G
Guest
·Hey everyone,
I've posted a few times on the Buying/Selling forum, and after getting a great financing approval from USAA and finding a car that had been sitting on a lot FOREVER (705 days), I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a new 2017 Volt Premier. It seems to be an early 2017 with all options other than ACC, and it stickers at $39K. I was able to get the dealer, located in a fairly rural, non-EV friendly area to take about $9,000 off the price, and got what I felt was a fair trade on my 2005 RAV4. I'd recommend Jim and the guys at RK Chevrolet in Vineland, NJ for those who want to make a deal on other Chevy vehicles -- they are very willing to work with you when they've got inventory that isn't moving. However, I was the last Volt on the lot, and it wasn't clear to me that they'd be bringing more in soon, so not sure how much my recommendation will help members on this forum.
Things got off to a rocky start when the car was plugged into a level 2 charger but wouldn't charge. It ended up being a charger issue. We moved forward with the deal after plugging the level 1 charger into a wall in the shop.
Since I've owned the car, I've been thrilled with the lack of interior noise, seat comfort, responsive infotainment system, and the smooth experience of EV driving. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the suspension tuning and feeling of solidity in a GM car, particularly after I recently rode in a Malibu that just felt tinny despite good reviews. It was frankly incredible to go from averaging about 20 MPG in my old RAV, to 47 mpg on my without even charging the battery.
I do have one question -- what the heck are those mushroom caps way in the back of the hatch for?
My three complaints are:
1) The fabric cargo cover. This has been well documented, but my complaints aren't so much with the idea of a fabric cover itself, but with the apparent lack of effort that went into making sure it actually covered things, and with the failure of GM to provide even an optional pull out tonneau cover. These are available in all sorts of crossovers on the market, can be made in a way that they are easy to store, and don't weigh all that much. I'm looking into my options for either jerry-rigging a solution on my own, or just purchasing a voltshelf from Scarlett. When stretched, my cover leaves huge gaps in coverage both behind the seats, and if leaning over the hatch, also near the hatch opening. I tend not to leave a lot in my car, but I feel there's about a 2-3 square feet of space that I feel is actually covered from all angles. If I'm putting the cover up, it's because I have something back there that is either valuable, or a thief might perceive as valuable. Letting them partially see a backpack that has a laptop in it is not helpful. The fabric cargo cover could have been much better executed if it was a little larger and connected to the seatbacks in some way.
2) I underestimated how small the back seats are. Particularly from a headroom perspective, I had to sit very upright to get my head behind the headliner. All in all, this doesn't matter that much to me, as I've got a few years till we have kids, and by the time they're big enough for that to be an issue, I'll be on to my next car.
3) Chevy's (lack of) marketing for this incredible vehicle is abysmal. That a dealer could be waiting around for almost 2 years to sell me a wonderful, extremely efficient vehicle at nearly half-off MSRP is shocking. That Honda has rolled out a super easy to understand ad campaign for the Clarity with under a year on the market is embarrassing. Chevy needs to hit 3-4 points (1-2 per ad) with this car: 1) It will go farther on a tank of gas than most internal combustion competitors without any charge. 2) It recharges from empty on a STANDARD OUTLET overnight. Don't give charge times, just say overnight. Advertising Level 2 charge times is great, but is really just for us EV-nuts. Suggesting to the average car-buyer that their significant investment might require thousands of dollars of electrical work is just a bad idea. 3) Its hatchback helps accomodate those with active lifestyles. 4) It's fast -- say it gets up to highway speeds as fast as a Mazda3 and twice as fast as a Prius Prime in EV mode.
At the end of the day, my frustration is that for 99% of Crosstrek/Impreza/Prius/Mazda3 buyers out there, this is a much nicer car with 90% as much functionality, at the same price, and nobody knows it. On the one hand, I should be grateful because it ended up getting me a great deal. On the other, I wish others knew about it.
I've posted a few times on the Buying/Selling forum, and after getting a great financing approval from USAA and finding a car that had been sitting on a lot FOREVER (705 days), I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a new 2017 Volt Premier. It seems to be an early 2017 with all options other than ACC, and it stickers at $39K. I was able to get the dealer, located in a fairly rural, non-EV friendly area to take about $9,000 off the price, and got what I felt was a fair trade on my 2005 RAV4. I'd recommend Jim and the guys at RK Chevrolet in Vineland, NJ for those who want to make a deal on other Chevy vehicles -- they are very willing to work with you when they've got inventory that isn't moving. However, I was the last Volt on the lot, and it wasn't clear to me that they'd be bringing more in soon, so not sure how much my recommendation will help members on this forum.
Things got off to a rocky start when the car was plugged into a level 2 charger but wouldn't charge. It ended up being a charger issue. We moved forward with the deal after plugging the level 1 charger into a wall in the shop.
Since I've owned the car, I've been thrilled with the lack of interior noise, seat comfort, responsive infotainment system, and the smooth experience of EV driving. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the suspension tuning and feeling of solidity in a GM car, particularly after I recently rode in a Malibu that just felt tinny despite good reviews. It was frankly incredible to go from averaging about 20 MPG in my old RAV, to 47 mpg on my without even charging the battery.
I do have one question -- what the heck are those mushroom caps way in the back of the hatch for?
My three complaints are:
1) The fabric cargo cover. This has been well documented, but my complaints aren't so much with the idea of a fabric cover itself, but with the apparent lack of effort that went into making sure it actually covered things, and with the failure of GM to provide even an optional pull out tonneau cover. These are available in all sorts of crossovers on the market, can be made in a way that they are easy to store, and don't weigh all that much. I'm looking into my options for either jerry-rigging a solution on my own, or just purchasing a voltshelf from Scarlett. When stretched, my cover leaves huge gaps in coverage both behind the seats, and if leaning over the hatch, also near the hatch opening. I tend not to leave a lot in my car, but I feel there's about a 2-3 square feet of space that I feel is actually covered from all angles. If I'm putting the cover up, it's because I have something back there that is either valuable, or a thief might perceive as valuable. Letting them partially see a backpack that has a laptop in it is not helpful. The fabric cargo cover could have been much better executed if it was a little larger and connected to the seatbacks in some way.
2) I underestimated how small the back seats are. Particularly from a headroom perspective, I had to sit very upright to get my head behind the headliner. All in all, this doesn't matter that much to me, as I've got a few years till we have kids, and by the time they're big enough for that to be an issue, I'll be on to my next car.
3) Chevy's (lack of) marketing for this incredible vehicle is abysmal. That a dealer could be waiting around for almost 2 years to sell me a wonderful, extremely efficient vehicle at nearly half-off MSRP is shocking. That Honda has rolled out a super easy to understand ad campaign for the Clarity with under a year on the market is embarrassing. Chevy needs to hit 3-4 points (1-2 per ad) with this car: 1) It will go farther on a tank of gas than most internal combustion competitors without any charge. 2) It recharges from empty on a STANDARD OUTLET overnight. Don't give charge times, just say overnight. Advertising Level 2 charge times is great, but is really just for us EV-nuts. Suggesting to the average car-buyer that their significant investment might require thousands of dollars of electrical work is just a bad idea. 3) Its hatchback helps accomodate those with active lifestyles. 4) It's fast -- say it gets up to highway speeds as fast as a Mazda3 and twice as fast as a Prius Prime in EV mode.
At the end of the day, my frustration is that for 99% of Crosstrek/Impreza/Prius/Mazda3 buyers out there, this is a much nicer car with 90% as much functionality, at the same price, and nobody knows it. On the one hand, I should be grateful because it ended up getting me a great deal. On the other, I wish others knew about it.
