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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
60,538 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Chevrolet Volt miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2012 Chevrolet Volt Owner Comments

problem #14

Sep 262022

Volt

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driver-€™s display completely dark. I can-€™t see speed, gas remaining, charge remaining, turn signals, gear, warnings if tire pressure is low, etc. Upon turning the car off and back on, the display lights back for an couple of minutes until it goes dark again. There was no warning before it happened for the first time a couple of days ago. The car is extremely unsafe and not drivable as I have no idea how fast I-€™m going, if I-€™m about to run out of gas, etc. Luckily, the screen went dark when my 16-year-old daughter was driving in our neighborhood. This should definitely be a recall issue.

- Wilmington, NC, USA

problem #13

Jul 242020

Volt

  • 112,000 miles
The issue is caused by a previous software update to the vehicle interface control module (vicm) which was installed to improve the car, but which may have disabled the cell balancing function, causing the Volt to enter a low-voltage condition. This puts the affected Volts into a situation where it would enter what is called a low-power "limp-home" mode, before shutting down completely cause the Volt to shut down in traffic. Dealer states that needs to replace battery which it cost about 6000. Chevrolet is not responding for the defective problem that caused the recall. Low-voltage battery cell issue or propulsion reduce

- Homestead, FL, USA

problem #12

Jan 012015

Volt

  • 50,000 miles
2012 Chevy Volt airbag passenger side. Light car has been tampered with by the dealerships. Have been dealing with this since I bought the car. Refusal to fix. Issue allows for third party access to my vehicle. Using sub language menus. For spanish and french. This is a major problem and no one is doing anything about it. This calls for a major investigation into Chevy dealerships, fraud. My car had this right after my first in warranty service at roseville Chevy dealership. Please help. My vehicle is being illiegaly monitored. And exstorted for money to fix a problem that is related to tailight switching bulbs and antilockout issues with the car.

- Grass Valley, CA, USA

problem #11

Aug 082018

Volt

  • 32,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2012 Chevrolet Volt charging station has burned the outlet in my garage three times. Each time I hired an electrician to replace burned outlet and verify it is wired properly. Whatever the malfunction is, it does not trip the gfci. This is a fire hazard. Attached are some of the pictures I submitted to GM pac which denied my claim.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #10

Jun 272018

Volt

  • 121,000 miles
Driver's instrument cluster screen flickers and then goes blank while driving/in motion on a city road and on the highway. Driver loses all indication of speed, turn signals, lighting, speedometer, cruise control, fuel level, charge level, and all other critical information that is displayed on the driver screen.

- Milton, FL, USA

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problem #9

Feb 232018

Volt

  • 77,600 miles
Charger no longer working

- Leitchfield, KY, USA

problem #8

Sep 252017

Volt

  • 77,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The information display has gone black. The information display shows speed, mileage, fuel level, turn blinker status, and other critical information. The screen brightness adjustment does not affect the display and is not the problem. The issue continues whether the vehicle is in motion or stationary, on city streets or highway, turning, or braking. I do not know the root cause of the issue but it appears to involve onboard computer components. The vehicle has not been in an accident nor damaged in any way.

- Beaumont, TX, USA

problem #7

Aug 232017

Volt

  • 47,175 miles
On 8/23/17, my car popped up the message "service high voltage charging system" on my dashboard display while I was stationary with the car on. Upon researching the problem online, I noticed in the GM forums that the problem was due to an incorrect amount of fluid in the reservoir surrounding the battery. Service campaign #14114 (ress battery coolant level low) was generated by GM for 2012 & 2013 Chevrolet Volts, but my VIN for my 2012 Chevrolet Volt was not included. I explained to GM (corporate) and keller motors that this is a well-documented problem and that the fix was to add battery coolant, but I got the same run-around answer that my VIN was not included in the service campaign / recall. Keller motors in hanford, ca was finally able to take a look at my vehicle on 8/29/17 and found the problem to be exactly as noted in the service recall. There were no leaks. The coolant was $13.13. The labor was $119.50. That's absurd -- I can pour in coolant myself! what I can't do is clear out the error codes that were popping up on my car that was preventing me from charging it and using the electric battery. I really feel that my car was missed in GM's service campaign # 14114, and feel like I should reimbursed by them for my out of pocket expense. A copy of my paperwork from keller motors detailing the problem is attached to this complaint. Furthermore, I was assigned case # 8-3209935105, and a woman by the name of jasmine from GM (when I initially called corporate about this problem), but she never did follow up with either myself or keller motors on this problem by the time I picked up my car on 8/29/17 and had to pay the bill to release my car.

- Kingsburg, CA, USA

problem #6

Jun 012017

Volt

  • 45,000 miles
I have had various electrical issues-November of 2012. First back up camera went blank, July 2014 check engine light high voltage; November 14 electrical issue; June 2015 unintentional running light on; July 2015 same issue; August 2015 check engine/aribag light on dealer checked and reset codes. August 2016 check airbag light on. Went in several times steve moore ordered part that would be $1,200 to fix. Light went off. When check airbag came back on took the car to a different dealer. City Chevrolet said I needed a new 12 Volt battery replaced battery within 48 hours of being at the dealer issue came back. Now the lcd screen is blank. The problems seems to be electrical in nature

- Charlotte, NC, USA

problem #5

Aug 202015

Volt

  • 12,250 miles
It all started on December 16th 2015, I had bought the car certified pre-owned with 12K miles on it. The car has been plagued with issues since day one.. the issues range from little electrical issues, to major safety concerns, all of which taking months to repair. The first issues were issues where the key fob could not be found, the car would not recognize the keys when you got in and at times you could not turn off the car. They replaced the keys over a dozen times, and replaced the central computer twice. Shortly after this the steering column failed, this happened three times, where I could not steer the car, or the worm gear randomly would miss teeth.. they replaced the column, worm gear, and rack each time. There are also issues with the charge port door not releasing, as well as a few times where the charge port shorted out my house, and charging unit requiring both the port and the charger itself to be replaced. Next was a broken exhaust manifold, where the car would leak exhaust into the car through the heat vents, they replaced the manifold, and full exhaust eventually due to random leaks in the exhaust.. next was mpg, once the weather got cold I am unable to get better than 12mpg, which GM indicates is normal.. the epa sticker indicated 30mpg city, I am getting between 9 and 12, GM will not remedy this issue, indicating it is normal.. next was the catalytic converter, which GM indicated due to the new exhaust that the old cat was broken in the process.. next was airbags, the system in the car would not pickup the passenger in the car and would at random turn off the passenger air bag.. apparently there is a software update to fix this issue. Next was the brakes, which started sticking, which they indicate since there is no code they can't fix them, I adjusted the cable myself and resolved the issue. I have all the records and will gladly send them to NHTSA

- Dublin, OH, USA

problem #4

Apr 012016

Volt

  • 150,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2012 Volt charger has burned my outlet, and my melted it and it has been replaced twice. My seat belt buckle has broken.

- Richmond, TX, USA

problem #3

Nov 142015

Volt

  • 30,000 miles
2012 checy Volt - experiencing issues with shifter. On multiple occasions I will shift my Volt into park but system doesn't recognize it. I try and turn off vehicle and system shows "shift into park" on screen and vehicle can not be turned off causing vehicle to run continuously and kill both 12 Volt battery and drive battery.

- Placentia, CA, USA

problem #2

Oct 062015

Volt

  • 55,000 miles
I was making a left hand turn and was hit by an SUV who ran a red light doing about 35 or 40 miles per hour on front of my car. It hit the front of my car spinning it to the right [about 160 degree turn] when my car spun I hit the back of my head and left shoulder on the door pillar, my head hurt and I was dazed. The airbags had not gone off I hit the onstar button nothing happened I smelled burning so I turned the car off and got out. I now have a minor concussion due to the failure of the airbags to deploy.

- Fremont, CA, USA

problem #1

Apr 142015

Volt 4-cyl

  • 38,009 miles
Failure of the electric vehicle supply equipment (evse) has occurred for the second time since vehicle purchase in January 2013. Numerous reports of other customers experiencing this issue with the oem supplied evse.

- San Marcos, TX, USA

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