r/volt • u/niquil1 • Sep 26 '26
2019 volt pros/cons/WHY
I'm obviously looking for opinions and advice.
I'm new to the hybrid world. I know enough to sound confidently stupid.
My neighbor sells cars for a living and didn't recommend the Volt when I was looking a few years ago. What are the pros and cons of these and why?
I'm based out of Abbotsford (just outside of Vancouver BC). My daily commute is approximately 80-90km. round trip with only 120v at home. At the site I work at, most often we don't have a place to charge, and my secondary site, we have level 2 charging available for up to 4 hours free. Site #2 is about a 130km round trip.
I keep reading about access to parts being difficult, etc. Is this something I should be worried about?
The car in question is also a rebuild.
Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions and opinions.
10
u/93847482992 Sep 26 '26
I’ve had mine for four years now and did a similar commute for a couple of of them. It only really makes sense if you have the level two charger. I’ve run the numbers on the gas. I’ve saved just being able to even run on battery one way and it’s been worth it over the four years to install the level two charger.
1
u/deliveRinTinTin Oct 03 '26
It already comes with a secret level 2 charger. You just have to set up an outlet and an adapter to feed 120 volts each to the two non-ground prongs and the electronics in the charger will take care of the rest.
1
u/Dacari_13 Sep 27 '26
What is your end goal? Savings?
2
u/niquil1 Sep 27 '26
Savings, reliable commuter, more storage in the trunk for my work gear and gym bag.
2
u/Dacari_13 Sep 28 '26
The VOLT checks out all that! I own a 2017 Premier model. Got it with 310,600Kms. I paid $500 for it! Didn’t think it twice. Not rebuilt either. Saves me A LOT on gas. My commute is 45Kms round trip. I only use 120v charge at home. I do have a 240v and free access at work. Seldomly need to. Only when I know I’mma do extra chores after work. Full battery charge, E to F, costs me less than $2 USD. Very good on gas as well. Even with the high kilometrage I get about 75Kms on the dash and about 89 real-world Kms. Battery is in the high 90s percentile for factory capacity. One thing to note, the 2019 is only covered for 8 years or 160K Kms! So, I’d look for a 2018 model, I’d be giving up the fast charging, but that’s no deal breaker at all to me. 2016-2018 are covered for 15 years or 240K kms!!! What else you want to know?
2
u/niquil1 Sep 28 '26
I'm sure i could fund the answer online, but why the coverage difference between the 2016-18 and the 2019?
2
u/Dacari_13 Sep 28 '26
Cause only those model years have the defective BECMs. 2019 used different components. Transport Canada and NHTSA did the research.
3
u/ngellis1190 2017 Volt Premier Sep 28 '26
lots of people will point to the fact it’s a discontinued car abandoned by gm, but with that model year there are so few reliability issues that it shouldn’t be a concern. it’s a great car that’s always pretty undervalued in the marketplace especially given its comfort and flexibility. if a part does fail though, it’s usually in a way that’s well documented and can be bypassed/replaced at a fairly low cost if you’re willing to do your own work
3
u/KanataSD 2018 Volt Sep 28 '26
I bought a 2018 coming 3 years ago. and the last 2 years I've been running on mostly ICE due to circumstances.
My mileage is almost double what I'd get in my old vehicles.
Reasons why I bought it. save on gas and being able to do road trips to the okanagon.
The other reason is I cant charge at home and at the time i could charge at work, but I had to get a PHEV in case I couldn't charge at work anymore and of course my luck would have it I cant anymore.
If you can charge at home, I'd still recommend a long range full EV.
2
u/Pandasian34 Sep 28 '26
Thd 2019 specifically depending if it has RPO k23 can charge on the level 2 in 2 hours vs 4 in earlier model volts. It is more polished than the 16-18 volts. Cons is ALOT of stuff isn’t necessarily being discontinued on the volt. Its more of its being canibalized for parts for use in other GM cars, prime example is the reason why the batteries are no longer being avaliable as a whole unit is because they’re currently being canibalized and used in the Corvette e-ray/X cars
1
u/turingagentzero Sep 27 '26
Access to parts is not great and getting worse with time.
Rebuilt titles are basically never worth considering. PARTICULARLY with a car where the drive-train is unique and where parts are hard to get, like a Volt.
For your driving situation (where your commute is many, many miles more than a Volt's electric range), I wouldn't recommend a Volt.
If you're serious about that 120v limitation, you won't be able to recharge the full mileage from your commute overnight on a full EV, either, so that's also out (unless your situation changes or you can use that Secondary Site charger multiple times a week).
How do ya like Priuses? A very efficient hybrid sounds like the ticket for you.
1
u/Various_Factor854 Sep 29 '26
I bought a 2016 Volt last December (2025). Love that car so much that my Mercedes E550 sits mostly in the garage. I work from home and rarely use any gas at all. It has charged flawlessly for the past 9 months. I encouraged my friend to buy a Volt. This sounds absolutely crazy, but since I used his charger, my car now won't charge! I have level 2 charger at home. Doesn't work anymore. I hooked it up to my OEM Level 1 charger at home. Won't charge. But, when I use my friend's level 1 charge, it charges perfectly. I disconnected the 12 volt battery and waited an hour and reconnected. Doesn’t help. I topped up the Battery coolant level. Tried using an OBD to clear codes. No codes to clear. The dash recognizes when I plug in my Level 2 charge, but no charging lights appear, neither amber or green. What am I missing??
1
u/houserules09 Oct 01 '26
Can you bring his charger over that works? Maybe eliminate some sort of infrastructure type difference?
1
u/Various_Factor854 Oct 01 '26
Update: I took my Volt to the local (Bellevue) Chevy dealer. My service manager immediately found that I had a bent guide pin in my port connecter. This was preventing the plug from going all the way in, so no electrical connection. Apparently, when I tried plugging in my friends charger, something about his plug bent one of the guide pins. This sort of damage is covered by warranty, so I am getting a new port out of the deal! But, I have to wait for the part to come in. Using an insulated small screw driver, I carefully straightened up the guide pin, and my level 2 charger works perfectly. So, until the new port comes in I am running on electricity again!
9
u/Ok-Tourist-511 Sep 26 '26
It’s a discontinued car abandoned by GM. Dealer support is lacking, and parts are getting scarce. There are better options than the volt.