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advice sought for 2017 Chevy Volt: how sturdy is this car?
underscorefool
Member Posts: 1
Hi folks,
My girlfriend is considering purchase of a 2017 Volt. She has a job that requires a 4-5x/week 55mi commute each way, and there will be charging available where she parks on both sides.
She's already driving a 2013 Subaru Outback (street value ~20k in our market), and will be very very sad to see it go. She loves it. On weekends, she sometimes uses it to get to less accessible places - campgrounds up gravel roads, up to the mountain through the snow to go skiing, etc. Her Subaru has 10k miles left on its warranty and she *really* gets her money's worth out of that warranty, so part of the motivation in the change is not immediately running out of warranty on that car. These trips happen maybe an average of 25-30 times a year, and they are very important to her. Most of these destinations are places that we see non-awd vehicles, rather than "up 2 logging roads and through a river" kind of places, but it's definitely not all smooth pavement getting there.
But now the majority of her miles will be highway, 4-500/week (sometimes in stop-and-go traffic), and so she's looking for something more efficient to drive. She *wants* to keep both cars and can (barely) afford it, but she realizes the economic sense of not doing so and just lacks for the assurance that the Volt will be able to take her to the places she loves to go in addition to the office. Clearly the dealer will say "you can do whatever you want with it!" but what do y'all think - will it rattle to pieces in the middle of nowhere? high center every time you take it on a gravel road? Is it sturdy enough to put up with a 20-mile gravel stretch every few weeks? Is it fragile/finicky in the sense that if something does go wrong, it's unlikely to be able to limp back to civilization so we can get cell signal enough to call for a tow?
Thanks in advance for your advice and input!
My girlfriend is considering purchase of a 2017 Volt. She has a job that requires a 4-5x/week 55mi commute each way, and there will be charging available where she parks on both sides.
She's already driving a 2013 Subaru Outback (street value ~20k in our market), and will be very very sad to see it go. She loves it. On weekends, she sometimes uses it to get to less accessible places - campgrounds up gravel roads, up to the mountain through the snow to go skiing, etc. Her Subaru has 10k miles left on its warranty and she *really* gets her money's worth out of that warranty, so part of the motivation in the change is not immediately running out of warranty on that car. These trips happen maybe an average of 25-30 times a year, and they are very important to her. Most of these destinations are places that we see non-awd vehicles, rather than "up 2 logging roads and through a river" kind of places, but it's definitely not all smooth pavement getting there.
But now the majority of her miles will be highway, 4-500/week (sometimes in stop-and-go traffic), and so she's looking for something more efficient to drive. She *wants* to keep both cars and can (barely) afford it, but she realizes the economic sense of not doing so and just lacks for the assurance that the Volt will be able to take her to the places she loves to go in addition to the office. Clearly the dealer will say "you can do whatever you want with it!" but what do y'all think - will it rattle to pieces in the middle of nowhere? high center every time you take it on a gravel road? Is it sturdy enough to put up with a 20-mile gravel stretch every few weeks? Is it fragile/finicky in the sense that if something does go wrong, it's unlikely to be able to limp back to civilization so we can get cell signal enough to call for a tow?
Thanks in advance for your advice and input!
0
Comments
I've taken Mini Coopers and Porsches on gravel roads---just go slow and there's no problem.
I'll say one thing--if any of that Subaru warranty work had to do with things coming loose underneath, well then there's your answer.
Another suggestion is to just rent a truck or 4X4 if she knows she's going occasionally on an extreme road.
Oh.. wait..
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