[Stevelovescars]

I live in a fairly small Michigan town and Volts (and EVs in general) are relatively uncommon. I did recently come across a very nice 2013 Volt for sale locally by its original owner and I am very interested. I would appreciate any thoughts you all might have.

It is a 2013 and has 51k miles. It honestly looks like new inside and out, dark gray with back cloth interior and the white center stack. No navigation (fine with me)but withbheated seats (appreciated). The tires are only a few months old. It includes a GE branded 240v wall charger that can be plugged into a large outlet. I don’t have such an outlet in my garage but I do have good placement of 120v plugs at home and some ChargePoint chargers in the parking structure of my office.

He is asking $12,900. It’s not a “steal” but seems fair given the condition of the car and the added charger.

I met him at the local Chevy dealer where I paid for an inspection of the car. They found no codes, damage (other than a small curb mark on a wheel) and gave the car a clean bill of health. Even the underside is very clean for a Michigan car driven in liberally salted winter roads. So, no surprises, but they also verified that the Voltec warranty has 3 years left on time.

Any thoughts? Warnings?

Does using the iOS app for the car require a paid OnStar subscription?

 

[Jmaj]

Garber Chevrolet in Midland has a 2013 with 28000 miles for the same price. Good dealership and EV savvy.

 

[myoda]

I would shop for a certified car - there are cars out there that have less miles, and have an extended factory warranty from Chevy. Try to find a car with a backup camera. Best to expand your search radius. Here's a CPO car in Ohio with 30,157 miles on it for $13,950:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/740793908/overview/

 

[DogMom]

Welcome to the forum! You’ll learn a lot here; the people are really knowledgeable! I have a 2014 which I love, and I can tell you that I am soooo glad I had the 240 (or was it 220) thing installed for charging. A 110 just takes too long. Glad you’re here — you’ve come to the right place!

 

[llninja]

I too have a 2013 and love it. The only thing you gain by getting a late 2014 or 2015 is slightly more battery range and the ability to have the car talk to you while texting (others may remember more features). I would think twice about a 2011/12 as those don’t have hold mode and an even smaller battery.

The important features to me are rear parking sensors and camera. Visibility is horrible. Think A, B and C pillars, high beltline, low roofline leads to some interesting visibility issues. After awhile, you get into the habit of lookin, bobbing your head back and forth to make sure nobody is behind the A pillar, looking again, and one more time to make sure before going.

Agreed, the NAV is pretty much useless in this day and age of Siri and google.

As for mileage, it would be important to understand whether most of the miles are EV or ICE (internal combustion engine). That can be gauged by looking at the lifetime MPG. If it is 250+ then the car has been driven mostly EV. If it is 40-60, then it is mostly ICE. My choice would be less ICE as engine wear is not recoverable without an engine overhaul, whereas the battery has temperature management and is babied - electric motors very rarely wear out. There’s a volt out there named Sparky that has some obscene 300k+ mile (maybe he’s at over 400k+ by now). Of course, he’s using mostly ICE for his daily commute.

 

[Stevelovescars]

Yeah, this one doesn't have the backup camera or rear sensors. Those would be nice to have, no doubt.

I just looked up the car at Garbing online. It looks to be similarly equipped as this one with lower miles. They are asking $14k, so I suppose the final price could be close to the local one. On the other hand, this one includes a 220v charger (about a $500 value, no?), it's 2 hours closer to my home (each way), and I met the original owner, and can see maintenance records. He's also including the charger, two sets of winter mats, brand new tires, and see that he was a fastidious owner. He said he got the factory winter mats at first but didn't feel they were big enough and he was getting salt on the carpets so he replace them with a set of Weathertech floor liners. Nice and picky, just the type of guy I want to buy a used car from. Personally, I don't like buying used cars from dealers. One has no idea about the previous ownership history and pays a premium for no particular value in return. I also know that the car doesn't smell funny (no pets or smoking) and is really clean.

A local dealer has a 2015 Volt on their lot. Despite being two years newer it has about the same miles and they are asking about $16k for it. However, I went to drive it and even after the dealer's detailing the interior looked to have seen quite a bit of abuse and the paint looked like it saw nothing but free car washes with plastic brushes.

Oh, and the seller sent me his last couple of OnStar monthly usage summaries on his car. He was about 99% electric and he was actually surprised to see the 4 miles of gasoline usage on the report. Our whole town is only about 12 miles from end to end so I'll similarly run mostly electric most of the time with some occasional farther trips for my son's baseball tournaments and the like.

 

[wizard_of-ahs]

Sparkie is rapidly approaching 450,000 miles

 

[DogMom]

Oh, two things I almost forgot. The mileage doesn’t matter as much as the engine miles (battery miles and engine miles = total miles). Also, make sure you get a car with the back-up camera. The Volt is silent (just like turning on a flashlight) and in parking lots, people walk right behind my Volt because they don’t hear it!!! We lost a granddaughter to a car that was backing up, so my family would never own a car without a back-up camera.

 

[Stevelovescars]

I just found out the local car has the backup camera. I guess it has a safety package with forward collision warning, lane departure warning, etc, as well. I didn’t even notice all of that from the brief test drive.

 

[Just_Jon]

I say "go for it".

It sounds like the car has been babied. I would appreciate knowing it is in 'like new' condition for 1/3 the new price. Don't worry about finding one 5% better, the one you are getting will be SO MUCH better than any previous car you have had, you will be smiling every time you drive it.

The gas you will save is nice, saving the planet is nice, giving the oil industry the finger is nice, time and effort saved by very rarely going the gas station is VERY nice.

Backup camera and sensors would be helpful, but unless you back out in busy parking lots often, not required.

 

[marcusm]

If the car was driven 99% electric, sounds Ike a good deal. Show him comparable ones with fewer miles as above and see if he will come down another $500 or so. Then I’d say go for it. As to the 240 charger you can get a 240 charger for $200 or less that’s not a big deal but it is nice to have though; you will have to have someone put in a 240 line however and that’ll cost you another six or $700 probably. You could also use that as an argument for him to bring the price down a bit.

I don’t think using iOS requires any Onstar subscription. But I have a gen 2 and don’t know what the precise software they use for Gen 1...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jmaj]

Sparkie is rapidly approaching 450,000 miles

How much of Sparkie is original and still working? I know that car is used as an example of EVs lasting forever but IIRC it's had some major issues.

 

[VoltenRock]

Before you pull the trigger, make sure you get the in-service date on the vehicle and understand the warranties and when they expire. The Volt is not like a typical ICE vehicle. It has a B2B (definitely expired), a powertrain warranty (might be expired), an emissions warranty (probably not--usually 70 or 80K within 7 years); and then finally--and most important--the VOLTEC warranty that is 8/year; 100K miles. I don't think Michigan is a CARB state--some Volts in CARB states have a 10 year/150K mile warranty on the BATTERY (only). Look into it.

Also, the 2013s are solid but some of them had issues. I loved my 2013, but it needed several new radio units because they kept failing. Some 2013s had an issue of the charging ports getting stuck closed. I had mine replaced 3 times. These annoying issues could add up if outside of warranty. Also, some 2013s had issues with heat--while mine did not, you better put the car on maximum electric heat (no ICE) and make sure it's hot.

While the price is "ok" I would tell the owner that this is your first electric vehicle and you want the piece of mind of a zero-deductible GM extended warranty on the vehicle--especially since it's a private sale and you're not getting any implied warranty from the seller. Either he could include it as part of the sale, or you could go shop for it and drop the price you'll pay by the price of the warranty.

 

[Stevelovescars]

I met the owner at the local Chevy store and had a PPI inspection done. He was the original buyer of the car. The service manager confirmed the Voltec warranty is good through June of 2021, so just about three more years and another 50k Miles. I assume this means the traction motor, engine, batteries, transmission, etc. are all covered?


There haven’t even been any warranty repairs of note on the car, no remaining software updates, or recalls. Tires are new, brakes are fine and wear and tear almost nonexistent. And I say this as a classic car collector who has looked at many cars for sale over the years. My philosophy is that when one buys a used car he is buying the prior owner as much as the vehicle itself. This is type of owner I like to see when I buy a car. He kept allmof the records, his garage was spotless and organized, his other car was in similar condition, as was the boat parked in the third stall. This is the key reason I don’t like to buy cars from dealers.

I thought by 2013 they had done away with the remote opening charge door and it now just had the push-to-open type? Aren’t these a lot less problematic than the earlier design?

 

[css28]

I thought by 2013 they had done away with the remote opening charge door and it now just had the push-to-open type? Aren’t these a lot less problematic than the earlier design?

2013 still has the electric charge door release but I didn't think it offered heated cloth seats.
Mine has 56k miles on it and has been very nice. The charge door has never given me problems.
Some 2013's had faulty heater modules from the factory but I suspect that would have been fixed by now. In addition to the heater problem mine had the charger (actual charger on the car side of the port) act up and it was replaced under the Voltec warranty. I've changed the oil twice and the wiper blades twice but that's it for needed maintenance. I'll be getting the coolant changed this month as it's due at 5 years.

Sounds like you have a nice situation there. Good luck!

 

[Stevelovescars]

I am confused, then. This car is a 2013 and has heated cloth seats.

 

[css28]

I am confused, then. This car is a 2013 and has heated cloth seats.

...or else I'm confused. If it has them it's hard to argue otherwise.

 

[Stevelovescars]

Guess I was wrong... the charge port door design changed for the 2014 model year.

 

[VoltenRock]

I met the owner at the local Chevy store and had a PPI inspection done. He was the original buyer of the car. The service manager confirmed the Voltec warranty is good through June of 2021, so just about three more years and another 50k Miles. I assume this means the traction motor, engine, batteries, transmission, etc. are all covered?

No--there's been disputed issues over the ICE and whether it falls into the VOLTEC warranty, and I think the transmission as well. According to the 2018 warranty manual, the hybrid warranty (which is what they call it) covers the "propulsion" battery (main HV battery), traction motor, and the following:

High Voltage Wiring, HybridPowertrain and Battery ControlModules, Air Compressor ControlModule (Except Malibu Hybrid),Accessory DC Power ControlModule, High Voltage BatteryDisconnect Control Module, DriveMotor Generator Power InvertorModule, Battery Charger ControlModule.

Brakes
Brake Modulator Assembly

Electric/Hybrid Drive Unit
Electric drive unit assembly electricmotors, and all internal components,including the auxiliary fluid pump,auxiliary pump controller, electricmotor, and 3-phase cables.





Now, this is from the 2018 book so you'll need to dig (and this information is intentionally hard to find) for the 2013 book in case it's different. I remember reading reports on here before of dealers giving Volt owners trouble over covering ICE under VOLTEC and not under powertrain.

One other piece of information you should get -- how much has this 2013's ICE been run? What's the lifetime MPG? More importantly, do you plan to use the ICE a lot or will most of your driving be EV? Issues with the ICE seem rare, but has happened.

 

[llninja]

I am confused, then. This car is a 2013 and has heated cloth seats.

If the interior it a pebble beige color, then it’s possible they are suede leather seets that loom and feel like cloth. Otherwise, i’d say That the heaters sets were custom ordered.

You can get a free 5 year basic onstar that allows you to use the iPod app to remote start and do in dash navigation. Theynjust recently changed their plans so maybe I’m grandfathered into this basic plan.