'It's unnerving': Chevy Bolt owners want buybacks after 141,000 vehicles recalled for fire risk

[Jilly_in_VA]

Nathan Gardner loved his 2019 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle when he bought it three years ago, but now it sits outside his home "like a firebomb," he said.

He wants General Motors to buy it back. So do Bolt owners Wendy Fong, Stan Goldberg and Durham Smith. They find it unsettling to own a vehicle even GM has warned could catch on fire.

“It’s unnerving at the very least," said Smith of Lake Wylie, South Carolina. He owns a 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV. "How can we possibly put a car in our garage that might catch on fire? I don’t feel secure parking a car outside given our tree coverage.”

Last month, GM expanded its second recall on Bolts to include all model years through 2022 – that means Smith's Bolt too, which he'd bought just 15 days earlier. The recall, which affects about 141,000 vehicles globally, is due to battery defects that could start a fire. There have been a dozen Bolts that have caught fire while parked, although GM has not confirmed that each of those fires was caused by defective batteries.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2021/09/11/chevy-bolt-recall-frustrated-owners-want-buybacks/8295285002/
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I've been mad at GM since they screwed over Saturn and vowed never to buy another GM car. They can't make a decent one any more. Don't get me started on the late ex's Chevy S-10, trouble since he bought it.

[70sEraVet]

1. I agree with your sentiments on the demise of Saturn

And I will never forgive GM for their 'cost analysis' over the deaths caused by heavy keys in the ignition.

[Luciferous]

13. I had a Saturn and it was one of the best cars I ever owned. The only thing I ever needed to

do to that car was replace the brake pads and the battery.

[Klaralven]

2. You have to park it outside, but is should be plugged in if temp lower than 32 or higher than 90 F?

https://electrek.co/2016/12/09/chevy-bolt-dc-charging-question-80kw-or-50kw-heres-what-we-know-and-why-were-still-confused/

[marble falls]

3. I'd still buy a Bolt.

[Ron Green]

4. We love our Bolt. It's been our only car for almost 5 years.

The recall is upsetting, but the risk is so low (a gasoline car is far more likely to catch fire) that we’re living and driving normally until the final fix is done.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

5. Chevy, Unsafe at any charging speed...buy a Toyota! lol

[cadoman]

6. I do wonder if this is a case of someone being too "by the book"

I can't imagine Tesla issuing a recall like this and their cars are seemingly always involved in weird fires or collisions, or arriving with defects from improper factory procedures.

[Jilly_in_VA]

7. The Chevy S-10 and the Equinox

My late ex bought a Chevy S-10 right about the time our youngest grandson (now 13 1/2) was born. He'd always wanted one. Well, that damn thing was nothing but trouble from the start. He came to visit the baby in the hospital with his literally brand new truck (15 miles on it when he left the house) and on the way home from the hospital the oil light came on. He took it by the dealer, assuming it was just some small computer glitch, and learned that some bolts had not been properly tightened at assembly and indeed, there was almost no oil left! After that it was one thing after another...recalls, assembly line defects, etc. He still had the stupid thing when he died in 2013.

My husband bought a Chevy Equinox in 2009 as part of Obama's "Cash for Clunkers" program. He had an ancient Dodge Caravan that he traded in on it. I TOLD him not to buy a GM car and especially not a Chevy, tried my best to steer him towards a Honda C-RV like the one I'd bought new in 2005, but he would buy that Equinox. Troubles ensued. Of course. Starting with the chipmunks chewing up the wiring...which had been coated with peanut oil. Yes, you heard me. Then there were recalls and more other problems. He finally traded the damn thing in on...guess what...a Honda C-RV. But not until 2018. (It takes some people awhile.)

[MichMan]

8. Honda's Soy-Based Wiring Covers Irresistible to Rodents: Lawsuit

"Environmentally friendly car wiring with a soy-based coating is too tempting for rodents to resist, according to a federal class-action lawsuit that demands Honda pick up the tab for the damage caused by gnawing mice, rabbits and squirrels.

The breach of warranty lawsuit, filed last week in Los Angeles and first reported by Courthouse News Service, results from the automaker’s quest to “go green” by using soy-based biodegradable wire coating. The coating costs less than plastic but does have a downside, according to lead plaintiff Daniel Dobbs of Wyoming.

In the lawsuit, Dobbs alleged that he had to pay twice to have chewed-up wires in his 2012 Honda Accord replaced at a Honda dealership. The second time, he said, mechanics wrapped the wires in special tape intended to deter rodents, demonstrating that Honda is aware of the issue."

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/honda-s-soy-based-wiring-covers-irresistible-rodents-lawsuit-n504746

[Jilly_in_VA]

11. Never had a problem

We park our cars outside, too. I had my C-RV here for 8 years before I got my new H-RV. We had voles, mice, and chipmunks before we got our cats, but they never bothered my Hondas and haven't bothered my husband's new one either .

[MichMan]

9. Rats! Warranty won't cover rodents chewing wires, so Arlington Heights man sues Honda

Jay Caracci was backing his Honda CR-V out of his driveway on a fall day in 2017 when the power steering stopped working.

“The car, you couldn’t even manage it,” says Caracci, who lives in Arlington Heights. At first, he thought the power steering fluid had to be low. But when he took the then-2-year-old compact sport-utility vehicle to the dealer to be checked, he got a shock. “They came out and said rodents had chewed through my cables,” Caracci says.

The repairs would cost about $500. And Honda refused to cover them under its new-car warranty. It said the damage was an “act of nature.” It all seemed a little crazy. But things happen all the time, and people move on. Just another of life’s little annoyances, if not a cheap one. Caracci might have moved on, too. But he did some research online and soon found other car owners also complaining about rodents nibbling on their wires, which are covered in soy-based insulation. And Honda, he discovered, knew this was a problem. In fact, it sells a chili pepper-infused anti-rodent tape and even installs some components pre-wrapped in tape.


https://chicago.suntimes.com/consumer-affairs/2021/6/4/22519251/honda-rats-rodents-wires-soy-insulation-power-steering-jay-caracci-class-action-larry-smith-bardo

[Boomerproud]

10. Critters chewing through the wires cost me 700

😡

[tinrobot]

12. 19 fires so far out of 141,000 vehicles.

So, the occurrences are pretty rare. But GM is replacing 141,000 batteries. Those batteries cost $5-10k each.

I'm glad GM is being a lot more proactive about this than they have been in the past.

EDIT : And here's some reference about the fires:

https://electrek.co/2021/07/28/everything-we-know-about-the-chevy-bolt-ev-fires/