Chevy makes bigger replacement side mirrors

[Tdk408]

The interns who designed the Spark put the rear door handles covering the window, which make the blind spots literally as big as a truck. Then, the student designers added microscopic side mirrors. Genius.

Now it turns out, GM makes larger oval mirrors to replace the tiny triangular stock mirrors. They break your leg and sell you a crutch.

MIRROR ASSY, LEFT Part #95260958
MIRROR ASSY, RIGHT Part #95260961
MIRROR COVER, LEFT Part #95260951
MIRROR COVER, RIGHT Part #95260946

Now that I know the part numbers, I have found them on several online sites.

I regret my Spark purchase every single day. The $400 cost of replacement mirrors is nothing compared lose thousands on when I sell it, only a few months after purchase.

 

[GeekEV]

For what it's worth, you will always lose thousands ON ANY CAR when selling it a few months after purchase. This is even more pronounced on electric vehicles where there are state and federal incentives only available to new buyers and not used sales. That has to come off the top when reselling.

 

[Chocula]

I regret my Spark purchase every single day.

That is why they offer test drives. If one drive is not enough, take 2, 3, 4... Not every car is right for everyone. Hopefully you have gained wisdom that will help you in your future purchases.

While the side mirrors are a bit small, I don't find them to be a problem when properly adjusted.

 

[Nashco]

I would be quite annoyed if the side mirrors were even larger. Side mirrors are an aero penalty, and the stock ones are just fine for me. Compare the visibility in most any modern car and the Spark fares ok. The A-pillars are GM's weak spot, not the b or c pillars, IMO.

As said above, test driving a car as well as its competition is extremely important to be sure it meets your expectations.

Bryce

 

[iletric]

I use small blind-spot mirrors on all my cars so the side mirror's size or shape is no problem for me. The blind-spot mirrors save my ass every day and I can't believe other drivers don't put them up. I could not change lanes to the left without looking into it.

Tdk408, you should have leased.

 

[user 527]

On one of the Car Talk shows last year Click-n-Clack made a point of emphasizing how unnecessary it was/is to turn one's head in order to view the "blind spot," i.e. when the rear view mirrors are adjusted correctly, there IS no blind spot. That habit, ingrained in my driving for decades, easily faded away (except when I'm backing up...no way do I trust the mirrors). That said, there's a bit less rear view in these mirrors than my last car, but so far no close calls for this lack.

And on buying vs leasing, I stand by my argument that it's better for the planet (greener) to drive one car for 7-10 years, than to swap out for a new car several times during that same period.

 

[Tdk408]

I would be quite annoyed if the side mirrors were even larger. Side mirrors are an aero penalty, and the stock ones are just fine for me. Compare the visibility in most any modern car and the Spark fares ok. The A-pillars are GM's weak spot, not the b or c pillars, IMO.

The C pillars aren't the problem, it's putting a giant piece of black plastic in front of the C pillar to hold the groovy door handle. Where is the last place you would put the handle? That's where they put it. I drive about ten cars a year. I can say confidently that the Spark has the worst visibility of any car I have EVER driven. Aero penalty won't matter when a truck steals your life out of the blind spot.

Here is a challenge. Find an American-sold car with smaller, less useful side mirrors--other than in a circus.

As said above, test driving a car as well as its competition is extremely important to be sure it meets your expectations.

Gee, never thought of driving a car before buying. Sharp tip, there. Thanks for explaining the obvious.

I drove every electric in the market, and drove this model three times. But there are things you don't notice with the salesman jabbering in your ear. Like every freaking bulb in this energy efficient car is a tiny space heater, energy waster. Like the fact that the radio steals your Bluetooth cell calls even when the radio is off. Like HONKing at your when you leave the ignition on. The rest of the planet uses a chime. Like the remote start which spends twenty minutes blowing cold air; won't let you set a sensible temperature, or even display it. The electronics are crap, the displays are crap. The brakes spaz out in a hard stop. The thing is a turd.

On one of the Car Talk shows last year Click-n-Clack made a point of emphasizing how unnecessary it was/is to turn one's head in order to view the "blind spot," i.e. when the rear view mirrors are adjusted correctly, there IS no blind spot. That habit, ingrained in my driving for decades, easily faded away (except when I'm backing up...no way do I trust the mirrors). That said, there's a bit less rear view in these mirrors than my last car, but so far no close calls for this lack.

And on buying vs leasing, I stand by my argument that it's better for the planet (greener) to drive one car for 7-10 years, than to swap out for a new car several times during that same period.

 

[iletric]

Like every freaking bulb in this energy efficient car is a tiny space heater, energy waster. Like the fact that the radio steals your Bluetooth cell calls even when the radio is off. Like HONKing at your when you leave the ignition on. The rest of the planet uses a chime. Like the remote start which spends twenty minutes blowing cold air; won't let you set a sensible temperature, or even display it. The electronics are crap, the displays are crap. The brakes spaz out in a hard stop. The thing is a turd.

Ha-ha! Right on the money...!

Pawl, I hope I'm never in YOUR blind spot. I've driven over million miles. Never caused an accident. Mirrors setup to perfection. Pulled back into my lane many times not to hit car in my blind spot. I cannot safely determine who's lurking next to me without dancing around the side mirror, no matter how setup.

The way it works is simple. The blind-spot mirror has to be empty; then it's safe to move left. Try it.

 

[user 527]

For me buying an electric car was more about being greener, less about saving money or, like the guys at EVWest, into ev's capacity for speed (though those two things are cool in their own ways). So, that's why I bought not leased.

As for you being in my blind spot, that's not possible; I'm all-seeing. :shock: :lol:

 

[iletric]

The famous last words... :lol:

 

[Tdk408]

I would be quite annoyed if the side mirrors were even larger. Side mirrors are an aero penalty, and the stock ones are just fine for me.

You are concerned about a microscopic aero penalty, but you are driving an electric car with no LED bulbs? Every signal and illumination bulb on the Spark is a tiny energy-wasting space heater, which continuously piss away hundreds of watts--even when the car is not moving and the aero penalty is zero. That's far more energy wasted than you gain with dangerous tiny side mirrors. (Check, for example, the VW Golf electric. A way bigger car with an actual trunk and normal mirrors, but gets similar mileage because all the bulbs, including headlights, are modern energy-saving LEDs.)

Real side mirrors are required, because safety. The useless mirrors make the Spark scary to drive for those that actually use their mirrors. Compared to the zillions of other flaws of the Spark, the crap mirrors are criminal.

As I said, try to find a car with smaller mirrors. You can't. I spent six months looking until a Toyota salesman told me that GM makes normal sized mirrors for the Spark. The problem is so obvious even other car companies know it.

Maybe your roads are filled with cautious, sensible drivers. Or maybe you're that guy that changes lanes without checking his mirrors. Here in California, drivers like to flick in and out of lanes without looking, at high speed. If you want to keep your tiny car out from under a bigger car driven by an idiot, you must have normal-sized mirrors, and use them.

Chevy MAKES larger mirrors for the Spark, so clearly the Spark is sold in some markets where useless side mirrors are forbidden. If you google "Korea Spark", all the cars pictured have normal-sized mirrors like mine. I swapped out the stock vestigial Spark mirrors for the normal-sized mirrors designed for the Korean Spark. $400 for normal mirrors is cheap compared to hospital bills, repair bills, lost time from work, higher insurance rates, etc.

 

[Tdk408]

I use small blind-spot mirrors on all my cars so the side mirror's size or shape is no problem for me. The blind-spot mirrors save my ass every day and I can't believe other drivers don't put them up.

I put stick-on convex mirrors on the Spark the first week I owned it, and they make the problem worse. You obscure the tiny mirrors with replacement mirrors that are even smaller, which make everything look a mile away? THATs why other drivers don't put them up.

As I said, Chevy makes drop-in replacement mirrors for the Spark, so I'm not the first person to require functional mirrors.

 

[Tdk408]

It turns out, GM makes larger oval mirrors to replace the tiny triangular stock mirrors.

MIRROR ASSY, LEFT Part #95260958
MIRROR ASSY, RIGHT Part #95260961
MIRROR COVER, LEFT Part #95260951
MIRROR COVER, RIGHT Part #95260946

I bought the larger Spark mirrors and installed them without any trouble. Here is what I did.

The part numbers above are drop-in replacements that fit the 2014 and 2015 Spark EV perfectly. Pry off the plastic cover. Open the door, carefully pry out the plastic access panel, and use a socket wrench to remove the three bolts. Be very careful you don't drop the bolt into the door, where it can't be retrieved. Unplug the electric cable. Sell the useless stock mirrors on ebay.

The electric plug for the mirror motors is physically the same, except the car has no wire for the LED turn signal lights because the children who designed the Spark didn't think it through. (If they cared about your safety, clearly they would have put normal-sized mirrors on in the first place.) Maybe someday I will snake in the necessary wire to get the turn signal LEDs to work.

Plug in the cable for the power mirrors, install all three bolts, replace the two plastic access covers. Presto, you have normal-sized mirrors.

Each mirror has a plastic exterior cover which must be purchased separately. The part numbers are above. I bought a white Spark, so I used the Krylon white spray paint specially made to stick to plastic. The color is a close enough match for me. Carefully spray both the inside and outside, because they plastic is translucent, and that looks better to me. I have given them at least five coats, and they look great. I will let the paint cure for a week, seal them with car wax, and then install them. It doesn't appear the external cover can be removed without breaking them, so get them looking right before you install them. They just snap on.

There. Your now car has functional mirrors like cars not designed by GM summer interns. They actually function for the intended purpose of keeping careful drivers and their loved-ones out of the hospital.

 

[Tdk408]

As I said, Chevy makes drop-in replacement mirrors for the Spark, so I'm not the first person to require functional mirrors.

I figured it out. If you google "spark korea", most of the cars pictured have full-size side mirrors like mine. Apparently useless side mirrors are not legal in Korea and elsewhere.

 

[StevesWeb]

For me buying an electric car was more about being greener, less about saving money or, like the guys at EVWest, into ev's capacity for speed (though those two things are cool in their own ways). So, that's why I bought not leased.

Same here, the Spark EV purchase was about being greener, and I already had a busload of solar panels. Now we are approaching the end of our first full billing year since buying the car. It has never been charged anywhere except at home since we bought it, and as of this morning Southern California Edison owes us $503, according to their records.

The fact that it is ridiculously fast and extremely fun to drive is just a bonus.

 

[emv]

As I said, Chevy makes drop-in replacement mirrors for the Spark, so I'm not the first person to require functional mirrors.

I figured it out. If you google "spark korea", most of the cars pictured have full-size side mirrors like mine. Apparently useless side mirrors are not legal in Korea and elsewhere.

That's a gas Spark.

 

[nozferatu]

The C pillars aren't the problem, it's putting a giant piece of black plastic in front of the C pillar to hold the groovy door handle. Where is the last place you would put the handle? That's where they put it. I drive about ten cars a year. I can say confidently that the Spark has the worst visibility of any car I have EVER driven. Aero penalty won't matter when a truck steals your life out of the blind spot.

Here is a challenge. Find an American-sold car with smaller, less useful side mirrors--other than in a circus.

Gee, never thought of driving a car before buying. Sharp tip, there. Thanks for explaining the obvious.

I drove every electric in the market, and drove this model three times. But there are things you don't notice with the salesman jabbering in your ear. Like every freaking bulb in this energy efficient car is a tiny space heater, energy waster. Like the fact that the radio steals your Bluetooth cell calls even when the radio is off. Like HONKing at your when you leave the ignition on. The rest of the planet uses a chime. Like the remote start which spends twenty minutes blowing cold air; won't let you set a sensible temperature, or even display it. The electronics are crap, the displays are crap. The brakes spaz out in a hard stop. The thing is a turd.

It seems to me you found out all the things that irritate you about the Spark AFTER you bought it and took it home..not before. I can't see how you would miss all these issues with the car prior to buying/leasing it.

I test drove this thing at least 5 times before I bought it. I was hesitant for a number of reasons but ONLY one pertaining to the car itself...the soft ride. But I made sure I knew what I was signing up with.

I've never had an issue with ANY of the things you are remarking about. The only main issue I have (safety wise) is the front pillar blind spot. It's problematic and several times when turning left I've missed seeing pedestrians. Besides that, there really is no issue with the car that I can see (and for almost all owners that I can see here at least).

The electronics are fine. No real issues. What's crappy about the electronics? Or the display? The display is great...gives me everything I want to see and no more to clutter things up. The worst visibility of any car you've driven? It's actually very good visibility-wise and I've driven all sorts of cars...Civics, Fiat 500's, CLA Benz, several GTI's, etc etc etc.

The brakes take some getting used to and are over-boosted if you slam hard but it's nothing really to complain about. The brakes simply overpower the lousy traction from the crappy tires.

The honking can be turned off....no big deal there..one of the first things I did..now the car never makes a sound for anything.

The radio never steals my cell calls if it's off. Never happened to me anyway. Remote start sets the temperature to a standard temp like 75. Sure it'd be nice to control that and customize it but nothing to complain about really. The thing is a turd? Sorry but you've got your cars mixed up there.

Also, I've NEVER been swayed or distracted by a salesman.

I don't know man...seems like you are pissed and just taking it out on the car.

 

[Carney]

I've often wondered why the Spark EV doesn't use the same side mirrors as the Volt. Seriously, the Volt side mirrors are streamlined, sleek, and just by themselves help make that car look awesome. Other than the Tesla Model S, nobody's side mirrors are better. So why did GM not use something that's already in their parts bin, cuts back on wind resistance / adds to range, and adds some much-needed cool factor?

(First post by the way. Hi everyone.)

 

[NORTON]

... The thing is a turd...

Tdk,
Basically this is an opportunity for improvement,,, For yourself.

In the future don't buy a car you don't want or like.

You obviously have the skills to make improvements. It would be great if you could post a 'How to' thread on swapping the mirrors and getting the turn signal wires to the new mirrors.
And btw, you math is all wrong on "hundreds of watts" wasted by not using LED's. Add them up.
Come on. A handy guy like you can swap out a few light bulbs. I have awesome back up LED's now. I have to return my first try at LED headlights due to the 'clocking' of the bulb. It would be great if it locked in at the correct angle, but the low beam cutoff pattern is tilted. I'd like to go with HID's, but these H13's are weird, no built in reflector. Turn signals? Not worth the hassle. That leaves park lights and interior lights.

Anyways,, you should sell your car. Life is short. Don't suffer. Don't be a martyr. I have two friends with Volts and after driving my Spark EV are ready to buy one!!!
What do you want for your turd?
I might be able to show up with cash and a dolly this weekend.

 

[Dusty]

(Check, for example, the VW Golf electric. A way bigger car with an actual trunk and normal mirrors, but gets similar mileage because all the bulbs, including headlights, are modern energy-saving LEDs.)

Real side mirrors are required, because safety. The useless mirrors make the Spark scary to drive for those that actually use their mirrors. Compared to the zillions of other flaws of the Spark, the crap mirrors are criminal.

As I said, try to find a car with smaller mirrors. You can't. I spent six months looking until a Toyota salesman told me that GM makes normal sized mirrors for the Spark. The problem is so obvious even other car companies know it.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I set up my first online forum similar to this about 20 years ago. When I see such hyperbolic rhetoric, my hackles go up. I know for a fact that some companies send out minions from their boiler rooms onto the web to pan the competition. Just for grins, let's assume your angst is genuine and you aren't just trying to drum up sales for the Golf Electric which costs about $10K more than a Spark EV.

You're absolutely right about the mirrors. I noticed them the first time I drove the car. They are definitely smaller than they should be. Are they too small? I don't think so or else I wouldn't have bought the car. The inside dimension is OK but where they taper down to nothing some visibility is lost. That said, you can compensate for this loss by simply moving your head sideways a little while you look through the mirror. This is far preferable to turning your head backwards to see through the obstructed blind spot created by the rear door handle, your original complaint. Turning your head in such a way can cut your reaction time in half should something happen in front of you which you can't see anyway because you're looking backward.

I say all this as someone who has about 2,000,000 miles under his belt, about half of which was performed as a professional truck driver. All of my personal vehicles were either vans or pickup trucks before purchasing Li'l Sparkey. My longest rig was 75'. All these vehicles, plus millions more just like them have far worse visibility than the Spark EV, yet there isn't carnage on the road. I've never had an accident on the highway. What did you say…

$400 for normal mirrors is cheap compared to hospital bills, repair bills, lost time from work, higher insurance rates, etc.

Really? But it is nice to know I can replace the mirrors if my neck ever gets sore and moving my head becomes a pain. Thanks!

Incidently, back when I bought my first truck, 43 years ago, the passenger side mirror was optional equipment on lots of cars, and forget about air bags, ABS or traction control. Yet, some of us survived to procreate and over-populate the planet. Hard to imagine, isn't it.

After reading all of this, if you're still in a funk over buying a Spark EV, consider what I tell my teenage daughter when she throws one of her pity parties. I ask her to name 10 people who have a better life than hers. The first time she said "Nikki Minaj and Taylor Swift". My response was, "You have the third best life and you're still complaining?" I'd like to say it works but I can't - it's a hormone thing or something. I'll never understand it.