New Member here from Ontario Canada.
After seeing Jim's and cfstutz's posts I too emailed Mary Barra on Monday 8th April.
Believe it or not, this is a shortened version of the correspondence, slightly edited/modified to protect the innocent:
"Good day Ms Barra,
I am a semi-retired Professor of Medicine at the University of XXXX, Canada and I own a 2017 Series 2 Chevy Volt. It is the best car we have ever owned and prior to leasing this new car in 2017 from XXXX Chevrolet, and then buying out the lease in 2020, we’d leased 2 Chevy Cruise Eco 6-speed vehicles for a total of 6 years, and before that we’d leased a Saturn Astro for 3 years. Thus, I am what most would call a ‘loyal GM customer’.
The Volt has been a wonderful vehicle for us and I have often evangelized the car in correspondence to our National Newspaper, The Globe and Mail.
Unfortunately, my good experience with my Volt ended on August 7, 2023, when on a longer 'highway' drive than could be accommodated solely using electric propulsion, I got a 'check engine' light on my dashboard. I pulled off the highway and contacted Onstar who gave me a bunch of 'error codes' to show to the dealership once I returned home. I continued on to a nearby Winery where they have level 2 charging facilities. After lunch and a couple of hours charging, we now had sufficient battery capacity to get home on electric power.
I took the vehicle to the dealership next day who confirmed the codes I reported were due to a malfunctioning EGR valve. The bad news I received was that it would cost about 1,600 Canadian dollars to fix (GM’s emissions warranty in Ontario does not apparently cover the replacement of this defective valve, even though it is part of the emissions control system). The ‘badder’ news was that they could not get one for the foreseeable future. In my case, as I run almost entirely on electric propulsion, my ICE must have had only about 5Km on it at the point of EGR failure!!
I drove the car away and decided to use it in electric only mode until I could get the EGR valve replaced. However, about a week later, the electrical side of the propulsion system also packed-in and I had to get the vehicle towed to the dealership. After initial diagnosis, they told me the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) had failed and it too was on ‘back-order’ with no ETA in sight. Since my car was still under powertrain warranty (about 70Km), they rented a vehicle for me at GM’s cost. I am still driving it more than 7 months later!! I hate to think how much $$$ this is costing GM not to mention the damage it does to GM’s corporate reputation. The rental costs must be approaching the current value of the vehicle.
After several regular emails/visits to my local Chevy dealer, to enquire about any progress, I received this from their Service department on November 21, 2023:
"Unfortunately, we're still waiting.
The following status updates have been indicated:
EGR valve order: NO ETA. NO INVENTORY. VEHICLE WILL BE DOWN FOR SEVERAL MONTHS FOR BATTERY ISSUE UNDER WARRANTY.
BATTERY ENERGY CONTROL MODULE INTERNAL FAULT CAUSING IMPROPER VOLTAGE READINGS IN EV BATTERY DTC U2603, U2604, U2605, U2606, U2617, U2618, U2619, U2620, U2621, U2622, U2623 ARE SET
LATEST UPDATE FROM GENERAL MOTORS IS PARTS WILL NOT ARRIVE TILL MID DECEMBER FOR A COMPLETE BATTERY ASSEMBLY (IF APPROVED) OR MID TO LATE JANUARY OF NEXT YEAR FOR THE DEFECTIVE SECTION
The order(s) are still active and every effort is being made on our end to expediate.
I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience and wish there was more that could be done.”
The revelation about the battery section replacement did not surprise me as the car’s range (after overnight charging in summer) had consistently been 90-95 km per charge each and every year we’d owned the car. However, it had suddenly dropped to about 75km per charge (electric range indicated after overnight charging) last summer (2023) and I'd suspected one of the battery sections had developed a fault. If simple ‘battery age’ had been the reason, the loss of range would have been far more gradual.
The local dealer had initially suggested that this drop could have been due to me replacing the worn Energy-efficient Michelin OEM tires with a better tire (Michelin Pilot Sport,- huge improvement). I thought this to be very unlikely, as did everyone else I spoke with. Regardless, we agreed to leave 'as is' until the next winter tire rotation and any drop of range noted thereafter could only be due to something other than the new summer tires, whereupon I would ask for an investigation into the battery side of things.
So the email above confirmed my suspicions that indeed at least one section of the high voltage battery was indeed faulty.
As of last Thursday (4th April 2024) when I visited the dealership to ’shake the trees’ about these unconscionable delays, I was also told that the replacement battery part was also back-ordered, with no end in sight to the delays regarding the EGR valve either. At least they have the replacement BECM in hand at this point! They suggested I contact GM Executive Customer Service, rather than have them do it.
Meanwhile, I have been trolling through the GM Forums to find that failed EGR valves and crazy delays due to no stock of replacements has been an issue for many Series 2 Volt owners for the last several years and it seems this issue has affected or will eventually affect, virtually all owners of Series 2 Volts. Other frustrated posters to these forums have contacted yourself and been told by ‘Executive Customer Service’ folks that new valves (presumably re-designed and re-engineered!!) are being manufactured beginning March 2024 and should become available thereafter. Assuming that the posters to these forums represent the ’tip of the iceberg’ regarding this issue, there must be thousands of previously very proud and satisfied owners of this vehicle (like me) that now feel very badly let down by this situation.
In my case, I am seriously and additionally worried about the state of the high-voltage battery (and the 12V battery) by the time I get my car back, after it has sat outside enjoying the cold Canadian winter at the local dealership for 7.5 months and counting. My dealer has another customer like me who has also been left without their vehicle for more than 6 months for the same failed EGR reason.
I would appreciate a call from your Executive Customer Service regarding the delays I’ve experienced and what the timelines look like for getting past these issues. The Canadian GM Customer Service folks have meanwhile been essentially useless in this regard. They have no idea what is going on and keep referring me back to the dealership, who of course can do nothing without the parts required."
The very next day, while I was out of the home, my wife received a telephone call from 'Executive Customer Service" in Detroit. She called back later when I was home and indicated that manufacturing replacement EGR valves had been held up by a supplier of one of the components, but they'd now identified another supplier who can make this component. The caller asked for a specific order number from the dealer (which I did not have) and indicated they would contact the dealer on my behalf for this information to expedite the replacement EGR for me. The caller also would obtain the order information re the back-ordered section of the high voltage battery and expedite it too. The caller also indicated that they would call me back on Friday (two days time) to update me on progress. At that point I will ask whether the replacement EGR that are hoping to get to me is a redesigned part. Clearly the OEM EGR has been a disaster for most if not all of us S2 Volt owners.
Any other questions anyone on here would like me to ask? I will report back any responses I receive.
