[JoeMartin]

Unfortunately my 2013 Volt has been declared a total loss after a recent collision accident that my roommate was in (she's fine). My lovely Volt gave it's life to protect hers.
It was hit in the front right fender/bumper being hit by a Cadillac Escalade at ~50 MPH.

I would post pictures, but apparently there is a post count required that I haven't met as a lurker.

Personally, I would love to rebuilt it, but (correct me if I'm wrong) the charging system won't allow it to charge if the air bags are not fixed?
I would like to replace the necessary parts to make it operationally functional, and not replace the air bags (at least not yet), but am assuming even if I fix all of the other parts, it won't charge.

 

[saghost]

Unfortunately my 2013 Volt has been declared a total loss after a recent collision accident that my roommate was in (she's fine). My lovely Volt gave it's life to protect hers.
It was hit in the front right fender/bumper being hit by a Cadillac Escalade at ~50 MPH.

I would post pictures, but apparently there is a post count required that I haven't met as a lurker.

Personally, I would love to rebuilt it, but (correct me if I'm wrong) the charging system won't allow it to charge if the air bags are not fixed?
I would like to replace the necessary parts to make it operationally functional, and not replace the air bags (at least not yet), but am assuming even if I fix all of the other parts, it won't charge.

It's not as simple as that, but it might work out the same functionally. In a serious accident, the car disables the high voltage side for safety - and you need a dealer computer to reset that, you can't just clear the codes like a typical code. I don't think any dealer will sign up to a repair without airbags, nor should they - the next accident it might kill someone, either you or whoever you sell it to.

 

[CCIE]

If you're serious about fixing it, you can buy a VCX Nano on Amazon that includes GDS2 software for $130. That will allow you to clear all of the codes and reset the computers. Search for VCX Nano to find some posts from me and others about it. There are also some good threads from others on rebuilding salvage Volts. I'm not sure if you have to replace the airbags to properly clear the latched codes.


Keep in mind that if the car was drawing or regening significant current when the airbags deployed, then the battery contactor may have been damaged when it emergency disconnected. Replacing it requires dropping the battery out of the car.


Edit: Here is my favorite salvage recovery thread:


http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?115402-Code-P0A0C-Vehicle-Integration-Control

 

[JoeMartin]

Thank you both for your wonderful replies.
I do know that the battery charger module under the right side headlight got destroyed during the wreck.
I'm sure a number of items are all sorts of messed up. I may just buy back the car and see about parting it out for whatever is still good.
I do plan to get another Volt, so I'll be looking in to the VCX, thank you very much for that.

 

[Dutch]

The degree to which most modern cars sacrifice themselves in a crash makes rebuilding extremely cost prohibitive in all but the most minor body-panel collisions. The thing you absolutely DON'T want to discover down the road is that the insulation of the wiring was compromised, especially in a Volt.

 

[CCIE]

The degree to which most modern cars sacrifice themselves in a crash makes rebuilding extremely cost prohibitive in all but the most minor body-panel collisions. The thing you absolutely DON'T want to discover down the road is that the insulation of the wiring was compromised, especially in a Volt.

Agreed that paying to repair a crashed car seldom makes sense. However, if you have the tools, skills, and time to do it yourself, there are some deals to be had.

The Volt HV cabling is very sensitive to shorts (isolation loss). So, you should see codes and the battery comtactor will not stay closed if there is a wiring issue.

 

[TheBlueFlash]

Have you decided on a replacement yet? Another Volt or a Bolt or will you be leaving the GM family? No judgement, just curious.

 

[CCIE]

Thank you both for your wonderful replies.
I do know that the battery charger module under the right side headlight got destroyed during the wreck.
I'm sure a number of items are all sorts of messed up. I may just buy back the car and see about parting it out for whatever is still good.
I do plan to get another Volt, so I'll be looking in to the VCX, thank you very much for that.

Let us know how it all works out. Threads with regular people rebuilding these cars are always interesting. Plus it adds to the collective knowledge as they work their way through issues (often with WOT's help).

 

[JoeMartin]

I'll likely be buying my brother's 2013 Volt in the coming months, he's looking to upgrade to a Tesla.

I'd like to rebuild, as I do have the tools and capabilities to do it myself. Just concerned it would not want to charge again since I wouldn't be replacing the air bag module (at least not any time soon)

 

[TheBlueFlash]

MY13 is a great year, it's the first year for a capacity bump on the traction battery, first year for the HOLD mode, and I believe first year for the option of the drive camera for the collision warning/lane kept assist.

 

[saghost]

MY13 is a great year, it's the first year for a capacity bump on the traction battery, first year for the HOLD mode, and I believe first year for the option of the drive camera for the collision warning/lane kept assist.

Correct. Also the first year for MyLink (except for a very small number of late build 2012s without Nav, the first year without black roof and tailgate, the first year without a hard drive in the Nav for music and I believe without the ability to play DVDs in Park.

 

[JoeMartin]

Finally got the call from Allstate with their initial offer on the totaled value.
2013 Premium with all options, 65k miles. Perfect condition prior to wreck, clean carfax prior to wreck.
They're offering $11,233 as a payout for the Pensacola, FL area.

I personally do not believe this to be a fair market value (albeit almost no market existing for Pensacola).
What're your guys thoughts?

 

[TSquare]

Finally got the call from Allstate with their initial offer on the totaled value.
2013 Premium with all options, 65k miles. Perfect condition prior to wreck, clean carfax prior to wreck.
They're offering $11,233 as a payout for the Pensacola, FL area.

I personally do not believe this to be a fair market value (albeit almost no market existing for Pensacola).
What're your guys thoughts?

Wow!
My son totaled his 2011 Malibu a little over a month ago. The only option on the car was cruise control. It had nearly 100k miles on it. And State Farm gave him $10k for it.

 

[JoeMartin]

That's pretty much my thought too. It's a 4 year old car that started off at over $40k. $11k seems far too low.

Looking at Autotrader, first off there is only ONE Volt for sale in Pensacola; a 2011 Premium with 40k on it for 13k.
Second, the closest Volts with a clean CarFax (about 250 miles away) are between 14 and 15k.

 

[JoeMap]

Finally got the call from Allstate with their initial offer on the totaled value.
2013 Premium with all options, 65k miles. Perfect condition prior to wreck, clean carfax prior to wreck.
They're offering $11,233 as a payout for the Pensacola, FL area.

I personally do not believe this to be a fair market value (albeit almost no market existing for Pensacola).
What're your guys thoughts?

Did you happen to pull the Black Book, KBB, and NADA values on your Volt? I've learned to do just that any time I, or a family member, suffer a possible total loss.

If you haven't done the above, do it now, and negotiate from a position of strength (that is, if the numbers are in your favor - and I hope they are). Print each of them and possibly even average them to see if there is some room. Your insurance company is in business to make money so if they lowball you and you accept it, they do it at your expense.

Experience talking here...

Joe

 

[JoeMartin]

I have, and unfortunately KBB, NADA, and BB all say around 11.3k, albeit actual market value in the area being quite a bit different.

 

[HiFlite]

That's pretty much my thought too. It's a 4 year old car that started off at over $40k. $11k seems far too low.

Looking at Autotrader, first off there is only ONE Volt for sale in Pensacola; a 2011 Premium with 40k on it for 13k.
Second, the closest Volts with a clean CarFax (about 250 miles away) are between 14 and 15k.

Very few Volts sold for close to MSRP. My 2013 had an MSRP of ~$44k, Ally rebate of $4k, dealer discount of ~$4k = ~36k before the rebate. Resale value is low because relatively few are looking for one. Creampuff 2013's with 30k-ish miles go for under $15k around here easy. The OP didn't say what the miles were, but while $11k seems a bit low, it's not outrageously so. Allstate often offers cheaper rates than others, but there's a reason for that.

 

[HiFlite]

The degree to which most modern cars sacrifice themselves in a crash makes rebuilding extremely cost prohibitive in all but the most minor body-panel collisions. The thing you absolutely DON'T want to discover down the road is that the insulation of the wiring was compromised, especially in a Volt.

Penny wise, pound foolish. The OP has already implied that he's willing to put himself, friends and family into a rebuild without airbags, so what's an extra 350 volts in the wrong place matter with that reasoning already established? (Or perhaps he'll unload it on Craigslist to some unsuspecting buyer).

Sheesh.

 

[CCIE]

Penny wise, pound foolish. The OP has already implied that he's willing to put himself, friends and family into a rebuild without airbags, so what's an extra 350 volts in the wrong place matter with that reasoning already established? (Or perhaps he'll unload it on Craigslist to some unsuspecting buyer).

Sheesh.

Buyer beware, especially with used cars. Carfax will show it was a total loss and has salvage title, so future buyers will know and it will impact the resale value.

I'm not sure that you can reset the computers unless the airbags are all replaced. For sure you would get a message each time you started the car saying there is an airbag issue. So no hiding that they're missing.

As for stray voltage. GM built these cars to be rediculously sensitive to "isolation loss." The slightest leakage of high voltage triggers a battery disconnect. Even during accidents no one has ever been shocked.

I don't know the OP. But I know I trust myself to work on my car a lot more than I trust someone else. Especially someone at a body shop, who would normally do all of the repairs in a case like this. The dealer would only handle the computer reactivations.

 

[JoeMartin]

The car would be rebuilt by myself and driven only by and for myself. I don't have other people that I drive with, so no one else would be dealing with the car. It would not be set for re-sale when the time came for me to upgrade to another car, it would be parted out at that point.
I wouldn't be trying to "hide" the airbags being missing, as you pointed out, I'm sure the car would make it blatantly obvious regardless.

Down in Florida (especially the further south you go) there are a ton of very shady body shops that "rebuild" cars and get a rebuilt title for them. They somehow manage to do this without replacing the deployed airbags, which astounds me since the cars have to go through an inspection prior to getting the rebuilt title. While I personally have no qualms driving a car without airbags, I do have a moral dilemma with selling a car to someone without them, or without their knowledge of it.