTORY DEFECT CAUSING THE ALTERNATOR TO FAIL, AND THEN THE BATTERY.

NHTSA ID

11032194

Incident

Oct 7, 2017

Mileage

38,000 mi

WHILE DRIVING THE RADIO WILL TURN OFF AND ALSO TURN OFF SEATBELT CHIME AND ONSTAR WILL DISABLE AND KEY CHIME WILL NOT WORK.

NHTSA ID

11014934

Incident

Aug 10, 2017

Mileage

130,112 mi

SINCE THE DAY I HAVE BOUGHT THIS CAR 2 1/2 YEARS AGO IT WILL DIE, EVEN WHILE DRIVING AT 50 MPH. RECENTLY IT HASN'T BEEN STARTING EVERY TIME. CHEVY SAYS THE BATTERY IS BAD. HAD THE BATTERY CHECKED AT 8 OTHER PLACES, THEY ALL SAID BATTERY WAS FINE. HE HAD TESTED THE BATTERY RIGHT AFTER I TRIED TO START IT FOR TWO HOURS. WHEN YOU PULL THE NEGATIVE CABLE OFF THE BATTERY, THERE IS STILL 2 AMPS BRING DRAWN OFF THE BATTERY. WITH NOTHING ON, NO DIME LIGHT, NO RADIO, NO AIR. AND I'VE TOLD THEM FOREVER THAT MY SEATBELT WARNING SIGNS DON'T WORK PROPERLY. BUT THEY CAN'T SEEM TO REPRODUCE ANY PROBLEMS.

NHTSA ID

11003463

Incident

Jul 2, 2017

Mileage

51,000 mi