[amyc]

I want to start by saying that I love the Volt and after my 2013 Volt was totaled by an idiot who rammed into me on the freeway (then fled as I bounced from guardrail to guardrail like a pinball), I waited for 8 months to get the 2016 model when it became available. I felt lucky to have walked away from that accident with only a chest contusion from the air bags as all the safety features of the Volt performed as designed. So I felt the car saved my life and patiently waited for my longer range 2016 Gen 2.
Anyway... fast forward to this past Saturday and I was alarmed when I got a "Service power steering. Drive with care" message as I was merging onto the freeway. Yikes! My power steering went out! I drove very very carefully to my destination and parked. Three hours later when I leave, the power steering has returned. I drive home but then don't drive it again till Monday when I bring the car in to be checked.
Turns out they are replacing the power steering rack at no cost. I have less than 16,000 miles on the car. Whassup Chevy? From a brief internet search I see that there were issues with this in Gen1 cars and that it may lie with the supplier of the PS rack. Is replacing really going to fix this? And how did turning the car off for a few hours fix it temporarily? That seems like an electronic programming issue. Anyone else have this problem? Safety is very very important to me. I want to remain loyal to Volt but when my lease is up in 2018 should I consider a Tesla?

 

[obermd]

My suspicion is they found a problem with one of the relays or sensors inside the EPS (Electronic Power Steering) rack itself. This isn't a dealership repairable part so GM has dealerships simply replace the rack.

The Gen 1 issue was a faulty sensor that actually went to sleep and didn't want to wake up. This sensor was replaced late in the 2013 model year so those cars with the issue having the old EPS unit had the hardware replaced to bring it up to the same hardware revision as the late 2013 update. Then GM discovered there was a software bug that needed to be fixed to make the EPS system work properly. The Volt, Cruze, and several other GM vehicles share the EPS system so this was a cross brand problem.

I had this repair done to my 2012 Cruze ECO in December 2013 and had no further issues until the car was hail totaled this past May.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

My suspicion is they found a problem with one of the relays or sensors inside the EPS (Electronic Power Steering) rack itself. This isn't a dealership repairable part so GM has dealerships simply replace the rack.

The Gen 1 issue was a faulty sensor that actually went to sleep and didn't want to wake up. This sensor was replaced late in the 2013 model year so those cars with the issue having the old EPS unit had the hardware replaced to bring it up to the same hardware revision as the late 2013 update. Then GM discovered there was a software bug that needed to be fixed to make the EPS system work properly. The Volt, Cruze, and several other GM vehicles share the EPS system so this was a cross brand problem.

I had this repair done to my 2012 Cruze ECO in December 2013 and had no further issues until the car was hail totaled this past May.

I'm wondering if the dimpling of the sheet metal might not have a similar effect as those on a golf ball...

 

[obermd]

I'm wondering if the dimpling of the sheet metal might not have a similar effect as those on a golf ball...

I actually had that same thought when my poor Cruze was clobbered. I test drove a 2012 Volt while waiting for my Cruze to be prepped and almost told the salesman to cancel the Cruze sale and sell me the Volt instead. I just couldn't swing the payments. So when my Cruze was totaled the Volt was actually number 2 on my short list of cars behind the Malibu Hybrid. The Malibu got nixed when I discovered it didn't qualify for any tax credits. Between the insurance payout, tax credits (Federal and State) I'm in a 2017 Volt for 14,300 (including a 5 yr/100,000 miles no deductible service plan) for 0% for 60 months. This time I could handle the payments.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

I actually had that same thought when my poor Cruze was clobbered. I test drove a 2012 Volt while waiting for my Cruze to be prepped and almost told the salesman to cancel the Cruze sale and sell me the Volt instead. I just couldn't swing the payments. So when my Cruze was totaled the Volt was actually number 2 on my short list of cars behind the Malibu Hybrid. The Malibu got nixed when I discovered it didn't qualify for any tax credits. Between the insurance payout, tax credits (Federal and State) I'm in a 2017 Volt for 14,300 (including a 5 yr/100,000 miles no deductible service plan) for 0% for 60 months. This time I could handle the payments.

Good things come to he who waits.