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What is your opinion of the Chevrolet Volt?

TurtleCrusher

TurtleCrusher

Lifer
My wife and I were just rear ended by an SUV while in our Honda Fit and will be getting a check for it shortly. We're thinking about a pre-owned volt. As this car is a hybrid/electric w/ electric drive is there anything special I should be aware of? I have a 110v outlet in my carport that I can convert to GFCI to charge it (~38 miles on electric alone, can do alone as I wan an electrician before I got messed up in the military). Do you trust this kind of vehicle?
 
I don't own one but have several acquaintances who do, and have read rather extensively about them.

-Statistics show they're some of the most reliable vehicles on the road. Anecdotally, I've seen several examples of Volts with 350-400K miles, which have had nothing but regular maintenance, and show no measurable battery degradation. GM way over-engineered the battery, and the transmission very much resembles that of a Prius, another of the most reliable vehicles on the road.

-The battery is small enough that most can reasonably charge it with a 110v outlet, and it's not nearly as critical as in a full EV, since you can just drive on gas.

-I think they're fun to drive, and the rear hatch makes it a lot more useful than most sedans, though you're not going to have the same utility as your Fit.

If I were in the market for a used car, a Volt would be near the top of my list.
 
Yuriman said:
I don't own one but have several acquaintances who do, and have read rather extensively about them.

-Statistics show they're some of the most reliable vehicles on the road. Anecdotally, I've seen several examples of Volts with 350-400K miles, which have had nothing but regular maintenance, and show no measurable battery degradation. GM way over-engineered the battery, and the transmission very much resembles that of a Prius, another of the most reliable vehicles on the road.

-The battery is small enough that most can reasonably charge it with a 110v outlet, and it's not nearly as critical as in a full EV, since you can just drive on gas.

-I think they're fun to drive, and the rear hatch makes it a lot more useful than most sedans, though you're not going to have the same utility as your Fit.

If I were in the market for a used car, a Volt would be near the top of my list.
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I went with it. It was on a lot for $13k with 65K miles. Not bad for being 35K new just three years ago. My other options were a 2014 Hyundai Accent with only 5K miles for $11k (seemed too much like our Honda Fit, very base), or a 2015 Ford Focus with 45K for $10k. My wife was sold on the test drive, even with using the gas engine. Super smooth and responsive. Car had essentially nothing on the car fax.

I was paid $240 to drive my 2007 Honda fit for three years and putting on 50K. I had no idea my car gained value over that time. It had 178K. Unbelievable.
 
I had an older Honda a while back, drove for 3 years, 75k miles and sold it for what I paid. They certainly hold their value.
 
Great car for $13K. My SIL has one and it's been a great car for her (though I think she's trading it in for something larger soon).
 
SearchMaster said:
Great car for $13K. My SIL has one and it's been a great car for her (though I think she's trading it in for something larger soon).
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Its nowhere near a roomy as my old fit but we are planning on getting a beater truck if we have something large to move around. I have more room in the seats than most other cars I looked at. My brother in law has a Ford Fusion Hybrid (not sure of exact name) that I cannot sit in without tilting my head, even with all adjustments made.
Yuriman said:
I had an older Honda a while back, drove for 3 years, 75k miles and sold it for what I paid. They certainly hold their value.
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I knew it wouldnt tank in value but I certainly didn't think their budget car, sport model of a fit would hold up like that. Those paddle shifters though 😀
 
we have a 13 volt. I don't know why anyone buys any other car that size. It will be so much cheaper to own over its lifetime than just about anything else similar. Get an l2 charging setup, It was worth it for us, as we could go out again in the evening or a few times on a weekend day charging between and save more gas.
 
Volt is reliable, priced competitively, and should give among the best total cost of ownership.

Reasons why Volt may not be best option for some:
Many other cars offer better acceleration and handle corners better.
Many other cars offer better performance on uneven terrain or in snow or ice.
Many other cars offer better rear visibility
Many other cars have nicer interiors
Many other cars have more comfortable seats
Many other cars may be more fun to drive
And, to me, the most important reason ... the volt is not a wagon!
 
I test drove the new Volt, along with the Bolt, and Golf Electric. The Volt felt SLOW off the mark, even though on paper it should be faster than the e-Golf. Besides that it was a good car, and I would likely buy one if I was shopping around currently.
 
Friend has one... She loves it and only puts a few gallons of gas in every 6 to 9 months. Unreal.

I don't like it because I have sworn off GM products but do believe this is one they did right.
 
WackyDan said:
I don't like it because I have sworn off GM products but do believe this is one they did right.
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I feel the same way about GM after a long string of dismal products. The only good one I've ever owned, a '99 Olds Intrigue, was canned by them in favor of less desirable products like Buick.
 
I'll update on Monday night. Days ago finally went into the back of the car and realized the charger wasn't there, and was at the dealership. I went to five different blink EV chargers and I got the same error. I'm praying to god it's not a car issue, but 5 times in a row is excessive. "pilot level fault occurred." I'm taking the car into the dealership tomorrow and using the supplied charger, hoping it works.

I hope I didn't get a lemon.
 
that usually means there it too much resistance on the plug. is the charging port clean? we had a moth get jammed in ours and it was fine after cleaning it out. I find about 50% of public charging is broken anyway. Hope it is not a big deal and they take care of it. you should have the little air compressor as well. if you do get another cord, i recomend the clipper creek brand. they are well made and they have good service. There are cheaper, but they are generally chinesium junk.
 
herm0016 said:
that usually means there it too much resistance on the plug. is the charging port clean? we had a moth get jammed in ours and it was fine after cleaning it out. I find about 50% of public charging is broken anyway. Hope it is not a big deal and they take care of it. you should have the little air compressor as well. if you do get another cord, i recomend the clipper creek brand. they are well made and they have good service. There are cheaper, but they are generally chinesium junk.
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How should I properly clean this plug?
 
Yuriman said:
Don't worry, GM realized they built a good product so they're canning the Volt.
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Meh... They say that it might be dead and replaced with a crossover variant in 2020... SO they are still making it.

I wouldn't buy a new one given I can buy a two or three year old one with low miles for like $18k. So I'll wait for the 2016's to age out a bit and snag one of those as Volt Generation 2 started in 2016 and has almost 60 miles of EV range versus the Gen 1. I feel really weird saying that I might buy a GM product, but this is probably the exception.
 
underrated car. you can get a used one for a steal of a price. everyone i've talked to who has one loves it. benefits of an EV for most people's commuting purposes without the range anxiety due to the generator.
 
herm0016 said:
compressed air would work well, or a small brush. i would avoid anything conductive.
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It didn't work, sadly. The EVSE trips a GFCI, and connected ot a regular outlet I get the same error on the charger at home that I did from the Blink charger. The plug looks perfectly fine. I'm taking it back to the dealership tomorrow to get it looked at.

When on electric only does your heater blow cold air only? I hope I didn't find another thing wrong with it. Unless it's my engine power running I cannot get this car to blow hot air. It is going to suck this winter. The wife is not happy.
 
Scholzpdx said:
It didn't work, sadly. The EVSE trips a GFCI, and connected ot a regular outlet I get the same error on the charger at home that I did from the Blink charger. The plug looks perfectly fine. I'm taking it back to the dealership tomorrow to get it looked at.

When on electric only does your heater blow cold air only? I hope I didn't find another thing wrong with it. Unless it's my engine power running I cannot get this car to blow hot air. It is going to suck this winter. The wife is not happy.
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It takes a bit to warm up on electric. Jack the temp to make sure it's working.
 
Herr Kutz said:
Since everyone wants an SUV I'm still trying to understand why they don't offer an Equinox version.
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It takes about 50% more energy to push an Equinox down the road, so it would need an upsized engine and a battery that's 50% larger (and 50% more expensive), otherwise it would have a lot less EV range.
 
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