Traded P85D for Chevy Bolt

[CapeOne]

Nice choice. Hopefully it will serve you well.

Federal tax credits are now gone for GM EVs as they've exceeded the sales threshold but they are making up for it with nice rebates. These (and Teslas!) also still qualify for EV rebate/credits in various states. For those shopping M3 or MY or looking to downsize from MS or MX, the Bolt may be worth a look. Competition is good!

 

[Ostrichsak]

Gross.

(someone had to say what everyone was thinking)

 

[Dukeybootie]

We have both a Model S and a Bolt. Neither is perfect but each plays its role in our household perfectly. We love them both and plan on keeping them for many years.

 

[Chaserr]

Bolt is a better road trip car with its faster DC charging, but I don't think I can make that change

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Bolt is a better road trip car with its faster DC charging, but I don't think I can make that change

 

[Chaserr]

It's extremely confusing @JohnSnowNW but Tesla really does slow down supercharging so much Bolts are faster than Teslas after a few years.

"Chargegate" if you want to know more.

 

[PWlakewood]

Gross.

(someone had to say what everyone was thinking)

Exactly what my wife said when I told her someone traded in a P85D for a bolt......

 

[SO16]

It's extremely confusing @JohnSnowNW but Tesla really does slow down supercharging so much Bolts are faster than Teslas after a few years.

"Chargegate" if you want to know more.

That’s a big caveat.

1. Bolt is Faster than the “slowed down Tesla’s”.

2. Assuming newer Tesla’s will slow down just as much. So far so good on my 2017.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

Congrats OP. My neighbors bought a Bolt for the wife, so the wife's vehicle would be a hand-me-down to the newly-licensed daughter. The husband said "wow, I really like driving this, I should get one." So the first Bolt became the husband's and the second (two-month newer) Bolt became the wife's.

I'm also curious if you did a trade-in, CarMax/Vroom/Caravana sale, private party sale, etc.

 

[2101Guy]

If/when I ever reach the point where I no longer like women? I might sell my S for a Bolt.


























ITS A JOKE. RELAX EVERYONE. lol

 

[BigNick]

My wife and I test drove a Bolt Premier this past weekend. Dealer had it for $15K under sticker price, so about $29K and change. Neither of us liked it.
It just felt really cheap inside, with uncomfortable seats (compared to my next-gen Tesla seats and the seats in her Impala LTZ.)
Having to either manually pull a regen lever (or put the "transmission" into Low "gear") also felt quite odd.
I didn't even take it out of the parking lot. Felt like it should have had a $22K sticker price, not $44K.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Sensible.

Depending on certain events, I'm planning on replacing a car this year and getting a BEV, and I'm between Model 3, Bolt and Kona.

Bolt because cheapest, no need for tax credit Not Bolt because of the slow charging, coldgate , compliance car likely to be dumped like the Volt at some point, Sirius XM trial*, only driver window express up**

Kona EV SEL because it's more efficient than and has better charging than the Bolt. Not Kona because value depends on tax credit, because coldgate, Sirius XM trial*, only driver window express up**.

Model 3 because efficient, fast charging, Supercharger network, express-up all windows. Not Model 3 because expensive, because delivery only, because Tesla, because 200 miles from Tesla, because stupid 18" wheels, because mid-size, because sedan, because no dumb cruise backup***.

Obviously there could be other usability and comfort factors as well. Don't care about cheap interiors or how the vehicle looks, performance, or anything other than core functionality.

I wish Tesla would fix quality control and customer service, but being cheap on those is part of the reason they're now eking out profits.

* Classic loathsome charge-your-card-after-you-cancel-send-you-junk-mail-call-you company. We don't listen to radio, we have our own music collections. The only music we listen to is each other's that we don't like. And the radio we have in our Volt has XM unable to be disabled. I'd have to check in any car with XM that I can truly disable it so it's never going to appear as a source.

** Prefer to drive with the windows down rather than be running AC. Express up makes that easier and safer.

*** Live in low density area where dumb cruise control is more than adequate.

 

[cookie99]

Sensible.

Depending on certain events, I'm planning on replacing a car this year and getting a BEV, and I'm between Model 3, Bolt and Kona.

Bolt because cheapest, no need for tax credit Not Bolt because of the slow charging, coldgate , compliance car likely to be dumped like the Volt at some point, Sirius XM trial*, only driver window express up**

Kona EV SEL because it's more efficient than and has better charging than the Bolt. Not Kona because value depends on tax credit, because coldgate, Sirius XM trial*, only driver window express up**.

Model 3 because efficient, fast charging, Supercharger network, express-up all windows. Not Model 3 because expensive, because delivery only, because Tesla, because 200 miles from Tesla, because stupid 18" wheels, because mid-size, because sedan, because no dumb cruise backup***.

Obviously there could be other usability and comfort factors as well. Don't care about cheap interiors or how the vehicle looks, performance, or anything other than core functionality.

I wish Tesla would fix quality control and customer service, but being cheap on those is part of the reason they're now eking out profits.

* Classic loathsome charge-your-card-after-you-cancel-send-you-junk-mail-call-you company. We don't listen to radio, we have our own music collections. The only music we listen to is each other's that we don't like. And the radio we have in our Volt has XM unable to be disabled. I'd have to check in any car with XM that I can truly disable it so it's never going to appear as a source.

** Prefer to drive with the windows down rather than be running AC. Express up makes that easier and safer.

*** Live in low density area where dumb cruise control is more than adequate.

You can get an the jaguar ipace for cheaper than a LR model 3 BEFORE even adding another 7-10k in governement rebates. its a strong contender especially with the 0% financing, meaning you can drive away with an ipace for $40k. the audi e-tron is also like $17k off not including any government rebates, which can make it $27k off depending on some states.

Audi E-Tron available for over $15k+ off MSRP (63k for 80k car), Jaguar I-Pace available for $20k+ off MSRP ($50k for 71k)- Both qualify for additional $7500 Federal Tax Credit

 

[whitex]

Here are a couple posts in case anyone wants to know more about that JD Power survey and how it works.

Tesla got the worst score in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey

Tesla got the worst score in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey

Just because they include "learning curve" issues as problems, it's still something customers needed help with, which with all other brands they can just pick up a phone and speak to a live person. I can also assure you none of my personal visits to the service center with my Model S's were "learning curve" related, unless you include the learning curve of Tesla engineers.

 

[whitex]

That’s a big caveat.

1. Bolt is Faster than the “slowed down Tesla’s”.

2. Assuming newer Tesla’s will slow down just as much. So far so good on my 2017.

All older Teslas slow down. Tesla officially removed the 8 year unlimited mileage warranty from new cars, and added wording about 30% loss of range being "normal wear and tear" and therefore not covered under warranty. Sure, you can hope, maybe pray, that the newer cars won't be limited, but hope and/or prayer are typically not very successful strategies. Yours is a 2017, give it a couple more years.

Also, the OP traded a Tesla with 85 battery, which belongs to the slowed down group, so his Bolt will charge faster than his Tesla - no caveat.

 

[whttiger25]

THe car I picked up saturday had serious paint issues on the rear bumper. Waiting a few weeks to get into service so they can diagnose it (hint - they either need a new bumper or need to repaint the bumper) and after they "daignose" it we will see how long it takes to actually fix it.

Impossible to talk to someone to get everything ready to go for when I arrive. I'll keep trying.

 

[cruiserlarry]

Good luck with the Bolt. While I basically agree with you regarding Teslas being in a constant Beta stage, I still think it offers a far superior vehicle to any GM product, even in quality. I have an 2017 S and a 2019 3 currently. I had a 2012 Volt, which had a major issue after 14k miles (5 weeks to fix), then was relatively problem free until the software locked up at about 98k after several field failures (They couldn't figure out the issue, and after 6 weeks they bought the car from me). One of the reasons you don't see many GM EVs in for service is that most GM dealers have virtually no EV service technicians to service them. I'm in So Cal, arguably the largest EV market in the US, and it was crazy that I still had to wait for a "shared" technician to come to the local dealer to check out any issues. And with no OTA abilities, every issue was a multi-day dealer experience. So, while the Volt (and the Bolt) are basically good vehicles, they are being sold by a company that wants to have nothing to do with them, IMO. For all the issues I hear about with Teslas (I've had a few on the S, none on the 3), at least the company that builds them is invested in their success, and employs technicians who are familiar with the technology in them. GM has a looooooong way to go before I would ever consider purchasing a vehicle from them again.

 

[AustinP]

I'm glad you remain an EV owner.

As a believer of the "Tesla mission", I'll encourage people around me to buy any EV that fits their need.
I personaly believes that Tesla is one of the very few (if not the only one?) to provide a solution they are genuinely commited to and want to make sure their customers' experience is the best (*). And this is tangible thru the products they delivered: the cars, the growing SuC network, the not-so-well-known-but-sill-amazing DeC network, the solar solutions, home batteries, ...

Yet there is that conflicting feeling: on one hand, and following Tesla's mission, the established automotive industry must accelerate building EVs. This is the only way to produce enough EVs to fit everyone's need and preferences. And of course that industry needs customers to buy them.
On the other hand, I'm not comfortable to give money to a company that does not believe in it and would still today rather produce and sell an ICE.

So I'll stick to Tesla for now, and promote both Tesla's and all others' EVs to friends and family.

(*) I know, several SeC experience reported around here are far from ok, and I'm sure they are real. My personal experience with SeC and Mobile Rangers have been good.

 

[David_Cary]

Tesla's model certainly isn't perfect. As far as initial quality - neither of our Tesla's needed to go in service for the first year. Our 3 is 15 months old and has never seen the SC.
My 2015S has had 2 service needs in the last year (probably last 2 years).
The first one was appeared to be a serious fault - "acceleration will be limited" "Don't drive long distances" on a Sunday night after a road trip. Took to SC and dropped off Sunday night. Ubered back to SC Monday afternoon after work when the car was fixed. It was the battery heater.
The other one was a 12V battery - Got the car warning. Scheduled visit in app. Happened 4 days later while I was at work. Easiest service repair ever on any car. Never wasted time on a phone call or even driving to a part store to buy a battery. This was last week.

I personally would never support GM even if I thought the Bolt was a decent option. But hey, I drove a Leaf for years so it isn't really the ugly factor. But after having supercharging, it is hard to give that up.

 

[whitex]

You can get an the jaguar ipace for cheaper than a LR model 3 BEFORE even adding another 7-10k in governement rebates. its a strong contender especially with the 0% financing, meaning you can drive away with an ipace for $40k. the audi e-tron is also like $17k off not including any government rebates, which can make it $27k off depending on some states.

Audi E-Tron available for over $15k+ off MSRP (63k for 80k car), Jaguar I-Pace available for $20k+ off MSRP ($50k for 71k)- Both qualify for additional $7500 Federal Tax Credit

I clicked on a link in that article that claimed that I could get a brand new Etron for $63K and still get $7,500, but apparently that was a typo (either by cars.com or the article author) because the car is listest at $71,498. Or maybe just a click-bait headline?