Which Gas-Saver Is Your Choice? 2013 Chevy Spark vs 2014 Fiat 500

This will come as no surprise to regular readers, but I don’t really like newer cars very much. I never thought I’d be one of those people whose taste in cars (and music and movies) essentially froze in my thirties, but here I am in my fifties pretending anything made after 2005 doesn’t exist. This week, however, I’m going to try to explore the newer car market. I’m going to try to stick to cars no more than fifteen years old, starting with these two little runabouts.

Friday was an experiment: What happens if I show you two obviously overpriced cars, and give you an escape hatch in the poll? Well, what happens is most of you take it. Fully seventy-five percent of you noped out. So that’s enough of that. We’re now back to our usual “you must choose” rules.

If I throw out the “none” votes, the winner on Friday was the black Colt GT, which is my favorite of the two. Putting a wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel in a basic economy car is my kind of silly, and while I still think they’re both overpriced, if forced to choose, I’ll take the less expensive option.

Gas prices right now, to put it plainly, suck. It’s almost never worth it to think about trading in a car to get better mileage, but I can’t say that I don’t look at the small cars on the road with some envy, as our Hemi- and LS-powered cars gulp down unleaded like a rock star on a bender. You never want to see $100 on the pump total. And with the two little cars we’re going to look at today, you never will – unless prices really went crazy. Let’s check them out.

2013 Chevrolet Spark – $3,900

Engine/drivetrain: 1.2-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Chicago, IL

Odometer reading: 171,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Chevy’s history of tiny captive imports dates all the way back to 1985, when the Suzuki-built Chevy Sprint was introduced. The Sprint gave way to the legendary Geo Metro, which stuck around for more than a decade before being replaced by the Daewoo-built Chevy Aveo. And in 2013, the Spark, also based on a Daewoo design, replaced the Aveo. Now, of course, you can’t get any small cars at all at a Chevy dealership, which feels like a mistake to me, but what do I know?

The Spark is powered by a tiny 1.2-liter four cylinder making just 84 horsepower. But it’s a lightweight car, especially by modern standards, so it’s enough. This first-year Spark has a traditional four-speed torque-converter-type automatic; later Sparks had the dreaded Jatco CVT. This transmission is said to be less efficient, but a lot more reliable. You could spec a five-speed manual as well, but few buyers did. This Spark has covered 171,000 miles, but the seller says it runs and drives like new.

The condition of the interior at that mileage shows that someone has taken care of this car. The tree air freshener is a little worrying, but I know some people actually like the smell of those stupid things, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. The seller says everything works as it should.

Sparks came in a whole rainbow of colors, as a small economy car should. This pale rosy pink, called “Techno Pink” by Chevy, is actually one of the more subtle options. It’s in good condition outside, but it almost looks like some body panels don’t quite match. I’ve noticed that on other cars as well, and I can never tell if it’s a trick of the light in the photo, or if the paint fades more on the plastic parts than on the sheetmetal, or what.

2014 Fiat 500 Sport – $3,999

Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 1.4-liter OHC inline 4, six-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Plainfield, IL

Odometer reading: 75,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

You can pretty much blame Volkswagen for this car. VW’s Concept One show car in 1994 was a big hit, and became the New Beetle in 1998. BMW, after acquiring the Rover Group and with it the Mini brand, saw the Beetle and thought, “Hey, we can do that, too!” Fiat, not to be left out, introduced its own modern version of the iconic 500 in 2007, and brought it to the US in 2012. It isn’t quite the pared-down people’s car that the old 500 was, but then, the modern Mini and Beetle weren’t exactly bare-bones cars either.

This is the Sport model of the 500, with a turbocharger on its 1.4-liter MultiAir four cylinder. It drives the front wheels through a six-speed Aisin automatic, which is a bit of a letdown, but maybe the extra horsepower makes up for it. It’s a one-owner car with only 75,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs and drives well.

I’ve always liked the interior treatment of these 500s. The body-colored dash panel, the cream-colored accents, and the overall stylishness of it is a nice change from the bland gray plastic appointments of most small cars. It’s in really good condition, as you would hope with the low mileage.

This one is a good color as well; you don’t see many brown cars these days. It’s also in really good condition. Personally, I think Fiat did a better job modernizing the 500 than BMW did the Mini. These are good-looking little cars.

It may not be worth trading in your gas guzzler on one of these, but if you’re looking for a car anyway, one glance at the numbers on the gas station sign could have you thinking small. Your choices for today are a simple no-nonsense hatchback from a domestic brand, though it’s built in Korea, or a stylish Italian mini built in Mexico. These things are from everywhere. Which one could find a home in your driveway?