Product Review: Volt

[Tuna]

We've had our Volt for 14 months now and it's got just over 13K miles on it. My wife drives it to work 5 days a week and sometimes on the weekend. Her commute is about 37 miles unless she has to make a side trip for work or shopping.

The Volt is rated for 35 miles on battery. During the summer, my wife routinely sees 40+ miles on the battery. Winter drops it down to the low 30s.

What does that mean? Most of the time, my wife is on battery when she drives it to work. In the winter, it switches to the gas/generator for the last 4-5 miles home.

This past summer she went for 3 and a half months without putting gas in the car - 3100 miles and then she only put 6 gallons in it.

We pay an "averaged" electric bill each month and the Volt caused our bill to go up just over $5.00 a month. So, my wife spends a buck and a quarter each week to drive the Volt on electricity.

GM and the EPA say it will get 38 MPG when operating on the gas/generator. I took the Volt on a little road trip yesterday - 266 miles, mostly on Route 66 here in OK. The first 40 were on battery. The rest on gas/generator. My gas/gen mileage was 38.85 MPG.

I also found that the Volt can and does pass well. It ain't a Vette but it will move from 60 to 80 fairly quickly and quietly.

All in all, the Volt is turning out to be everything GM said it would be and it suits for my wife's daily driver just fine.​

 

[hollywdv]

We've had our Volt for 14 months now and it's got just over 13K miles on it. My wife drives it to work 5 days a week and sometimes on the weekend. Her commute is about 37 miles unless she has to make a side trip for work or shopping.

The Volt is rated for 35 miles on battery. During the summer, my wife routinely sees 40+ miles on the battery. Winter drops it down to the low 30s.

What does that mean? Most of the time, my wife is on battery when she drives it to work. In the winter, it switches to the gas/generator for the last 4-5 miles home.

This past summer she went for 3 and a half months without putting gas in the car - 3100 miles and then she only put 6 gallons in it.

We pay an "averaged" electric bill each month and the Volt caused our bill to go up just over $5.00 a month. So, my wife spends a buck and a quarter each week to drive the Volt on electricity.

GM and the EPA say it will get 38 MPG when operating on the gas/generator. I took the Volt on a little road trip yesterday - 266 miles, mostly on Route 66 here in OK. The first 40 were on battery. The rest on gas/generator. My gas/gen mileage was 38.85 MPG.

I also found that the Volt can and does pass well. It ain't a Vette but it will move from 60 to 80 fairly quickly and quietly.

All in all, the Volt is turning out to be everything GM said it would be and it suits for my wife's daily driver just fine.
​

Great to hear. I'm considering this or the Cad version of this car in the 2 yrs or so. My commute is approx 40 miles/day and this would work out really well. My V would be a weekend car from then on..

 

[Tuna]

Right now, we're missing the Volt!

Friday, Feb 1, the wife and the Volt was t-boned in the driver's door by a driver that walked away from the wreck and never returned. He left his totaled Toyota in the front yard of a house at the intersection he didn't stop at.

The Volt took the hit pretty well. Driver's door is caved in about 4-6 inches. Both doors, both fenders, charger receptacle, both wheels, the roof and b-pillar have to be replaced along with all the side air bags.

Wife walked away with a few minor bruises and a slightly sore neck. The air bags did their job. So, instead of both the Volt and my wife in the hospital, only the Volt needs surgery! :smile:

Might get the Volt back by the first of March.

In the meantime, the wife is driving an Impala rental car and she's not liking it. Impala isn't nearly as nice a car as the Volt.

 

[hollywdv]

Glad your wife was able to walk away from this. Cars can be fixed and/or replaced..

It's crazy that some people can be so irresponsible. He'll get what's coming to him..

 

[cubby558]

Sorry to hear about your Volt being damaged, Tuna. Hope it all works out OK!

 

[Tuna]

Sorry to hear about your Volt being damaged, Tuna. Hope it all works out OK!

Me too!

The total estimate on repair was just under $17K or about $4K less than being totaled.
After having all the computers rebooted, the drive line powered up and the dealer drove it into the shop. The estimate also said 35 business days to get it repaired. That could mean the middle of March before we get it back so long as they don't find more work which would put repairs over $21K.

 

[mtrocket]

Me too!

The total estimate on repair was just under $17K or about $4K less than being totaled.
After having all the computers rebooted, the drive line powered up and the dealer drove it into the shop. The estimate also said 35 business days to get it repaired. That could mean the middle of March before we get it back so long as they don't find more work which would put repairs over $21K.

Glad your wife walked away from this accident... could have very easily been worse than it was.

 

[Tuna]

Finally got the Volt back last week. So far, so good. 2 months in the body shop and service department. A few delays in getting parts or getting parts that fit right plus the delays in not knowing that you need a part until you put it all back together - only to find out you need to order something else.

Wife is happy driving her Volt again and it looks and drives great. It's on a lease, so we'll give it back to Ally in another 19 months. Wife is already talking about the Volt's replacement. She likes the ATS - no V version though since we already have 2 hot rods in the garage. Then again, she could go for the ELR once she sees one. Only time will tell.

 

[cubby558]

Glad to hear your wife got her baby back, Tuna. It always seems more parts are needed once the body shops get into tearing it down, etc. My Ford Expedition got hit while parked in front of my house a couple years ago and it ended up taking twice as long to repair as what was stated. When they got it all done, it went out for a test drive and had a horrible vibration at any speed. They determined the left rear axle had been bent in the collision and had to order a new one--another two weeks before we got it back, along with another $$$ addition to the insurance claim.:lol:

We are now waiting to see the ATS-V when they come out and will be replacing either the Expedition or Taurus SHO.