Recently picked up a 2017 Volt Premier in Southern New Jersey for $29,000 in early May. MSRP was about $39K. It had sat on the lot for about 700 days, which I learned after the fact may have been due in part to a small dent on the edge of the hood. It has everything other than ACC on it, and has driven like a dream thus far. Given the time on the lot (long even for a 2017 model), and the dent that might have been there before my purchase, it seems unlikely that this is a representative price for this car in any way.
My advice is always to look on the Autolist App for the full time on the lot and the price history of the car. Sometimes the price history shows what they'd been willing to sell the car for in the past, sometimes they leave it at MSRP, but it can be helpful. You can also sort by amount of time listed. It's great to be able to tell a dealer how much they need to make a deal with you or risk still having the car on their lot when 2019s start shipping.
While I think the Clarity is a very strong option, I was ultimately swayed by GM's history of reliability with a proven design on the Volt, and did not want to risk new technology implementation in a car that Honda just released, which would be expensive to service in the event of an uncharacteristic failure. I was also concerned that if the Clarity is not adopted on a wide enough scale, the dealer service centers will not support it, while almost every Chevy dealer in my area is Volt Certified for Service. I'm a somewhat unique case in that I will not likely need a more spacious backseat for 5+ years or so.
Don't get me wrong -- the Honda may be fine -- Honda tends to put out a very reliable product, and the Clarity employs a lot of the same technology that made the Volt reliable, such as liquid cooling and large buffers in the battery. If I'd had kids already, it would have won the day. However, the Volt does not feel small to me from the driver's seat, and I'm able to pick up a few friends for short trips, which is what matters at this point in my life. I also find the hatch and the ability to fold down the rear seats to be more useful for my everyday needs than some extra backseat room in a sedan form with a small passthrough.
I've found the pricing depends heavily on your local market and your dealer. PA dealers were simply not willing to deal. They universally seemed to have taken the approach to have 1 or 2 Volts on the lot, knowing only a certain kind of buyer would want them, and refused to take more than ~$2K off sticker. In contrast, 2018 base LTs were advertised at $27K in Maryland, so I think you could have gotten to $25K for a 17 LT.
One piece of advice -- get heated seats if you can. While they are seen as an unnecessary luxury in most cars, they reduce your need to use the heat vents in the Volt, which really will help maintain your battery range in winter.
