Boomer23
Well-known member
evnow said:It felt shockingly small inside compared to Leaf - don't know whether its just a unfamiliarity thing. The seat was ok (but then, I'm thin). Charge was low - so couldn't really go far or quick. but it drives adequately. I knew it would be a econobox - but it was still shocking how barebones - hard plasticky it is. You'd feel practically robbed paying $40k/>$500 a month lease for this.
Currently GM hasn't announced a lease program for WA - and buying the car knowing I want to get rid off this whenever I get Model 3 would be not prudent. Infact if the lease continues to be close to $500 (zero down) I expect to spend about double of what I'd spend on a new Leaf in the next 18 months. I find it difficult to justify the expense.
I just have to comment on your impressions after your brief exposure to the car. We've had ours for two weeks and we just love it. I won't argue that most of the interior plastics aren't hard and cheap feeling. But the engineers have done a phenomenal job with the packaging and the engineering. The car rides and handles beautifully. I find the handling and steering feel very easy to adapt to and reassuring, with just the right mix of firmness for good handling but without harshness. There is such a wealth of adjustability to the regen settings. My wife, who likes to drive a car without thinking about regen and such, and she expects the usual degree of "creep" drives the Bolt in D. I always immediately put it in L, which switches off creep and greatly enhances regen. In addition, there is the regen paddle behind the left steering wheel strut that allows me to add strong regen at any time, regardless of the drive setting (Volt also has a paddle). There is also a Sport setting that sharpens the throttle response. The car has so much more torque than the 2013 Leaf SL that I had that there's no comparison. The Bolt can be a sedate family grocery getter for my wife and it can put a huge grin on my face as a sports machine. The seats are even grippy enough to hold me in place for cornering. I'm not kidding. In fact, I even enjoy it more than my BMW i3.
The space utilization is amazing. The car is tall, so seating is upright. Rear seating for two adults is good behind two other adults, and we routinely carry two kid seats back there with lots of space around them. My wife loves the cargo organization, which offers a covered lower space for shopping bags and small stuff below a rigid floor of a clear luggage space for cargo. Tires are a new Michelin Self Sealing formulation.
And they've really loaded the Premier model. The high def 80 degree rear camera monitor in the rear view mirror, the rear cross traffic alert, surround view, rear parking sensors, lane change blind spot sensors, lane keeping assist, pedestrian and vehicle sensing emergency braking. While the car doesn't offer navigation per se, I'm really enjoying the Nav by Apple Car Play. It's quite sophisticated.
You're right, the lease deals aren't attractive right now. I assume they'll get better. Some dealers are discounting in California, though not many. We found a no haggle dealer who is offering a $2500 discount.
We also have a reservation for a Model 3 and I foresee both a Bolt and a Model 3 in our garage. But we saw enough in the Bolt to warrant purchasing it even though we've leased all three of our previous EVs.
I wrote this because I noticed that it's easy to pile negative comments on to a competitive car on a fan site like this, but some of the comments are based on precious little information or familiarity.
I do think that a Volt would be a good stopgap choice for you before the Model 3 is available. Good luck in selecting your next EV.
Cheers EVnow.