This car HAS to be reliable. People do not want a car where something breaks and they have to replace it w/ a very expensive part. My real reason for posting this thread: Look at the latest Consumer Reports Auto Issue: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/buying-advice/who-makes-the-best-cars/overview/index.htm

If you look at their ratings available to subscribers, GM is 2nd to last, only above Chrysler.

GM has only itself to blame for the trouble it is in. Not the economy.

I think they are making reasonable progress. The new Malibu is rated the best American car, and CR thinks that the Cruze will be even better. Since the Volt is an electric drive version of the Cruze, I think we will see a good car.

What usually kills a car? Engine and transmission. The Volt will use an electric motor to spin the wheels, and there will probably be a single speed gearbox between the motor and the wheels. Both are very simple reliable components and could possibly outlive the owner. There are two other added 'major components' which very well may kill the Volt in its later years: the battery pack and the controller. The controller should last a long time. The battery pack will likely experience a recall or may be replaced once under warranty. The gas engine that acts as a generator will probably not be abused as much as a gas engine in a normal car, since it's entirely computer controlled (no redlining) and starts and stops only as needed. I think the engine could easily live up to 500,000 miles since very few of those miles would be put on the engine itself.

The one component that we know will probably die after about 150k miles is the battery. But that's at least what you would expect out of an engine and transmission on a gas car, and the replacement cost of the battery pack will probably be cheaper than those two components by then.

I'm confident the Volt will become GMs most reliable product, and probably the worlds most reliable yet still versatile passenger vehicle by the second generation.

Don't know what to tell you. CR is highly skewed and biased IMO. I have only bought three brand new cars in my life. All of them have been on Consumer Reports horrible black bubble cars of the apocalypse list. None of my cars has broken down, left me stranded, cost me any unscheduled expenses or caused me great grief. I personally take the magazines opinions with a grain of salt, but I know that a good portion of the car buying public don't and adhere strictly to all the advice they give.

If you were to take the auto media at it's word, they would have us believe that the junkyards of America are filled to the brim with domestic cars and the Japanese cars are a scarcity. From some one who has spent a great deal of time in junkyards finding parts for collectible cars, I can tell you that this is not the case. They would also have you believe that such a thing as a Toyota repair technician is so seldom required that they have to be flown in from Japan. Have a look at the yellow pages, these guys are doing more than just changing oil.

Will the Volt rival Honda and Toyota in the eyes of Consumer Reports? I doubt it, unless GM can somehow build at least $1500 of profit in each car allowing them to purchase better components, better materials and increase the number of fasteners. They would also have to be able to have the car built by non-union labor that is actually worried about their job review and put in place management that values labor and creates a non-adversarial work atmosphere. I seriously doubt any of this will be the case for the Volt. Still, I firmly believe that the Volt will be, just as all the other American cars out there are, about 90-95% the quality of a Lexus or Acura. If the recommendation of Consumer Reports is your litmus test for cars, you should get excited about your new plug-in Prius.

Don't know what to tell you. CR is highly skewed and biased IMO. I have only bought three brand new cars in my life. All of them have been on Consumer Reports horrible black bubble cars of the apocalypse list. None of my cars has broken down, left me stranded, cost me any unscheduled expenses or caused me great grief. I personally take the magazines opinions with a grain of salt, but I know that a good portion of the car buying public don't and adhere strictly to all the advice they give.

If you were to take the auto media at it's word, they would have us believe that the junkyards of America are filled to the brim with domestic cars and the Japanese cars are a scarcity. From some one who has spent a great deal of time in junkyards finding parts for collectible cars, I can tell you that this is not the case. They would also have you believe that such a thing as a Toyota repair technician is so seldom required that they have to be flown in from Japan. Have a look at the yellow pages, these guys are doing more than just changing oil.

Will the Volt rival Honda and Toyota in the eyes of Consumer Reports? I doubt it, unless GM can somehow build at least $1500 of profit in each car allowing them to purchase better components, better materials and increase the number of fasteners. They would also have to be able to have the car built by non-union labor that is actually worried about their job review and put in place management that values labor and creates a non-adversarial work atmosphere. I seriously doubt any of this will be the case for the Volt. Still, I firmly believe that the Volt will be, just as all the other American cars out there are, about 90-95% the quality of a Lexus or Acura. If the recommendation of Consumer Reports is your litmus test for cars, you should get excited about your new plug-in Prius.

Consumer reports obtains its reliability data on surveys by its subscribers. (I'm not sure if this is their only input.) So it is true that the accuracy is based on the honesty of its subscribers. If the subscribers have a bias against domestic cars they may fudge a little on their answers.

CR's reliability rating is across their entire vehicle product line, and GM has a lot of vehicles that can mess up the ratings. I'm not saying GM can't make good cars, but as it stands, its entire portfolio is not the best on the market.