[Arcanox]

Now that my car is nearing day 5 of its third overnight shop visit, I'd like to start collecting data on how many people have had to leave their car overnight for severe problems, or who have had problems which affected the driveability of their car (especially those whose cars have died while driving, leaving them in a hazardous situation, and ultimately stuck on the side of the road).

If anyone wishes to contribute to the list, just write a post detailing your problem, what was done to fix it, how long it took, the loaner vehicle you received, etc., and I'll add it to this main post. This will help in case I or anybody else decides to pursue legal action. I'm unable to officially plea under Lemon Law because the State of Illinois only covers "new" vehicles under Lemon Law, not "certified used". I may still have leverage because the car was nearly brand new when I purchased it.

---Arcanox---

2016 Kinetic Blue LT. VIN ending in 109000. Original vehicle delivery date 2015-09-30. Purchased by Arcanox Certified Pre-Owned listed at 550 miles on the odometer, end of September 2016.

All three of my loaner vehicles have been a white 2015 Malibu Eco, although it has been a different car each time. Nicest one had the MyLink console and power seats; that was also the one I had the longest.

R.O. date 2016-10-27 / 3899 miles: Replace fouled spark plugs

I took my car in because as the weather was getting colder, the ICE was idling like a tank whenever it first started. I could see the dashboard vibrating because the idle was so rough, and I could hear the engine coughing and sputtering until it warmed up to ~90 degrees Fahrenheit as registered on the coolant display. Dealer kept car until 2016-11-01; had to special-order new spark plugs and install them. I don't remember which day I dropped the car off. I submitted an online appointment request on the dealer website, which I'm guessing is when the R.O. was created (10/27). Idle problem resolved after this visit.

R.O. date 2016-11-23 / 5403 miles: Replace traction battery segment 3

I was on vacation in the Wisconsin Dells on 11/19 when my Check Engine light came on. I contacted OnStar, who advised me to have the vehicle serviced ASAP. I parked the car and shut it off. It would not restart. I had car towed to dealer in the Dells, and subsequently thanks to Lauren and Amber from GM Customer Service, was able to arrange to have it towed to my home dealer. Home dealer ran diagnostics and, with the help of GM Engineering, determined that Cell 37 and one other cell in Traction Battery Section 3 were exhibiting a low voltage condition. Dealer ordered new battery section and replaced it. Dealer also performed "Propulsion Power Reduced" recall 16055 after repair was complete. Vehicle returned to owner 2016-12-07.

R.O. date 2017-02-03 / ~8500? miles: ??? repair currently in progress; solution unknown ???

I was driving home Thursday night (2/2) and stopped at Subway for a sandwich. Parked and shut down car, and less than 15 seconds later locked and remote started it. Went in, ordered a sandwich, and came back out ~5 minutes later. Before even unlocking car, message on dash displayed "Unable to Charge". Check Engine Light was on. Unlocked doors and pressed power button (car was still running from remote start). Red "12V battery" warning symbol turned on, and dash displayed message "Service Charging System". Restarted car, problem persisted. I drove home as fast as possible (~5 minute drive) and connected the 12V battery to an AGM charger. Had car towed to dealer next morning. Currently in shop at time of writing; awaiting on GM Engineering to analyze results of diagnostic test performed by dealer.

---accelerus---

2017, took delivery in summer of 2016

4000 miles: Replace HV fuse

High-voltage fuse blew. No Air Conditioning, unable to charge car. Went into ICE-only safety mode. Dealer had car nearly 3 weeks; fuse was on national backorder. Loaner was Cruze.

8000 miles: "Service Charging System" problem

"Service Charging System" message on dash plus Check Engine Light and red 12V battery warning icon. Dealer would not take car and had no loaners available. Next day, car died and left owner stranded at side of road. Towed to dealer. Same Cruze rental.

---Bacardi---

2017 Black LT

2016-04-08: "Shift to Park"

Had car at tint shop, plugged in. Upon unplugging, heard chime or honk. Radio turned on despite car being off. Check Engine Light illuminated and "shift to park" message whenever vehicle was shifted from Park. Car towed to dealer; loaner provided was base Malibu. Dealer promised full charge upon returning vehicle to owner, but vehicle was returned with 27% charge. Dealer appears to have replaced several motor speed sensors and Power Inverter Module; can't read entire diagnostic document in Bacardi's post, however.

---Triarius---

1000 miles: Transmission replacement
Sudden loss of propulsion while driving, shift to park message. Wife was unable to pull into a parking lot. Transmission replacement took about 2 weeks, loaner was a GMC acadia. They delivered the loaner car right to our driveway.

 

[accelerus]

I'll throw my hat into this ring too:


Took delivery of my 2017: summer 2016.

4000 miles - first major failure, high voltage fuse blown, unable to charge, no air conditioning, ICE engine running full time despite having a near full charge. Was in the shop for almost 3 weeks, had a crappy Cruz for rental. Fuse was on national backorder for 2+ weeks.

8000 miles - second major failure that left me stranded on the side of the highway on the way home from work. 12V system failed, such that no charge was going to the battery in the truck. It 100% died on the side of the road to the point I couldn't even pop the truck. Towed to the dealer, same crappy Cruz for a rental. The extra kicker was I took it to the dealership the day before this happened because I had "service charging system" message, they couldn't/wouldn't take the car and give me a rental because apparently they had none to give during some large Silvarado recall that was going on. So instead of them having to pay out of pocket for an enterprise rental ($30) they got to pay a few hundred dollars in towing fees.

GM (corporate) has been a joke through all this. Their responses were canned and didn't address a single question I had, all they kept saying was "we are really sorry you had this experience, the questions you have can be answered by your dealer" .... no, they can't because my questions were specifically about why the hell I paid 40K for a brand new double broken car. They had no interest in re-reimbursing me the $100 worth of gas I had to blow I otherwise wouldn't have spent, or even directing me to some contact information for someone higher up the chain than the "Social media team / Volt Team"

Love the car when it's working, hate GM as a company now. And it's their craptastic customer support/attitude that has me excited for a Model3 in 2018 or 2019.

I drive a lot for work 75+ miles a day, so when I was stuck with a gas sucking rental that ate into my bottom line as well as the terrible feeling pay paying the monthly note on a car I can't even use. Plus, I work odd hours in Texas where there's no such thing as public transport, so when you can't get a loaner, you are effectively dead in the water when it comes to work or responsibilities.

 

[Arcanox]

I'll throw my hat into this ring too:


Took delivery of my 2017: summer 2016.

4000 miles - first major failure, high voltage fuse blown, unable to charge, no air conditioning, ICE engine running full time despite having a near full charge. Was in the shop for almost 3 weeks, had a crappy Cruz for rental. Fuse was on national backorder for 2+ weeks.

8000 miles - second major failure that left me stranded on the side of the highway on the way home from work. 12V system failed, such that no charge was going to the battery in the truck. It 100% died on the side of the road to the point I couldn't even pop the truck. Towed to the dealer, same crappy Cruz for a rental. The extra kicker was I took it to the dealership the day before this happened because I had "service charging system" message, they couldn't/wouldn't take the car and give me a rental because apparently they had none to give during some large Silvarado recall that was going on. So instead of them having to pay out of pocket for an enterprise rental ($30) they got to pay a few hundred dollars in towing fees.

GM (corporate) has been a joke through all this. Their responses were canned and didn't address a single question I had, all they kept saying was "we are really sorry you had this experience, the questions you have can be answered by your dealer" .... no, they can't because my questions were specifically about why the hell I paid 40K for a brand new double broken car. They had no interest in re-reimbursing me the $100 worth of gas I had to blow I otherwise wouldn't have spent, or even directing me to some contact information for someone higher up the chain than the "Social media team / Volt Team"

Love the car when it's working, hate GM as a company now. And it's their craptastic customer support/attitude that has me excited for a Model3 in 2018 or 2019.

I drive a lot for work 75+ miles a day, so when I was stuck with a gas sucking rental that ate into my bottom line as well as the terrible feeling pay paying the monthly note on a car I can't even use. Plus, I work odd hours in Texas where there's no such thing as public transport, so when you can't get a loaner, you are effectively dead in the water when it comes to work or responsibilities.

I knew you were going to want to chime in on this after all yours has gone through

I'll add your stuff into the main post. What did they end up doing to fix the "service charging system" problem on your car? I wonder if it's the same thing as mine.

 

[Bacardi]

Here's mine, shift to park issue: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?235778-48-miles-amp-my-MY17-died...Karma-Musk-hack

Perhaps this is a better narrative:

Had car at tint shop at 48 total miles, plugged in. Upon unplugging, heard chime or honk. Radio turned on despite car being off. Check Engine Light illuminated and "shift to park" message whenever vehicle was shifted from Park. OnStar could not communicate with the vehicle diagnosis's and sent a tow truck...Car towed to dealer; loaner provided was base Malibu, dealership cut an one month lease payment as compensation. Service Advisor repeatedly confirmed and even promised a full charge upon returning vehicle to owner, but vehicle was returned with 27% charge with warning the warning message of low rear tire pressure. Dealer appears to have replaced several motor speed sensors and Power Inverter Module; can't read entire diagnostic document in Bacardi's post, however.

 

[Triarius]

I'll chime in, short and sweet:

1000 miles even. Sudden loss of propulsion while driving, shift to park message. Wife was unable to pull into a parking lot. Transmission replacement took about 2 weeks, loaner was a GMC acadia (which worked out quite well, as we had a number of friends visiting over the new year and used the extra space in the loaner to drive them around). They delivered the loaner car right to our driveway.

No additional mechanical failures in the subsequent 19,000 miles.

 

[viking79]

I would suggest all users report reliability, good or bad, to a site like TrueDelta.com. I have no affiliation, just like to see aggregated data.

 

[quirkySquirt]

Forgot about TrueDelta.com. That would be better and it's also free. I had to sign up to get more views of the reliability charts (I think the limit was 5 page views or something). Other than signing up, it's pretty painless to use.

 

[stevon]

Arcanox,

My 2017 Volt with 44K miles died a week ago. Sudden loss of propulsion while driving, shift to park message. Wife was able to pull onto the shoulder, I came and rescued her. OnStar provided free tow to the closest Chevy dealer (3 miles) Had purchased the car 30 miles away at another dealer. The codes found indicated that transaxle must be replaced. It's till at the dealer, parts are in but still have to wait a week till its done. A loaner was provided first an equinox and I returned that for a Trax. I was told there will be no charges and that all costs are covered by the factory warranty, we'll see.

Stephen

 

[MLA]

Just posted a thread regarding my 2017 Volt (26k miles) that has been in the shop for 15 days and counting over a failed transmission mount. Here is a link the thread: 2017 Volt Transmission Mount Failure and Poor Customer...

This is has been the longest time. The car has been in the shop for a total of 19 days in the last 30 days. Each time it has to go in (previously the car died without warning when the battery died) it takes the dealer 2-3 days to fix it. And they usually don't have a loaner.

 

[obermd]

- Cruze Control failures. The brake pedal pushrod stop adjusted and replaced. The brake pedal position sensor has been replaced. The BCM was also replaced and I suspect this will come back again when the weather turns cold this winter. My extended service contract paid for the BCM.

- Shift to Park: Required two visits to fix. The first replaced the cable between the shifter and the canbus. The second replaced the shifter itself. Covered under the Voltec warranty.

 

[stevon]

Arcanox,

Picked up my car yesterday and a new off the shelf transaxle was installed at no charge to me. It seems like the 2017 Volt still has it's bugs here and there. What is good is that GM still stands behind the Volt and it's troubles, at least for now. In ten years we'll see if they still do.

Stephen

Arcanox,

My 2017 Volt with 44K miles died a week ago. Sudden loss of propulsion while driving, shift to park message. Wife was able to pull onto the shoulder, I came and rescued her. OnStar provided free tow to the closest Chevy dealer (3 miles) Had purchased the car 30 miles away at another dealer. The codes found indicated that transaxle must be replaced. It's till at the dealer, parts are in but still have to wait a week till its done. A loaner was provided first an equinox and I returned that for a Trax. I was told there will be no charges and that all costs are covered by the factory warranty, we'll see.

Stephen

 

[charger57]

I bought my 2016 Volt Premier used in June of 2019. In November 2019, after a day of "spirited" errand running, I noticed a puddle of oil under the car while out picking up one of the kids from practice. The vehicle was towed to the nearest dealer with a Volt mechanic. They replaced the the oil cooler lines. I was out of warranty on the bumper to bumper coverage by 3-4 months, even though I was under the mileage. The part was not covered by the powertrain warranty. To make matters worse, the dealer had my car for almost 4 MONTHS because of a GM part shortage. They offered minimal compensation for being without my car, and I had to hound them multiple times per week playing phone tag with the dealer, GM support, and GM parts. It was a nightmare, and had we not gotten locked down by the pandemic shortly after it was through, I probably would have dumped the Volt.

 

[stevon]

Charger57,

I recently purchased a 2107 Volt premier with 40k miles in July and the car had been great until the 20th of September. My Wife was driving the car and it lost power on the freeway with a "shift to park" warning in every shift selection and check a engine light illumination . She was able to coast over to the shoulder and called me to rescue her. After repeated on off cycles I got the car to move a couple of miles with several "jerking" motions while driving then it died again and I lost power braking and steering (went to manual only). This time I was unable to "re-boot it" and had OnStar have it towed to a local Chevy dealer who has a "certified EV specialist" employed by them. I had to agree to a $170 diagnostic fee because the car was not purchased there (was never charged that in the end) The car was towed to the local Chevy dealer, diagnosed as "failed transaxle" loaner car provided and transaxle was replaced N/C. The dealer gave me excellent service! There were no fees charged for towing, diagnostics, repair, fluids, bolts etc. or the loaned car, overall a seamless operation. They even popped out a dent that I came in with on the front driver's fender! There does seem to be a few failures of the transaxle, BECM, and shifter issues. Plan to still keep the car for as long as it runs!
Was the leak caused by road or curb damage? That would not be covered by any warranty I'm familiar with

Stephen