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Picked it up on Friday to replace the Saturn, which was giving us a bit of trouble. Replacement parts are too hard to get up here and take too long to arrive, so we said goodbye to what was up to now a great little car. Timing wasn’t quite what we planned, but that’s life.
It’s nicely optioned with the Bose stereo and navigation along with upgraded interior and backup camera. We are now (other than the G8) fully electric (almost).
Congrats, Mike!
Very Volty up there in the Great White North!
Nice!!!
Road Test Editor
While the Saturn was in for repairs, I spent some time with a Charger (8 speed) and Jetta (6 speed) and I can’t say as I like any of the new transmissions. Once you’ve driven an electric, everything else seems busy, noisy (the Jetta had a very rough idle in the cold) slightly confused, and often jumping for too low a gear. I still say the Fords I’ve driven have been the best in this regard.
Bottom line, I won’t be going back to a ‘conventional’ car when it comes time to replace the Volt(s), so it’ll either be another Volt, or a Tesla next time around.
Once you go electric, it’s a safe bet you won’t want to go back. Congrats Mike!
Congrats Mike but I am on the other side of the coin. My Dart has over 30,000 miles in less than two years with zero problems and gets incredible gas mileage. I am sticking with old school!
Just curious, what’s your long term mileage reading Mopes? The long term on the Charger (V6) was 11.8 l/100 (about 20 MPG) and the Jetta was sitting at 10 (about 23 MPG). The Saturn’s long term average was 9 l/100 (26 MPG). My current average on the 2013Volt is 2.08 l/100 after 40,000 km (24,500 miles +/-), so about 112 MPG and its consumption on electricity is a consistent 2.3 l/100, about 102 MPG. Bear in mind too that we’re in one of the most traffic congested areas of North America so most cars get lousy mileage simply because of the clogged roads. :brickwall:
The last month I have put over 4,000 miles on the Dart commuting back and forth from Los Alamos to Santa Fe about 36 miles one way and Albuquerque about 96 miles one way everyday and the worst mileage was just over 37 miles per gallon to the best which was 42 miles per gallon. On Interstate 25 I run about 85-90 miles an hour. Commuting back and forth from my job to my home in White Rock which is ten miles apart and along with in town stop and go, I never run below 34 miles per gallon. I get better mileage in town/highway with the Dart than my sister-in-law gets with her Corolla on the highway or my brother gets with his Scion XD on the highway. So far I am thrilled with the Dart.
I think the Volt is a great car but I am not committed to green cars just yet and with my driving habits, I don’t think hybrid/electric cars would benefit me.
You’re right – definitely different conditions than what I drive in. Mind you if I was down where you are, I’d be using the G8 as my daily driver. 😎
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This reply was modified 5 years ago by
G8mike.
One week in I can definitely say they made some real improvements to the car over the 2013 model. NVH is definitely better – and the 2013 was a hard act to follow in that regard. HVAC is also better – electrics tend to fog up more in the cold than conventional cars but the new one is much better that way (it’s been REALLY cold up here again this winter). The rear view camera now has the nice lines to help you park, and they’ve also ditched the self opening charge door, which never opened properly, with a ‘push to release’ type door, same as the gas one. Overall, really pleased with it!
Well, it is a testament to GM that they took what was apparently a very well sorted out (and fairly unique) vehicle and made some important improvements. And it would seem those improvements are in areas that aren’t as easily noticeable to those that have not owned a previous model. That is especially true in that they probably could have just let them ‘be’ without anyone really complaining too loudly.
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This reply was modified 5 years ago by
lengnert.
The actually assign ‘ambassadors’ to Volt owners, and actively sought feedback. I’ve spoken to them a number of times and outlined some of the things I thought could be improved on the car. I was skeptical about whether they would really act on the information they received from owners, but it appears that they have. I think the 2016 is going to be very, very good given how much they’ve already worked to make the car better.
Very smart and effective way of keeping Volt owners… as newer Volt owners.
Once it’s time to replace the 2013, it’ll be up to GM to keep me, unless Telsa falls by the wayside. Next purchase is around 2018/2019, which seems really far away, except when I think about my first forum post at MT, which was 7 years ago…. :smoker:
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This reply was modified 5 years ago by
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