2013 Chevrolet Volt

I'VE BROUGHT MY 2013 CHEVY VOLT TO THE DEALERSHIP 4 TIMES BECAUSE IT DIES SUDDENLY WHILE DRIVING. IT HAS PUT MY FAMILY IN DANGER MULTIPLE TIMES. ONE OF THE "FIXES" WAS A SOFTWARE UPDATE THAT ENDED UP AS A RECALL BECAUSE IT CAUSES THE ENGINE TO DIE SUDDENLY (IT'S RECALL #N172130460, WHICH CAME OUT TWO DAYS BEFORE MY LATEST INCIDENT, BUT I DIDN'T RECEIVE THE RECALL NOTICE IN THE MAIL UNTIL 7/28/18...6 WEEKS AFTER MY LAST INCIDENT). THE MOST RECENT TIME THE CAR DIED (6/16/18), I WAS ON A MOUNTAIN HIGHWAY AND I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO NOT GET HIT AS I PULLED THE CAR TO THE SIDE. THERE WAS NO SIGNAGE THERE EXCEPT FOR THE "CAUTION BEAR XING" SIGN. AFTER TOWING MY CAR TO THE NEAREST DEALERSHIP (IN CARSON CITY, NV, AN 8 HOUR ORDEAL), I HAD EXPENSES FOR LODGING AND TRANSPORTATION (INCLUDING LYFT TO SOUTH LAKE TAHOE TO RENT A CAR BECAUSE NO RENTAL CAR OFFICES OPEN ON SUNDAY IN CARSON CITY, THEN FLYING TO RENO AND TAKING A LYFT TO CARSON CITY TO PICK UP THE CAR BECAUSE CHEVY REFUSED TO SHIP THE CAR TO ME EVEN THOUGH I SAID THAT I WAS AFRAID AND DIDN'T TRUST THE CAR IN THE MOUNTAINS). CHEVY CUSTOMER SERVICE AND CONCIERGE SERVICES REFUSED TO REIMBURSE ME BECAUSE I HAD THE CAR TOWED MYSELF INSTEAD OF CALLING THEIR "CONCIERGE SERVICE" TO TOW IT BECAUSE THAT'S "POLICY." HOW ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THEIR CUSTOMERS SO THAT THEY MAY LIVE TO DRIVE ANOTHER DAY? I'M NOT ASKING FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN THE EXPENSES INCURRED FROM THE LAST ADVENTURE: $1040.72, WHICH I CAN ITEMIZE. OTHER TIMES THAT MY CAR HAS DIED INCLUDE: WHILE MAKING A U-TURN IN A BUSY INTERSECTION (IN 2016), IT DIED AND STARTED BACK UP AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED 20 MINUTES LATER AND A SEPARATE TIME WAS WHEN THE CAR WOULDN'T START AT ALL BUT THEN STARTED UP AGAIN TWO HOURS LATER AS IF THERE WAS NEVER AN ISSUE.EVERY TIME THIS HAPPENED, I HAD A "POWER PROPULSION REDUCED" WARNING ON MY DASHBOARD. I SEE ONLINE THAT MANY HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE.

DRIVING IN TRAFFIC, MULTIPLE LANES.." REDUCED POWER" MESSAGE APPEARS ON DASH..CAR SHUTS DOWN IMMEDIATELY...NO STEERING ASSIST...BRAKES OKAY...STUCK IN MIDDLE LANES WITH NO PROPULSION...LUCKILY A FIRETRUCK HAPPENED BY AND WAS PUSHED OFF THE ROAD...CAR TOWED TO DEALER. INFORMED MULTIPLE VOLTS TOWED IN FOR SAME ISSUE. ALSO INFORMED EXTREME BACKORDER FOR REPAIR BATTERY ACROSS U. S. TOLD APPROX 2 MONTH WAIT FOR BATTERY SECTION...ONCE THIS BATTERY FAILS WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING, YOU ARE DEAD IN THE WATER...NO POWER STEERING AND UNABLE TO MOVE IN OR OUT OF TRAFFIC...IF THIS DEALER HAS 3 CARS, HOW MANY UNSAFE CARS ARE THERE ACROSS THE COUNTRY?

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 CHEVROLET VOLT. WHILE DRIVING FOR MORE THAN TWO HOURS OVER 75 MPH, THE "PROPULSION POWER LOW DECREASE SPEED" MESSAGE DISPLAYED AND THE SPEED DECREASED TO 55 MPH. WHEN THE FAILURE OCCURRED, SMOKE WAS PRESENT INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE AND THE ODOR OF FUEL WAS PRESENT. THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT THE FAILURE OCCURRED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,000.

WHILE DRIVING DOWN A ROAD IN INDIANAPOLIS AT 35 MILES PER HOUR, MY CAR SUDDENLY SLOWED DOWN AND A MESSAGE READING " ENGINE NOT AVAILABLE - SERVICE SOON" APPEARED ON MY HUD. MY CAR ONLY HAS 32,800 MILES ON IT AND A CLEAN TITLE. NOTHING ABOUT MY DRIVING CHANGED TO CAUSE THIS ISSUE, IT WAS SUDDEN AND WITHOUT APPARENT CAUSE. I HAD THE CAR TAKEN TO THE MECHANIC, AND GM JUST RESET THE CODES. IT IS DRIVING OK FOR NOW, BUT A RESET OF CODES IS A TEMPORARY FIX TO THE ISSUE, AND I'VE READ EXTENSIVELY ABOUT MANY, MANY OTHER VOLT OWNERS WITH THE SAME ISSUE. IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO HAVE YOUR ENGINE SHUT OFF WHILE DRIVING, ESPECIALLY IF I HAD BEEN ON THE HIGH WAY DURING RUSH HOUR. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS LOOKED INTO, AND I FEEL THAT GM IS TRYING TO BURY IT WITH RESETS WHICH AREN'T WORKING FOR MOST PEOPLE.

A WARNING MESSAGE APPEARED ON THE DASH, WHICH SAID "PROPULSION POWER IS REDUCED," FOLLOWED BY, "ENGINE NOT AVAILABLE. SERVICE SOON," AS WELL AS A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I PRESSED THE ONSTAR BUTTON TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG BUT THEY HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE ERROR MESSAGE AND COULD NOT ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION WITH THE VEHICLE TO PERFORM DIAGNOSTICS. WHILE ON HOLD WITH ONSTAR, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SPONTANEOUSLY DECELERATE VERY RAPIDLY DESPITE MY ATTEMPTS TO ACCELERATE, IN THE MIDDLE OF FAST HIGHWAY TRAFFIC. I MADE IT OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD SAFELY, LIMPING ALONG AT 3-10 MPH, WITH THE HELP OF A GOOD SAMARITAN WHO BLOCKED TRAFFIC FOR ME. THIS IS A SPONTANEOUS OCCURRENCE, WITH NO MAINTENANCE NEGLIGENCE TO EXPLAIN THE EVENT. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A DEALER, WHICH HAS YET TO DETERMINE THE SOURCE OF THE ISSUE. *TR

THE INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 8/27/14, AND RESULTED IN MY WIFE ME TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND TREATED FOR CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED AT OUR HOME. THE VOLT WAS PARKED IN THE ENCLOSED GARAGE ON 8/26 AROUND 7PM. THE 240 VOLT CHARGER WAS PLUGGED IN AS USUAL. I DID NOT NOTICE ANYTHING UNUSUAL AFTER PLUGGING IN THE CHARGER, AND THE VOLT WAS LEFT UNATTENDED UNTIL THE EMS ARRIVED AROUND 11AM THE FOLLOWING DAY. THE EMS PERSONNEL FOUND THE ENGINE RUNNING, VERY HIGH LEVELS OF CO UPON ENTERING THE GARAGE AND EVEN HIGHER LEVELS INSIDE THE CAR. THE INSIDE OF THE PASSAGE COMPARTMENT WAS DESCRIBED AS HOT. THE FRONT EXTERIOR OF THE CAR WAS TO HOT TO TOUCH AND THE CAR REAR WARM. THE TEMPERATURE UNDER THE CAR HOOD WAS DESCRIBED AS "RED HOT". THE ENGINE HAD CONSUMED AROUND 5 GALLONS OF GAS DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. DISTRIBUTION OF THE CO THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE WAS PROBABLY CAUSED BY THE A/C AIR HANDLER WHICH IS LOCATED INSIDE THE GARAGE. DATA DUMPS REVEALED POWER AND STARTING BATTERIES WERE EXHAUSTED, AND NO FAULT FLAGS DROPPED. I BELIEVE THE INCIDENT HAS REVEALED: -THE TEMPERATURE LEVELS REACHED UNDER THE HOOD PROBABLY EXCEEDED THE SAFE OPERATING LEVELS OF THE DIGITAL SYSTEMS SOLID STATE JUNCTIONS RENDERING ANY DATA COLLECTED (OR NOT COLLECTED) AS UNRELIABLE. -THE LITHIUM ION AND STARTING BATTERIES WERE TOTALLY W/O CHARGE. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN WHEN THE SOLE FUNCTION OF THE GAS ENGINE ( WHICH WAS RUNNING WHEN DISCOVERED BY THE FIREMEN ) IS TO CHARGE THESE BATTERIES UNLESS A FAILURE OCCURRED. NOTE: ALL PERSONAL INFO STORED IN THE CAR ENTERTAINMENT HARD DRIVE SYSTEM WAS LOST. -HOW CAN THE CAR OUTSIDE SURFACE GET THAT HOT? ONE POSSIBILITY IS THE BODY IS TEMPORARILY USED AS A RETURN GROUND PASSING VERY HIGH LEVELS OF CURRENT BECAUSE OF A FAILURE. *TR

I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE ON THE CAR DASH DISPLAY: PROPULSION REDUCED-ENGINE NOT AVAILABLE. THIS MESSAGE CAME ON WHILE I WAS DRIVING IN THE CARPOOL LANE. I CALLED GM THRU ON STAR AND WAS TOLD THAT I HAD A CATASTROPHIC ERROR AND NEEDED TO GET MY CAR INTO REPAIR WITH 24 HOURS. WITH ONLY 6 MILES LEFT ON THE BATTERY, I TOLD THE GM REP THAT I BETTER GET THE CAR TO A CHEVY DEALER. I IMMEDIATELY DROVE TO THE DEALERSHIP IN CULVER CITY. THE MINUTE I PULLED INTO THE DRIVEWAY OF THE DEALERSHIP, MY CAR STOPPED AND WOULD NOT RESTART. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A DISASTER IF THE CAR HAD STOPPED IN THE CARPOOL LANE. I HAVE READ OF OTHER COMPLAINTS ON GOOGLE AND YAHOO. I WAS TOLD BY THE DEALERSHIP THAT THEY WERE GOING TO REPLACE THE ENGINE MODULE, WHICH THEY SAID WOULD TAKE 8 HOURS TO REPAIR, BUT WHEN I PICKED UP THE CAR, THEY ONLY REPLACED THE TRANSMISSION MODULE. SINCE THE INCIDENT, I ONLY GET A FULL CHARGE OF 32 TO 34 MILES, WHERE BEFORE THE INCIDENT I WAS GETTING A FULL CHARGE OF 42 TO 44 MILES PER CHARGE. THIS IS DEFINITE SAFETY ISSUE AS GM BLAMES THE DRIVER FOR THE PROBLEM. GM NEEDS TO REPLACE THE ENGINE MODULE ON MY CAR. *TR

THE VEHICLE HAS REPEATEDLY SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING/FAILED TO START SINCE JUNE 2013. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN SERVICE DUE TO REPAIRS = 42 DAYS IN THE LAST 10 MONTHS. GM CONTINUES TO REPLACE/RECALL PARTS ON THE HYBRID BATTERY AS WELL AS OTHER PARTS CONCERNING SECONDARY PROBLEMS. I AM AFRAID THIS VEHICLE WILL SHUT DOWN AGAIN WHILE I AM DRIVING CAUSING AN ACCIDENT HURTING ME OR OTHERS ON THE ROAD. CLEARLY, IT IS A POTENTIAL DEATH TRAP. *TR