Quote:
Originally Posted by California98Civic
Do you know a guide you like on what to look out for when buying a used Volt? You know a lot about EVs, from what I have seen, and now I see you own a Volt. Even a few years old Volts are too expensive for us unless I go for high miles and reasonable repairs needed. I am willing to consider that, but I have to know more about what to look out for. Any advice?
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Thank you,
I don't know of any guides but in general any new car if it has been in a collision and repaired is on its way to the junkyard.
That said the Gen I Volt is GM's most reliable car and is more reliable than the Nissans Leaf or the TSLA.
So...
1. Don't buy a volt with accident history, if you do buy one that had an accident you have to accept a $2000-$4000 looming potential cost since the modules are designed to disallow normal OBDII tools to work and the dealer charges lots of money to do absolutely nothing but clear a code.
2. When buying a high mile volt, insist on the battery being fully charged before you get there, drive it dead and drive it like you 0WN it.
(a volt with issues will have them show up nearly instantly if someone tried shenanigans)
3. Most volts will easily go 300,000 miles without any real repairs, some require a main bearing and others require the front end bearings (like all FWD GM cars)
but Sparky, the 330,000+ mile volt only recently had to have the front bearings done, not bad.
Generally repairs on a Volt are very few and far between, sort of like a Prius but in all honesty better.
Next, on a volt anything but the OEM tire will cause range loss (except maybe the 2nd gen Ecopia) many dealers like to shove on some ****e, call em out on it. The OEMs are just fine but keep them aired up and accept poor winter performance (if you use them that way) Keep your pressure low on the OEMs and expect front tire blowouts.
There is also a preventative maintenance kit (a modified coolant sensor) for volts with the structural updates to prevent a false failure because of a $5 part.
It is offered by a guy on the volt forum and I recommend it if you have a volt with the wonderful update.
A Volt is pretty much a charge and drive car, oil changes every few years and not much else for hundreds of thousands of miles is normal/
I myself am looking for a high mile volt to give my father, but the right combination of options (and distance from me) hasn't happened.
Ah well, good luck