[cwpurser]

My 2018 Bolt Premier has suffer the same problems now for the 3rd time. First time the car would not start after giving warnings of Steering Assist Reduced, StabiliTrak Disabled, and ABS Disabled. The car spent a week in the shop but the problem would not repeat for the dealer so car was returned to me. 2nd occurrence with same warnings, the car would not start once parked at the dealer and they could not repair the vehicle without escalating to an engineer from GM actually flying to my dealer to solve the issue. This time they replaced the Body Control Module and gave it a clean bill of health. Car was in the shop for 22 days.

Now, two weeks later the same errors returned, Steering Assist reduced, StabiliTrak Disabled, and ABS disabled. Dealer reports need to contact same engineer who last saw the vehicle. GM has so far offered to reimbursed me the sum of one monthly payment for the vehicle in the shop for most of April and May. No estimate yet when this repair attempt will be completed so I'm stuck driving a gas guzzling loaner. I think my Bolt is a lemon. Has anyone else suffered from this?

 

[timoteoev]

My 2017 has been problem free

Sorry you are having issues. My 2017 Bolt has been problem free and I have had it since Aug. 30 of 2017. Your warranty will cover all the repairs. GM seems to be taking very good care of Bolt owners.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Your warranty will cover all the repairs. GM seems to be taking very good care of Bolt owners.

Yeah, that's easy to say for people like us without any problems. But even if GM fixes the car, repeated failures make a huge dent in your confidence about the car and having to repeatedly take it in for fixing is a huge annoyance.

cwpurser - I'm very sorry to hear about your problems and I hope they get solved quickly and permanently.

 

[AC/DC]

Hope GM can make Lemonade

Got my Bolt in October 2017 and have had no problems. Sorry to hear of your difficulties, those of us who have had none love the car. It is especially galling to have a car that has the same symptoms repeatedly. You may indeed have a lemon but, hopefully, this time GM will track it down and get it right. Please keep us updated on your situation & resolution.

 

[Torontonian69]

Got my Bolt on January 29, 2018. 11,600km later, it is still ok (knocking on wood, cuz I don't want to jinx myself)... It's an amazing vehicle though.
sorry to hear you are having problems.

 

[millerwb]

Mine is a 2017. Dealer needed to communicate with GM engineers on my first two repair visits.

 

[23393]

My wife's Bolt has 13k miles and has been on the road for almost a full year. The only issue we have had was the key lock cover on the driver side door handle popped off and would not clip back on. My Bolt has only been on the road for 4 months but has no issues so far. I know that this does not help you with your problem but it shows that others are having good reliability with their Bolts...so don't give up quite yet. The Bolt is a highly specialized model with new technology that many dealers have no experience with which is why it had to be escalated to GM corporate. GM fixed the most likely cause of the issue first. Now they have to dig deeper. I would give them another shot at fixing the problem before I give up on the car. If this was a normal GM product, you would have had to take the car in twice and maybe only lost a few days of use of the car while they worked through the issue. But since this is new technology and the dealer has to get GM involved, the repair time has grown exponentially which sucks. I would be upset too if I were in your shoes but hopefully GM will get it right soon. I know it sucks having to drive an ICE car when you've spent good money on an EV. When my wife's Bolt's door handle was being fixed, our loaner was a 4 door off road equipped full sized Silverado pickup. Oh the irony...

 

[Vertiformed]

My 2018 Bolt Premier has suffer the same problems now for the 3rd time. First time the car would not start after giving warnings of Steering Assist Reduced, StabiliTrak Disabled, and ABS Disabled. The car spent a week in the shop but the problem would not repeat for the dealer so car was returned to me. 2nd occurrence with same warnings, the car would not start once parked at the dealer and they could not repair the vehicle without escalating to an engineer from GM actually flying to my dealer to solve the issue. This time they replaced the Body Control Module and gave it a clean bill of health. Car was in the shop for 22 days.

Now, two weeks later the same errors returned, Steering Assist reduced, StabiliTrak Disabled, and ABS disabled. Dealer reports need to contact same engineer who last saw the vehicle. GM has so far offered to reimbursed me the sum of one monthly payment for the vehicle in the shop for most of April and May. No estimate yet when this repair attempt will be completed so I'm stuck driving a gas guzzling loaner. I think my Bolt is a lemon. Has anyone else suffered from this?

When you get random problems from an EV, it's often the 12 volt battery. Getting too little current from that battery will cause everything in the car to go haywire.

 

[cwpurser]

If it's that simple, I wonder why the GM engineer from Detroit didn't solve that already.

 

[cwpurser]

Got my Bolt on January 29, 2018. 11,600km later, it is still ok (knocking on wood, cuz I don't want to jinx myself)... It's an amazing vehicle though.
sorry to hear you are having problems.

I'm sad because I do love the vehicle. I thinks it's just my vehicle. I'm hoping GM will replace mine due to lemon laws and I will receive a new one that is a gem.

 

[cwpurser]

My wife's Bolt has 13k miles and has been on the road for almost a full year. The only issue we have had was the key lock cover on the driver side door handle popped off and would not clip back on. My Bolt has only been on the road for 4 months but has no issues so far. I know that this does not help you with your problem but it shows that others are having good reliability with their Bolts...so don't give up quite yet. The Bolt is a highly specialized model with new technology that many dealers have no experience with which is why it had to be escalated to GM corporate. GM fixed the most likely cause of the issue first. Now they have to dig deeper. I would give them another shot at fixing the problem before I give up on the car. If this was a normal GM product, you would have had to take the car in twice and maybe only lost a few days of use of the car while they worked through the issue. But since this is new technology and the dealer has to get GM involved, the repair time has grown exponentially which sucks. I would be upset too if I were in your shoes but hopefully GM will get it right soon. I know it sucks having to drive an ICE car when you've spent good money on an EV. When my wife's Bolt's door handle was being fixed, our loaner was a 4 door off road equipped full sized Silverado pickup. Oh the irony...

I love the Bolt and just want my car fixed or replaced. I believe in the technology and the future of EVs in general. As an early adopter I also know that I'm a beta tester for that technology. I accept the role of early adopter. I just want my car to be as reliable as it should be.

 

[cwpurser]

Here's a pic of my Bolt Premier

 

[GregBrew]

When you get random problems from an EV, it's often the 12 volt battery. Getting too little current from that battery will cause everything in the car to go haywire.

+1 Based on 20+ years experience driving EVs, "weird behavior" can be traced to a marginal aux battery at least 80% of the time. Probably higher.

 

[Sean Nelson]

When you get random problems from an EV, it's often the 12 volt battery. Getting too little current from that battery will cause everything in the car to go haywire.

...and 12V battery problems are probably a lot more common in a "brand new" Bolt than you might suspect, because in places like California where there's a glut of Bolts some of them have been sitting on the lot for several months. The auxilliary systems in the Bolt such as its Onstar communications and it's fob-sensing antennae are always on, and that runs the battery down. If the battery is run down too far it can suffer damage and become very unreliable even after it's fully recharged again.

 

[GJETSON]

...and 12V battery problems are probably a lot more common in a "brand new" Bolt than you might suspect, because in places like California where there's a glut of Bolts some of them have been sitting on the lot for several months. The auxiliary systems in the Bolt such as its Onstar communications and it's fob-sensing antennae are always on, and that runs the battery down. If the battery is run down too far it can suffer damage and become very unreliable even after it's fully recharged again.

Here in Virginia it's probably worse. Our Bolt was built in December of 2016. We bought it off the lot in the middle of July, 2017. There are still some sitting around here. We had 100 degree days last summer, and the coldest winter in a decade after that. These cars are sitting out on lots, totally exposed.

 

[frenchfry]

Clearly the smoking gun has not yet been found. I am sure it is 1 part causing you all this grief. The technology is complicated but what strikes me about this car is that it is almost always "plug and play".
I am sure it will get sorted shortly. GM engineers are really the only ones who can figure the tough stuff out.
If it makes you feel any better my Bolt is 8 month old now with almost 28,000 miles and not even a rattle in any panel.
Once your car is fixed, I am sure you will have the same ownership experience moving forward.

 

[Torontonian69]

I'm sad because I do love the vehicle. I thinks it's just my vehicle. I'm hoping GM will replace mine due to lemon laws and I will receive a new one that is a gem.

I hope so too! Sending you positive vibes so this happens!!!!! :laugh:

 

[beeguz]

I would start with a new 12V battery no matter what anyone said, if that battery is the least bit bad it will throw that whole car off.

 

[mfeuerst]

lemon laws

Check the law for your state -- depending upon where you live, you can declare it a lemon. I live in Maryland and the law is quite clear :
(from http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/CPD/lemon.aspx)

"If your new car spends more time in the repair shop than on the road, you know you have a problem.
In most cases, the manufacturer's warranty that comes with your car will provide the coverage you need to have your car repaired at no cost to you. Your warranty will tell you what parts and systems of your car are covered and for how long. If you need repairs, you must have them done by a dealer, although you do not have to use the same dealer who sold you your car.

In some cases, however, the dealer may be unable to fix your car's problem. If that is the case, you may have a lemon.

Maryland's Lemon Law applies to new or leased motor vehicles (including cars, light trucks and motorcycles), registered in Maryland, that are less than 24 months old and have been driven less than 18,000 miles. The law provides for consumers whose cars meet certain criteria to receive a refund or a replacement vehicle if repair attempts have failed to correct a problem, and the problem substantially impairs the use and market value of the vehicle.

Not all new cars with problems qualify as lemons, but if yours does, you must take action quickly to receive relief under the law."

 

[quirkySquirt]

+1 check the 12V battery.

Not sure if applicable to Bolt, but Gen 2 Volt owners also had a 12V issue and it was not only due to weak 12V batteries, but a terminal block where a 12V rail was shorting or not making good contact. It was a wire terminal that was not screwed down tightly or not perfectly aligned to avoid touching neighboring terminals and these resulted in weird codes and errors being thrown.

Some Gen 2 Volt owners even had this happen after a long road trip where the jarring from the trip cause the terminals to dislodge a bit.