Considering a Purchase

[kolotyluk]

On a whim I took a Volt for a test drive for my first time yesterday. The Saturday before I tried a Kia hybrid - but was not too impressed. I looked at the Mitsubishi electric a month ago - but the seat would not go back far enough (and I am not a tall person).

I am a very technical person and asked a lot of questions as I have been trying to pay attention to electric and fuel-cell car technology for years. I can honestly say that I cannot see anything stupid or wrong in the design and implementation of the car - and for me that is high praise indeed.

The dealer told me they have no trouble selling the Volt and people have to wait a long time cause there is more demand than supply. Is that true? They had a customer factory order a fully loaded one in Topaz Blue a couple of months ago, and then he changed his mind, but it will arrive in another few weeks so they were looking for a buyer. As blue is my favorite colour, and I liked the car I put a down payment to hold the car until I can make up my mind. In the mean time I am trying to do as much research as I can before committing to the purchase - and would appreciate any advice or insight.

[dax777]

Hello kolotyluk, your first mistake is taking the Volt for a test drive because once you've done that, you're hooked...that's what I did also and bought a Volt 3 days later after trading in one of my Priuses. The Volt the best vehicle I've ever driven and have a constant smile on my face every time I drive it...I find myself thinking errands just for the excuse to drive my baby. If there are any particular questions that I may answer for you, just fire away...and the fact that blue is your favorite color, I think you will love the vehicle. Is the Volt fully loaded or basic? enjoy the ride, you will not regret it...the Volt may indeed be in short supply in certain areas due to the month stoppage of the production line, but it can still be had in other locations...I also researched for 3 days before buying and never regretted it...bought mine in Feb 2012...hope this helps

[tboult]

On a whim I took a Volt for a test drive for my first time yesterday. The Saturday before I tried a Kia hybrid - but was not too impressed. I looked at the Mitsubishi electric a month ago - but the seat would not go back far enough (and I am not a tall person).

I am a very technical person and asked a lot of questions as I have been trying to pay attention to electric and fuel-cell car technology for years. I can honestly say that I cannot see anything stupid or wrong in the design and implementation of the car - and for me that is high praise indeed.

The dealer told me they have no trouble selling the Volt and people have to wait a long time cause there is more demand than supply. Is that true? They had a customer factory order a fully loaded one in Topaz Blue a couple of months ago, and then he changed his mind, but it will arrive in another few weeks so they were looking for a buyer. As blue is my favorite colour, and I liked the car I put a down payment to hold the car until I can make up my mind. In the mean time I am trying to do as much research as I can before committing to the purchase - and would appreciate any advice or insight.

Welcome..

There is a ton of material here that can help you learn about it. You did not ask specific questions so other than getting messages like/. "you'll love it.. just do it", etc. There are lots of stories here so look around the forum.


One thing is that if you drove it in EV mode, you know how smooth and quite it is. If it was not charged and you drove it using the engine.. have them charge it and take another drive. And if you do use Sport mode +L.
CHeck out his post about a journalist whose first drive was fair, but only using ice. When he drove it in EV it was a surprise. http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....prise-in-Paris


The volt is the best car I've ever owned -- I would not trade my Volt for just about anything. (Maybe a model S signature, but that is a very different price point). If I won a porche or BWM in a raffel I'd just sell it to buy another volt! Many people here have traded BWM, MB, Audi, Lexus, Caddy, and Porche and are glad they did. Search for any brand you want here and you'll see people's comparison.

If you want to see real-world milage data, look at voltstats.net.. its amazing what people are getting.

[an_outsider]

The dealer told me they have no trouble selling the Volt and people have to wait a long time cause there is more demand than supply. Is that true?

Hi there,

No idea how rare they are in BC but here in QC, there almost non-existent stock, pre-order only Volt seem to be the new trend...

Can't wait to drive & smile

[jegund]

Too late, its hard to turn back once you test drive a Volt. I have had mine almost 10 months and have had a very good experience so far and its fun to drive. To me, it seems most of the complaints I've heard of stem from a salesperson lack of knowledge or poor customer service at the dealer. Yeah there are a few wish list items, like not having the ICE turn on to warm the battery when you start in temps below 28 degrees F., lack of electric seat controls, no spare tire, and a few other items, but overall the car is a winner. You'll want to keep in mind the car is at its best in electric mode and has a real electric range of between 30 and 45 miles. I occasionally get up to 52 miles when the outside temp is just right and I drive conservatively. This past winter most days were between 30 and 35 miles electric. Another big consideration is your home, and if needed, your work charging situations. A 220 volt Level2 charger is best as it minimize the times you will be w/o a charge (about 4 hours for a full charge), but the 110 volt charger works ok just takes longer (about 9-10 hours for a full charge from empty). I've used 110 charger at home and work for the last 9 months no problem but I am getting L2 charger this summer. Check the site voltstats.net for some interesting numbers from many Volt owners.
Good luck.

[mixedpixel]

The dealer told me they have no trouble selling the Volt and people have to wait a long time cause there is more demand than supply. Is that true?

It's probably true in Vancouver. There are a few people on this board from Quebec or Ontario who waited a long time to get their Volts. In the US, the demand seems to vary a lot by region. Last month I talked to a dealer in California who sold 10 Volts in a week. Here in Utah, there are a couple of dealers that are having a lot of trouble selling any so far this year; although the dealer I bought from doesn't have enough and bought three from another dealer in Texas to sell here.

[kickincanada]

It is true that in Canada demand exceeds supply. Everyone has to order and wait (usually). I had to wait 6 months to get mine. You will never ever regret the decision. there is a Canadian thread here.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....THREAD/page168

[voltoronto]

7 months with the Volt, and it's been great! Love the driving in sport mode, hard off the line, with no noise. My commute allows me to stay at about 95-96% electric driving. With the moderate temperatures in Vancouver you should get great stats.

I agree with all the feedback above. Go for it!

[Pat]

So surprising that GM does not put efforts to sell more in Canada! Wonder what is holding them back? It seems there is pent up demand in Canada and buyers have to wait ...

[enpowers]

I think potential buyers need to think about how they will use the car more than anything else. I live about 7 miles from work and almost all our errands are well within the 40 mile range we've been getting. We didn't need a highway car, as we have other vehicles (4-wheel, 2-wheel, and 6-wheel) for that purpose, so the Volt made great sense. In our first month, we've used 1/10th of a a gallon of gas (the two-way trip to the airport is at the edge of the range and we'd already run a couple errands). But if your usage is less consistent as to miles-per-day or you are going to use it long distance, there are probably better choices.

The big problem that I see is that everyone compares the Volt to an econobox. It's not. It is comparable to something you would expect to find in the $30K range. So yes, there is still an 'early adopter' financial penalty, but not as much as a lot of naysayers make it out to be.

If I needed a highway car, I'm pretty impressed with the VW Passat TDI. Large, comfortable, 40MPG (diesel) on the highway, and remarkably inexpensive). But this time around, we were looking for the 'in town' car, and the Volt fit the bill better than anything on the market.

As to the Prius (the 'standard' for comparison), I didn't like it at all. Too small, too noisy, too slow, too basic, and too expensive. In fact, it is like every other Toyota - perfect for people that don't like to drive.