[VoltenRock]

Although I talk up the Volt to all who ask (and many do), the truth is my '13 has had tons of issues--more than any car I've owned with less than 40K on the odometer. You name it, I've had it. It's been made worse by frequent parts delays, novice Volt techs, "fixes" that don't take, etc. The bottom line is that I've been in ICE loaners at least 1/4 of the time I've owned the car.

But instead of spending all my time on random boards complaining (ok, maybe I complained a little), I followed the process at GM by going "up the chain" of dealer/EV advisor/customer service/district manager, etc.

The end result--GM gave me a $4k towards getting a new (GM) car. This is cash on top of any deal I negotiate myself. This gets me close to not being upside-down on the Volt. I'm almost made whole after trade-in.

The best part was no arguing. GM took one look at my service history and didn't bother to explain it away or make excuses.

It restored my faith in the company that they looked at my situation and agreed it was unacceptable. They made a decent offer to do something about it. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet--that will be for another thread--but for now, GM has treated me right and I would definitely consider a Volt or Bolt in my future.

 

[wizard_of-ahs]

Glad to hear they treated you right

 

[DonC]

Sorry you had so many issues but glad it worked out for you.

 

[accelerus]

I'd love to pick your brain on the details of getting a hold of a district rep from GM.

My 2017 has has two major failures in the first 8,000 miles (one that left me on the side of the road) They fixed it, but when I started asking questions to the volt advisors and the "reps" here on the board, the only answer I got was "go talk to your dealer". I specifically asked for a customer service or regional rep to address some of my concerns and they said they "Couldn't give out that contact information".

I Love the car, but right now my opinion is pretty abysmal of GM as a company for the way they have handled multiple issues. It's weir and sucks to say but GM is the reason I'm looking at a Model 3 whenever they hit. I'd love to give them a chance to earn my trust back, but nobody in the company wanted to get me in touch with the right people.

 

[Ziv]

Sorry to hear you had so many issues with your Volt. I have a 2013 and I have been lucky enough not to have many issues. I am really glad to hear that GM management stepped up and did the right thing for you. Giving credit towards a future GM purchase is kind of self-serving for them, but they didn't even have to do that.
Hopefully your next car will be a lot more reliable!

 

[turboguy327]

So you're the one person they actually helped.

 

[ClarksonCote]

My 2017 has has two major failures in the first 8,000 miles (one that left me on the side of the road)

I am not familiar with your issues, but just because a failure leaves you on the side of the road, it does not mean it is major. A dead 12V battery will strand any vehicle on the side of the road, for example.

I guess my point is that it's likely the two issues you had will be all that you'll encounter, but if more do persist and they truly are "major" then I would recommend pursuing up the chain. But make sure that they are truly "major" items otherwise you'll be left feeling that you didn't get what you wanted from raising the concern up the chain.

 

[El Dobro]

Congrats, way better than how I was treated by VWoA.

 

[Rptanner]

Well, I'm reminded of my situation, which was a 2015 Volt with serious hale damage and minor rear end damage, netting $3,600 in insurance proceeds. Decided to use that to upgrade to a 2017 Premier. It paid half the cost, roughly, after tax incentives and a big dealer/ GM discount. It was worth it, although I miss the Gen1 exterior styling a bit.

 

[samotlietuvis]

Glad to hear you been treated right.

 

[VoltenRock]

I'd love to pick your brain on the details of getting a hold of a district rep from GM.

My 2017 has has two major failures in the first 8,000 miles (one that left me on the side of the road) They fixed it, but when I started asking questions to the volt advisors and the "reps" here on the board, the only answer I got was "go talk to your dealer". I specifically asked for a customer service or regional rep to address some of my concerns and they said they "Couldn't give out that contact information".

I Love the car, but right now my opinion is pretty abysmal of GM as a company for the way they have handled multiple issues. It's weir and sucks to say but GM is the reason I'm looking at a Model 3 whenever they hit. I'd love to give them a chance to earn my trust back, but nobody in the company wanted to get me in touch with the right people.

Patience is your unwanted friend here. Like most bureaucracies not inclined to hand out money to all who ask, persistence is needed. Take a few deep breaths and know that frustration will (likely) be the first result. Unfortunately, I've found frustration with most large companies I've had to deal with. This includes Apple for my phone, my health insurance--and don't even get me started on Comcast (you're on your own there). Compared to those companies, GM was a breeze.

I had to get a broad group involved and document EVERYTHING. PM Amber from GM here on the board--she is very helpful with connecting to the right people. Copy her on all e-mails. If someone doesn't return a call or e-mail, reply back to everyone that you're still waiting for a response.

More importantly, be clear with what you want. Express the dissatisfaction. Be polite, but firm (no one wants to help a jerk). Let them know they have a chance to win you back. But you also need to be clear with what you want--in my case, I was pointing out that my car is constantly breaking down and I had lots of service records to prove it. I expressed concern about keeping the car and that you can actually get a (gasp) legitimate option to the Volt with the plug-in prius-hideous. I told them I believed in the technology--but not in this particular car. I made it clear I would consider a GM product, depending on the results of our conversation. The more noise I made, the more "up the chain" I went in the supervisory structure. You want to get to the senior advisors because they have the juice to actually sign off on money.

If you tell them you're worried about this car because of whatever issues you've had--and you want to try another Volt--they might be wiling to work with you on that so you're in a new car with little-to-no out-of-pocket expense. This is where a dealership could also help--they will also pressure GM in order to make a sale.

However, if you're just looking for some compensation, you may/may not have any luck there. I lucked out and had GM give me a $250 gift certificate when my car was out for 6 weeks on a bizarre software-related update error a year or so ago (this was one of many issues). But again, be clear with what kind of satisfaction you want.

I'm not sure this strategy will work for everyone, and keep in mind that my '13 has a longggggggg service history. It wasn't just a couple of issues, but many, many weeks out-of-service for numerous things. Good luck.

 

[accelerus]

Patience is your unwanted friend here. Like most bureaucracies not inclined to hand out money to all who ask, persistence is needed. Take a few deep breaths and know that frustration will (likely) be the first result. Unfortunately, I've found frustration with most large companies I've had to deal with. This includes Apple for my phone, my health insurance--and don't even get me started on Comcast (you're on your own there). Compared to those companies, GM was a breeze.

I had to get a broad group involved and document EVERYTHING. PM Amber from GM here on the board--she is very helpful with connecting to the right people. Copy her on all e-mails. If someone doesn't return a call or e-mail, reply back to everyone that you're still waiting for a response.

More importantly, be clear with what you want. Express the dissatisfaction. Be polite, but firm (no one wants to help a jerk). Let them know they have a chance to win you back. But you also need to be clear with what you want--in my case, I was pointing out that my car is constantly breaking down and I had lots of service records to prove it. I expressed concern about keeping the car and that you can actually get a (gasp) legitimate option to the Volt with the plug-in prius-hideous. I told them I believed in the technology--but not in this particular car. I made it clear I would consider a GM product, depending on the results of our conversation. The more noise I made, the more "up the chain" I went in the supervisory structure. You want to get to the senior advisors because they have the juice to actually sign off on money.

If you tell them you're worried about this car because of whatever issues you've had--and you want to try another Volt--they might be wiling to work with you on that so you're in a new car with little-to-no out-of-pocket expense. This is where a dealership could also help--they will also pressure GM in order to make a sale.

However, if you're just looking for some compensation, you may/may not have any luck there. I lucked out and had GM give me a $250 gift certificate when my car was out for 6 weeks on a bizarre software-related update error a year or so ago (this was one of many issues). But again, be clear with what kind of satisfaction you want.

I'm not sure this strategy will work for everyone, and keep in mind that my '13 has a longggggggg service history. It wasn't just a couple of issues, but many, many weeks out-of-service for numerous things. Good luck.

Yeah -- I have a big inbox here filled with exchanges with amber and someone named lauren... I didn't find them helpful at all, after going back and forth my main concern was never answered I finally just asked straight up to be put in contact with a regional rep or someone higher up the chain. "Sorry we can't give out that contact info" was all I got.

My main concern was spending 40K on a car and having it take a crap at 4000 and again at 8000 miles. (high voltage fuse blew downtime of 3 weeks first time, 12V system blew the 2nd time) At the end of the day it was going in circles, the replies I were getting felt exactly like dealing with overseas support where they read off a card. Another small thing they totally ignored was me spending $100+ out of pocket for gasoline I would otherwise never have needed if the car worked properly. When a customer spends that much money for a Gen2 volt for the express purpose of not having to buy gas, you'd think they would do something. They offered me 1 year of free on star guidance, a service I've never used or wanted once in my life. I declined because it would do absolutely nothing for me in the end.

 

[accelerus]

I am not familiar with your issues, but just because a failure leaves you on the side of the road, it does not mean it is major. A dead 12V battery will strand any vehicle on the side of the road, for example.

I guess my point is that it's likely the two issues you had will be all that you'll encounter, but if more do persist and they truly are "major" then I would recommend pursuing up the chain. But make sure that they are truly "major" items otherwise you'll be left feeling that you didn't get what you wanted from raising the concern up the chain.

The first failure left the car in the shop for 3+ weeks. When you only have 4000 miles on it... that's kind of a big deal no matter what make/model/type of car it is, it's an interesting feeling paying your car note for the month and the car you have in your garage is a silly little gas burning cruz loaner they gave you, not a good feeling at all. I fully realize '**** happens' and after I got the car back I was able to just kind of be happy because I fully realize nothing can be perfect.

Problem is 8000 miles in, another blown fuse and more down time in the shop, at that point getting stranded on the side of the road in a car with less than 10K on the clock simply isn't acceptable, especially since I've already given it a free pass on the first issue it had. I tried a 2nd time to reach out to the GM people via facebook a few weeks ago, and it was the same level of support I got used to over the past few months, initial contact saying "oh we are so sorry you experienced this, let us know more", so I reply to them, and then they pull a disappearing act. After weeks of trying, I gave up.

 

[Aseras]

It's been my experience that GM won't treat you "right" until you have a gun to their head, a pack of lawyers and a state attorney general telling them they are going to loose and even then they will offer the bare minimum and call it goodwill.

 

[jupitermoon]

ClarksonCote just got lucky...that's all.