Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

[mimico_polak]

Would the repairs be better handled by a GM dealer you mean?

No. Sorry should've been clearer question.

if you had bought at a dealer do you think the issues at delivery (OnStar, tires, etc) would have been better handled?

unfortunately I'm pretty much against buying from mom and pop shops as I always feel I have better recourse in these situations from a dealer.

 

[PrivatePilot]

We have access to much of the same training as the dealers, at most 2 years out from the release of the latest tech. At my shop there is nothing I can't do that the dealer can outside of recalls. This includes diagnoses, software upgrades etc. The tools are available to those who wish to be on top of things.

Interesting - for the Volt specifically, from what I've been able to gather online, it sounded as if there were some things that were very dealer specific. For example, in some accident scenarios the ECM/BCM completely disables the high voltage system in an effort to reduce risk for first responders or tow truck operators, etc. It sounded to me like the procedure to re-enable the HV system after repairs were something that could only be done by GM.

It's interesting to know that this isn't' really the case. I will keep that in mind.

Typically I do most of my own general maintenance and small repairs anyways - wheel bearings, brakes, oil changes, sensors, etc...I'll do it in my driveway. I have a basic bluetooth/smartphone scantool combo for diagnostics and can do the basics there.

I hate exhaust with a passion, F that though.

But with the Volt, I do expect that IF I run into some more advanced issues specific to the EV drivetrain there will be a limit to my abilities at home. I anticipated I'd need a dealer at that point, but glad to hear that's not necessarily the case.

Sorry should've been clearer question.

if you had bought at a dealer do you think the issues at delivery (OnStar, tires, etc) would have been better handled?

unfortunately I'm pretty much against buying from mom and pop shops as I always feel I have better recourse in these situations from a dealer.

Both me and Slowbird did buy from dealers, although I bought from a GM dealer and Slowbird bought from a Hyundai dealer IIRC.

I have dealt with small dealers in the past with great results - our 300 was purchased from Tip-Top auto sales in Bowmanville and I was super impressed start to finish. I actually looked at a Volt there but it wasn't what we wanted - no heated seats (a must), cloth interior (wanted leather), and a colour we didn't really want.

I'll hold off drawing more conclusions about how my issues are dealt with at Ontario Motor Sales until after I visit the dealer again with the car on Monday and get some answers on what they plan to do to handle them. The brake issues I expect will be dealt with while I wait, I'm fairly confident that the solution is some rust removal and cleanup of the caliper hardware.

 

[eljay]

Price will be a factor. Not fetish. I'm very anti GM but this is tough to resist.
I'm running a paid for Corolla now doing almost 3 tanks a week, 70-ish km each way to work. 1 car family.
If I can have a financing cost OTD for less than what my gas bill is ($500 ish), I'm sold, except it's GM. I've hated GM all my life.
I have free electricity most of the time (I'm running 6kw solar at home with 10kwh backup) and have free charging stations at work (4 spots available, only 1 I see being used daily by a Celica). My wife says buy a new one right now, today. Even with dealer financing on brand new we'd be ahead. I just can't pull the trigger because it's GM. It's an absolute no-brainer for us buy I'm awfully reluctant to get in for no other reason than brand name. So Honda or ANYONE ELSE BUT GM just needs to get something performance/price competitive to the Volt and they will have my money day 1. My wife says just buy a Volt now and wait to see what comes out next. She only thinks in dollars.

I don't blame you.

Honda Clarity plug in hybrid is rolling out in the US right now, not too long before it comes to canada.

Has comparable range to the Volt electric wise.

Charges to full in 2.5 hours on a level 2 charger. I'm pretty sure the Volt takes much longer.

the early reviews indicate that the build quality and quality of this interior reaches near luxury levels.


and Hey, its a Honda.



http://www.motortrend.com/news/honda-clarity-ev-plug-hybrid-debut-new-york/

 

[GreyGhost]

Price will be a factor. Not fetish. I'm very anti GM but this is tough to resist.
I'm running a paid for Corolla now doing almost 3 tanks a week, 70-ish km each way to work. 1 car family.
If I can have a financing cost OTD for less than what my gas bill is ($500 ish), I'm sold, except it's GM. I've hated GM all my life.
I have free electricity most of the time (I'm running 6kw solar at home with 10kwh backup) and have free charging stations at work (4 spots available, only 1 I see being used daily by a Celica). My wife says buy a new one right now, today. Even with dealer financing on brand new we'd be ahead. I just can't pull the trigger because it's GM. It's an absolute no-brainer for us buy I'm awfully reluctant to get in for no other reason than brand name. So Honda or ANYONE ELSE BUT GM just needs to get something performance/price competitive to the Volt and they will have my money day 1. My wife says just buy a Volt now and wait to see what comes out next. She only thinks in dollars.

How many long trips do you do? Will a Tesla 3 work? They should be out soon. Personally, in a one car household I don't see a pure electric car as practical for most people, I think you'll still be waiting for a hybrid PIEV.

What about leasing a volt? It saves you money and you can just give it back in a few years (when hopefully something you like is out).

 

[PrivatePilot]

We couldn't do a pure EV (without a range extender like the Volt) either if we were a 1 car household - reality is we take a few 1000+KM trips a few times a year and can't do them (time or convenience wise) around the need to charge.

Hence why the Volt is perfect for us. When we need to we just stop at a gas station like everyone else, pump 30L of gas and then drive another 550 or so KM. We can charge if and when it's convenient, at the hotel or wherever we find a charger and not really sweat it. .

If we do get a Bolt or something pure EV in a few years, the Volt won't be going anywhere as it will be our default road trip vehicle.

 

[slowbird]

Yeah I bought mine from a Hyundai dealer. Previous/original owner traded it in. Looks like from the previous MPG he was making, and the paper trail he left behind he was doing a lot of long distance highway commuting. Running up 90,000kms in 3 years and averaging 5L/100kms in the lifetime of the car. So he probably decided getting a regular ICE car made more sense. Or maybe he just trades cars in every 3 years like my dad used to lol.

Anyways....my "issues" are more of what I would say is typical dealership BS. Feels like they are trying to pull a fast one on me. No oil change even though I was assured when I picked it up it was done, didn't charge the car fully even though they have a Level 2 charger, they installed the cheaper version of the Goodyears rather than the slightly more expensive Eco versions that were originally on the car (and that I specifically told them to replace them with).

These are all things that your average car buyer wouldn't notice and I think they just got caught being lazy and cheap.

The onstar thing may have been replaced if I bought from a GM dealer, then again, they may have hoped the new owner wouldn't ever try to use it and wouldn't bother. In my personal experience dealerships do the minimum...if even that. (For anyone that works at a dealership and gets offended at that, it's my personal experience as a customer and a previous dealership employee)

I also would agree that there are quite a few misconceptions and lack of knowledge regarding the Volt. It's no ones fault really. I didn't know anything about them until this thread came up and I started researching.Though some things I hear are downright ignorant. The latest I heard was at work when a guy told me not to park beside him for when my car catches fire.

Some people have asked me why I didn't get a Tesla and don't seem to understand the cost difference.

I don't think the Volt deserves any bashing. I don't see any negatives to it unless you buy it for the wrong reasons. The Prius is a much more bash-worthy car, but Toyota fans will praise it regardless of how fugly and awful to drive/sit in/look at it is.

The vast majority of people that buy large Trucks and SUV's when they don't ever have anyone else in there with them deserve more criticism than those that buy Volts. But it's normal to be wasteful like that so no one bats an eye.

 

[slowbird]

My wife says buy a new one right now, today. Even with dealer financing on brand new we'd be ahead. I just can't pull the trigger because it's GM. It's an absolute no-brainer for us buy I'm awfully reluctant to get in for no other reason than brand name. So Honda or ANYONE ELSE BUT GM just needs to get something performance/price competitive to the Volt and they will have my money day 1. My wife says just buy a Volt now and wait to see what comes out next. She only thinks in dollars.

I'd be hesitant to buy a new one since it's the first year of the new Generation. No matter what the brand car, there are always quirks and bugs to work out. See if you can get a low mileage, off lease Generation 1 Volt.

I've had many GM's and they aren't the greatest, sure. However from what I'm reading and what I can see, the Volt is a top quality product.

IMO cars are all built by humans, or by machines designed by humans, so no matter what brand you are rolling the Dice and you may come out on top...or you may roll a critical Fail 1 and get something with issues.
People go on about Toyota reliability but my ex and her family had nothing but Toyotas and they were always having issues with them, and their dealers were always gouging them.
Yet they wouldn't buy anything else.
I had a 2004 Grand Am and it was mostly trouble free.
My dads last 4 cars were Mazdas and they were always rusting and brakes were seizing and other stuff but he won't buy anything else.

Just my personal experience.

 

[blackcamaro]

Anyways....my "issues" are more of what I would say is typical dealership BS. Feels like they are trying to pull a fast one on me. No oil change even though I was assured when I picked it up it was done, didn't charge the car fully even though they have a Level 2 charger, they installed the cheaper version of the Goodyears rather than the slightly more expensive Eco versions that were originally on the car (and that I specifically told them to replace them with).

These are all things that your average car buyer wouldn't notice and I think they just got caught being lazy and cheap.

This isn't really in response to you but a comment about mom and pop used car places a couple pages back. I would be embarrassed to deliver a car not charged/not full of gas and without an oil change completed. Regardless if a car needs one or not I change the oil on everything when the safety is being done. These are the basics and as far as I'm concerned must be done with any sale.

The tire thing I can see be an honest mistake (maybe not though) so I won't comment on that. You shouldn't have to but any particular requests should be shown on the bill of sale and confirmed done at time of delivery.

Anyways at the small places many times your dealing with the owner or family and those people usually care. Same as any industry though there's good and bad mixed throughout.

 

[-D-]

Price will be a factor. Not fetish. I'm very anti GM but this is tough to resist.
I'm running a paid for Corolla now doing almost 3 tanks a week, 70-ish km each way to work. 1 car family.
If I can have a financing cost OTD for less than what my gas bill is ($500 ish), I'm sold, except it's GM. I've hated GM all my life.
I have free electricity most of the time (I'm running 6kw solar at home with 10kwh backup) and have free charging stations at work (4 spots available, only 1 I see being used daily by a Celica). My wife says buy a new one right now, today. Even with dealer financing on brand new we'd be ahead. I just can't pull the trigger because it's GM. It's an absolute no-brainer for us buy I'm awfully reluctant to get in for no other reason than brand name. So Honda or ANYONE ELSE BUT GM just needs to get something performance/price competitive to the Volt and they will have my money day 1. My wife says just buy a Volt now and wait to see what comes out next. She only thinks in dollars.

That Honda looks like it was made by the ugly department.

Your wife is onto something...the Volt has been around (proven)...My rule of thumb, never buy the first generation/year of cars/bikes.
How many failures do you see that show up? Honda with those low warranty periods...if you have the best product then why not attach the best warranty????

Watch out when Hyundai brings a car to market and offers their warranty along with lower price and more features.

 

[mxs]

The car did actually travel 1286 km between visits to the gas station – about 550 km would have been the whole tank (33.79L out of a 35L tank) of gas, with the remainder 700+ kilometres being done on electric.

So, yes, that is "per tank" in the end.

Of course, you are correct. After this morning tea and re-reading your original post ... it all clicked. LOL

 

[mxs]

That Honda looks like it was made by the ugly department.

Yeah, unfortunately that department seems to be growing at Honda. They apparently did some work on the new Civic as well ...

Watch out when Hyundai brings a car to market and offers their warranty along with lower price and more features.

If you are referring to the Ionic ... it seems that Hyundai is starting to play games in the US ... first they said, the car will show in all 50 states, then they changed it to ZEV states and now it's apparently only Cali .... so, the doubters were I guess right in the beginning when they said it seems to be just a compliance car. Hopefully, it's just a supply chain issue, rather than a strategy.

 

[eljay]

Lease save money? No way lol, c'mon. I'd have to get nearly 20% discount from the cash purchase price vs financing at 2.49% for 7 years with 0% down. Plus I can borrow at 0% plus 1% fee for 18 months on my MBNA card. I'd never pay more than 2% for anything these days. I buy cash from dealer only and arrange my own financing. HELOC is even cheaper than lease and I'd never do that.

Pure electric won't be practical until we are a 2 car house. The Tesla 3 will be perfect then for the commuter.

This is chewing at me now that I know I could go save money, right now and I'll be losing money right up until the moment I go get a Volt. I'm doing basement reno now, I'm going to tell them to run 220 to the garage now so I don't have to make new holes later.

How many long trips do you do? Will a Tesla 3 work? They should be out soon. Personally, in a one car household I don't see a pure electric car as practical for most people, I think you'll still be waiting for a hybrid PIEV.

What about leasing a volt? It saves you money and you can just give it back in a few years (when hopefully something you like is out).

 

[nfq]

Price will be a factor. Not fetish. I'm very anti GM but this is tough to resist.
I'm running a paid for Corolla now doing almost 3 tanks a week, 70-ish km each way to work. 1 car family.
If I can have a financing cost OTD for less than what my gas bill is ($500 ish), I'm sold, except it's GM. I've hated GM all my life.
I have free electricity most of the time (I'm running 6kw solar at home with 10kwh backup) and have free charging stations at work (4 spots available, only 1 I see being used daily by a Celica). My wife says buy a new one right now, today. Even with dealer financing on brand new we'd be ahead. I just can't pull the trigger because it's GM. It's an absolute no-brainer for us buy I'm awfully reluctant to get in for no other reason than brand name. So Honda or ANYONE ELSE BUT GM just needs to get something performance/price competitive to the Volt and they will have my money day 1. My wife says just buy a Volt now and wait to see what comes out next. She only thinks in dollars.

Go and test drive one. I was a bit skeptical myself but I'm convinced after booting around an LTZ Volt.

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

 

[-D-]

Yeah, unfortunately that department seems to be growing at Honda. They apparently did some work on the new Civic as well ...




If you are referring to the Ionic ... it seems that Hyundai is starting to play games in the US ... first they said, the car will show in all 50 states, then they changed it to ZEV states and now it's apparently only Cali .... so, the doubters were I guess right in the beginning when they said it seems to be just a compliance car. Hopefully, it's just a supply chain issue, rather than a strategy.

I did not know they had a car yet, lol.
They probably do not have the ability yet to roll it out across the US. It makes sense to start in the state that is progressive plus they can learn and improve the product and roll it out across the country as they grow.

@eljay just cover the Chevy logo or remove it
I share your view about GM but let's be honest...cars do 1 thing, work their way down to $0.
The Volt saves you money...take that money and go on a nicer vacation...or save towards another bike or just save it and be like PP and laugh at the rest of us...until he drives is Magnum.

Tint the Volt, looks nicer and no one will see you but for real, reduces the heat from the sun and saves on cooling...less energy to cool.

Wow $500/mth on gas in a Corolla (assuming I read that right)...that's at least $6k alone in gas per year.
Dude...that Volt would be saving you money... in 5 years you would spend $30k on gas....and it's not a business write off...holy crap...

 

[slowbird]

Go and test drive one. I was a bit skeptical myself but I'm convinced after booting around an LTZ Volt.

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

Yeah they move pretty well eh? I was surprised as well at how well it pulls off the line. I find it easier to rocket off the light in the Volt than in my old g37 cause the Volt does it so stealthily while the G37 did it with a lot of shouting.
...and yet the Volt feels very planted, stable and smooth.

 

[-D-]

@PP and Slowbird and other Volt owners.

Hey I am being lazy but can you guys show/tell us how much a new Volt is out the door and list the govt rebates.
Just use MSRP as the total price of the car out the door...it tends to work out that way.

Also can you guys show what you paid for your Volts and the km's on it.

Just a clean and simple post.

*funny how the govt doesn't give the next buyer a rebate only the original owner BUT they tax the next buyer on used cars...considering the taxes were paid by the original buyer...hmmm

 

[eljay]

Just a clean and simple post.

*funny how the govt doesn't give the next buyer a rebate only the original owner BUT they tax the next buyer on used cars...considering the taxes were paid by the original buyer...hmmm

I've been fuming about this all morning.

 

[eljay]

This looks interesting. http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/a/Chevrolet/Volt+Electric/Whitby/Ontario/5_31315265_20160115160939361/

 

[slowbird]

@PP and Slowbird and other Volt owners.

Hey I am being lazy but can you guys show/tell us how much a new Volt is out the door and list the govt rebates.
Just use MSRP as the total price of the car out the door...it tends to work out that way.

Also can you guys show what you paid for your Volts and the km's on it.

Just a clean and simple post.

I didn't buy new so I'm unsure, but I am pretty sure the Government incentive for a NEW Gen 2 volt is $13,000.

This looks interesting. http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/a/Chevrolet/Volt+Electric/Whitby/Ontario/5_31315265_20160115160939361/

Oh That's nice. It's about $3k listed more than mine was but it has less mileage and I would have preferred that color to black. :/

Go take a look at it. If you buy it make sure they install the upgraded Onstar hardware first

 

[-D-]

This looks interesting. http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/a/Chevrolet/Volt+Electric/Whitby/Ontario/5_31315265_20160115160939361/

beat them down on price and buy it
looks nice

walk in starting at $18,500 maybe $19000, put a credit card on the table and drivers license faced down...it shows you mean business
tell him your wife has a budget and a deal can be made in the next hour before you go look at other cars

know what you want to spend...They are asking $22k...they probably took that car in at $15k.
you start at $18k and they are at $22l meet at $20k

play this game, tell them you will FINANCE it...even if you plan to pay cash or use your own finance option
let them draw up the contract with final price then when you come back to pay...give them your $$ or finance $$$
they will lower the price because they think they will make it back with their financing.
keep telling them the car is 2014 3 years old etc...lol keep saying old....lol

good luck man

you guys are killing me with these cars...grrrr