My salesman didn't know that much about the Volt either. However, he was helpful and helped me figure some of the features out. In the long run I knew I wanted one anyway, but he wasn't half as pushy as all the other salesman I had gone to look at cars from.
A salesman that is patient, and has a "can try this" attitude is way better than one that tells the buyer of fires in other vehicles to try to sell his own when I was mainly wanting to look around at other options. That one didn't realize I was already informed at how wrong he was (Yes it was the Toyota dealer)...
I'll admit, the partial charge on the Volt I test drove may have been a downer for some, but when I couldn't feel it switch to gas, and my wife liked the smooth ride as much as she did I was even more sold on the Volt.
Then again, as much as I liked my salesman, I'm not sure at all about my dealer's service department which let me schedule an appointment without a trained Volt tech on duty, and wasted my time. They made me come back later without fixing my car on the first appointment, even though they knew what it was in for and told me they could fix it. They then told me they have a shuttle service which was completely unsuitable because it wouldn't get me to work on time, and wouldn't be able to pick me up because I work too many hours..
So I had to drive with a check engine light on for 3 weeks until the trained Volt tech was on duty on a Saturday.
I do know now that in the future they should get me a rental so they can fix the car on a weekday, and I don't have the worry of something else being wrong with the check engine light, but that was a lack of knowldge I had before I started posting and reading here.
I was never contacted by Volt Advisors until I asked a question in email about whether my car had already had an update I read about here, and was told in a reply that it had gotten the update before delivery (which I'm happy about). It just seems if I hadn't found this site, I'd be way more in the dark.
So, I think in the long run, I know where "Mike" is coming from. Maybe the C-Max will do well, or maybe the others. I love my Volt, and hope GM wins out over them all, but I do agree that dealers should train people that are passionate about the cars and they will sell way more. I don't know what will make the service people more passionate. I showed up with less than 2500 miles with a scheduled appointment for a warranty repair, and they asked me if I needed an oil change. :/
I didn't understand why they would ask that for a 2013 Volt that I bought 2 months ago.. Maybe they don't realize I've only used 3.5 gallons of gas?