[MicheleinAustin]

Hello everyone! Very thankful to have found this forum.

I am recently divorced and and buying a car solo for the first time in decades.

I am interested in buying a 2013 Volt that I found at a large, reputable FORD dealership here in town. I went a drove it yesterday...really liked it, but am wanting to talk through a couple of red flags with you guys.

The car has 64k miles. That seems pretty high to me for a 2013. The price is 11,900k, so I suppose that's reflective of the mileage. Meaning, that seems like a good price compared to everything else I'm seeing on Craigslist. I'm just wondering if there are any savvy Volt owners who might want to comment on mileage that high.

Also, no one at the dealership knows much, if anything, about the Volt product since they are a Ford dealership. I don't know much either, other than my own research. I'm just wondering if buying kind of blind and then educating myself about is prudent. I'm certainly able to do it, just feeling a tad nervous about the salesmen not knowing anything.

Sure would appreciate any help you might offer.
Wish there was a good wheeler/dealer who could help me navigate price!

The car does not have a plug adapter with it. (Not even sure if that's correct terminology. There's no plug that goes from the car to the outlet.) I'm trying to find out how much one of those costs, but not sure what it's called.

 

[mvanzanten]

The car does not have a plug adapter with it. (Not even sure if that's correct terminology. There's no plug that goes from the car to the outlet.) I'm trying to find out how much one of those costs, but not sure what it's called.

Its real name is Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment or EVSE, but most people will refer to it as a charge cord. The stock one that came with the volt charges on a standard household 120 volt outlet, and it will default to charging at 8 amps which will take 14 hours to completely charge a fully depleted battery. If you change your amperage to 12 amps (you will have to do this every time you charge the car) it will take 9 hours. A 240 volt EVSE will charge you Volt in 4 hours.

My 2013 has 50,000 and has been nearly trouble free. I would have no problem buying one with 64,000 miles. Of course, check the car fax for any issues. I have only had to have the push button door unlock button on the drivers door replaced. Be sure to check all four to ensure they lock/unlock the door with a soft touch.

 

[netman]

The car has 64k miles. That seems pretty high to me for a 2013.

The car is 4 years old, so about 15k per year is not that much (i drive more than that per year)

I've seen people reporting a loss of about 10% battery capacity with the original 2010 volt, so over about 7-8 years... so the batteries are really good... so using those number i would say your battery would have loss about 2-5% so it is really no big deal

I would say it's a really good price.

The car does not have a plug adapter with it.

I've seen people reporting the cable cost about 400$ at a GM dealer... which is quite much... i don't know if you could find one on ebay maybe for less... i'm not sure if any cable brand would do it though... but i guess it's pretty standard.

 

[kns]

If you are buying solo for the first time in decades then you are probably going to maintain/repair solo as well. For that reason, I recommend buying a car that is still covered by the bumper-to-bumper warranty from a dealer that knows how to service it. If you are short on funds you could consider a lease rather than a purchase or perhaps a less costly vehicle. A Cruze, for example, would probably have a lower up front price as well as a lower TCO (total cost of ownership.)

The OEM version of the missing charge cord is priced in the $500 range although less expensive versions are available. I would not buy a used Volt without the dealer being able to demonstrate that it can take a charge. In fact, I would not buy a used car without first having it checked out by my own mechanic knowledgeable about that brand. If the dealer refused to permit that, I would say goodbye.

KNS

 

[porbund]

Check under the floor in the trunk, where a spare tire would be if the volt had one. That is where the Charge cord could be.

 

[rmay635703]

The cost to drive a volt is low so the desire to drive it often is high.

In any event I have been looking at volts with around 200k on the clock, I wouldn't worry much about repairs, a volt is good for over 300k before you have to do minor repairs

 

[Yipsan]

Can OP take the car to a Chevy dealership and have it inspected? Depending on body condition and trim level / options, the asking is not that low. We shopped for a 13' last year and so have some year old idea of used price. Maybe broaden the search and see what else is available.

 

[Dutch]

• Check all the buttons for functionality, ESPECIALLY the drive mode button.
• Check the rear tail lights for moisture (see this thread)
• Feel around the rear carpet for any dampness (a very few people have had leaky gaskets in the hatch)
• Expect that you may have to replace the 12v battery pretty soon and understand that it is an AGM battery, not a regular lead-acid type.
• ABSOLUTELY CHECK THE FLUID LEVELS IN ALL OF THE COOLANT TANKS! Low coolant in a Volt is a VERY BAD THING.

The rest of the car is pretty much like any other so do the usual things like look at the tires, try to wiggle and wobble things, look for damage, etc.

If you do decide to purchase the vehicle, I personally recommend you get a "VoltScreen" and put it on the front. Cheap insurance to protect your lower radiator which has shown itself to be somewhat vulnerable to road debris.

 

[hellsop]

I've seen people reporting a loss of about 10% battery capacity with the original 2010 volt, so over about 7-8 years... so the batteries are really good... so using those number i would say your battery would have loss about 2-5% so it is really no big deal

Where? Who? How are they figuring this capacity loss? We have owner after owner, year after year, once they understand how the system works, never reporting a loss at all, and Chevy engineers saying the batteries are good for 6000 full charges (over 15 years of daily charging) without appreciable loss.

 

[SSonnentag]

Buy mine for $10K. The dealer is only giving me $9K as a trade-in on the 2017, but I hate trying to sell cars. Anyway, my '13 has been a great car. My only complaint is the occasional dead center display which most, if not all Gen 1's seem to exhibit. I've only had it happen twice in the past year, but it's annoying to have to pull over, shut the car off, open the door, close the door, wait a minute, and then restart the car. Everything comes back on like normal again.

I would buy the 2013 Volt all over again if I couldn't afford the new Volt.

 

[netman]

Where? Who? How are they figuring this capacity loss? We have owner after owner, year after year, once they understand how the system works, never reporting a loss at all, and Chevy engineers saying the batteries are good for 6000 full charges (over 15 years of daily charging) without appreciable loss.

I've read that somewhere but i really don't remember where... in fact a 10% over 8 years is really good, so that's what people were saying, i'll try to found that info again...

I would be more then happy if my new volt 2017 would have only lost 5 miles range in 10 years (10%) with all the bad weather and stuff... i could post an update in 2027

 

[Mister Dave]

Also, no one at the dealership knows much, if anything, about the Volt product since they are a Ford dealership. I don't know much either, other than my own research. I'm just wondering if buying kind of blind and then educating myself about is prudent. I'm certainly able to do it, just feeling a tad nervous about the salesmen not knowing anything.

I'm surprised no one has said that Chevy salesmen don't know anything about Volts either yet - seems to be a poplar theme around here.

The price is okay, but use the missing EVSE to haggle them down $500.

Can OP take the car to a Chevy dealership and have it inspected?

A good idea.

I would not buy a used Volt without the dealer being able to demonstrate that it can take a charge.

I wouldn't either. If the Ford dealer can't demonstrate this functionality, maybe a Chevy dealer can.

 

[bjrosen]

Check under the floor in the trunk, where a spare tire would be if the volt had one. That is where the Charge cord could be.

The Gen2 has a storage compartment on the left side of the truck, does the Gen 1? If it does check there.

Ford sells the C-MAX plugin hybrids so the dealer probably has a Level 2 charger, make sure that they charge the Volt so that you can drive test drive it in battery mode. If they don't have a level 2 charger then use the Plugshare App to see if there are any nearby EVSEs, if so then ask to borrow the car for a day and then take it to the EVSE, charge it and then test drive it on battery. If you can't do any of that then walk away.

 

[wws]

The Gen2 has a storage compartment on the left side of the truck, does the Gen 1? If it does check there.

Ford sells the C-MAX plugin hybrids so the dealer probably has a Level 2 charger, make sure that they charge the Volt so that you can drive test drive it in battery mode. If they don't have a level 2 charger then use the Plugshare App to see if there are any nearby EVSEs, if so then ask to borrow the car for a day and then take it to the EVSE, charge it and then test drive it on battery. If you can't do any of that then walk away.

+1. Worst comes to worst, the EVSE ("charge cord") that comes with the Ford Fusion and C-MAX Energi cars should work just fine with the Volt. Maybe their parts department has a spare one laying around they can include with the car. Otherwise, lots of options on eBay.

 

[flyingsherpa]

I've seen people reporting a loss of about 10% battery capacity with the original 2010 volt, so over about 7-8 years... so the batteries are really good... so using those number i would say your battery would have loss about 2-5% so it is really no big deal

There is no 2010 Volt, first model year was 2011 and they went on sale late December 2010, so the oldest Volts out there now are just coming up on 6 years. And it's not easy to accurately measure capacity for end users, there are so many factors, so I'd be suspicious of anyone claiming to be able to tell a 5-10% difference in a Volt. Keep in mind the Voltec warranty is 8 years / 100k (higher in CA), and I believe you can have up to 20% degredation and still be considered good to them. But Volts have the most conservative state-of-charge window of any other EV, and capacity loss has been extremely low because of that.

 

[DuggleBogey]

Do what I did. Buy it from Carvana and drive it for a week. If you find any problems just have them come and pick up the car. They will even bring the car to you.

 

[MicheleinAustin]

Thank you SO much. This info really helps!

 

[MicheleinAustin]

Thank you so much!

 

[MicheleinAustin]

Thanks for the suggestion. The Carvana prices seem high compared to this price, but I'm looking into it.

 

[MicheleinAustin]

Good thinking, thanks!