Anyone tow a Chevy Spark

[Geeze]

My wife and I are looking at purchasing a Chevy Spark with a manual transmission to use as our toad. According to the owners manual the Spark with a manual transmission can be towed four down. It says to put it in neutral and turn the switch to the ACC position. I've seen other models that do this and they recommend putting a switch in the fuse panel to keep the battery from going down. Anyone have a Spark and if so you you pull a fuse or use a switch? Thanks

[eheading]

We just bought a 2018 Toyota Corolla with manual transmission, and I am faced with the same dilemma. They say tow the car in the accessory position. They assure me if the radio is off I won't have a battery problem, but I am concerned about battery drain.

Ed Headington

[Geeze]

Bumpyroad wrote:
why don't you want to follow instructions in the owner's manual? trying to void a warranty or something?
bumpy

Just trying to keep the battery from going dead while towing. Like others have said the only purpose of putting the switch in the accessory position is to unlock the steering column. Also those who don't have a lockable steering column do you guys by chance have the 2LT model, they have push button start (no ignition key)

[bob_nestor]

My 2017 Spark doesn't have a steering wheel lock. It's a CVT though and can't be towed 4-down so I towed it on a trailer.

Be careful with the information that you might get from the dealer or from GM though. When I bought mine last March the dealer showed me the GM training material he had that indicated both CVT and manual could be towed 4-down. He even offered to put the tow bar on the front at no additional charge if I bought from him. I checked the owner's manual though and showed him where it indicated the CVT couldn't be towed 4-down. He got with the factory and verified that they had misrepresented this in their training materials.

BTW, overall it's a great little car. Drives a bit like a sports car, is nice and quiet and gets great MPG, especially when you can get non-ethonal gas. So quiet in fact that there's almost no noticeable change in wind noise between 20 and 90 mph - at least on good new pavement! Towed my on a trailer to Alaska last summer and from there we did a road trip over the Top of the World highway down to Skagway and back to the Kenai. A few week later I drove it back down the Alcan to Texas. Was getting 46+ MPG on non-ethonal gas in Alaska but it's down to around 41 MPG here in Texas.

[mlslcan]

We tow a 2014 Spark. The manual does not list any fuse to pull. We previously have towed for less than 4 hours at a shot and had no issues with the battery. I did turn off the radio. On this trip to snowbird in CA and AZ we towed for 9+ hours each day. I started the car the first day at around 3 hours in and again at the end of the day. The next day I went to start it after about 4 hours and the battery was dead enough not to start. At the end of the third day when we stopped for a week I had to jump the car off of the RV. This probably was not the best for the battery but I did not want to deal with it that second day at a rest area on the interstate where we stopped for the night.

My plan is to put a charge line in from the RV to keep the Sparks battery charged up. If I do not get that put in I might figure out what fuse to pull. But I think the charge line will be a better solution.

The reason to put the switch on ACC is to undo the steering wheel lock. On another forum someone stated that after 2016 there is no steering wheel lock. So if you are looking at that year it might not be needed.

Mike

[Bumpyroad]

why don't you want to follow instructions in the owner's manual? trying to void a warranty or something?
bumpy