2012 CHEVROLET VOLT Complaints

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that after entering and starting the vehicle, she became aware that the center console screen was showing a blank screen. The contact restarted the vehicle however, the failure persisted. After waiting for a few minutes, the contact drove the vehicle to her son’s home to charge the vehicle and the display screen started working. The contact was concerned that the failure would recur. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 87,000.

The display screen which shows my gas, battery amount as well as my speed has stopped working. I have changed the fuses, disconnected the battery and it still will not come on. This is dangerous, as I cannot see how fast I am going and can potentially run out of gas and battery power on the highway with no way to get anywhere. This is the only thing that has gone out, everything else in the car is working. It has been reproduced and I cannot drive anywhere safely because of this. I am in fear of what may happen, as well as the legal ramifications of not knowing my speed. No warning, just flickering of the screen and then it went blank and has not come back on.

The "service airbag" light starting coming on. I took the car to the dealership and they said that the harness in the driver's seat has a bad sensor or plug and cannot be replaced because GM no longer makes this part. They suggested that I might try to find a replacement seat in a junkyard. This means I have car that is less than 10 years old with a driver's side airbag that may or may not deploy in an accident. The dealership does not have a solution.

AIRBAG PROBLEM WARNING LIGHT. DEALER SAID THERE IS LIKELY A PROBLEM WITH THE PASSENGER SENSOR IN THE SEAT AND I WOULD HAVE TO PAY $1200 BUT THAT MIGHT NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. WE DECLINED THE SERVICE. I HAVE SINCE READ ABOUT MANY MORE VOLT OWNERS WITH THIS PROBLEM. OURS STARTED AROUND 80,000 MILES. WE ARE CURRENTLY AROUND $120000 MILES.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 CHEVROLET VOLT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PASSENGER'S SIDE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT WOULD INTERMITTENTLY ILLUMINATE WITH AN OCCUPANT SEATED IN THE PASSENGER'S SEAT. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO BOB BELL CHEVROLET OF BEL AIR (1230 BELAIR RD, BEL AIR, MD 21014) WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED THE VEHICLE WITH A DEFECTIVE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG SENSOR. THE CONTACT WAS GIVEN AN ESTIMATE FOR REPAIR WHICH HE DECLINED. RECENTLY, THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PASSENGER'S SIDE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT WOULD REMAIN ILLUMINATED WITH OR WITHOUT AN OCCUPANT SEATED IN THE PASSENGER'S SEAT. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 65,000.

ANYTIME THE VEHICLE GOES OVER BUMP, POTHOLE, OR PARTICULARLY ROUGH ROAD SURFACE AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED, THE BRAKES DO NOT ENGAGE AND THE VEHICLE FAILS TO SLOW DOWN. YOU MUST RELEASE THE PEDAL AND APPLY PRESSURE A SECOND TIME IN ORDER TO STOP. THIS OCCURS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION AT ANY SPEED.

THE VEHICLE HAS ILLUMINATED THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WITH A WARNING THAT THE BATTERY IS TOO COLD. THIS OCCURRED WHILE IN MOTION ON A HIGHWAY UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS IN SUMMER TEMPERATURES. AN INTERNET SEARCH HAS INDICATED THAT A TEMPERATURE SENSOR MAY BE TO BLAME, AND THAT THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM MAY TRY TO HEAT THE BATTERY TO AN UNSAFE LEVEL.

THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT KEEPS GOING ON AND OFF RANDOMLY FOR DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF TIME. I LOOKED UP THE PROBLEM ONLINE AND IT SEEMS LIKE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS ISSUE AND THAT IT HAS BEEN REPORTED MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE. THE LIGHT NORMALLY TURNS ON WHILE THE CAR IS IN MOTION. I HAVE NOT TAKEN IT TO THE MECHANIC YET BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE I SAW REGARDING SIMILAR COMPLAINTS, SOMETIMES THE MECHANICS CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT IF THE PROBLEM CAN'T BE REPRODUCED AT THE TIME. I KNOW THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM FOR THIS CAR THOUGH AND HAS BEEN REPORTED MULTIPLE TIMES.

DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT WHEEL BEGAN MAKING EXTREMELY LOUD WHINING-LIKE SOUND WHILE HIGHWAY DRIVING. PARKED THE CAR UNTIL IT COULD BE ACCEPTED AT THE CERTIFIED CHEVROLET SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT A LOCAL DEALERSHIP. TECHNICIAN IMMEDIATELY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AND EXPRESSED IT AS "COMMON." THE ISSUE IS A SEPARATION OF THE "ELECTRIC DRIVER MOTOR B ROTOR BEARING CAGE" REQUIRING A REVISED BEARING INSTALLATION. THIS IS CLEARLY A DESIGN FLAW AS GM REQUIRES A NEW/REVISED BEARING INSTALLATION, AND IS LIKELY PROGRESSED WITH THE VEHICLES REGENERATIVE BRAKING. GEN1 MODELS DO NOT HAVE A CUSTOMIZABLE REGENERATIVE BRAKING OPTION TO ALLEVIATE THIS STRESS ON THE ROTOR BEARINGS. IN RESEARCHING THE ISSUE, THE SERVICE BULLETIN PROVIDED BY GM IS HAS PROGRESSED TO AN APPENDED LETTER L (BULLETIN NO. PIP5081L). A LARGE NUMBER OF VOLT OWNERS SHARE THIS EXPERIENCE, MANY OF WHICH QUALIFY FOR WARRANTY REPAIR. MY VEHICLE'S WARRANTY PERIOD EXPIRED BY LESS THAN ONE YEAR AND 11,000 MILES.

SERVICE AIRBAG SENSOR FOR PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG. I WILL GET THE WARNING DING, THEN THE AIRBAG LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE FOR A FEW MINUTES, THEN GO OUT AGAIN. IT USED TO HAPPEN INFREQUENTLY, WHEN SOMETHING, LIKE A HANDBAG WAS ON THE SEAT, BUT IS BECOMING MORE COMMON AS TIME GOES ON WHEN THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SEAT. THE QUOTE FOR REPAIR IS OVER $1000. THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT; THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL ITEM BY CHEVY.