9th Oct 2021, 21:11
New headlight lens are available on Amazon only around $130 each. Brand new, why buy used with unknown age with seals that can go anytime? I bought new tail lights on my Chevrolet on there. Well packaged with bulbs and harness. Like new.
10th Oct 2021, 01:27
I would go with with Toyota for the next hybrid. GM couldn’t build a wheelbarrow properly.
11th Oct 2021, 15:21
I have had pretty bad luck buying aftermarket lights unfortunately. I bought some for my truck and they did not actually fit. I think before I do this I am going to attempt to sand down the old lights and buff them out fully. Then it might be time to look for replacements if that doesn't work.
As far as GM building wheelbarrows, well we owned a Prius before the Volt. It was fine and it was reliable. But we've not had any issues with the Volt save for a faulty valve in the heater which was like $30.
11th Oct 2021, 20:27
And I would not take any advice from someone who states an opinion as if it were a fact.
12th Oct 2021, 18:39
Bought Silverado tail lights - perfect fit. With bulbs. 2 screws, easy as anything. Brand new off Amazon. Why buy polish or try toothpaste. Waste of time.
16th Dec 2021, 15:24
Well... here is an update. The car is now exhibiting what might possibly be traction battery failure. The car started running less and less on EV mode and more and more on gas mode. After doing some research, this suggests battery failure due to age and use. The car now has 175,000 miles. We were going to trade it in for a newer vehicle, but the crazy car market due to the chip shortage problem puts a slammer on that. So I will be installing a re-manufactured battery in it sometime soon. That will be $4000. Pricey, but for now the cheapest option.
6th May 2022, 14:29
This is the final comment for this car as it has since gone onto a new life somewhere else. Towards the end the battery simply stopped working. It would charge to about 25 miles worth of charge and then seldom run on the battery period. The time period it took from using mostly battery power to mostly engine was about a year. I wonder if part of this might have had to do with the fact that we barely drove during the first year of the pandemic. It could also be that perhaps I had unrealistic expectations of how long batteries- especially batteries in such an early EV- would last. We tend to keep cars forever. I had been aiming for 15 years. We instead got 11. My wife and I had a discussion and seeing as how this was sort of her car, she didn't want to spend the $4,000 or so to replace the battery. So that was it.
Now granted we live in a part of the country that is sunny for most of the year and the car sits outside 24/7. But the black paint on the roof, the various black plastic bits and pieces and the headlights started to rapidly deteriorate. I did buff out the paint once or twice but eventually gave up.
In the car's defense it did its job during a time period where we had an awful commute. Prior to the pandemic we carpooled together 40 miles each way. For years the car would get us to work and back without using any gas. For years we spent very little on gas. This also meant I only changed the oil every 2 years as recommended. I did NOTHING to the engine. As it seldom ran up until the last year, I didn't have to change the plugs, wires, air filter or anything else other than the oil, which I did a total of 5 times. And due to the regenerative brakes the pads were still 80% there.
Other than the obvious issue with the battery nothing else went wrong other than a small plastic valve buried next to the firewall that had to get replaced. The car had power everything. Nothing broke. It all worked just fine.
We traded it in on a Subaru. Not a hybrid, not an electric, but just a plain old gas powered Subaru. One day I want to get another EV. But as of now there's simply not many options, the prices are high and I'd like to wait and see if battery life one day becomes more long-term. My other vehicle is 26 years old. So logically that makes it the next one to get replaced. So maybe in another 5 years I will look into getting another one.
Anyway, this was probably the most unusual car I've ever owned. Even towards the end I STILL had to explain to people that no- it wasn't a pure EV and it wasn't a Prius either. It was BOTH. So clearly GM didn't really explain it as well as they could have and that is probably a reason why its production was halted after only 2 generations. A shame because such cars give you the flexibility to drive mostly on electric, but then have a gas engine to go on long trips.
9th Oct 2021, 12:37
Here is an update on the Volt. Basically due to the chip shortage we have wound up holding on to the car a lot longer. At this point I'm a little disappointed that the paint on the roof is really starting to suffer. As in I'd say within another year it's going to look really heavily oxidized. But, the car is 10 years old so I guess that comes with the territory.
Likewise the headlight lenses are also starting to really oxidize, and if we keep it much longer I'm probably just going to have to find replacements online from a salvage yard or something. It's annoying that manufacturers choose not to use glass or some other substance that won't degrade in the sun.
Now granted we haven't been driving as much due to the pandemic, but about a month ago we took a 1500 mile road trip in it. This is probably the longest trip we've ever taken in it and of course almost all of it was using the gas engine only. Let me just say that when going over major mountain passes the car is pretty hairy. Basically we had to stay on the far right lane and eventually the car would slow down to under 50 miles an hour. The engine in it simply cannot keep up with charging both the battery and propelling the car.
But, at the end of the day we really haven't had any problems to speak of with it. It's good for what it does which is basically a commuter-mobile. And I still feel this car was way ahead of its time, because 10 years later and now there is starting to be other manufacturers who are just now starting to make similar products. I think it also renewed my faith in General Motors because when I was a kid all the cars we had from them were kind of pieces of crap. But clearly they've made massive improvements and this car is no exception.