Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle? | Page 27 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

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.

The build and price tool on the GM site applies the rebate. $28946 for a bone stock Volt (before HST)

volt.jpg
 
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.

What does that mean?? Not to have ability to roll a car out? ... Naaah, they either ****ed up (making it sound like initially they are all-in into EV, yet it as always intended to be just a compliance car) or their battery supplier messed up ... because you don't go from a commitment across all states to Cali, without saying why. It's BS and their own loss at this point ... or not, if they are losing money on each car they would sell, like most other EV cars.
 
beat them down on price and buy it
looks nice

...and since you aren't desperate for a car you're in a better buyers position. When I went to buy mine I was ready to walk on a lot of my request for the deal and it put me in a much stronger position.....however they may have paid me back by just not actually completing any of the requests I made that were part of the deal. (i.e. Oil Change, Tires etc)
 
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

Sorry man but that car is going to stand the dealer a significant amount more then what you think they paid for it. I wish there was that kind of margin in a $22,000 car but there isn't, not even really anywhere close to that actually.

Good advice about telling them you will finance it even if your paying cash though.
 
Sorry man but what your thinking they took that car in for is going to be significantly higher then the $15,000 you mentioned here. I wish there was that kind of margin in a $22,000 car but there isn't, not even really anywhere close to that actually.

Good advice about telling them you will finance it even if your paying cash though.

show us the bluebook value of that car then?

@Slowbird and PP - what did the MTO list your car on the UVIP...how much taxes did you pay on the car...I think PP used a dealer so no relevant for him.
 
show us the bluebook value of that car then?

@Slowbird and PP - what did the MTO list your car on the UVIP...how much taxes did you pay on the car...I think PP used a dealer so no relevant for him.

I also used a dealer. Dealers don't usually provide UVIPs from my personal experience.
 
show us the bluebook value of that car then?

@Slowbird and PP - what did the MTO list your car on the UVIP...how much taxes did you pay on the car...I think PP used a dealer so no relevant for him.

I won't. Blue book you could probably find online. Dealers would use black book when they're buying or taking a car in on trade. That's not relevant anymore though. If we need to check prices we will use current auction results these days. My dad used to use one almost 20 years ago and it was fun to flip through as a kid.

I won't post a wholesale value because I do not believe it's my place to interfere with someone else's business. I hope you understand.
 
Sorry man but that car is going to stand the dealer a significant amount more then what you think they paid for it. I wish there was that kind of margin in a $22,000 car but there isn't, not even really anywhere close to that actually.

Good advice about telling them you will finance it even if your paying cash though.

I won't. Blue book you could probably find online. Dealers would use black book when they're buying or taking a car in on trade. That's not relevant anymore though. If we need to check prices we will use current auction results these days. My dad used to use one almost 20 years ago and it was fun to flip through as a kid.

I won't post a wholesale value because I do not believe it's my place to interfere with someone else's business. I hope you understand.

Can you provide a rough margin for similar cars (eg. 4 passenger sedans, selling used for ~20K)? I wouldn't expect there to be a 30+% margin, but I'd hope the dealers could start at at least 20% and negotiate a bit from there. If margins are lower than that, it's a rough game and it is no wonder people have bad dealer experiences. The only way to make any money is to polish the turd you bought at auction and move it on to the next sucker.
 
Can you provide a rough margin for similar cars (eg. 4 passenger sedans, selling used for ~20K)? I wouldn't expect there to be a 30+% margin, but I'd hope the dealers could start at at least 20% and negotiate a bit from there. If margins are lower than that, it's a rough game and it is no wonder people have bad dealer experiences. The only way to make any money is to polish the turd you bought at auction and move it on to the next sucker.

Fair enough I'll answer that. 10-12% margin on used less on new. If your only source of used cars is the auction you're going to have a really tough time.

It is a grind. Volume bonuses can be alright though and that's what the salesman have to chase. I'll put it this way, I'm an independent used dealer and this is all I've ever done. If at a point in time we closed up for good I would not take a job selling cars at a new car dealer. Too much time invested and way to many headaches for the money earned. Don't get me wrong some people do pretty good but the majority are having a tough time.
 
I won't. Blue book you could probably find online. Dealers would use black book when they're buying or taking a car in on trade. That's not relevant anymore though. If we need to check prices we will use current auction results these days. My dad used to use one almost 20 years ago and it was fun to flip through as a kid.

I won't post a wholesale value because I do not believe it's my place to interfere with someone else's business. I hope you understand.

I find your position to be of deflection. I made a statement and you chose to counter the validity of my assertion as to the take in cost of the car.
Now I am simply asking you what the wholesale price is for the car.
I thought we are supposed to be part of the moto-brotherhood and look out for each other e.g. PP and Slowbird are posting ALOT of info for our benefit.
You are in a position to assist.

I am willing to bet my bike they did NOT take that car in for $20k. It was less.
Your turn:D
 
Lease save money? No way lol, c'mon.

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.

Glad to see you're willing to consider the Volt despite the GM hatred. They really did nail this car and the stats and customer satisfaction figures confirm it. Keep in mind that they also carry an 8 year/160,000KM warranty on everything in the Voltec system - that's basically almost EVERYTHING in the drivetrain - battery, engine, cooling system, charging hardware, inverters, electronics, etc. If your concern is reliability, well...buy a 2014/2015 with 40-50,000KM and you're sitting pretty from a warranty standpoint - by the time it expires you'll either be sold on it's reliability and savings, or you can sell it.

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

It really is surprising, isn't it? Everyone that has driven ours steps out of it with a completely different viewpoint than what they climbed into the driver's seat with. "Wow, it's perky" is a common one - I always put it in sport mode for them, but people think that EV's are underpowered golf-cart type vehicles. "It's quiet!" is another..because it is. People are surprised it drives like, well...a normal car. It's not complicated and there's no learning curve. When I tell them the operating cost for the electric range and then they realize that this covers most or all of their daily driving in most scenarios, their eyes widen.

Yes, cost is a factor, but this is why I'm a firm believer in the used market now. I would LOVED to have had a Volt in 2011/2012 but the math didn't work out because I wanted it for savings, not just because it was neat. Now that they have reached highly competitive prices in the used market the math works, and works well.

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.

Ours was $13,800 before all the fees and taxes - I think the finaly amount out the door was in the mid $15's but I'd have to check exactly.

*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

There was some talk about extending some sort of rebate on used EV's like they do on new ones, but hard to see if we'll ever see it. IMHO it would also be open to abuse if the gov't doesn't police it properly - it would only be a matter of time before someone "sells" their EV amongst family members every few months and collects a rebate cheque every time.

@Slowbird and PP - what did the MTO list your car on the UVIP

No UVIP provided by a certified dealership. I could go buy one and post the value but don't really want to spend the $25 or whatever it is. ;)

Thanks to Private Pilot and Slowbird for all the information provided.

I think a Volt is in my future.

Cheers.

Cool. And you're welcome for the info. I've enjoyed sharing things & will continue to do so. It's been awesome opening eyes and helping people realize that there an EV might very well be a good choice for them despite all the misconceptions.
 
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Slowbird, forgot to ask recently - how has your charging going? Any more issues? I did some more reading on things and some said that old GFCI's are sometime suspect. New(er) homes in Ontario require them in garage outlets and most go unused 99.9% of their life until suddenly someone buys an EV and then places them under heavy and constant load at which point their age or lack of use is apparently sometimes problematic.

Our house didn't have GFCI's in the garage as when our house was built in '88 apparently it wasn't code.

If you have a GFCI on the outlet you're using and are still having issues, might be something to consider - some people said they just removed them (for a garage outlet where they're typically dry anyways) and their problems went away.
 
Slowbird, forgot to ask recently - how has your charging going? Any more issues? I did some more reading on things and some said that old GFCI's are sometime suspect. New(er) homes in Ontario require them in garage outlets and most go unused 99.9% of their life until suddenly someone buys an EV and then places them under heavy and constant load at which point their age or lack of use is apparently sometimes problematic.

Our house didn't have GFCI's in the garage as when our house was built in '88 apparently it wasn't code.

If you have a GFCI on the outlet you're using and are still having issues, might be something to consider - some people said they just removed them (for a garage outlet where they're typically dry anyways) and their problems went away.

hmm to tag on to this line of thought...turn breaker off, take apart the outlet and clean out then reconnect it.
Sometimes due to age the wires become loose or corrode a bit and need to be stripped/cleaned and reconnected.
like your sockets in your house that spark when you plug something into them...new socket=no spark
just a tought
 
Eljay, also forgot to mention...when you run that 240V circuit out to your garage, opt for 50A if you can swallow the cost at this point as part of the reno. It will cost more, but it will also be future proof if/when you buy another EV down the road that can actually draw those sorts of amps

Personally I cheaped out and installed 12/2 which is only good for 20 amps at 240V, but the Volt Level 2 charge won't ever exceed 16A so it's OK. I am aware that if in 2-3 years we buy a Bolt however I will have to swallow the cost of running a far larger wire out there however.
 
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I find your position to be of deflection. I made a statement and you chose to counter the validity of my assertion as to the take in cost of the car.
Now I am simply asking you what the wholesale price is for the car.
I thought we are supposed to be part of the moto-brotherhood and look out for each other e.g. PP and Slowbird are posting ALOT of info for our benefit.
You are in a position to assist.

I am willing to bet my bike they did NOT take that car in for $20k. It was less.
Your turn:D

Believe me or don't, it changes nothing for me. I wouldn't publicly post a wholesale number for the same reason I wouldn't ask any store keeper what their cost is on a product I'm interested in simply because it isn't my business and they deserve to make money. What is important is if I'm happy with the price.

If you really want to know some of the workings of the car business I leave Woodbridge around 5 most days and commute to Hamilton. If you want to have a beer and talk cars between those two points send me a pm.
 
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.


A laptop and compatible J-2534 pass-thru running the appropriate OE level software is something a quality indy should have these days. Most makes can be fully service with this setup, and for the few that can't, I have the OE hardware so I can. With such, re-enabling, re-coding, software programming and updating are all quite easy to perform. I have in fact updated a Volt BECM with an updated calibration to correct a 'Battery Module Internal Performance' code which was setting an intermittent SES. FWIW, that was the only time I've had to update a Volt... On the other hand the Honda IMS... A Fleet Civic hybrid I service has seen multiple sessions. Anyway moral is, the dealer is not the be all end all as they would like you to believe.

Thankfully with the Volt you should be able to do most of what you outlined above yourself (nothing funny with the brake hydraulics like the Escape hybrids) but a word of caution which applies to all hybrids, do the service with the key fob out of the car and on the bench. Brake applications, engine starts, random component activations and all manner of fawkery can occur if you "thought" the car was fully shut down
 

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