[dirtdiver]

Hey everyone, Im new here and live in San Diego. I need to buy a vehicle pretty quickly after 1 August. We test drove a loaded 2017 Volt yesterday and liked it a lot. Doing some research I noticed that Consumer reports reported that Volts have reliability issues although other than that they liked the car. I have some questions. Has Chevy improved the reliability over the last year and would you buy it again? The other thing is reading some threads it looks like my timing might work well to get some end of year clearance on a 2017, when is that expected to start? Thanks in advance. DD

 

[BAZINGA]

2018's will be for sale soon, bought my 2017 in Aug 2016 and live it. Have had ZERO issues. Will have to take it in next month for an oil change and tire rotation. And yes I'd buy again, but unless GM added some super nifty feature/option going forward my 2017 is the perfect "EV" for us.

 

[kns]

I am very happily driving my second GEN1 Volt with no significant issues. Asking this question of Volt owners on a Volt forum is bound to result in some bias but I think that, in this instance at least, CR is incorrect.

KNS

 

[llninja]

I learned very early in my life to never, ever trust consumer reports. The two items I purchased that were their top picks both broke one month after the warranty expired. They tend to lean towards value with the most bang for the buck, and not necessarily quality. In cars they have been big fans of Japanese cars even long after the American manufacturers have become even in quality.

As for the volt, just look for the best deal with the colors and features you want. The Cali market has a lot of demand so dealerships can often get close to their asking price for them. Look farther and wider, maybe you can spot a deal. I got my volt heavily discounted in a small rural town of less than 6000 people and the dealer was chomping at the bit to be rid of the car. Most people around here drive pickups and Buicks, so the volt is a tough sell.

 

[alfon]

We have a 2016 Volt Premier, my wife's car, with nearly 20,000 miles and purchased new in July 2016, we traded our 2014 Volt which we had for nearly 3 years and over 40,000 miles.

So far our 2016 Volt has had a few factory recalls and service bulletins from GM, all under warranty. With summer weather our range on electric is usually 60 + miles for mostly city and rural highway driving. Of course living out here in northwestern Oregon we take several trips to the Portland Oregon area and also down the coast via Highway 101 outside of the electric range.

We use the gas engine quite often and overall mpg just on gas is 45.22 mpg, regular gas no premium gas required, since new, according to voltstats.net. Not many economy cars can beat that when you consider that is the overall lifetime mpg's including winter driving as well. Overall mpg is over 147 mpg for both electric and gas.

When we made the purchase in July 2016 GM had 20% off MSRP, the dealer, Wilsonville Chevrolet, 15 miles or so south of Portland Or, the dealer also gave us another $3,000 off as well for a total of a little over $11,000 dollars. With the Federal $7,500 tax credit which we got 100% back on our taxes the price was below $22,000, civic and corolla territory.

I would imagine with the price of gas less than $2.50 / gallon and so many hybrid car choices GM will offer an incentive to get the dealer inventory down which I believe as I type this is over 4,000 new Volts.

I believe, and perhaps many forum members as well, their is more technology in a 2016-17 Volt than nearly every other car that is available for sale, and for the price of most other cars.

How many cars with just a push of a button you can use 100% electric propulsion, or gas engine propulsion, your choice, thanks to two electric motors, and a 101 HP very fuel efficient direct injection gas engine?

 

[Sean Nelson]

I learned very early in my life to never, ever trust consumer reports.

You may argue with their testing methods and with their choice of which attributes of a car are important, but their reliability survey is the best available source of information about the likelihood of needing repairs because it's based on such a large sample size.

I've been following these forums for a few years now, and I saw a lot of reports of problems with the introduction of the 2016 model year, so that's consistent with what Consumer Reports has been saying, IMHO.

On the other hand, those problem reports seem to have been getting scarcer on the forums, and I attribute that to the bugs being worked out of the production process as the Gen2 design matures. If true, it wouldn't surprise me to see an uptick in CR's reliability rating for the Volt as that makes its way into their surveys.

 

[obermd]

I, too, don't trust Consumer Reports. My lifetime record is 100% opposed to their recommendations. As for new MY envy, don't fall into that trap. New model years will be different but pining for a new model year is a guaranteed path to an unhappy car owner as well as being hard on your wallet.

 

[freshcut]

I've been following these forums for a few years now, and I saw a lot of reports of problems with the introduction of the 2016 model year, so that's consistent with what Consumer Reports has been saying, IMHO.

I think for most cars that have a heavy change in design, that would hold true. The 2016 Vol was completely new with no shared parts with the Gen1. With all the technology that is integrated in the Volt I'm not surprised it took a hit in reliability. Technically speaking there is only so much lab testing that can be done and not every scenario can be accounted for. Once a new model gets put on the road it's subject to far more conditions and as a result reliability issues tend to pop up. As the model ages and engineers/techs see common problems, changes are made for later years in that generation. Fortunately for the '17's, most if not all of the more major hiccups were addressed.

 

[llninja]

I think for most cars that have a heavy change in design, that would hold true. The 2016 Vol was completely new with no shared parts with the Gen1. With all the technology that is integrated in the Volt I'm not surprised it took a hit in reliability. Technically speaking there is only so much lab testing that can be done and not every scenario can be accounted for. Once a new model gets put on the road it's subject to far more conditions and as a result reliability issues tend to pop up. As the model ages and engineers/techs see common problems, changes are made for later years in that generation. Fortunately for the '17's, most if not all of the more major hiccups were addressed.

Agreed, that's why I didn't buy a 2003 CTS when it first came out, I waited for a 2004. Similarly, I didn't buy a 2011 Volt, I waited until 2013. Also, the 2017 model has been out there an extremely long time (started shipping in Jan 2016) where the 2016 model was only out from May 2015 to Dec 2016. It's been a really weird product introduction to have a car in production for over 18 months before shifting to 2018. I have no idea what GM was thinking there.

 

[Qinsp]

We have 3 Volts in use, and I'm not easy on cars, and the other two are teen drivers.

We have been very pleased with each one, and continue to enjoy driving them.

 

[Tomt]

I completely agree and have found CR's vehicle reliability surveys to be pretty accurate and to track well with other totally-owner-driven surveys (unlike J.D. Powers and other such worthless "surveys").

You may argue with their testing methods and with their choice of which attributes of a car are important, but their reliability survey is the best available source of information about the likelihood of needing repairs because it's based on such a large sample size.

I've been following these forums for a few years now, and I saw a lot of reports of problems with the introduction of the 2016 model year, so that's consistent with what Consumer Reports has been saying, IMHO.

 

[DrMiguelitoLoveless]

I've had the opposite experience over the years, CR has never steered me wrong in the decades I have consulted them. Now, does that mean they are always right? Nope. But, I will take an independent reviewer over an ad-supported one every time.

The reliability issues are ones mentioned on boards like this one, so it is not something that CR just made up, it comes from their surveys of car owners. I just took a look at the CR review and the criticisms of the car are pretty much things everyone has griped about. There are black marks for in-car electronics, engine minor, and body integrity. The car was scored 54 overall, but 70 on its road test. The car got top marks for owner satisfaction, rated good on crash test data, and decent marks on performance.

To me, the owner satisfaction score is important. While you can get "dinged" on reliability for any number of issues, the owner satisfaction score tells me how those issues were perceived by the owner. Tesla got hammered on reliability as well, but the OS score was damned near glowing. If memory serves, the Volt, Prius, Model S and Model X were on the top ten OS list.

Not shabby by any measure.

 

[dirtdiver]

Wow, some really great info here, thanks! Also, glad to see how positive everyone is on Volt Get 2!

DD

 

[Kraven]

Yes, would buy again. It's been a great so far. I bought mine in SD at Weseloh. Call them and ask for Carmine. I just sent another member there a few weeks ago and he also had a very nice buying experience and got a good price (same as me) as well. You might do a little better with your timing, you will be treated fairly by them regardless.

 

[timoshev]

The Car Guy (radio program) totally ignores CU reliability reports. Apparently items such as electronics software can seriously downgrade a car even though the car is otherwise perfect. Gen 1 had some heater and drivetrain issues that were addressed on Gen 2. My early '16 has been nearly flawless. None of the half dozen or so factory upgrades have corrected problems I was experiencing except for some engine roughness issues that are fixed. I drove the car for 14 months without any need to return to the dealer.

 

[Off Oil]

I'm close to 11,000 on my fully loaded 2017. No issues or regrets, and I don't see myself wanting to change for very, very long time. The interior of the Model 3 looks like it would be a step down to me in comparison. I had no issues with the 2014 either. The new generation issues with the 2016 seem to have been resolved.

 

[Barry]

I was honestly only luke warm over the 2017 I drove for a week, but only because of the driver's seat comfort. Everyone has their own preferences about that, and it sounds like you drove the car, so maybe it works well for you. Rear seat leg and head room is also tight. The responsiveness, handling and efficiency is outstanding.

I think a lot of the higher-than-average "repairs" are minor items that are covered by warranty such as software updates or other tweaks. I don't think these mean the car will not last. As long as I am not paying for them, and the dealer is making it as convenient as possible, these kinds of things would not really bother me.

 

[DrMiguelitoLoveless]

I think a lot of the higher-than-average "repairs" are minor items that are covered by warranty such as software updates or other tweaks. I don't think these mean the car will not last. As long as I am not paying for them, and the dealer is making it as convenient as possible, these kinds of things would not really bother me.

That's how I read it. When you seen reliability issues, but high owner satisfaction that would seem to indicate that people like the car, and that issues that arose with the car were dealt with by the dealer and usually under warranty.

I had the heater go out on my 2012 Leaf, and it was out of warranty, but occurred right after warranty repairs on the electrical system. I was looking at a $1,600 bill, so I appealed to Nissan customer service and they covered the repair 100%.

Yes, I had a problem, but the problem was dealt with to my satisfaction, thus did not detract from my enjoyment of driving the car.

 

[Mr X]

Basing yours views on other people's views is a poor way of thinking


When I read what you said I laughed then disregarded it because I've been driving my Volt since Jan 24, 2016 with no issues.


Everyday I'm riding around in the electric Batmobile so if you think like that everyday, then you're missing out on the experience.


And anything can go wrong at any time. In this so called "life" anything can happen whenever... But nothings happened yet!

 

[viking79]

You may argue with their testing methods and with their choice of which attributes of a car are important, but their reliability survey is the best available source of information about the likelihood of needing repairs because it's based on such a large sample size.

I've been following these forums for a few years now, and I saw a lot of reports of problems with the introduction of the 2016 model year, so that's consistent with what Consumer Reports has been saying, IMHO.

On the other hand, those problem reports seem to have been getting scarcer on the forums, and I attribute that to the bugs being worked out of the production process as the Gen2 design matures. If true, it wouldn't surprise me to see an uptick in CR's reliability rating for the Volt as that makes its way into their surveys.

Check TrueDelta.com, they let you read survey responses for problems so it is easier to see specific issues. They generally have a positive correlation to CR, but maybe updated more frequently. People reporting for 2017 report fewer repairs than 2016.

They show about 13 problems per 100 vehicles per year on 2017 and 45 on 2016, so about 3 times the rate (but low number of samples for that year). What this doesn't show, 5 years later are those problems going to recur, or are they gone for good (often case with recalls).

To OP, I don't think we have seen any hints for MY 2018, but it will have been almost 2 years for a model change since MY 2016 was only available for a few months.