[balazer]

Used Bolt Buyer's Guide

@AaronCatolico1, the range number you're looking at has nothing to do with the battery's health or degradation. It's just an estimate based on recent driving and the outside temperature for the current state of charge. The range goes down in cold weather and when you drive fast. A 2017 Bolt should have had its battery replaced under recall in the last 2.5 years, so it should be in good condition and performing close to a new battery. The EPA estimated range for replaced batteries is 259 miles, which assumes warm weather and a mix of city and highway driving. Using the linked guide you can check when the battery was replaced and see how much warranty is left on it.

The deal looks alright to me, but it really depends on how you feel about a high mileage vehicle. EV components don't tend to wear out, and the battery should be pretty new. But everything else can wear out, like on any car: steering, suspension, etc. And a 2017 is due for some maintenance. It needs all of the coolant replaced, and will probably need a new 12-volt battery soon, if that hasn't been replaced already.

Right now it's easy to find buyback 2020-2022 Bolts, often for as little as $15,000-17,000, and with low mileage. And buybacks come with a 12-month, 12,000 mile warranty. So you might look into those. Just beware the caveats mentioned in the guide about the 80% charge limit.

 

[balazer]

Ignore the 185 miles. It means nothing. That's a range estimate based on some other people's use of the car. A car in a dealer lot gets really abnormal usage. People just sit in the car and play with the air conditioning, which pulls the range way down. You'll get an estimate for your driving when you start to drive the car. The estimate is based on the last few days' driving.

Check the guide I already linked. It says how to check if the battery was replaced. The battery was probably already replaced, but if it wasn't, you can get it replaced for free under recall after you buy the car. Just assume that the battery is fairly new and the car will get the range it's supposed to. Battery degradation has not been a problem on Bolts so far.

The odometer reading says how many miles the car was driven since it was manufactured. That has nothing to do with how old the battery is. The odometer doesn't reset when the battery is replaced. You can calculate the battery's age using the GM recall & warranty website from the "Bolt Battery Limited Part Warranty" as described in the guide.

 

[balazer]

@waggy.online, the Bolt's range estimate is made as a weighted average over an unknown number of recent miles and days. It doesn't line up precisely with the time basis of any of the Bolt's reporting of miles per kilowatt. Combining those to estimate the battery's capacity will give a very rough estimate, at best. Frankly I wouldn't try to estimate the battery's capacity that way.