[HazelHoff]

I currently own a 2012 Chevy Volt with 145 000 miles. I've had no problems with it but recently, I found out that my local dealership doesn't do repairs on Volts anymore. That bugs me quite a bit and I'm thinking of getting rid of the car.
My concern is mainly the battery temp sensors, but how big of a concern that is, I don't know.... Are there any other big risks to be aware of?

I wouldn't want to sell the car but if there's a chance of it failing for a stupid reason like the sensors and not being able to have it fixed locally, I'd better swap it for some other car....

 

[llninja]

Check neighboring dealerships. The dealership I normally go to 18 miles away stopped because their volt technician had a health issue and had to stop working. They are between a rock and a hard place because they have the tools, but the training is no longer available. Meanwhile, the dealership 3 miles from me as well as the dealership 20 miles the opposite direction of the first dealership continues to service Volts.

I ran into an even worse problem when considering an ELR. The closest dealership that could service the ELr was over 75 miles away... ironically a Cadillac dealership in a really, really small town. None of the dealerships in the bigger towns near me have an ELR certified tech.

 

[HazelHoff]

I already checked, the nearest capable dealership is 200 miles from where I live

 

[pcasey]

Yeah dealer shops are probably going to dwindle as times goes by. I'm betting my 2018 LT will last longer than I do, with a lot less surgery than I'm going to need. If it disappoints me, I will dump it.

 

[DMC5180]

Check neighboring dealerships. The dealership I normally go to 18 miles away stopped because their volt technician had a health issue and had to stop working. They are between a rock and a hard place because they have the tools, but the training is no longer available. Meanwhile, the dealership 3 miles from me as well as the dealership 20 miles the opposite direction of the first dealership continues to service Volts.

I ran into an even worse problem when considering an ELR. The closest dealership that could service the ELr was over 75 miles away... ironically a Cadillac dealership in a really, really small town. None of the dealerships in the bigger towns near me have an ELR certified tech.

I can’t imagine why the ELR would require an ELR specific tech. The Voltech powertrain system within it is essentially the same as the Volt. This seems more like Cadillac imaging thing. Cadillac customers can only get service from Cadillac dealerships. BS. That would be like saying a Cadillac XLR aka “Cadillac Corvette” from 2005-2009 can only be serviced at Cadillac dealership and not a Chevrolet dealership that sells and services Corvettes.

 

[HazelHoff]

It's a really crappy situation, I bought the car two years ago, had all of the big services done, installed an oilpan heater, bought two new sets of wheels and tyres(I live in Finland, lots of snow) and had the intention to keep it a long time... It just feels too big of a risk to keep it in case there was a big problem with it and nowhere to have it fixed...

 

[DMC5180]

It's a really crappy situation, I bought the car two years ago, had all of the big services done, installed an oilpan heater, bought two new sets of wheels and tyres(I live in Finland, lots of snow) and had the intention to keep it a long time... It just feels too big of a risk to keep it in case there was a big problem with it and nowhere to have it fixed...

Living in Finland explains everything.
I assume the Volt in Finland is somewhat rare. Is there an Opel dealer in the area that might service the Ampera?

 

[HazelHoff]

Living in Finland explains everything.
I assume the Volt in Finland is somewhat rare. Is there an Opel dealer in the area that might service the Ampera?

Yep, the volt is really rare here, but it's the same car as the Opel Ampera. Infact, in Finland, volts have always been serviced in opel dealerships, and it's the opel-one that just quit here...

 

[MinnVolt]

I sympathize with the OP's situation. Here in the Twin Cities there are a dozen or more Chevy dealers, several of which have a rep for selling and servicing Volts, and several more in the surrounding small towns. So even though the car has been discontinued I think that service will be adequate in the area for a while yet. My main worry is not lack of service but lack of parts and support from GM. This forum has numerous posts about long waits for repairs due to parts availability issues, and I doubt if that will get better as the cars age. Repair parts also seem to be somewhat expensive. My 2013 has only 35K miles on it, so I'm afraid support will disappear long before the car wears out. I've owned the car for 3 1/2 years, and I love it, but never would have bought it had I known GM was about to make it an orphan. I would take a beating on a trade-in, so my only option now is to enjoy driving the car until some major/expensive fail and then decide whether to dump it or fix it.

 

[HazelHoff]

I previously had a 2013 prius, reliable as hell, but at the same time boring. The volt is the best damn car I've ever had but now I'm back into looking for the same boring toyotas

 

[solar_dave]

Yeah the OP has the same fears as I have. Ours are coming up on 10 years and while reliable I fear that getting service is going to get harder and harder. SO far there are several dealerships within 20 miles that will do service but I am sure that will dwindle.

Anyone ever find an independent to work on them? Ex Chevy guy that do their own thing?

 

[MinnVolt]

I previously had a 2013 prius, reliable as hell, but at the same time boring. The volt is the best damn car I've ever had but now I'm back into looking for the same boring toyotas

M daughter is driving her second Prius, son-in-law drives a Camry. They love them, reliable, solid cars - and just as exciting as vanilla ice cream or white bread.

 

[CeeW]

This one of my worries owning a Volt long-term..... which I plan to do, like 20 years.
Can dealers just say "I don't wanna work on that car" ??
Not like we/I can make them work on the Volts.

BUT! Like the pioneers before me who headed west, I will keep my Volt and move forward.
(hard life I know, hoping my EV will keep running well......rather than my wagon being swept away in the river
or little Suzie getting typhoid fever)

 

[llninja]

I can’t imagine why the ELR would require an ELR specific tech. The Voltech powertrain system within it is essentially the same as the Volt. This seems more like Cadillac imaging thing. Cadillac customers can only get service from Cadillac dealerships. BS. That would be like saying a Cadillac XLR aka “Cadillac Corvette” from 2005-2009 can only be serviced at Cadillac dealership and not a Chevrolet dealership that sells and services Corvettes.

The Chevy tech won’t have access to the ELR software updates. Sure, the Chevy dealership can probably do the oil changes, brakes, suspension, spark plugs, fluid changes, etc. After test driving the ELR, it is amazing how the car drives very differently. When you floor it, the ICE kicks in and the acceleration easily beats the volt.

In sept 2019 I walked away from the used ELR with about 25k miles on it. Today, I kind of regret it, but that’s because my driving situation and outlook on vehicles have changed. If I buy an ELR today, it would be more like owning a classic car - it would be pampered in the garage and driven only for pleasure. Plus the used prices keep dropping as demand and awareness just isn’t there.

 

[volty25]

Dump it and while you're at it consider dumping PEV technology altogether until such time as manufacturers become 100% committed to the technology. It doesn't matter why you can't get service the reality is you can't get service. It's disgusting Chevy has placed owners into this position. Had I known they were going to discontinue the Volt a mere 15 months after I bought it I wouldn't have bought it.

Gm has been a disaster when it comes to PEV technology, avoid it.

 

[llninja]

Dump it and while you're at it consider dumping PEV technology altogether until such time as manufacturers become 100% committed to the technology. It doesn't matter why you can't get service the reality is you can't get service. It's disgusting Chevy has placed owners into this position. Had I known they were going to discontinue the Volt a mere 15 months after I bought it I wouldn't have bought it.

Gm has been a disaster when it comes to PEV technology, avoid it.

Yeah, similar total fail on the CT6 Plug-in rollout. It was only available in a few states, thus really restricting who can work on them. In this case they targeted the green states (Cali, Washington) and places with rich retirees who don’t quite get plungins (arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida), and maybe a few more...

 

[ElectricCow15]

.....which I plan to do, like 20 years.

I hoping in 10 or less years we'll have full access to the tech inside our Gen1 Volts, up to and including a 3rd party 2-4x battery capacity replacement.

 

[CeeW]

Dump it and while you're at it consider dumping PEV technology altogether until such time as manufacturers become 100% committed to the technology. It doesn't matter why you can't get service the reality is you can't get service. It's disgusting Chevy has placed owners into this position. Had I known they were going to discontinue the Volt a mere 15 months after I bought it I wouldn't have bought it.

Gm has been a disaster when it comes to PEV technology, avoid it.

I would tend to agree, but I am "stuck" with my Volt.
Better off money-wise to ride it out as long as possible, a plus tho is I actually like the car, so I won't be suffering at least.
Plus, it is kinda of a long-term experiment for me..... testing the longevity of the Volt.

I bought my 2018 Volt in August of 2018, then found out like a month or 2 later they were cancelling the Volt.......
which as we know, kills re-sale values.

I admire GM for coming out with the Volt in the first place, but for them to abandon it makes me not admire them.

Most the other manufacturers are good with plug-ins, Volvo, Honda, BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes, and a few other all seem fine with still making and offering plug-ins throughout their line-up.

 

[llninja]

I would tend to agree, but I am "stuck" with my Volt.
Better off money-wise to ride it out as long as possible, a plus tho is I actually like the car, so I won't be suffering at least.
Plus, it is kinda of a long-term experiment for me..... testing the longevity of the Volt.

I bought my 2018 Volt in August of 2018, then found out like a month or 2 later they were cancelling the Volt.......
which as we know, kills re-sale values.

I admire GM for coming out with the Volt in the first place, but for them to abandon it makes me not admire them.

Most the other manufacturers are good with plug-ins, Volvo, Honda, BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes, and a few other all seem fine with still making and offering plug-ins throughout their line-up.

It’s too early to know for sure if these other manufacturers will support their vehicles for 10+ years after building them. Every manufacturer struggles with parts availability with low volume vehicles. Even my Cadillac CTS has run into issues where I had to get a local shop to fabricate brake lines as they were out of stock at GM.

Similarly, Fisker, Saab, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hummer, Mercury and Saturn owners area also highly dependent on junk yards and the 3rd party parts market.

 

[FI Spyder]

Haven't been able to gets parts for my Tercel or Integra for years (other than generic maintenance items). On the other hand have no problems getting parts for my 40 year old Triumph TR7, a company that hasn't been in existence for 36 years. Go figure.