2018 CHEVROLET VOLT Complaints

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT AROUND 60 MPH, THE 'CHECK ENGINE' LIGHT CAME ON AND A MESSAGE SAYING 'SHIFT TO PARK' APPEARS ON THE DASHBOARD. ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT, THE DRIVER SHIFTED TO PARK AND WAS NOT ABLE TO PULL DOWN TO DRIVE AGAIN. VEHICLE WAS STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WHILE CARS WERE APPROACHING FROM BEHIND WITH HIGH SPEED. AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO PRESS THE VEHICLE 'START' BUTTON, WE FINALLY WERE ABLE TO PULL DOWN TO NEUTRAL AND PUSHED THE VEHICLE TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. VEHICLE NEEDED TO BE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSIS.

LOSS OF POWER STEERING WHILE DRIVING. ERROR MESSAGE ON DASH AS WELL. VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN AND NOT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A QUICK AVOIDANCE. HAD TO HAVE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. DEALERSHIP FOUND DTC ERROR CODE BUT COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE POWER STEERING LOSS. DEALERSHIP DID NOT REPLACE OR FIX ANYTHING AS OF NOW.

I RAN INTO A VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME DURING NORMAL TRAFFIC ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK, TWO MONTHS TO THE DAY OF PICKING UP MY 2018 VOLT. THE VEHICLE AHEAD OF ME MAY HAVE STOPPED QUICKLY, BUT IT WAS NOT A STOP THE VOLT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HANDLE. I WAS ON A STREET IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD I DRIVE EVERY DAY IN TRAFFIC. I HAD MENTIONED TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT THE VOLT'S BRAKES JUST DID NOT FEEL ON PAR WITH THE REST OF THE CAR AND WOULD BE THE ONLY ASPECT OF THIS EV EXPERIENCE I FOUND LACKING. I HAVE THE DATED TEXT MESSAGES TO PROVE THIS. NOW I HAVE A VOLT AT THE BODY SHOP FOR THE 5TH WEEK (LACKING AN AC LINE FOR REASSEMBLY), AN OVER 55% INCREASE IN MY INSURANCE PREMIUMS (PER THE RENEWAL NOTICE I JUST RECEIVED) AND WHAT REALLY HASN'T BEEN A GOOD EXPERIENCE. WHILE I'M WAITING FOR THE RETURN OF MY VOLT I HAVE RECEIVED THE IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL INDICATING THE BRAKING PERFORMANCE MAY BE REDUCED. IF THE CAR HAD BEEN ABLE TO STOP TWO FEET SHORTER I'D HAVE AN UNDAMAGED THREE MONTH OLD VOLT AND MY INSURANCE STANDINGS UNTARNISHED. THAT TWO FEET ENDED UP COSTING OVER $17,500 TO THE CAR. TURNS OUT VOLTS ARE ALSO EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR. I'M A 55 YEAR OLD MALE, NO WILD KID. STILL STUNS ME THAT IN 2018 GM CAN'T GET BRAKES RIGHT...THE MOST IMPORTANT OF SAFETY SYSTEMS.

I WAS DRIVING MY CAR ON FREEWAY AT 65 MPH AND SUDDENLY CAR DISPLAYED WARNING ON DASH BOARD TO SHIFT THE CAR IN PARK POSITION. CAR IMMEDIATELY LOST POWER FROM ENGINE. I HAD TO IMMEDIATELY PULL OVER CAR FROM LEFT MOST LANE TO BUFFER LANE BETWEEN FREEWAY AND EXIT. MY MOVE UNTIL IT HAD MOMENTUM. BUT THEM IT STOPPED ON FREEWAY. AFTER STOPPING CAR, IT DID NOT START OR STOP ENGINE. IT DISPLAYED CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. WHILE RESTARTING CAR, IT KEEP DISPLAYING "INITIALIZING" AND IMMEDIATELY SYSTEM REBOOT BY ITSELF. CAR DID NOT START AT ALL AND EVENTUALLY CAR HAD TO BE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP. CHEVROLET DEALER COULD NOT IDENTIFY ROOT CAUSE AND REPORTED THE ISSUE IS FIXED. AFTER FIVE DAYS, EXACTLY SAME ERROR OCCURRED AGAIN ON THE FREEWAY. AT THIS TIME, WITH HELP FROM ONSTAR, MULTIPLE ERROR CODE WERE RETRIEVED AND THEY WERE RELATED TO FAILURE IN HYBRID POWER TRAIN SYSTEM. ABOVE TWO INCIDENTS WERE QUITE RISKIER AS CAR LOST ENGINE POWER ON BUSY FREEWAY. IT COULD HAVE SERIOUS COLLISION. ALSO, INCIDENT OCCUR ON ALMOST NEWLY LEASED CAR.

COLLISION OCCURRED ON E DENNY WAY IN SEATTLE, APPROX 3:20 PM ON A DOWNHILL SLOPE IN STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES OF CONSTANT BRAKE USE TO HOLD BACK THE CAR. ABOUT 2/3 OF THE WAY DOWNHILL THE BRAKES FAILED, NO RESISTANCE WHATSOEVER AND THE CAR ROLLED INTO THE VEHICLE IN FRONT, A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 15 FEET. THIS WAS A ONE-OFF INCIDENT AND DID NOT RECUR SO FAR. GM AND 3RD PARTY INSPECTORS FOUND NO ERROR CODES, BUT THE BRAKES INDEED FAILED, WHICH MAKES ME SUSPECT A DESIGN PROBLEM IN THE BRAKE-BY-WIRE SYSTEM THAT CONTROLS THE PEDAL PRESSURE AND MODULATED REGENERATIVE BRAKING. IT WAS LIKE SLIDING ON ICE, NO TRACTION WHATSOEVER.