[michael]

I liked that the original Volt had a remote link for the garage door and bummed that it is no longer an option on the new Volt. Does anyone know whether this will be an option on the Bolt?

 

[DucRider]

I think you are talking about Homelink, and it was designed to do much more than open garage doors (control lights, etc) - which almost nobody used it for. I'm sure they have to pay a licensing fee for every car they install it on, so that may be a factor.

Keeping a remote in the car is not a big deal, and there are apps (Android Auto and Apple Carplay are integrated into the Bolt) that will talk to your Homelink system (if you have one).

Many new garage door openers are internet connected, allowing you to monitor up or down state remotely as well as open or close the door. You can also retrofit many existing garage doors with this capability and use an app to control the door.

 

[Bazinga]

As Handy as that would be, it's not a necessity for me. I'm still using the old school garage button. Nothing fancy with internet connection, just three buttons to choose from and it's worked very well so far. Even if Chevy offers it as an option with the Bolt, I wouldn't pay for it.

I took a look at the rear view mirror, that's where the button is usually located, and I don't see one so it may not makes it way into production.

 

[Paul S]

When we have car shopped over the last 20 years or so, we have looked for homelink and auto diming rear view mirror. We are like many who enjoy both of those features and believe every car should have them. Very unhappy when the newer model Volt didn't have it. That reason is one of several that will likely make our 2011 and 2014 Volts our last ones. We know that GM for whatever reason is leaving homelink off the feature list for many of their models. You can get an aftermarket one put in, but it isn't cheap. We can also use the remote that comes with the garage door opener, but seems tacky.

We have a Chamberlain opener with MyQ. This means we can open our garage door with the MyQ app. Ideal substitution would be allowing that app to show up on Carplay and that wouldn't be too bad. For added security, we don't want to put the garage door remote in the car because it gives anyone free access to the garage and therefore the house. One advantage that homelink offers is it doesn't work unless car is on (or has been on recently), so people can't just break into your car and gain access to your home.

 

[devbolt]

While I prefer the auto-dimming mirror and the integrated Homelink garage door opener in my previous cars, it has not stopped me from purchasing a car without those features. I would never cross a car off my consideration list just because it lacked Homelink and/or an auto-dimming mirror because there might be other more compelling reasons to get that car. Now, if I had two equally compelling cars and one of them lacked Homelink/auto-dimming, then I probably would opt for the one that included it, or had it available as an option for a modest price.

I've owned cars where the Homelink buttons were active whether the car was on or off, and I've owned cars where it's only active when the key is present and the car is on. Go figure. Some auto manufacturers are a bit more security conscious, clearly. I haven't checked to see if the new Highlander Hybrid we recently got disables the buttons when the car is off.

I've been using the remote that came with the garage door opener in my Plug-in Prius. If I was concerned about someone breaking into my car to use it to gain access to the garage, I would simply put the remote in the center console, or otherwise hide in the car. Right now it lives on the driver's sunshade, like what many other people do. When I get the Bolt, I'll probably transfer the remote to the Bolt, or buy a replacement. I'd love to replace both garage doors to get the MyQ internet connected stuff, but I fear it's not really all that cost effective to do so and I think my wife would veto that expenditure.

The auto-dimming mirror is an available option on the LT, and comes standard on the Premier. Sadly it doesn't appear that Homelink is available. None of the order guides lists as an available or included option.

 

[Bazinga]

Home link wasn't on the Costco build page either so it's not going to appear on the Bolt. There's always the option of attached that garage button to a keychain so you never forget it in the car and risk having it stolen. May be large and ugly, but safe.

 

[LightningBolt]

Wait, I was looking on Homelink's site and it says the Bolt is equipped with Homelink.
Take a look at their list of Homelink equipped vehicles under Chevrolet. http://www.homelink.com/compatible/vehicles

 

[devbolt]

Wait, I was looking on Homelink's site and it says the Bolt is equipped with Homelink.
Take a look at their list of Homelink equipped vehicles under Chevrolet. http://www.homelink.com/compatible/vehicles

I wouldn't necessarily trust that list to be completely accurate. It lists the Toyota Plug-in Prius as compatible, but my 2012 Base PiP model lacks the Homelink mirror. In order to get the Homelink mirror, you had to upgrade to the Advanced Tech model of the PiP.

 

[devbolt]

I've owned cars where the Homelink buttons were active whether the car was on or off, and I've owned cars where it's only active when the key is present and the car is on. Go figure. Some auto manufacturers are a bit more security conscious, clearly. I haven't checked to see if the new Highlander Hybrid we recently got disables the buttons when the car is off.

And it turns out that the Highlander's Homelink buttons are active no matter if the car is off or on, locked or unlocked, key or no key with you.

 

[sharkvolt]

You can order your own homelink three button unit through ebay and install it yourself. There is a post on the GM-Volt forum on the installation.

 

[Bazinga]

Garage button my friends, garage button. I usually hide it so it's not in plain sight and it's cheap!

 

[Roth33d]

Some more modern garage door systems might have remote access through an APP, so anyone here that has done those upgrades might find value in that, after all a lot of us are on our phones, and its easy to be on your phone when close to home just meters away rather than mixed in traffic where you have a ton of things going on.