[dsutton01]

I'm in the market for a new Volt, and after looking at the Premier options vs LT, I feel like there's nothing, aside from the comfort and convenience packages, plus leather, that I really care that much about. But before I buy, I want to be sure that I fully understand the Premier options, like the confidence packages, so that I don't make the wrong decision.

On my Gen 1 volt, I had Safety 1 and 2, nav, and Bose and ended up not caring at all about any of them, other than the back up camera, which is standard on the new LT. I found the safety 2 particularly annoying, in fact, and the Bose sound system didn't add much value, as the stock one sounded fine to me.

Can anyone with the confidence packages, or any other premier options, weigh in on the value they provide you? Are these options must-haves, or just nice-to-haves? Do the options make the car so much nicer?

Thanks, looking forward to a good discussion on this.

 

[freshcut]

I would suggest getting a VIN for both an LT, and Premier with both safety packages and getting an insurance quote for each. When I was shopping for my Gen 1 I didn't have a VIN to offer, so they just gave me a quote on a base model without any options. I was quoted $1400/yr (high annual mileage). When I got my Gen 1 I found a fully loaded one and when I got a final total, my premium went from the quoted 1400 down to just under 800/yr. Apparently the safety packages made all the difference.

 

[linkim]

I'm in the market for a new Volt, and after looking at the Premier options vs LT, I feel like there's nothing, aside from the comfort and convenience packages, plus leather, that I really care that much about. But before I buy, I want to be sure that I fully understand the Premier options, like the confidence packages, so that I don't make the wrong decision.

On my Gen 1 volt, I had Safety 1 and 2, nav, and Bose and ended up not caring at all about any of them, other than the back up camera, which is standard on the new LT. I found the safety 2 particularly annoying, in fact, and the Bose sound system didn't add much value, as the stock one sounded fine to me.

Can anyone with the confidence packages, or any other premier options, weigh in on the value they provide you? Are these options must-haves, or just nice-to-haves? Do the options make the car so much nicer?

Thanks, looking forward to a good discussion on this.

I got the 2016 Premier because I wanted all the driving safety features that were available at the time. I find the lane assist useful but not necessary for me. The blindspot icons in the rearview mirror are helpful because the view looking over my shoulder is blocked by the pillars. IMO, the rear view is quite poor so the safety features are something I wanted. The cross-traffic warnings are very helpful for me when I back out of a driveway in SF where the streets are often crowded with SUV-type vehicles that are difficult to see through - vehicles are too high and the windows too strongly tinted. I may have paid a premium to get these safety options, but they make driving safer for me. Others may disagree that the cost is too high.

 

[gmerica]

If you're doing a lot of highway driving in traffic, Adaptive Cruise Control is great (requires both safety packages and then it's another option on top of that). That feature was the biggest reason I went with the premier and it's been worth every penny. It also helped that the fully loaded 17's were being heavily discounted (purchased last month). If you find any of the other safety alerts annoying most (if not all) of them can be disabled in settings.

 

[firehawk72]

I'm in the market for a new Volt, and after looking at the Premier options vs LT, I feel like there's nothing, aside from the comfort and convenience packages, plus leather, that I really care that much about. But before I buy, I want to be sure that I fully understand the Premier options, like the confidence packages, so that I don't make the wrong decision.

On my Gen 1 volt, I had Safety 1 and 2, nav, and Bose and ended up not caring at all about any of them, other than the back up camera, which is standard on the new LT. I found the safety 2 particularly annoying, in fact, and the Bose sound system didn't add much value, as the stock one sounded fine to me.

Can anyone with the confidence packages, or any other premier options, weigh in on the value they provide you? Are these options must-haves, or just nice-to-haves? Do the options make the car so much nicer?

Thanks, looking forward to a good discussion on this.

The safety packages are very nice to have, especially blind spot monitoring, cross traffic alert, auto stop emergency braking, and a distance indicator (following too closely). I really wish those features were standard (as does Honda and Toyota now) or at least able to purchase on the LT. I could have done without the premier, but I did not want to do without the safety features, so GM left me choice-less. This won't work much longer GM. I have a 2016, so I have everything offered at the time. The 2017s can have adaptive cruise control. That is well-worth the price, but again, should be offered on the LT or come as standard equipment.

 

[hellsop]

All the safety packages, plus ACC, are appealing to me. If I'm gonna be spending this much on a new car, I might as well get one that's as safe as possible for another $5k.

 

[wws]

The Premier includes:
- Auto dim rear view mirror
- Heated front seats
- Heated rear seats
- Heated steering wheel
- Illuminated vanity mirrors in visors
- Wireless device charging
- Front Park Assist
- Rear Park Assist
- Auto Park Assist
- Heated outside mirrors
- Split 5-spoke wheels
- Bose audio
- Leather seats
- Blue light tubes on front doors

It is also the gateway to the DC 1, DC 2, ACC, and NAV options. I really like the DC packages, and use the built-in NAV much more than I use Carplay NAV.

Interestingly, the 2018 Volt (and Bolt) LT now have a "LT Driver Confidence Package" option available. It includes Rear Park Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and Side Blind Zone Alert. All really useful features. Requires the Comfort Package (heated front seats, steering wheel, and side mirrors) and leather seats. If I were to order a minimally configured Volt, I'd consider these to be essential.

 

[Khunshawnd]

I'm in the market for a new Volt, and after looking at the Premier options vs LT, I feel like there's nothing, aside from the comfort and convenience packages, plus leather, that I really care that much about. But before I buy, I want to be sure that I fully understand the Premier options, like the confidence packages, so that I don't make the wrong decision.

On my Gen 1 volt, I had Safety 1 and 2, nav, and Bose and ended up not caring at all about any of them, other than the back up camera, which is standard on the new LT. I found the safety 2 particularly annoying, in fact, and the Bose sound system didn't add much value, as the stock one sounded fine to me.

Can anyone with the confidence packages, or any other premier options, weigh in on the value they provide you? Are these options must-haves, or just nice-to-haves? Do the options make the car so much nicer?

Thanks, looking forward to a good discussion on this.

I am about 2000 miles in on my 2017; purchased in early July. I opted for the Premier primarily for the confidence 1 and 2 packages. I've taken the car on a couple of 200+ mile road trips, and have really grown to appreciate the extra level of safety/confidence those packages provide. Especially blind spot monitoring! I do not have ACC.
Bose sound system? Meh. Not that impressive.

 

[dsutton01]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. This is super helpful. Do the auto park features work well and are they something you'd use a lot?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[jcanoe]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. This is super helpful. Do the auto park features work well and are they something you'd use a lot?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I have a 2017 Premier with all options except Navigation. I have used the Auto Park a few times to parallel park and it worked well, I don't have much experience with the perpendicular parking assist as I tend to park my Volt far away from other vehicles whenever possible. The Premier optional features that are must haves for me are DC, DC2 and Forward Collision Avoidance (includes ACC). I use the ACC and rely on the Blind Spot Warning and Cross Traffic Alert safety features all the time. The heated steering wheel is nice too but probably not much use for that in Phoenix.

 

[wws]

... Do the auto park features work well and are they something you'd use a lot?

It works in many cases, but not all. Note that it tells you when to use the stop and go pedals. Ultimately you must control the creep and brake pedal yourself while it does the steering. When doing perpendicular parking, it has you drive past the spot. Then it backs you in. Sometimes you will be a little too close to one of the cars next to you, so it will have you pull forward and back again while it gets your car better centered.

Overall it is fun to play with, but I don't use it very often.

 

[Random]

... On my Gen 1 volt, I had Safety 1 and 2, nav, and Bose and ended up not caring at all about any of them, other than the back up camera, which is standard on the new LT. I found the safety 2 particularly annoying, in fact, and the Bose sound system didn't add much value, as the stock one sounded fine to me. ...

Very pleased with Gen 2, Premier all opts with ACC. LKA (shame on GM for VOLT LKA) and parking (at least perpendicular) are virtually useless, otherwise wonderful. The radio is MUCH better than Bose gen 1 (I still upgraded the tweeters, and would re-do the two front door speakers too if I was more ambitious). One of my main reasons for upgrade (from 2014 Gen 1, all options) was ACC for highway driving.

But, I think as in most of these types of posts, you answered your own question (bold added to the quote).

Go with your gut feel. Why do folks ask others to talk them into something much more expensive, that they very likely will not be entirely happy with?

 

[AtomicPowered]

Premier if you want ACC. LT if you want gray leather.

 

[Kraven]

All the safety packages, plus ACC, are appealing to me. If I'm gonna be spending this much on a new car, I might as well get one that's as safe as possible for another $5k.

This... I have both the driver confidence packages and ACC, and the safety features are all great, ACC is a must have for me now (if not Super Cruise by the next time I buy a car). The LKA and parking assist features are close to useless, not reliable. I don't use them any more and might try the parking (for parallel only) in the future for fun but one of the problems is it takes too long and if other cars are buzzing by you are creating an unsafe condition waiting for the car to do it's thing.

Again, the safety features are worth their price for sure and as someone else noted, brings down your insurance premiums so over time you have that offset re price.

 

[SteveMann]

10K on my 2017 Volt

I was actually in the market for a 2016 Volt, but the salesman told me about the safety features available in the 2017 Volt. We delayed the purchase until we could get a fully-loaded 2017 with ACC. We now have 10,000 miles on the Volt and it's by far the best car we have ever owned.

ACC is not just for highway driving. If you think it is, then you aren't using it's capabilities. I rarely need to apply the foot brake any more. The ACC stops me a safe distance from the car ahead, and when there is no car ahead, I use the regen paddle to slow to a crawl.

Parking assist- meh! I am an expert parallel parker, but the Volt Parking assist does about as well as I can- certainly better than my wife. The volt is really crappy with bay parking, or I just haven't found the right technique yet.

Lane-keeping assist. Yes, it will nudge you into the lane, and at my age drifting can be an issue, so it is absolutely necessary. But it needs more engineering. I want a car that will drive itself down the center of my lane, but I can't afford a Tesla. The Volt has all the hardware to do that, but for some reason, Chevrolet didn't let the programmers implement it. LKA doesn't work with yellow lane dividers, just white. It only works "once". That is, if I am not paying attention the car will nudge me back into my lane safely. But if I don't take manual control to re-center the car, it will keep going to the other side of my lane and nudge me the other way. Those nudges over-correct, and if I do nothing, I wobble all over the lane like a ping-pong ball in a horizontal Phugoid curve.

Critical as I am for the under-engineering typical of U.S. car makers, I still love my Volt.

 

[VoltenRock]

Likewise, anybody miss the parking sensors on the LT? My Gen 1 has SP 1 and the parking sensors are really nice given the nonexistent rear visibility. I find the Gen 2 LT rearview camera alone lacking without the sensors, but maybe the guidelines help (my '13 doesn't have them).

 

[bitguru]

Interestingly, the 2018 Volt (and Bolt) LT now have a "LT Driver Confidence Package" option available. It includes Rear Park Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and Side Blind Zone Alert. All really useful features. Requires the Comfort Package (heated front seats, steering wheel, and side mirrors) and leather seats.

I was taking a loot at a particular 2018 Volt LT, which seems to have heated steering wheel and back-up camera, but cloth seats. I didn't think that was possible.

But looking at an ordering guide, it seems that it's possible to order the PDB comfort package (which includes KA1 heated front seats and K13 heated stearing wheel) without ordering PCQ leather-appointed seats. [But not vice-versa. PCQ requires the PDB package.]

Is this correct, and new for the 2018 model year??

 

[jcanoe]

The parking assist works quite well when parallel parking but the results were not as precise when using perpendicular parking assist.

I have a 2017 Premier with all options except Navigation. Several times when I have driven a Volt LT loaner vehicle the features I missed right away were: Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Spot Warning/Cross Traffic Alert.

Front parking assist is very helpful, for rear parking the backup camera works well.

The auto dimming headlight function works well but I rarely get to use it due to street and home lighting triggering the low beams. I would find this more useful if I lived in a more rural setting.

For 2018 the heated steering wheel (if equipped) can be set to turn on automatically as do the front heated seats.

Prior to the 2018 Volt wireless charging was/is of limited utility and won't work with iPhones. The Qi charger specification was updated for 2018 if you care about this feature.

For me the cloth seats and the leather seats have the same degree of comfort with the leather seat surfaces providing more slip and less grip.

 

[Protege]

I'm satisfied with my LT. For one, my dealership didn't have a premium and I didn't want to wait. And 2, the extra cost would just put me out of budget. The things I'm missing but not losing sleep over are the leather seats and navi. With android auto, I can use google maps which eliminates the need for a nav. The rest of the features are useless to me that I'll probably turn them off anyway.

 

[Eagleco]

I just bought a Premier with both safety packages but no ACC, and would be quite satisfied with an LT also. It has everything relevant that the Volt is all about. Sure you didn't get all the safety features, but the most important safety feature is you the driver anyway. Here in Minnesota, the Comfort Package would be an essential on the LT, but that's it. The LT means you saved some money, have less to go wrong, and it's still every bit a Volt.

As for not having ACC, I know everyone who has it is just over the moon. I've rented a car with ACC and it didn't work for me. Even at the longest setting, the following distance was much too short for my taste. I don't like to drive in clusters, I like to drive in the empty space between the clusters. Personally, I prefer "self adaptive" ordinary cruise control.