Buying a Bolt in FL (or 48 other states)

1791 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Bacardi, Jan 3, 2017

bencalpink

Discussion Starter · Jan 3, 2017

Anyone want to chime in on if they are waiting for Bolts to come to their local dealerships, or if they are planning to buy out of state?

What are some unforeseen problems/costs/questions to look out for if somebody is pursuing buying one from out of state? Any possible upsides besides getting the car earlier?

And, has anyone from FL or the south tried buying a Bolt?

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Bacardi

· #2 · Jan 3, 2017

The problem could be service, I'd call around your local dealers to ask if you acquire a Bolt EV and it breaks, are they able to service it? Might only be like six months until FL dealers and sell and service the Bolt but you just have to have a backup plan if they're unable to service it and it breaks...

Only other upsides are whatever incentives are offered such as HOV use and good parking spaces for EVs who charge...And if it makes you feel better, you use less oil and slightly reduce your carbon footprint yet we all knows there are many ways to do that besides your own personal vehicle...

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Tom17

· #3 · Jan 3, 2017

The only draw backs I see are the added cost you will pay for shipping and it may take about 30 days to get it registered in your state, if you finance the purchase. Since they Bolts are selling for close to MSRP from most dealers and $1K below MSRP at Rydell in Northridge CA (Recommended). You may want to wait a few months until they are available in your state. If you finance, the title gets sent to the finance company. You will then have to work with the finance company (send them the necessary state paperwork) and get them to send the title and paperwork to the DMV office where you will register the car. You cannot touch the title. Once registered, the DMV will send the new title back to the finance company. With my Volt out of state purchase, it took me 30 days to get this done in NJ and I kept on the finance company religiously, otherwise it would have taken longer.

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NYRob

· #4 · Jan 3, 2017

I guess I would feel a bit funny if I needed to use the local dealers fast charger if I didn't get the car from them.

In a perfect world... it wouldn't make a difference if you got the Bolt from them or not- but I could imagine the local dealer being in no particular hurry to de-ICE his fast charger for non-dealership Bolt owners.

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Bacardi

· #5 · Jan 3, 2017

Tom17 said:
The only draw backs I see are the added cost you will pay for shipping and it may take about 30 days to get it registered in your state, if you finance the purchase. Since they Bolts are selling for close to MSRP from most dealers and $1K below MSRP at Rydell in Northridge CA (Recommended). You may want to wait a few months until they are available in your state. If you finance, the title gets sent to the finance company. You will then have to work with the finance company (send them the necessary state paperwork) and get them to send the title and paperwork to the DMV office where you will register the car. You cannot touch the title. Once registered, the DMV will send the new title back to the finance company. With my Volt out of state purchase, it took me 30 days to get this done in NJ and I kept on the finance company religiously, otherwise it would have taken longer.

Considering CA caps their dealer fee at $80 while FL does not cap their doc fee and $500+ is incredibly common, probably will cost around the same to buy from cali and ship vs buying in FL...I've provided another L.A. dealer who claims to be selling Bolt EVs at invoice, if I dare mention who it that is I risk my post being edited to say "Bacardi recommends our forum sponsor dealer" so PM me if anyone wants...

NYRob said:
I guess I would feel a bit funny if I needed to use the local dealers fast charger if I didn't get the car from them.

In a perfect world... it wouldn't make a difference if you got the Bolt from them or not- but I could imagine the local dealer being in no particular hurry to de-ICE his fast charger for non-dealership Bolt owners.

There are not any dealership "requirements" to provide customer access...DCFC's aren't cheap, you have customer deliveries, charging after test drives and service diagnostics (whether the car shows up dead or is having a DCFC) in which a dealership may need immediate DCFC access...If you think about it it's a huge can of worms to open to offer free charging...If you have one customer on the chargers and let's say two waiting, then the dealer needs to top off a Bolt EV for a customer delivery or the service dept needs it to diagnose a customers Bolt EV, the dealer "cutting" their own DCFC line will most likely lead to some rude interactions...

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