Rough Experience purchasing a Chevy Bolt - PJLhatchbackguy
After a nice welcome from the receptionist and greeting by a cuople of salespeople, I asked about the leftover Chevy Bolt, which I was interested in. I probably should have politely moved on when some of the sales team corrected me and told me i must be looking for a Volt instead. So that was a rough start. And admittedly this is a low volume vehicle, which hasn't done well to date, whether due to poor marketing by GM, the low price of gasoline, or ongoing anxiety about the range of these EV's, as well as how to recharge them. So in any case I pushed onward and was offered a test drive, which was very positive. The car basically sold itself. Unfortunately there was considerable misinformation at the time of the sale - mainly the fact that I was informed by at least two salesmen that the car would be fully charged after a night on the provided charger. As it turned out, I learned otherwise the first night of ownership. It actually requires 50 HOURS to fully charge the battery, using a regular 110 volt outlet. So this adds roughly another 1000 bucks to the purchase price of a car, which starts at 34 K with no options. Needless to say, I was pretty angry about this. Plus the fact that the seats turned out to be devoid of padding and dig into your back was not sitting well with me. the dealer informed me that I would have to work with GM on this problem, since they are not authorized to modify the seats due to regulations and other legalities. So after getting the cold shoulder from GM, I am on my own with this issue as well. The other issues include delivery - tires were not inflated properly, vehicle was not fully charged, and they had the wrong address which was going to be forwarded to motor vehicles until I corrected it the next day. I was not oriented about any features of the car, and had to set up bluetooth etc. using the manual. In spite of several efforts to get some feedback or possible solutions to the above concerns from the dealership, I am still waiting for a callback, letter or email after about two full weeks. So the bottom line is that this dealership just doesn't care, at least to my eye. I noted other more positive reviews so I guess it just wasn't my (or their) day when I decided to walk in. I would have thought they'd be more solicitous given the fact that I purchased a pre-owned Caddy from them in the past, and have serviced a whole fleet of vehicles there over the years. Very disappointing. Ultimately I know that this is not a high-volume vehicle, but ideally the dealership would have at least one employee who has done their homework and can answer most reasonable questions about this expensive and complex vehicle.
Read More
Sign In
