2013 CHEVROLET VOLT Complaints

There are two issues with the seat belt on the driver’s seat. 1) The buckle (female portion, the part with the button) is stuck and won’t release the tongue (male portion) without intervention with a screwdriver. 2) The plastic portion of the tongue (male portion) of the seatbelt caught on my clothes and snapped, and the whole tongue assembly fell off the webbing. Definitely a safety concern if there’s no longer a way to buckle the seat belt because the male end fell off.

Car suddenly lost ability to accelerate normally while driving. It could only accelerate extremely slowly, seemingly with great effort. It displayed “PROPULSION POWER REDUCED SERVICE ENGINE SOON” and ENGINE NOT AVAILABLE” messages on the dashboard, and a check engine light came on. It sounds like it may be related to current GM recall 18215/ NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V397000, but nothing comes up when I search for this VIN.

Passenger Sensor fails to turn on when an occupant of normal size is in the passenger seat, precluding air bag deployment. This is a very common issue with 2013 models.

The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that the electric battery would not charge and the vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the 12v battery was faulty and needed to be replaced. The 12v battery was replaced and the failure was remedied. The contact stated that later while driving the central battery pack located under the center console had overheated causing a loud noise within the cabin of the vehicle. The contact had sustained a burn to the right shoulder which did not require medical treatment. After parking in the garage and shutting the vehicle off the vehicle rolled backward making contact to the with the garage door. No damage to the garage door was reported. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA Campaign Number 18V397000(HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was unknown.

The High Voltage charging system error message has chronically been triggered despite numerous mechanic visits, sensor and coolant replacement. I am now told this is a software issue and hope to have it resolved. This issue has cost hundreds of dollars in inspection and troubleshooting and hundreds of gas miles that should have been EV driven. The error prevents EV charges and I must rely on the gas back up.

PASSENGER AIRBAG ERROR INDICATOR. I took my 2013 Volt to the dealer who indicated it was a sensor error in the seat and requires a 1000.$ seat and sensor replacement. My Volt has 80K miles and no collisions or accidents. There is no justifiable reason for me to replace the front seat for 1000.00 due to a poorly designed wire harness or sensor. I won't risk having a front seat passenger due to this malfunction. Furthermore I can't sell the vehicle. Why has the NHTSA closed this complaint?

passenger occupancy sensor malfunction. Passenger airbag turns off intermitently even while occupied by an adult. I have not been to dealership, but understand it is a $1000 repair. This is also happening in a 2012 volt that I own.

The car’s hybrid battery shut down the car in the middle of the road. I was unable to turn it back on safely.

Stacia was driving the vehicle on September 20th on a residential street. She was driving at 25 MPH. All of the sudden the brakes slammed on by themselves and the car slammed to a stop. Luckily there were not any cars around, or there would have certainly been an accident. If this had happened on the Interstate or on a busy street there likely would have been a serious accident. The vehicle was taken for service and it was determined that the Brake Pedal Position Sensor failed. This was replaced by Eric Von Schledorn Chevrolet. Our concern is that the failure of one sensor could cause a potential catastrophic accident. We wanted to bring this to your attention in case others have had a similar issue, and a recall may be necessary.

There is already a "Hybrid Propulsion System" recall for the 2013 Chevy Volt (Recall number 18V397000). My VIN is not part of the recall however I have been having the same issue described for a few years. My car has been seen by multiple different Chevy dealerships over the years to correct the issue and reprogram the computer system but the issue continues to happen. It is extremely scary and dangerous to be driving a car and it not be able to accelerate suddenly. What happens: When my car switches from electric to gas engine I get a propulsion error and am unable to accelerate. This happens while driving and I lose the ability to accelerate and it can also happen right away when my car turns on. It has happened numerous times while driving on the highway and my car essentially just turns off randomly while driving. Most recently I just got my car back from the dealership again about a week ago after having the Hybrid Powertrain Control Module and computer system updated again but propulsion issue remained immediately as a problem still.