Is GM still buying back Volts due to customer safety concerns? Volt almost killed me

[drusoicy]

EDIT: Adding link to my tale of my 2012 Chevy Volt safety concern

EDIT: Here is the second update - the dealer is trying to help, but GM/Chevy is being difficult

EDIT: Final update - great news! Chevy/GM agree to replace our 2012 Volt with a full-loaded 2013 model

Seriously.

I've owned the car for 9 weeks and 1 day today. Drove a little over 2200 miles using 8.8 gallons of gas. The car has been in the shop three times already. Annoying, but I love the gas savings since I moved from a Cadillac CTS that got 18 MPG. $840 car payment plus $250 in gas per month bumped down to $549 lease payment and have not bought gas at all. Times in the shop as I said were annoying, but nothing to do with safety.

Today though, was different. I drove about 3 miles from home to the store. No problem. Then driving back home, no problem, stop lights and all that. Then I stop at the last turn before my home, wait for traffic to pass so I can take my left across 2 highway lanes. Traffic clears, more coming, I take my left...and the Volt refuses to go more than 3 MPH!! I push the gas pedal to the floor...still 3 MPH, and three cars slam their brakes so they don't hit me...and it was CLOSE. The Volt eventually gets out of the way, still not going over 3 MPH. The battery gauge at this point shows that I have another 35 miles left of range, and I have gas in the tank as well, about 1/4 full. There is no reason that a lack of battery or gas would be the reason for this.

I am about 2 blocks from home now, and the Volt will not go above 3 MPH. I turn the car off for a minute and back on. Same problem. I have a small hill to get onto my street. Maybe a 6 foot incline over 20 feet. It takes me about 5 minutes to get up that hill rather than the typical 3 seconds. At this point this is going to be the 4th time the car is in the shop, and this time I feel unsafe driving it there...this is a lemon. I have no idea why the Volt keeps failing in different ways that require multiple days in service with a gas guzzling loaner car given to us to use, and now I don't know that I trust the car not to do this again. One of the issues we had it serviced for came back 3 days later...and this is not something I can tolerate. I just luckily happened to be 2 blocks from home when this happened, and also I luckily was in front of drivers who were paying attention. This could have easily been severe injury, and could have easily been death if those three cars collided with me at 50 MPH.

What are my options? I called the dealership and they kept trying to tell me to talk to the service tech. I don't want service. I think I want Chevy to buy this thing back.

[Pat]

It cud be something went amiss after the service guy worked on it. It has happened before on many occasions ..I got my car serviced and other issues cropped up which were not there to begin with ...have also heard that service guy left stuff under the hood ...Check with the Dealership and insist on getting it fixed ..

[saghost]

As a general rule, no - the issues were addressed. Every model from every manufacturer is subject to lemon law type buy backs, however.

Did you get a check engine light? I've never heard of this before, but 3 mph is the programmed 'creep' speed - it sounds to me like the car somehow stopped seeing the gas pedal input (failed sensor? Loose connection?) Good luck.

[BAZINGA]

Do you have aftermarket floor mats? I ask because I laid my heavy rubber all weather mats on top of my OEM mats w/o snapping them to the safety posts and sure enough over time they shifted up towards the footwell and blocked
the throttle.

I should have known better and have since removed the OEM mats and secured the all weather mats as required.

Now if you eliminate that as a cause, then I ask did the car throw a CEL? Did you call OnStar? Then yor next stop is the dealer.

[Loboc]

Hmmm. First post to this forum. Do you own a Volt?

Skeptical in Texas.

[Slapshot28]

No CEL or other warning message??? If not, then I agree with Bazinga. By the way, stalling at an inopportune moment can happen to any car.

I did have something similar happen, and admit that it was rather alarming; however, the Volt display simultaneously lit up like a Christmas tree including Reduced Power, Service [something or other], and CEL (code P079A). My dealer repaired a small hose leak, topped off the transmission fluid, and I was good to go.

[BAZINGA]

One more question, what year is your Volt and what are the last 5 digits of your VIN. This will help narrow the problem vehicles should there be more such incidents.

[RScott]

Is GM still buying back Volts due to customer safety concerns? Volt almost killed me

GM offered to buy back Volts when it was discovered that if they were totaled, and proper procedures were not followed, several weeks later there could be a fire. They were offering to buy them back until they found a fix and had it ready, which they did a few months later.

In your case, you would want to look into lemon laws. See http://www.atg.wa.gov/LemonLaw/General.aspx . Your state has laws for situation similar to what you are experiencing, and if your state agrees that you got a lemon, I believe GM has to buy your car back.

FWIW, I've never heard on these forums of anyone with a similar problem. You've encountered a serious safety problem. It is also your obligation to talk to the service tech ASAP and let them know exactly what is going on. If this is real, it is something GM needs to know about. Also, talk to your Volt Advisor; they may be able to help you out.

[Zythryn]

I would contact on star immediately and see what diagnostics they can run.
Then contact both your Volt advisor then the dealer.
If your car had the warrantee work on the battery system, I have heard of bizarre issues caused by it not being done absolutely correctly.
Also check your state's lemon laws.

[mhoepfin]

What has your Volt Advisor told you about this?