[Rien]

Hello,

Been reading a lot here on the forum. Time to register and introduce myself.

My name is Rien. I'm from The Netherlands. And I apology already for my english it is not the best.
I'm 44 years old married with Danielle who is 39. We have 2 daughters 4 years old and the youngest is 2 years old.
Working in the ICT as delivery manager at the moment. Will stop that in december. Reorganisations, work force reduction etc. So yes my job is gone to India. 20 years worked for the company. Well it is what it is right.
Currently I have an Mercedes Benz B 180 CDI as company car. That will go away in december or if I find another job earlier.
I'm not an real fan of cars. I like a few special models. Like the Ampera / Volt the Volkswagen beetle & Crhysler PT Cruiser.
Not the everyday models. Perhaps i'm a bit weird to
I really like the looks of the Ampera and the Volt. Most likely it will be an Ampera. Here in the Netherlands if we buy an Opel Ampera with an dealer we get 1 year opel warranty. If we buy the Cheverolet Volt we get 6 months warranty. And that is an limited 6 months Bovag warranty. Not a full warranty we get if we buy an Opel Ampera. Goal is to get an 2013 Ampera with 50k - 100k KM's. 31608M - 62137m
An average of 30km / 18 miles per day travel. So goal is to do as much on electric.
To give an example our current gas price :
1 Gallan is 6,8$ (us dollar)
Electricity, we have solar plates on the roof.
In the weekends we drive a bit more.

I have test driven with my 3 girls a few weeks ago. And it is an fun car. And it is silent.
It brought an smile on my face.

We decided to go for an Red or Black Ampera.


I hope to learn more on this forum about the car. It is already fun to invest time into the Ampera before we even have it.
What I already noticed on this forum that it is friendly.

 

[hallcp]

Well welcome to the forum! With gas prices like that people in the USA would go nuts. Gas here is $2 a gallon, and has been that cheap for quite some time. Despite the low gas prices GM is still selling Volts at about the same rate, 2000 a month. I think people who test drive one just like the quietness and acceleration. It sounds like Europe is not getting the Gen2? Or is it just the Vauxhall in the UK? Is the steering wheel on the left or the right in Holland? If it's on the left, do you think GM will sell Gen2 Volts there? Is Opel independent of Vauxhall? I believe you also have other EV options, like some Renault models? Renault left the US market many years ago. Some of their current cars looks really interesting.

Charles Hall
Raleigh, NC
3-month Volt owner

 

[ZamboniMan]

Welcome, indeed!

I have had my Volt for a little over a month and absolutely love it! This group can help you better understand the features, and how to make the most of your purchase.

 

[Rien]

Well welcome to the forum! With gas prices like that people in the USA would go nuts. Gas here is $2 a gallon, and has been that cheap for quite some time. Despite the low gas prices GM is still selling Volts at about the same rate, 2000 a month. I think people who test drive one just like the quietness and acceleration. It sounds like Europe is not getting the Gen2? Or is it just the Vauxhall in the UK? Is the steering wheel on the left or the right in Holland? If it's on the left, do you think GM will sell Gen2 Volts there? Is Opel independent of Vauxhall? I believe you also have other EV options, like some Renault models? Renault left the US market many years ago. Some of their current cars looks really interesting.

Charles Hall
Raleigh, NC
3-month Volt owner

Hi Charles,
We are not getting an Gen2 indeed. In the past some Opel dealers had Chevrolet as well. This is not the case anymore. Basically the only cars we can buy are the sports car: Camaro
Corvette Stingray
Corvette Grand Sport
Corvette Z06
Thats it.
So no more new Volts.

We have Opel in NL, in the UK it is Vauxhall. Our steering weel is left.
We have some EV choices. Very popular for business is the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. We see pretty regular Tesla Model S.
I believe the Renault Zoe is an EV. I'm not an big fan of Renault to be honest.

Personally I like the Volt over the Ampera. Problem is when getting an Volt we just get 6 months limited warranty. I'm basically to scared for that. I want the 1 year full warranty on an Opel Ampera.

Hi Zambomiman,

Thanks for your reply. Already found a lot to read.

I like the positive on this forum. I'm on an dutch forum and it feels a bit more negative when you say you want to purchase an Ampera or Volt.

thanks

 

[timoshev]

Volt or Ampera will work well for you until your girls get older, but by then you will have many more EV choices. The Outlander PHEV seems to be the answer for the one-car family that need room, but for some reason that car is not yet offered in the U.S.

 

[NickHark]

Hello,

Been reading a lot here on the forum. Time to register and introduce myself.

We decided to go for an Red or Black Ampera.

I hope to learn more on this forum about the car. It is already fun to invest time into the Ampera before we even have it.
What I already noticed on this forum that it is friendly.

Frankly, you are in for a treat with your prospective EV. I believe you correct to be concerned with the guarantee because the risk of a repair being performed by an un-informed mechanic is not worth it. So, putting burden on an insurance company is a fine idea.

Welcome to the forum, and, by the way, I hope you are watching the Tour de France as Dutch rider Bauke Mollema won stage 15! Congratulations to the Netherlands!

 

[Rien]

Thanks NickHark.

Thats indeed the goal. A bit more insurance.
Í'm reading a lot about the car. I have learned from our previous experience.
Some time ago we bought ourselves an 2nd hand Renault Espace. After 5 days the turbo blew up and went through the engine and created an mess inside. That was end of story. Expensive 5 days.
Lesson learned.

So it is now time to buy an car what last for at least an week



I'm not following tour de france. So have no idea who or what or if he is any good.

 

[hellsop]

Personally I like the Volt over the Ampera. Problem is when getting an Volt we just get 6 months limited warranty. I'm basically to scared for that. I want the 1 year full warranty on an Opel Ampera.

To me, the Ampera is much more handsome. How could one not love this?

 

[hallcp]

I prefer the Volt. The Ampera styling is like the new Prius. I really don't like that style with the long vertical lights.

That said, I don't think the Volt styling is anything to write home about. It looks nice, like all the other Chevy's on the lot. If you can't see the metal grill in front or read "Volt" on the back you don't even know it's a Volt!

 

[Rien]

To me, the Ampera is much more handsome. How could one not love this?

View attachment 137521

I like both. But prefer the Volt. I do not really like the boomerang design with the lights.
Thats why I would like the black one where the boomerang is not that visible.

 

[Ampera PT]

Welcome to the forum, and, by the way, I hope you are watching the Tour de France as Dutch rider Bauke Mollema won stage 15! Congratulations to the Netherlands!

Summer without Tour the France, is not a proper Summer to me, =)
Rien, congratulations and good luck with the new car.

 

[Rien]

Hi Ampera pt.

At the moment I do not have an ampera. I'm serious thinking to get one in the coming months.
This morning I took my little girls for a a bit driving. And I was thinking. This ride cost me $6 (of gas. If I had an ampera it costed me $1.

Still reading a lot.
I understand that they give 8 years warranty on the battery. Goal is to get an 2013 model prefer an 12/2013. That would give warranty till 12/2021. Lets say 4 years from now. Really wondering what will happen with the battery. Can I drive the car for another 8 years after 2021 on electric,or will the range go down a lot. That is something that worries me a lot. How long will the battery last after warranty. For our family this car cost a lot of money. I hope (pray even) it last for long.

 

[hellsop]

Hi Ampera pt.

At the moment I do not have an ampera. I'm serious thinking to get one in the coming months.
This morning I took my little girls for a a bit driving. And I was thinking. This ride cost me $6 (of gas. If I had an ampera it costed me $1.

Still reading a lot.
I understand that they give 8 years warranty on the battery. Goal is to get an 2013 model prefer an 12/2013. That would give warranty till 12/2021. Lets say 4 years from now. Really wondering what will happen with the battery. Can I drive the car for another 8 years after 2021 on electric,or will the range go down a lot. That is something that worries me a lot. How long will the battery last after warranty. For our family this car cost a lot of money. I hope (pray even) it last for long.

The battery is very well-treated in these cars. We know of dozens of cars with over 100000 ev km with no reported loss of capacity, and have statements from GM engineers claiming that at least 6000 full charges without loss should be expected.

 

[Rien]

That is very good to hear.

What would be better to buy. An 2012 with low KM / Miles. For example there is one now available from early 2012 with 68.000 km. for around E16.000 or an half 2013 with 110.000km for 13.000.
My guts would say get the one with less km.

 

[Ampera PT]

I had the same questions before buying mine, but in the end, by the good reports i have seen of high km\miles ones, i went with one with 149kkm in good condition for 13000€, with the features i wanted (front\rear proximity sensors, rear camera, Nav, black seats) and save some money for something else.
I don't think 40.000km is worth 3000€.
In your case i wouldn't be to afraid, because in your country the supply of used parts for the Ampera/Volt is quite large.
Here's where i buy mine, good selection of Amperas where you can choose the one that feats you: http://www.kroonautos.nl/kroon-occasions/?brand=Opel&model=all&fuelid=all
In the end, buy the one that you like (in a good\trusted dealer), and don´t look back. Problems could come in any car...

 

[Rien]

Thanks very much for your reply that is helping.
With our previous Opels (lease car) we always went to the same dealer. Never had any issues with them. So I intend to get the Ampera from them. Pretty large Opel dealer that has an name. So that give me a bit confidence they are not selling garbage

 

[Coppersnowboarder]

With two children, you may need a Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid soon. The Volt is small for your needs. Similar to you, I have an 18-mile daily commute. I go through a bit more than $300 in fuel per year for longer distance travel.

 

[Rien]

It is a bit expensive I see. If I was able to spend that kind of money think I went for an Benz and don't care for fuel consumption

The comming years our small kids have enough room in the Ampera. For us this will be now car 1. We have an old Mazda Premacy.
So when we notice that the Ampera is getting to small for our needs, we get rid of the Mazda. The ampera will be car 2. And we get an bigger car1.

 

[Rien]

Meanwhile we decided to go for an rental ampera for 2 days. Just to get a bit more feeling with the car.
Today is day 1. we did shopping already. This afternoon we take it to the opa en oma (grandmother / father).
After that we take it for some driving.
Tomorrow we have planned some shopping again, drive a bit further to see how the seats feel are after an few hours in the car.

Till now all very positive.
Only thing we need to get used to is stepping in. In our current Benz we step in, in the Opel it is more like dropping in the chair. And climbing out of the car.


This is how it looks now in front of our house:


The idea is great that we are charging in front of our house instead to visit the Shell in the next village.

 

[tofelec]

welkom en goiedag timmertje!

tofelec