[DGRugby]

I have a 2014 Impala coming off lease and we are probably hours away from pulling the trigger on a 2014 Volt. We have had the car for about 2 days and we love the ride and the features. I think I am suffering from the standard "Used" car purchase and staring at the miles on the car. It is at 39K miles but the lifetime MPG is 159 so that tells me that most of the ride time has been battery so it is limiting the strain on the engine. Am I stuck in the old way of thing with normal gas only vehicles or should I factor miles into my decision?

This dealership also offers a warranty with the vehicle for as long as I own the car and I think it is called Warranty Forever. Is anyone familiar with this warranty and will the battery be covered after the GM 8year/100K warranty?

Thanks for helping me through the decision process

 

[llninja]

I think I'd prefer to have a worn battery vs. a worn engine. So far gen1 volts have statistically proven to be very reliable. The battery is babied as they don't charge it all the way up nor do they discharge it all the way down, and the temperature management system helps keep everything healthy. Though when coming from an impala, you are going to miss the spacious back seats and trunk. I wish GM made a Voltec Impala - better yet, a Voltec Subyukonade.

I'd be a bit wary of any forever warranty. Read the fine print and don't pay anything extra for it. If it comes free from the dealer and you are still able to knock down the price compared to KBB, then go for it. But if they're habitually pricing their cars a bit higher because of the warranty, or if you can knock the price down more to do without the warranty, all warranties are mathematically designed to make them money. You'd be better off taking extra funds and sticking it into a rainy day fund.

My volt is at 68k miles and still running strong.

 

[DGRugby]

Thanks for the input. The warranty comes "free" with the car. Their prices are similar to what I see in the area and there are some less featured 2014's with similar miles for 1K-2K more. This is priced at 14.9k with the 'free' warranty.

 

[llninja]

I really don't see how a forever warranty would work, if it was intended to be a bumper to bumper warranty. Does that mean when you put 300k miles on it, they will fix everything that ever breaks? It sounds too good to be true. Again, read the fine print. My daughter's Subaru came with a limited lifetime warranty from the dealership, but it really only covers the first owner of the car and only covers the engine, transmission/transfer case, and drive axle. So if I transfer the ownership to my daughter, the warranty is gone. There is also a clause that the car must be maintained and a mention of looking at the section of what you must do to keep the warranty in effect. Alas, the clause states that you must follow the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule, so if you don't pay for all the regular maintenance (tire rotations, oil changes, fixing of any gasket leaks) and if you are late on any of them, the warranty no longer applies. I think most people end up trading in their cars far in advance of ever making a claim. So ask for the warranty fine print and read it.

So $14.9k is an ok price for a premium, probably not so much for a base. What options does it have? Premium come with leather, other options include safety 1 (rear camera and sensors), safety 2 (front sensors), Bose stereo, navigation, and polished wheels.

Some history on the car. In 2013 the MSRP was $39149, but the 2014 model year saw a $5k price drop to $34149. Many people were able to get volts heavily discounted at this time so a base could be found at $18-20k after the $7500 fed tax credit and some state rebates). Now that gen2s have arrived with more range and a 5th seat (well, really a half seat), the gen 1 used prices continue to plummet. So haggle like a ferengi to see if you can get this car for less. The worst they could say is no.

 

[2015 volt]

As after the 8 year voltec warranty
We are responsible for any work or battery replacement after the warranty runs out
right now the very first volt's that are in the wild, still are on the original battery from the factory
This should be around 2011 for the very first volt
I saw a post a few day's ago that said if you had to pay out of pocket for a new battery, the cost was 4K.

 

[DGRugby]

I called the warranty company and said I worked for the dealership, only way they would give out information. It is a limited liability warranty, follow maintainance and things are covered, don't and they void the warranty. They cover the engine and other lubricated internal systems. They specifically excluded the propulsion system so the generator and battery are not covered.

The car has leather, rear view camera, sensors, but no bose or lane departure. I am looking into it more and it is classified as a Base just better equipped.

I am going to try and haggle the crap out of it because cars in the area are 13.5K or 13K.

Thank you for talking it through with me. It is good to hear from experienced Volt owners.

 

[rmay635703]

I really don't see how a forever warranty would work, if it was intended to be a bumper to bumper warranty. Does that mean when you put 300k miles on it, they will fix everything that ever breaks the gen 1 used prices continue to plummet. So haggle like a ferengi to see if you can get this car for less. The worst they could say is no.

Forever warranties are a gimmick, they are parts only
if you pay labor at their shop which in some cases is still more expensive than a good independent shop.

 

[DGRugby]

The way this warranty was setup was that it was "free" to the purchaser of the vehicle. Parts and Labor were covered along with no deductible. It is a limited powertrain warranty covering transmission, engine, "enhanced" engines, front wheel drive and rear wheel drive. Nothing else is covered. Radio goes, my expense...A/C, Heat go..my expense. It doesn't add value like they say so I already gave them my deal number. if they don't like it...we walk and keep looking.

Thanks everyone for their input and knowledge.

 

[VoltenRock]

DG -- The calculation for every used Volt purchase is whether a brand new Volt is worth it for a few thousand more (AFTER tax credit and state rebates).

IF you qualify for the federal credit, you are looking at a price of $22,500 for a new Volt (take the used Volt price and add $7,500). It is entirely feasible to get a Volt LT in the higher $20s. I've seen them advertised as low as $26k (with caveats).

A '17 LT offers many features available on the "premium" Gen 1 (for example, leather, backup cam, NAV through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), etc. Not to mention a LOT more EV range, regular gas, and better CS mode efficiency.

Weigh all the options before pulling the trigger. In terms of value, I think the Gen II Volt LT is a compelling value over most used Gen 1 Volts when factoring state and federal rebates and incentives.

 

[xfarmer]

Just for comparison sake, I am in Michigan and I just purchased a 2015 base model on December 30th 2016 from a new car dealership. This Volt had 19,995 miles on it and was sold as a Certified Pre-owned which adds a year of bumper to bumper warranty from GM. I was able to negotiate the price to $17,195 plus tax. Not a great deal but I considered it a fair deal. I am very happy with it so far and have driven on mostly battery since I have owned it. The down side is the reduced electric range in the extremely cold weather we have been having. It was 6 degrees this morning!

 

[llninja]

DG -- The calculation for every used Volt purchase is whether a brand new Volt is worth it for a few thousand more (AFTER tax credit and state rebates).

IF you qualify for the federal credit, you are looking at a price of $22,500 for a new Volt (take the used Volt price and add $7,500). It is entirely feasible to get a Volt LT in the higher $20s. I've seen them advertised as low as $26k (with caveats).

A '17 LT offers many features available on the "premium" Gen 1 (for example, leather, backup cam, NAV through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), etc. Not to mention a LOT more EV range, regular gas, and better CS mode efficiency.

Weigh all the options before pulling the trigger. In terms of value, I think the Gen II Volt LT is a compelling value over most used Gen 1 Volts when factoring state and federal rebates and incentives.

I completely agree. But on the flip side, when you already own a gen 1, trading up to a gen 2 is a hard sell from a financial point of view. Is it wrong to wish to be tboned so I can shop for a new car. I really hate getting rid of a perfectly good car, and the ROI for a few more EV miles just isn't there (i'm already getting 70 mpg on the dashboard)

 

[VoltenRock]

I completely agree. But on the flip side, when you already own a gen 1, trading up to a gen 2 is a hard sell from a financial point of view. Is it wrong to wish to be tboned so I can shop for a new car. I really hate getting rid of a perfectly good car, and the ROI for a few more EV miles just isn't there (i'm already getting 70 mpg on the dashboard)

I hear ya -- I kicked some tires on Gen II. Nice ride. More "generic" but better in most ways. But it's hard to avoid getting hosed on the Gen I trade-in and, no matter what, it's not worth it from a pure "efficiency" view. I calculated that I would get about 50 MPG more based on my typical driving/charging habits. Now that sounds impressive, but when talking about going from 100 to 150 MPG, it's like -- umm, really?