[Bammerman]

Hard to believe, but my 2013 Volt will be three years old in a bit more than a month -- and the bumper-to-bumper part of the warranty will be up then. Is there anything I should do now to make sure there's nothing that needs taking care of, while it's still all under warranty? The car runs great, I have no problems with it. Everything seems fine. Are there any tests I should be running now, in preparation for the upcoming 3rd birthday?

(I have not had the "UNINTENTIONAL ENGINE RUNNING" recall done because I don't ever garage my Volt, and also because I'm a little afraid that they'll mess up the backup camera software.)

 

[caronjeff]

The old adage goes " Don't fix it if it's not broke!". Especially true in this case, dealerships like to generate large invoices. Actually nearly all the fault issues are Voltec related and you get that 8/100K coverage.

 

[viking79]

Under warranty I have had these repairs:
Drive axle at about 10k miles covered by 5yr/60000 mile powertrain warranty
Coolant level Sensor wiring fix at 31k miles covered by 8yr/100000 mile Voltec warranty

I have had a couple recalls done as well.

I have had no non-warranty repairs.

Eric

 

[DonC]

I'd consider an extended service plan if you intend on keeping the car for a few more years.

 

[Dutch]

Oh man do I ever know what the OP is talking about. I keep feeling like I'm not doing something I should in terms of maintenance but it is only because I grew up in the era of high maintenance vehicles.

Are there any tests I should be running now, in preparation for the upcoming 3rd birthday?

Everyone "drives their own drive". In my case when my 2013 approached it's end of b2b I did the following...

1) bought a little booster pack to carry in case the AGM battery (12v) decides to get fussy on me. Some just replace "early", me I hate replacing a battery before it goes bad.

2) Walk around, look for anything obviously wrong or failed. I had a bad rear tail-light that was full of water.

3) work ALL of the levers and buttons, especially on the doors. Run the windows up and down a few times. I had realized I almost never ran the rear drivers side window at all and I rarely unlocked and opened the rear passengers door.

4) feel around your rear carpeting in the trunk. A very few people had some gasket issues with the hatchback and had a little moisture in there.

5) get some good silicone spray, soak a cloth, and wipe down all your door gaskets to keep them in good shape and help avoid frozen door in the winter

6) Have a garage just put it up on a lift and give the underside a good lookover.

Most dealerships I know of will give the car a courtesy inspection if you tell them that you are about to go out of warranty and just want to check everything.

 

[hvacman]

Oh man do I ever know what the OP is talking about. I keep feeling like I'm not doing something I should in terms of maintenance but it is only because I grew up in the era of high maintenance vehicles.


Everyone "drives their own drive". In my case when my 2013 approached it's end of b2b I did the following...

1) bought a little booster pack to carry in case the AGM battery (12v) decides to get fussy on me. Some just replace "early", me I hate replacing a battery before it goes bad.

I agreed with every recommendation except this one. The 12V AGM battery in my 2013 didn't get "fussy" just before its 4th birthday. It got dead. Dead dead dead. Without warning. AAA tried to "boost" it - but the battery was so dead it wouldn't even get fully booted up before it died again. I have read other posts on the forum of other owners with similar experiences.

I recommend replacing the battery "early" - before it's 4th birthday. Before it suddenly dies - dead dead - in the middle of nowhere.

Rhetorical Question - why can GM/LG make a HV battery that takes daily major charges/discharges, warrantied for up to 10 years, and essentially zero failures in the past 6 years, but they can't make a basic 12 VDC battery, used for only minor 12V loads with minimal charge/discharge, to live just as long? Jeez.

 

[Kraven]

I recommend replacing the battery "early" - before it's 4th birthday. Before it suddenly dies - dead dead - in the middle of nowhere.

Thanks for this, sounds like 3.5 years may be the time for a little preventative maintenance. Seems very early to do that and like Dutch I'm not a fan of replacing batteries early. That being said, given the troubles some have had with this, I'll go the ounce of prevention route.

 

[gieso]

Make sure yuou have the dealer check all the customer service programs, even the optional ones. My 2012 has the wind buffeting issue when the windows are rolled down. That CSR would have been covered under warranty, but after my warranty expired, they wanted an additional $550 to do the sane fix. i didn't do the fix, but wish I had done it during warranty.

 

[canehdian]

Check your dash buttons (energy/drive mode/lock/unlock) as those are commonly reported as sticking/not working.

I think it says a lot about the reliability of these cars if we're scraping the bottom of the barrel here on recommending problem areas.

 

[Dutch]

I think it says a lot about the reliability of these cars if we're scraping the bottom of the barrel here on recommending problem areas.

Amen to that!

 

[llninja]

I'd consider an extended service plan if you intend on keeping the car for a few more years.

I would consider putting the money you would have spent on an extended warranty in the bank and using it for any upcoming repairs, or tires, or whatever the volt needs in the future. Mathematically, the insurance companies make money on extended warranties, or else they'd be out of business.

 

[Bammerman]

"I recommend replacing the battery "early" - before it's 4th birthday. Before it suddenly dies - dead dead - in the middle of nowhere."
Is it not possible to test the 12V battery for signs of impending failure?

 

[snorth]

"I recommend replacing the battery "early" - before it's 4th birthday. Before it suddenly dies - dead dead - in the middle of nowhere."
Is it not possible to test the 12V battery for signs of impending failure?

This is what I was thinking, too. Could you, say, take it to Autozone once a week for a test, and they would be able to detect when it starts to fail? Or do these batteries look fine one day, and then suddenly die the next when at end of life?

 

[simplex]

I would change the ICE air filter or at least inspect it, and change the cabin air filter (if you have one installed).

 

[TSquare]

This is what I was thinking, too. Could you, say, take it to Autozone once a week for a test, and they would be able to detect when it starts to fail? Or do these batteries look fine one day, and then suddenly die the next when at end of life?

These "auto parts store" battery testers may work most of the time, but on more than one occasion, I have taken a car to them to check the battery because it would not crank the engine after sitting for a while. The quick test while still in the car showed a "good" battery, but when they tried the "deep cycle" test where they have to remove the battery to place it in the equipment and run it for 30 to 60 minutes, it would fail.

 

[llninja]

"I recommend replacing the battery "early" - before it's 4th birthday. Before it suddenly dies - dead dead - in the middle of nowhere."
Is it not possible to test the 12V battery for signs of impending failure?

With regular ICE cars, you can start to tell when the battery is getting weak as it starts to cranks slower when it gets colder. But since the Volt doesn't have a traditional starter, you really have no indication until the onboard computers don't boot. It's similar to radio. With Analog FM, when you drive out of range, you will start to hear some fuzzing, but can still listen to music. but with XM, when you drive into a metal building, (or in my case, into my garage with a steel roof) it's all or nothing.