[madmike]

Recently totaled my 2014 Volt and test drove Bolt and gen 2 Volt today.

Volt: Like an wine that has gotten better with time. I like the new display, the "real" buttons. they moved the start switch far away from the mode switch. I couldn't really tell the car was faster although I know it is. I the extra EV miles will come in handy and you can get a good if not great deal on them. Wish they could get rid of the clunky shift lever...much preferred Bolt shift lever. Really like Safety 1 and 2....though they would not have saved me from getting rear ended like my 2014.

Bolt: I like the seats, I didn't think the dash was too much plastic. More futuristic. I was shocked at how much passenger room there was. Higher driving position, better visibility. This car was pretty darn fast. handled OK. I prefer the look of the Volt. Honestly I like both cars a lot and I think GM has done a great job (up until 2014 I pretty much hated GM). If only we had supercharging.

The bolt would be OK for 95% of my driving and the logical thing to do would probably be to buy a Bolt and lease an ice for the occasional road trip....but I'm leaning towards another Volt mostly because my life situation could change and the car may not have access to charging (say if my son had to borrow it long term). I should be able to get over 90% of my miles on the Volt EV miles and I can get it for a lot cheaper than a new Bolt (still at MSRP here in MD).

My plan is to push hard on price and if I can get a good deal on the Volt I'll probably pull the trigger. My goal is near 20% off MSRP on a fully loaded one (say at least 7K off).

I can wait if I have to...and drive a F 250 super diesel...

madmike

 

[VoltageDrop]

Recently totaled my 2014 Volt and test drove Bolt and gen 2 Volt today.

Volt: Like an wine that has gotten better with time. I like the new display, the "real" buttons. they moved the start switch far away from the mode switch. I couldn't really tell the car was faster although I know it is. I the extra EV miles will come in handy and you can get a good if not great deal on them. Wish they could get rid of the clunky shift lever...much preferred Bolt shift lever. Really like Safety 1 and 2....though they would not have saved me from getting rear ended like my 2014.

Bolt: I like the seats, I didn't think the dash was too much plastic. More futuristic. I was shocked at how much passenger room there was. Higher driving position, better visibility. This car was pretty darn fast. handled OK. I prefer the look of the Volt. Honestly I like both cars a lot and I think GM has done a great job (up until 2014 I pretty much hated GM). If only we had supercharging.

The bolt would be OK for 95% of my driving and the logical thing to do would probably be to buy a Bolt and lease an ice for the occasional road trip....but I'm leaning towards another Volt mostly because my life situation could change and the car may not have access to charging (say if my son had to borrow it long term). I should be able to get over 90% of my miles on the Volt EV miles and I can get it for a lot cheaper than a new Bolt (still at MSRP here in MD).

My plan is to push hard on price and if I can get a good deal on the Volt I'll probably pull the trigger. My goal is near 20% off MSRP on a fully loaded one (say at least 7K off).

I can wait if I have to...and drive a F 250 super diesel...

madmike

If you go with the Volt... are you thinking of not getting the Model 3 anymore?

 

[llninja]

If you go with the Volt... are you thinking of not getting the Model 3 anymore?

Depending on where he is in line, it could be 2019 or 2020 before madmike takes delivery of a model 3. I was in like, and when I realized the model 3 was pretty much volt sized (with more space because of the skateboard design) I cancelled my reservation. If I get a tesla, it will be a model S100D.

@madmike, that F250 sounds like a beast, but at least it's a diesel. My other vehicle is a quarter ton suburban with a 454 cu in gas engine. Filling that gas tank at $4 per gallon in 2013 really hurt.

 

[BAZINGA]

I thought I did dam good when I got $4500 off MSRP on my fully loaded 2017 last Aug. But holy cow, if you can get $6K off MSRP on the same car go for it.

We love our 17 after owning a 12 and 13. It's a great time to be a buyer.

 

[llninja]

I thought I did dam good when I got $4500 off MSRP on my fully loaded 2017 last Aug. But holy cow, if you can get $6K off MSRP on the same car go for it.

We love our 17 after owning a 12 and 13. It's a great time to be a buyer.

It has happened before, it will happen again. Many volt buyers didn't purchase when the gen1s were going for near MSRP, BUT WHEN THE PRICE DROPPED IN aug 2013, that combined with many incentives caused the effective price to become nearly 1/2 of the MSRP. The g2 arrived in the summer of 2015, so if the pattern repeats itself, we will see really steep discounts in 2018. Same thing happened to the ELR. Introduced at $75k in October 2013, by 2015 they were selling new for nearly half price. It will take a long time before the bolt will see steep discounts and it will probably be coincidental to the Tesla model 3 deliveries when they begin to arrive in huge numbers. When exactly that will happens is anybody's guess. I do worry, though, if tesla can't get the costs and economies of scale right, it might ruin them. The impending arrival of a lower priced car has got to be hurting their sales right now.

 

[madmike]

If I get the Volt I will cancel the model three reservation...ideally I'd like to wait for the next reveal to see the details on the three. I'm tempted to test drive a 90D model S but I like smaller cars and might move away from a Tesla service center at some point.

Recently totaled my 2014 Volt and test drove Bolt and gen 2 Volt today.

Volt: Like an wine that has gotten better with time. I like the new display, the "real" buttons. they moved the start switch far away from the mode switch. I couldn't really tell the car was faster although I know it is. I the extra EV miles will come in handy and you can get a good if not great deal on them. Wish they could get rid of the clunky shift lever...much preferred Bolt shift lever. Really like Safety 1 and 2....though they would not have saved me from getting rear ended like my 2014.

Bolt: I like the seats, I didn't think the dash was too much plastic. More futuristic. I was shocked at how much passenger room there was. Higher driving position, better visibility. This car was pretty darn fast. handled OK. I prefer the look of the Volt. Honestly I like both cars a lot and I think GM has done a great job (up until 2014 I pretty much hated GM). If only we had supercharging.

The bolt would be OK for 95% of my driving and the logical thing to do would probably be to buy a Bolt and lease an ice for the occasional road trip....but I'm leaning towards another Volt mostly because my life situation could change and the car may not have access to charging (say if my son had to borrow it long term). I should be able to get over 90% of my miles on the Volt EV miles and I can get it for a lot cheaper than a new Bolt (still at MSRP here in MD).

My plan is to push hard on price and if I can get a good deal on the Volt I'll probably pull the trigger. My goal is near 20% off MSRP on a fully loaded one (say at least 7K off).

I can wait if I have to...and drive a F 250 super diesel...

madmike

 

[madmike]

I learned to drive on an old Grand Prix with the 454....amazing I survived. BTW, I'm also did my undergraduate degree at Champaign. 1987 BS in Microbiology.

Depending on where he is in line, it could be 2019 or 2020 before madmike takes delivery of a model 3. I was in like, and when I realized the model 3 was pretty much volt sized (with more space because of the skateboard design) I cancelled my reservation. If I get a tesla, it will be a model S100D.

@madmike, that F250 sounds like a beast, but at least it's a diesel. My other vehicle is a quarter ton suburban with a 454 cu in gas engine. Filling that gas tank at $4 per gallon in 2013 really hurt.

 

[llninja]

I learned to drive on an old Grand Prix with the 454....amazing I survived. BTW, I'm also did my undergraduate degree at Champaign. 1987 BS in Microbiology.

Computer science. BS in 1988, MS in 1990. Really enjoyed watching the flyin' Illini during their final 4 run. My brush with greatness moment was showing up at IMPE at 8am on a Sunday morning to play a pickup basketball game, and finding Kenny Battle alone in the gym shooting 3's. I started rebounding for him and feeding him passes for about 15 min before too many people arrived and he bolted.

 

[sparks]

I would go with the Volt. Being a dual-fuel vehicle, the Volt will weather just about any crazy turn of events and still get you to your destination.

Examples include power outages due to the diminishing power-grid reliability, storms, cyberattack, increasing solar flares; gasoline outages due to supply-chain interruptions, rationing due to war (don't laugh -- both sides of the aisle seem hell-bent on this, and the bigger the better, e.g., Russia); and of course unexpected trips due to changes in job/commute and life changes (family/aging parents?) requiring additional long trips. Repeatedly I have seen the dual-fuel aspect of my Volt save the day.

 

[JC Volt]

Chemistry '81.

Drove through (with the Volt, of course!) last summer after a conference in Chicago. Couldn't believe Garcia's and Papa Del's weren't mainstays on campus anymore. Shows a lot can change in 35 years!. Spent the night at the new Home2 Suites on South Neil with a free GE charger in the lot. (Sorry to non-Illini for hijacking the thread.)

 

[Sean Nelson]

Examples include power outages due to the diminishing power-grid reliability, storms, cyberattack, increasing solar flares...

Having a Volt won't help all that much during an extended power interruption since gas pumps operate on electricity. We just have to accept the fact that during those kinds of power outages our only solace is that all available resources will be thrown at getting things working again.

 

[cab]

Recently totaled my 2014 Volt and test drove Bolt and gen 2 Volt today.

Volt: Like an wine that has gotten better with time. I like the new display, the "real" buttons. they moved the start switch far away from the mode switch. I couldn't really tell the car was faster although I know it is. I the extra EV miles will come in handy and you can get a good if not great deal on them. Wish they could get rid of the clunky shift lever...much preferred Bolt shift lever. Really like Safety 1 and 2....though they would not have saved me from getting rear ended like my 2014.

Bolt: I like the seats, I didn't think the dash was too much plastic. More futuristic. I was shocked at how much passenger room there was. Higher driving position, better visibility. This car was pretty darn fast. handled OK. I prefer the look of the Volt. Honestly I like both cars a lot and I think GM has done a great job (up until 2014 I pretty much hated GM). If only we had supercharging.

The bolt would be OK for 95% of my driving and the logical thing to do would probably be to buy a Bolt and lease an ice for the occasional road trip....but I'm leaning towards another Volt mostly because my life situation could change and the car may not have access to charging (say if my son had to borrow it long term). I should be able to get over 90% of my miles on the Volt EV miles and I can get it for a lot cheaper than a new Bolt (still at MSRP here in MD).

My plan is to push hard on price and if I can get a good deal on the Volt I'll probably pull the trigger. My goal is near 20% off MSRP on a fully loaded one (say at least 7K off).

I can wait if I have to...and drive a F 250 super diesel...

madmike

Your comment about "life situation" is a good one. We have an "extra" car (our 17 year old mini-van) that we are CONSTANTLY rotating through my adult children as the backup vehicle when one of their cars is in the shop or in my driveway awaiting repairs from me. They all live in apartments too so any pure electric would be a non-starter for them (indeed, it's why I don't recommend anything with a "plug" for them as next cars).

Life is tricky and these kinds of decisions involve a lot more than just "which car do I like better" in many cases. Oh, and renting/returning cars can be a real pain. Heck, we are about to take an out of town trip in our Model S and even supercharging will be a bit of a pain (we actually altered where we were planning on staying to accommodate charging). In your situation it sounds like the Volt is the better choice on more of the "most important" categories.