2012 Chevrolet Volt

Rating from Chris

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I have been driving Mercedes Benz automobiles for the past 20 years because I like well built, smooth, quiet rides. You can't get any smoother than an electric motor, so that part I knew would be good. What surprised me most though was the ride. It matched my CLK and bested my wife's C Class. She and I both live and work in a small town so we can stay on electric all the time. Our 80 mile trip to the lake on weekends is now a one gallon each way drive. She will be trading in her Mercedes on a Volt very soon. There is just nothing about this car that I don't like. I hope these things catch on because after the lease is up I don't think I can comfortably go back to all gas power. As an American, I'm very proud of what Chevrolet has accomplished with this car. I wish other American car makers would adopt the battery/generator concept. I'd love to have a Jeep Wrangler with this technology."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Just getting around

Rating from DalmightyVolt

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I was looking for a car to save some gas on my 63 mile round trip commute. Previously was in a cadillac getting 20 MPG. I ran though some numbers and the Volt was on the list of lowest cost of ownership and #1 in least amount of out of pocket expense. I test drove it and that was all it took. I am averaging 50 miles on electric daily, and over 38 MPG on the gas. I have done 250 Mile commute one weekend and averaged 44 MPG on the highway with the air on. This car exceeds every expectation. My payment was about the same compared to the Caddy, but my gas expense has been cut by $240 a month. We are now going to buy Volt # 2 as the numbers play out for both of our comutes."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Puffer Bradley

(5)
Comfort:		4 out of 5
Performance:		3 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		4 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"It was a surprisingly nice driving car. It seems well made and everything works well. You d have to be careful around the center dash buttons, the faintest touch and the button is pushed. Saying that it seems like a pretty mild complaint because everything else works well. Charging takes 10 hours and I get 45 - 47 miles on the charge. I am currently waiting for a 220 V charger and the charging will only take 4 hours. When the charge runs out the gasoline motor starts and you never notice the change over unless you look at the dash board. We have had the car for just under two months (about 1500 miles) and have only put gas in it once although it could need another tankful but I am not sure. It will warn me when I get low on gas. So far the car has been perfect. We are planning a trip from Houston to Washington Dc and a stop in Ohio before we head back home."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Just getting around

Rating from Your Average Guy

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I've had the car just over 3 weeks and I absolutely love it. I've not been to the gas station since I got it and I don't plan on being there anytime soon. My "normal" work commute is about 30 miles round trip. I'm getting about 44-45 miles per charge and I'm not really driving much different than I did when I had my former car. I got the 240V charging station installed free thanks to the local power company so it charges very quickly. Everyone I show the car to is impressed with it and I always seem to get random people asking me about it at various places I go. I don't consider myself a "tree hugger" type person at all, I'm what you would consider you normal average type of guy. I was just sick of paying so much for gas. Now I'm paying about a $1.25 to charge that battery so it's a huge savings. I'm only leasing this vehicle as I didn't know if I'd really like it, but I must tell you that I don't ever want to go back to a gas burning car ever. I'm totally sold on the EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle). I can communte 99% of the time without ever using gas. If I have to make a long commute I know I always have the gas engine to back me up. It's just a great vehicle, did I mention that already."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from CTRider

(4)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		4 out of 5
Value for the Money:		3 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I had the Volt for about 3 weeks, driving back and forth to work in CT. My commute over back roads is about 22 miles OW. I can usually do the round trip on an overnight charge (120volt). My previous car was a 2004 Caddy CTS. So comfort on a long distance is a little less, but that is mainly due to the Volt seat being a little smaller. Vehicle ride is great. We left CT for New Mexico on a full charge and a full car. We got about 35 miles and went on gas for the remaining 2500 miles. We travel Interstates in the east, and back roads west of the Mississippi. Overall milage was 40 mpg. Western gas is lower octane, so milage always falls off west of the river. The return took us through Colorado and some mountain passes over 10,000 feet. I did not use "Mountain Mode" since I never really knew when I was going to climb until I was at the hill. So I got a lot of messages saying power was reduced. It was especially bad between Vail and Denver on the Interstate. Other than that the car performed well. We got an overall 44mpg on the return trip which was 3,000 miles. My likes - The car in general. My dislikes - The radio - It is especially bad in CT where there is a tree canopy over most roads. Both XM and FM are really bad. My caddy had an in windshield antenna, that I thought was bad, but this is worse. Of course XM doesn't work when there are trees over the road either. The climate control system needs more manual controls. BTW Why can't they update the clock when you change time zones? Onstar gets time from the Cell network, the Navigation gets time from the satelite, but nobody changes the clock except the stupid human. I do love the car, I hope they will re-engineer the radio and climate control, and it would be fabulous."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Just getting around

Rating from meillasdad

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"The Volt is an awesome car! We have driven almost 3,000 miles and 2,600 of those miles are pure EV. This was our first American car, after driving mostly European. I was in shock how the Volt felt and drove like a European car. It made me question my views on Chevys, but then I read the "Volt Book" GM sent to us after the purchase. In there it stated that Europeans were involved in the Volt's designing, which tied everything together for me. So, if you're looking for a really nice car that feels more European than American, whilst also saving the planet -- then the Volt is your car! Great Job Chevrolet!"

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Former GM lover

(1)
Comfort:		1 out of 5
Performance:		1 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		1 out of 5
Interior Design:		1 out of 5
Value for the Money:		1 out of 5
Reliability:		1 out of 5

"This car is way over rated for what you actually get. It is a joke of a car. Not a good choice for a new car."

I would recommend this car to a friend: No

Primary use for this car: N/A

Rating from Practical Empty-Nesters

(4)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		3 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		4 out of 5

"The car is fantastic, with two significant drawbacks. The first is that bucket seat arrangement in place of a real rear seat. It is just too cramped. The second is that the car sits too close to the ground. We scraped bottom repeatedly on our test drive, including coming in and out of the dealer's parking lot! We could deal with the other drawbacks (like the very small side windows), but these two were deal killers for us. We hope that GM will address these and make the necessary modifications. Otherwise, it's really an awesome car!!"

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Just getting around

Rating from New Owner

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		4 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"This is a solid, well built car. So many high mileage cars have a cheap look and feel to them. I really like this car. On this car in particular your mileage will vary depending how you use it. But for me, I am getting 180+ miles to the gallon."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Simithor

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I was driving a 2001 Chevy Suburban (which I loved) and was paying out $330 a month in fuel before I purchased so I was THE ideal candidate for a high MPG vehicle. I had been looking for either a used high MPG vehicle under $10K or a new hybrid and was seriously considering either the Ford Fusion or the Hyundai Sonata Hybrids. The problem is, I like to drill down on the finances to see the realized cost savings and both vehicles were still requiring gas regularly combined with a new vehicle loan payment. The payments combined with the fuel expenditures per month even for a car that got 35 MPG with fuel prices at $4 per gallon only made the used option a cost savings (not included a higher maintenance routine on a used vehicle with 40K miles on it.) I would be saving around $80 to $120 per month...maybe. ($180 car payment +gas) Luck had a drunk driver total my suburban while it was parked and gave me money to put on the car (not much but some). So, I went long for the Volt because the payment was now equal to the car payment and the fuel on the other vehicles. LOVE THE CAR! Currently getting 140 MPG. Averaging 500 miles per week. Blowing away the EPA estimates daily. It takes some getting used to because the car is designed to operate like a normal gas guzzling car but it really is meant to be operated differently...economically. Where I used drive 75 mph, I now drive 60-65 because the motor's sweet spot is below 65. I don't punch the throttle anymore because the car visually let me know how stupid that was on the HUD. All in all the car is SO good at what it does and it fits the two car seats (one in reverse so you know what kind of space hog it is...), the two kid Citi-Select stroller, my wife (and all of her bags, backpacks and gear ;-), and myself comfortably. Since I bought the car, I put 8.7 gals of gas in the car, driven 1500 miles, and on the current tank of gas I have used 1.4 gals of gas to drive 850 miles...and I DON'T hyper-mile when I drive. I just drive. Do that in a Prius. I dare ya. By the way, in Sport mode, I lit the tires up and I stretched her legs once so far doing 102 (governor at 99 so I coasted up to 102) all on electric and barely moved my MPGs for this tank of gas. It is quick, not like you are winding out something that should not wound out but it feels like the engineers detuned it a little bit to save the transmission. Just my guess. Just hope the Cadillac version lets you tap more of the unlimited torque potential of an electric motor cause I am sure I could smoke a Mustang with it! Now my wife wants one."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting