[Lgbigfoot]

Need some reassurance. I keep seeing people posting all these issues - from coolant issues, to infotainment issues, to engines just stopping. Then not having a car for weeks. We have a great dealer here that has volt certified tech's but it makes me nervous I could be dropping over $30K for a new car and then have all these glitches. Is the car and the cost worth all that. I need people to convince me. My last Chevy was a 2000 Impala and it was in the shop so much that I swore I would never buy a GM vehicle again. And here I am...this close to getting one. Looking for your real experience and opinions.

 

[firehawk72]

Need some reassurance. I keep seeing people posting all these issues - from coolant issues, to infotainment issues, to engines just stopping. Then not having a car for weeks. We have a great dealer here that has volt certified tech's but it makes me nervous I could be dropping over $30K for a new car and then have all these glitches. Is the car and the cost worth all that. I need people to convince me. My last Chevy was a 2000 Impala and it was in the shop so much that I swore I would never buy a GM vehicle again. And here I am...this close to getting one. Looking for your real experience and opinions.

Think about it. This is a Volt forum. If someone was going to post a problem to get answers, this would be it. So naturally, you are going to see threads about issues. For the most part, the Volt is average or above average in reliability. What does that mean? It means that like any other new car most problems are actually very minor. Nobody makes a bad car anymore. I just traded in my 2012 Volt for a 2016 and many others have done the same. Would we really do that if the Volt was a lemon or a bad design? The Volt is awesome for what it is, but like any car, you compromise on things. My 2012 was pretty much flawless. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[caronjeff]

My 2011 with 93,000 miles has not cost me a dime out of pocket except for tires and 3 oil changes. Every other issue has been repaired under warranty promptly and with a loaner car provided. Just returned from a 2,800 mile road trip, and today with warm weather in Michigan we got 42 miles off the battery. Every previous car I've owned by 93 K would have needed brakes all the way around, with the fronts approaching the 3rd set of pads. These are Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo. The Volts brakes are barely worn. A good dealer service department with a good certified tech will make for piece of mind.

 

[FranandPat]

I agree w/firehawk. My 2014 so far is superb. By far the best car I've owned in nearly 50 years of car ownership. Not sure where in "upstate" you are but in my part of "upstate" I'm seeing more and more Volts of both generations. And as mentioned, this is a Volt site. Rather than being concerned about the negatives of what you see here focus on the positive that there are this many people who are knowledgeable and give enough of a damn to help others.

 

[Prohidium]

There have been very few volts that have not been fixable under the standard bumper to bumper warranty from people who have posted here on the forum. Like any forum, it is a bit skewed towards seeing more problems because people come here once they discover a problem. On the flip side, the people here on this forum know as much about the Volt as you will find anywhere, including dealerships. There are even a few members here that at GM techs that own and work on Volts and will often chime in.

There have been a lot of Volts sold and what you see here is a fairly small representation of all of the Volts out there.

Unlike a lot of vehicles, this site is a bit of a safety net for the Volt and you have a very good chance that if something were to go wrong, you are very likely to get very good advice, good enough in fact to take to your dealer.

The percentage of issues with the Volt as mentioned is average to above average so you will likely be fine. There are very few here that would not hesitate to buy anothe Volt and many have and some own 2 or more.

For what it's worth, you will find similar stories in many other car forums.

The Volt is very well engineered and designed but like anything manufactured, there is always a small percentage of defects that will show up.

Bottom line, the car does everything it says it does and remarkably well at that. I am 4 months shy of 5 years with the Volt and with no major problems and I would not hesitate to buy another one.

 

[PrivatePilot]

This exact scenario tends to happen with every car I've ever bought - I get interested in it, I start Googling it, join a related forum...and yeah, you're bombarded with info, not all of it great. This tends to happen a lot with forums in specific, and the Volt is no different than any other car in that regard.

For example, I generally have a good opinion of Tesla's, but I just went to teslamotorsclub.com, looked in the Model S forum, and one of the first posts that caught my eye was "Doors opens by itself during driving", clearly a major problem.

In other words, I agree with Firehawk above - on forums you typically see people posting about the problems they might be having, but look throught the clutter to the positive stuff as well...and also keep in mind the tens or hundreds of thousands of other owners who are not having problems and just don't post about it. No news is good news after all, and threads along the lines of "Hey, my Volt is great, no problems at all!" make for pretty boring threads on a message forum.

 

[jcanoe]

Have you seen this survey thread?: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?266321-How-many-times-have-you-had-to-have-your-Gen-2-serviced

More than 50% of Gen II (2016 and 2017) Volt owners who responded have had 0 issues that required the dealer's service department to correct the problem. I had one issue related to a defective high voltage fuse in the charging circuit that was promptly taken care of by the dealer and GM.

Compared to my last vehicle, 2011 Ford Fusion, the 2017 Volt has been a revelation. In the 5 years I had my Ford it required the following major repairs: Bad battery (when car was new), defective dashboard computer (when car was new), defective throttle body/computer, defective power steering unit, leaking battery (at three years battery still tested ok so Ford would not replace but acid was leaking, corroding the battery terminal posts, thanks Ford/Motorcraft), bad CV bearing and of course the industry-wide Takata airbag debacle.

 

[Jernigan]

I am a happy camper with my Volt. This is the first new car I have ever bought and have no buyer's remorse. My lifestyle fits the Volt perfectly. I have a 30 minute commute that is 24 miles through the mountains of Western NC. I often leave the house with well over 50 miles of EV range and still return home with 8 to 18 miles left. I bought mine 2017 in August of last year. I originally considered a full EV but I sometimes journey out of any Nissan Leaf's range and so am glad I don't have live with range anxiety. I now try to put ethanol free gas in my tank because it can sit so long. If you have a mostly EV range commute you'll be quite pleased. I kicked the tires hard for this car. I was watching this forum for about a year before I saved enough to buy my Volt. I learned a tremendous amount about this amazing car here and it sold me.
Good Luck & Don't Despair.
Jon

 

[Qinsp]

Volts have one of the highest consumer satisfaction rates.

https://cleantechnica.com/2016/01/0...p-consumer-reports-owner-satisfaction-survey/

I liked our first one so much I bought another 2.5 years later, then another a year after that.

As far as Infotainment, it's the #1 reported problem in cars today. However, it is often either the cellphone to blame, or the driver not understanding how it works. Volts actually score high on cellphone integration in magazine reviews compared to other cars, regardless of price. No car does it perfect since car companies do not dominate the cellphone market.

It's pretty bizarre that you always read, "My Car Sucks Because The Cellphone Music Is Busted Sometimes" but you never hear, "My Cellphone Sucks Because It Cannot Communicate With The Car Per Published Protocol!"

I own a number of Apple products. I promise you the software in ANY car I've ever driven in history is more bug free than anything Apple sells or has sold.

 

[freshcut]

I think what the OP needs to realize, and it's been mentioned earlier, is that this is really a support forum for those of us to share experiences and repair solutions. It would make for a boring and useless forum if everyday we posted about how thrilled and problem free our cars were. It's like word of mouth advertising. People rarely bring up the good about something without being prompted, but the negative or concerns are freely expressed.

 

[saltsman]

It does appear that Gen 2 has and a few more issues than Get 1. If you are really concerned, get a Get 1. They are proven to be rock solid. Still, I agree with others, I think Get 2 is better than most other cars on the road. Especially other comparable cars.

 

[KenC]

Volts have one of the highest consumer satisfaction rates.

https://cleantechnica.com/2016/01/0...p-consumer-reports-owner-satisfaction-survey/

I liked our first one so much I bought another 2.5 years later, then another a year after that.

As far as Infotainment, it's the #1 reported problem in cars today. However, it is often either the cellphone to blame, or the driver not understanding how it works. Volts actually score high on cellphone integration in magazine reviews compared to other cars, regardless of price. No car does it perfect since car companies do not dominate the cellphone market.

It's pretty bizarre that you always read, "My Car Sucks Because The Cellphone Music Is Busted Sometimes" but you never hear, "My Cellphone Sucks Because It Cannot Communicate With The Car Per Published Protocol!"

I own a number of Apple products. I promise you the software in ANY car I've ever driven in history is more bug free than anything Apple sells or has sold.

Strange, I don't compare phones to cars, I compare phones to phones and computers to computers and cars to cars. Different use cases entirely.

 

[NinjaVolt]

I am very happy overall with our new Volt. Though it does have its quirks (see my pet peeves).

My observation is that no manufacture is immune from problems infact my '90 4Runner had a significant problem in the historically bulletproof Toyota transmission which cost me $$$$ to fix. My cousin had her camshaft break off flush with the head on her class leading Civic which Honda would not consider a defect. So with anything designed and made by man your mileage may vary no matter how renowned the brand.

After owning Japanese imports for all of my driving life, we purchased a '14 Mustang Covertible as a fun summer car. I was so impressed (eventhough it was the outgoing model) when I needed a tow vehicle we purchased a '15 F150.

Since the Volt was (IMHO) a truly unique vehicle with the range we needed to stay off gas >90% of the time with the ICE range extender, we went for it over the other available options. I believe if Ford had a very similar product (I really don't think the current Fusion Energi is) I would have gone with it, as the dealership we purchased our other 2 vehicles was just awesome. I hope we will be keeping the Volt in the family for as long as the 2000 Outback it replaced.

What I have found in the this forum is committed owners with the drive to get the most out of this really unique vehicle. Having a forum such as this goes along way in answering any problems you may have.

 

[Qinsp]

Strange, I don't compare phones to cars, I compare phones to phones and computers to computers and cars to cars. Different use cases entirely.

When my iPhone had trouble communicating with my MacBookPro, which one was the problem? When my iPhone crashes and locks up, is it the software or hardware?

I have had less interface problems between GM cars and iPhones, than iPhone to Apple Computer issues. Apple has never been very good with software.

 

[marcusm]

2 16 Volts one with 9500 miles the other 5500. Aside from a planned reprogramming/upgrade of the infotainment system and several planned drivetrain reprogrammings, no visits to the dealer, no defects or issues with either car and overdelivery on the promised EV range and performance overall. My wife and I are both well impressed with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lgbigfoot]

Thank you

Thank you all. I'm convinced now this will be a good choice for me. I hadn't thought of this forum being used to help one another solve problems. It makes me feel like I'm part of a nice supportive community

 

[Sean Nelson]

More than 50% of Gen II (2016 and 2017) Volt owners who responded have had 0 issues that required the dealer's service department to correct the problem.

I gotta say, the phrase "damning with faint praise" comes to mind when I read this.

I own a Prius C right now and I'd been considering a Gen2 Volt until I had a chance to check it out and nixed it due to the rear seat space and rear visibility issues. Now I'm looking to by a Bolt EV.

So I've spent a fair bit of time hanging around the Prius C, Volt and Bolt forums. And I know that Volt owners don't really want to hear this, but there are a lot of trouble reports here compared with the Prius C forums. Most of the problems I read about on the C forums are from people who are buying used or salvaged cars - problems with new cars are actually very, very rare. And that disparity is reflected in independent reliability surveys like the one that Consumer Reports does.

That having been said, having read a lot of posts regarding these issues I agree that the bulk of them seem to be relatively simple problems that, once fixed, are gone. And despite the off-the-lot problems that many people are dealing with, those same Consumer Reports surveys consistently report that Volt owners are more satisfied with their cars than virtually any other brand.

That's because Volt is a unique car - nobody else makes a true electric car with as much range which can also operate as a hybrid for such a long time when the electrons run out. You have to weigh that unique capability against the chance of having to make a trip or two to the dealer to set things right if an issue shows up. Remember that every new car from every manufacturer is subject that chance, it's only the percentages that vary.

 

[Gary Norton]

We've owned five Volts: 2012, 2014, 2015, and currently 2016 and 2017. Obviously we are happy with them. Each one was better than the last and the only two that had something break was the 2012 which needed an onboard charger and the 2014 needed an oxygen sensor. Yes, some computer reprogramming had to be done as with any car or computer. The Gen II is better in every way than the Gen I and have been flawless. I just drove 1900 miles from Colorado to NC and got 42 MPG on gas alone driving 75 MPH with a fully loaded car. And, I hardly ever had a hint that the engine was on, something that could not have been said for any other car.

I've owned 25 cars from Audi, Acura, Honda, Toyota, Peugeot, Renault, Jeep, VW, and Volvo and my Volts have been the best and most trouble free of the bunch.

 

[BAZINGA]

i've owned three Volt's since March 2012, driving them a combined 55K TROUBLE FREE miles averaging over 95% all electric as our DD. You can view my stats on VoltStats.net and search for PATTY WAGEN (our 2012), BAZINGA (our 2013) and now VON ZIPPER (our 2017).

We have NEVER been stranded and only had a FEW minor warranty claims (replaced a TPSM and an annoying noise in the right rear on our 2013). Yes there were some TSB's for software updates and a few recalls, but nothing significant, in fact my cars never exhibited any of the symptoms the TSB's or RECALL's supposedly addressed.

The three Volt's owned over a 5 year period (actually owned TWO at the same time for 18 months)

have been the best vehicles I have ever owned.

On-line forums are ripe with complaints and flat out lies submitted by TROLL's. The Volt has attracted one of the most vocal groups of detractors in the automotive kingdom. Sure there are problems that occur, its a complicated vehicle, but its not as bad as some try to make it. It's getting better with all the awards and actual owner reviews get published.

Oh well all I know is we have loved all three of our Volt's.

 

[Dutch]

If I remember correctly, there are just over 100,000 Volts sold now.
So if a forum like this only has the relatively small number of complaints it has I'd say that is pretty good.
And that's coming from someone who had some severe brake issues that were, apparently, in part my own fault, but also added to by a garage that didn't do proper diagnostics. (so not really the Volt's fault).