Quote:
Originally Posted by California98Civic
I like the 2011/12 Volt a lot. But I have been looking and they are always a few thousand more than a comparable condition/age/mileage Sonic here in Southern California. Also, the OP is looking for a road trip car. The Volt primary advantage is greatly reduced if you drive hundreds of miles a day nearly everyday for days or weeks and stop in places where recharging is sometimes impossible.
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https://www.voltstats.net/Stats/Details/1579
Not really, its electric when that is feasible and gas when its not and thats the point,
for people who drive across the nation most of the time they aren't going to be able to run much electric but so what? They still will get some electric motivation when its worthwhile and if they hit mountains (and use common sense) they will average higher MPGs than even a Prius due to the 16kw battery.
On the road I was able to charge some nights at the Hotels depending on if I had a ground floor and a "lax" attendant or if they had block heater plug ins installed in the spots. Sort of like getting a free gallon of gas when I could charge.
The volt is much more comfortable for most people than a sonic or prius or whatever and gets roughly the same gas MPG, there is also a tune that raises the 87 octane gas MPG up to about 45mpg at highway speeds without electric motivation.
A volt even when just run as a hybrid can also be silent in the city by using mountain mode or hold with a small amount of planning.
Also comparing age/miles on a volt to a Sonic is laughable, you could easily add 100k onto your search range for the volt and still have fewer large repairs than a Sports car, Sonic or Cruze. Most Premium volts wear much better than your typical econo box, Mr. Balmers interior looks like new (at 370,000 miles)
Obviously there are some Gen I'rs that get burnt but its the same reliability as a Prius minus battery issues, pretty much drive and change fluids for most everyone.
The biggest repair Sparkie the Volt has had with 370,000 miles on the clock was the classic GM FWD bearings that go, everything else that was done was due to an accident in the mid 300k area. Just fluids and filters for Mr. Balmer.
Those of US with Gen I Volts are waiting to see how far Sparkie goes before total failure, it appears 500k, maybe beyond if he doesn't crunch the car again, we were rather worried when he got smashed up.
Cheers
Ryan