cars.com auto reviews
hi I'm Joe wiesenfeld with cars.com this is the cars.com chevrolet volt we have
put almost 18,000 miles on it we've had it over a year
it's a 2011 model when you own a car for a while some of the initial issues just
fade away and others come to the forefront
i'm going to share with you the lasting likes and dislikes
after more than a year of service one thing we like is how the car looks in a
world of exceptionally dorky-looking efficient cars consensus is that the
Volt is a good looker
we also like driving on electric power something very satisfying about it
it ends up costing about half as much per mile than driving a comparable
gas-powered car and we make in frequent stops at the gas station
but that raises one thing we really don't like when you go to fill the tank
you're going to open it up and see a little sticker that says 91 octane that
means premium is required
not recommended now the car gets about 37 miles per gallon once the engine
turns on that's in city highway driving combined which isn't bad it's really
more of an existential problem when you buy a car to save not just the
environment but a little bit of money when you go fill it up and have to pay
extra for premium gas
it just bugs us one thing we appreciate is how well the Volt predicts its
electric range before the gas engine turns on our nissan leaf is not nearly
as good at that
one thing we're not as wild about is the actual range when it gets cold out
it goes down to about 25 miles of range on electric which would probably happen
to any electric car brings the range down but if you're considering buying
you're going to have to think about the reality especially based on the
temperature where you live not on the advertised 40 miles of range
another thing we have one editor who likes the touch-sensitive control panel
here the rest of us would rather have real buttons and not so scatter shot in
their arrangement one lingering problem we have is visibility the roof shoots
out pretty far forward which makes it hard to see traffic signals and street
signs for some people and then the rear view is also not so great
the pillar is quite large the spoiler splits the rear window and this bottom
one does a really good job of collecting dust
and moisture and generally not being a very good rear window
we can't imagine owning this car without the back up camera for parking purposes
the backseat is definitely snug I have less of an issue with it then some
people do with the driver's seat my driving position i find this okay
greater issue for some is the center console whether they're in the front or
the rear
they find it restrictive maybe a little claustrophobic but there's a even bigger
problem with it and that is when parents go to install child safety seats you
might not realize it when you have a regular bench rear seat
the center position even if you don't use it is good spillover space child
safety seats are even larger than the American babies we put in them that can
restrict them depending on the type of seat and the size it's definitely a
short coming
the vault has been pretty cheap to own we put a washer fluid in it had the
tires rotated for about twenty bucks
I haven't even had to put oil in it because it hasn't needed it yet
we did replace this unit after about seven months because the court separated
that was under warranty other issues with this home charger is that the court
is so short it makes you want to plug it into a an extension cord or hang it from
the court
two things you're not supposed to do this is a code issue though so other v's
have the same general lengths to their plugs i wish they would change it
especially makes an issue if you're in public and the 240 volt pistol grip is
being used by someone else
that leaves an outlet and you have to plug in this thing and find a way to
hang it
not by the cord we came up with this just a way to secure it
dang it not the best situation the biggest questions about the Volt really
apply to other v's is it worth the money you spend initially
how about the issue of short and range when it's cold outside
in terms of the vault itself aside from the dislikes i mentioned we've been
pretty satisfied with it
it's a real car for short distances for long distances we've been happy with it
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