[theRedWingsGuy]

Bought a new 2107 Volt Premier on Halloween (Monday) - the last day of a $1500 GM rebate on this specific VIN (different dealers had different VINs subject to same rebate).

The short part of the story... The dealership is in the middle of a road construction project, so every car on the lot is covered in dirt. On top of it, the dealership's car wash is broken. So the dealership said to bring it back next week and we'll detail the vehicle. OK, I'm good with that.

The longer part of the story...

This particular Volt was parked way out on the dealer's lot, whereas the other 2 Volts were parked under the overhang of the showroom when we took the car out for a test drive the Saturday before. At that time, besides being filthy on the outside, the tire pressure in 3 of the tires were a bit low, the 4th rather low (27 psi). It was also completely discharged. At least in the discharged condition, we got a feel for the worst condition we would expect to experience during our test drive. And my wife really liked the test drive (after poo-pooing electric vehicles and GM vehicles in general on the way to the dealership). It is for her daily driver, so that was all I needed.

So on the way home after the purchase Monday night, my wife notices that the Oil life is only registering 67%. Hmmm...

Been reading on the forum all week about various ownership aspects, including oil changes and saw threads noting oil life dropping 1% overnight despite driving all electric confirming that time is one of the variables calculated into the oil-life monitoring system.

So I'm thinking geez, how fast does this drop? The car only had 267 miles on the clock when we took delivery. Even if 100% of the driving had been gasoline, I wouldn't expect to lose 33% of the oil life.

So tonight I went and looked at the tag on the B-pillar and found what I believe to be a manufacture date of 2/2016. That's right folks, I just bought one of the first 2017 Volts at ~20 months of age!

My wife talked to the dealership about scheduling the detailing (next week) and notified them of the 67% oil life. They said they would investigate this.

This is where I start asking for recommendations of how to handle the situation.

Yeah, we're not happy having found we bought a 1.66 year old "new" car without knowing it. My guess is that is why they put the $1500 on that hood. We did enhance the "free" (this dealership includes it on all cars) lifetime powertrain warranty to be $0 deductible bumper-to-bumper for 7yr/100K ($990) and of course that date started on Halloween.

Obviously, we are going to ask for a "free" (not under the 2-years free maintenance which gets you 2 dealer visits) oil and filter change. We shouldn't be using our "included in the sale" oil changes for something the dealer should have been taking care of (just like keeping it clean and charged) while they had it in their possession.

Beyond that, given the lack of care for the vehicle in the 18-20 months it has been on their lot, what else should I be concerned about? Do I need to worry about the battery if it was left drained for an extended period?

Given the lack of a "go-fly-a-kite" response to the initial inquiry about 67% oil life, should I press someone (Chevrolet Zone/GM), if the dealer doesn't change the oil? Do they have a policy about dealers maintaining "new" vehicles on the lot that I might be able to leverage? Or do I simply accept that we've been screwed out of 1/3 of an oil change and hope nothing rusted in the engine while it was sitting on the lot?

I live in a state (Tennessee) where consumer protection laws are weak and poorly enforced, so that dog doesn't hunt.


Standing by for your thoughts....

OK, my date math wasn't very good last night... Y'all can stop flogging me now. I'm laughing at myself too.

 

[WopOnTour]

20 months?

You car was produced in Feb 2016. It's now November 2016, that's 8 months ago.
The oil life index uses an algorithm with a real time clock that will have you change the oil either through ICE use, or 2 years time whichever comes first.

So that sounds about right.

Talk to your dealer about it and I'm sure they will change your oil an reset the oil life index

Welcome to gm-volt.com

WOT

 

[Steverino]

20 months?

You car was produced in Feb 2016. It's now November 2016, that's 8 months ago.

WOT

Check your math, WOT. This a car from November of next year, 2017. So it actually is 20 months old (by then). However, due to a freak electrical storm it somehow time traveled back to now, Nov 2016. Of course, time travel takes a LOT of power, hence the discharged battery. I think we have this one figured out...

 

[16513]

ReWings, take a deep breath, exhale, relax and after charging up your new car enjoy the heck out of it. You have made a fine purchase decision. You may need to buy another after your wife denies you its use......

 

[turboguy327]

What would have rusted inside the engine that wouldn't haven't have with new oil? Lol.

They should change it but that's the only concern to have.

 

[BAZINGA]

ReWings, take a deep breath, exhale, relax and after charging up your new car enjoy the heck out of it. You have made a fine purchase decision. You may need to buy another after your wife denies you its use......

Use this as an opportunity, ask the dealer to change the oil and use Mobil 1. Your ICE will love you for that.

And I'd rather do my own detail but carefully document ANY issues/damage you discover. And no your car is not 20 months old if the door sticker reads 02/16. It's no more than 9 months old.

Maybe the mod's can update the title of your post.

 

[Fred_B]

If it were me, I would leave the factory oil in the car until the oil life monitor says its time to change it. I bought my 2013 Gen 1, in October 2013 and the door sticker says it was built in November 2012. So it sat on the lot for almost 1 year and I'm sure they didn't have it plugged into a charger that whole time. But it has been a great car for the last 3 years.

 

[theRedWingsGuy]

Thanks for the thoughts, folks. I clearly wasn't thinking too well last night. Daylight savings time made me move the calendar forward one year instead of the clock back one hour. lol

I took a quick peek at the mileage history and it appears that most of the 269 miles were actually driven on gasoline, which may be for the better over those 8 months, if they were done periodically.

On the flipside, that says they probably didn't charge the battery too many times... I don't think that would be too harmful to the battery. We don't get so cold in the winter that I'd be concerned that the anti-freeze would freeze. I've lived in places before where that was actually a concern.

I think we will ask them to change the oil for free (not under the maintenance agreement). I will put a mark on the filter to make sure they actually do it. Don't want someone just re-setting the oil-for-life indicator. That could lead me to not changing the oil in time. I'll take this as an opportunity to test them to see if I want to continue doing business with them.

Yeah, I don't trust dealers. Considering the local Toyota dealer here damaged the steel wheels on the inside of 2 of the rims while re-balancing them at my first "free" oil change service (5k miles) and then tried to blame me for hitting a pothole at the next "free" oil change service (10k miles) when they pointed the damage out to me. Service manager couldn't explain why I didn't blow out the tires (65 series) when I allegedly damaged the rims and then suggested that I had someone else messing with the tires (why would I when I have free service for the first 2 years?). They refused to fix the rims or replace the unbalanced tires (still under warranty) until I paid them $550 for 2 new steel rims. I took my "free" oil changes to another dealer 20 miles away after that and bought 4 new aluminum rims and new 70K tires for $800 when the POS OEM tires wore out at 30K.

Glad that Fred_B was no worse for the wear with his "old" new car.

I think I'll check the firmware (if I can find that - help is always appreciated) to see if they need to update that as well. It might give me more leverage on the oil change if they were sloppy about that as part of their dealer prep.

 

[Easy Rider]

On the flipside, that says they probably didn't charge the battery too many times... I don't think that would be too harmful to the battery.

I think you are being concerned with the wrong thing.

IF....the oil appears to be full, I think you should not worry about that in the least.

The 12 V battery, however, is quite another matter.
Hybrid vehicles, all vehicles really, tend to run down the batteries while sitting on the dealer's lot and they NEVER CHARGE THEM unless the car won't start. Since the hybrid starts off of the HV battery, the 12 V one can be pretty low and you won't know it.
Leaving a 12 V battery sit in a discharged state ages them prematurely.
Some new hybrid owners have had to replace the 12 V battery within the first year of ownership; some even sooner.
Do I think you should insist that they give you a new 12 V battery ? No probably not but I WOULD insist that they charge if fully and give you a service invoice noting why that was done.......so you will have some documentation if it needs to be changed and they want to argue about "coverage".

The symptoms of a failing 12 V battery can be pretty much anything or everything and even the "trained mechanics" at the dealerships (all makes, not just GM) often have a hard time "diagnosing" the problem.
There probably are several threads on here about this.

Congrats on the new car. Hope it serves you well.

 

[theRedWingsGuy]

Good question about the 12v battery.

I did upgrade the warranty (they give you a lifetime engine - anything that touches oil - warranty) to a 7yr/100K bumper to bumper. Is the 12v considered a maintenance item (excluded on warranty) on those warranties? As I remember, I thought they were generally included on the 3/36 warranties that come with many vehicles.

I've had OEM batteries last 3 years. I've had them last 10 (white cars have the best chance because they don't get as hot). The subsequent battery on that car only lasted 4, so that OEM battery was better than average and it actually was a GM vehicle.

In the bigger scheme of things, if it takes a year off the life of the battery, it isn't the end of the world. I would hope that the usage of the vehicle was frequent enough that the 12v wasn't discharged for too long of a period. It did have 269 miles on it. Given the average 10 mile test drive and I believe it was used as a demo prop at one point because we found a dealer magnetic door decal in the trunk when we test drove the vehicle.

I have my doubts as to whether anyone at the dealership knows the driving history of that vehicle. So I doubt I would get much traction in asking for a battery test due to inactivity.

A good thing to mention now just in case the battery turns up dead sooner than expected.

 

[Easy Rider]

Is the 12v considered a maintenance item (excluded on warranty) on those warranties? As I remember, I thought they were generally included on the 3/36 warranties that come with many vehicles.

Tires and batteries generally carry their own warranty and usually are pro-rated.
Getting a fair warranty deal if they fail early often is a problem.

And just to clarify, when you said the battery was dead upon your test drive, which battery was it and how did you know ??