When Chevrolet introduced the Bolt EUV in early 2021, I was hooked. I was a fan of the smaller Bolt EV, which is about the same size as my Sonic, but the EUV falls into that same sweet spot as our old Pontiac Vibe: Big enough for four to ride comfortably with some cargo, but still small enough to fit into tight parking spaces. Furthermore, it was offered in a very attractive shade of blue. As much as I liked it, all our cars were in good enough mechanical condition that there was no reason to spend the money. That was the situation until a few weeks ago.
About five years ago, when our 2014 Chevrolet Sonic was still my daily driver, I was driving up a steep hill when I noticed a sudden loss in power. The Check Engine light came on with the code P0299, “The engine computer has detected that the turbocharger/supercharger is producing less boost pressure than commanded.” Uh oh.
However, the power came back a few minutes later, and the light went off a few days later. It didn’t come on again for a while. After some time, it started coming on more often, and we had Chevy look at it. They reported the turbo needed to be replaced to the tune of $1,700. Apparently, this is not an uncommon issue with the Ecotec 1.4, “The cast-iron turbine housing on the 1.4L turbo is prone to developing hairline cracks directly around the wastegate flapper hole. When this happens, exhaust gases bypass the turbine, resulting in a loss of boost pressure and a P0299 (Engine Underboost) code.”
Since my son’s school-year commute is only three miles each way, we decided to leave it for now as it still rarely came on. This summer, however, my son has a job with a long highway commute, and the light started coming on every day. I considered giving my son the go ahead to spend the money to get the turbo replaced – it is, after all, his car – but then the other issues with the car floated to the surface. Issues such as the squeaky blower fan that’s also probably not long for this world, the cheap aftermarket key fobs that keep falling apart ($600 for two genuine GM units), lock with a mind of their own, a weird noise coming from the back of the car, the back-up light that intermittently stops working, and the peeling B-Pillar trim. Furthermore, one of the drain lines in the moonroof already clogged once, flooding the floor of the car, and it was only a matter of time before it happened again. He never opens the moonroof anyway.
As the car only had 61,000 miles, fixing all those problems probably would have been a more cost-effective solution, but it still wouldn’t solve the underlying issue: during the school year, the car is driven neither far enough to warm up the engine nor recharge the battery. This isn’t good for any internal-combustion engine, much less a turbocharged one. A weekly Italian tuneup might have helped, but he doesn’t like driving enough to do that.
If there ever was a use case for an EV, this was it.
Both my wife and son agreed that we should look to see what was out there even though my son did not like the idea of giving up “Eddie”, a car we’ve had since he was 8, that he learned to drive on, and was very attached to. Prices on used EVs are quite attractive, which was promising considering his budget. Not impressed with the under $10k choices, we decided to go in with him. Besides more and better choices, it would help even the playing field since we bought his sister an almost new car two years ago.
Even with the expanded price range, there weren’t many suitable choices out there. He’s wanted an EV for a long time and had been talking about buying a Chevy Spark EV, BMW i3, Fiat 500E or Mini Cooper EV, but I didn’t think he’d be happy with their limited range. There were a few higher-mileage Model 3s in our price range, but the cost of repairs and insurance scared me off that thought. The local Nissan Leafs in our price range were only lower-range S models (“The crack addicts of EVs”). Worse than his dad, he’s ONLY comfortable driving small cars, so it was critical to keep the size as close to the Sonic as possible. Our likely candidates were the Hyundai Kona EV, Kia Niro EV and Chevy Bolt.
New problem: Like my wife and daughter, he’s very color sensitive. So, not only did it have to be small, but it had to be in some vivid shade of either blue or green. All our available options were in various shades of gray and every one I showed him evoked a “meh” response. However, when I showed him a picture of a Bolt EUV in Bright Blue Metallic, he perked up and said, “I can see myself driving that car.” Unfortunately, the only one available was 250 miles away in Burlington, VT.
I usually get up early with my wife on the Saturday mornings she goes into the office, which is about once a month, and eat breakfast with her. After she left and my son was still sleeping, I sat down at the computer and checked all the various listing sites to see if I had missed anything. Down at the bottom of one of the sites – I don’t remember which one – there was a very basic listing with no picture for a Blue 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV LT with 46k miles for under $20k at a Hyundai/Genesis dealer about an hour away in Northampton, MA. I made an appointment and, thankfully, the Check Engine light didn’t come on during the trip.
When Melissa, our salesperson, brought the car around we were happy to see it was the desired Bright Blue Metallic and not the almost silver Ice Blue Metallic. She apologized that it hadn’t yet been detailed because they’d just taken it on trade. My son was a bit put off, but I saw it as a good opportunity to see how it was treated by its previous owner, a woman named Erika according to the infotainment system. Besides the dust, smudges on some of the controls, and dog hair all over the seats, it was cleaner than most cars I’ve encountered.
My son drove first and was immediately impressed by how much quicker the Bolt is than the Sonic. Even though the single 200-horsepower motor is relatively weak by EV standards, the 6.8-second sprint to 60 is a good second faster than the Sonic when the turbo is working. Furthermore, the 266 lb-ft of torque at 0 RPM is quite intoxicating, even in the 3,680-pound EUV. We took a brief highway run, then pulled into a parking lot for a quick look around. The car appeared to be in very good shape. I then drove it back to the dealer, fully enjoying the one-pedal driving, which I remember really liking in the Tesla.
The Chevrolet Bolt is famous for being GM’s first purpose-built electric car since the EV1 of the late 90’s. Although very close dimensionally to the Sonic hatchback and even originally built alongside it at the Orion township assembly plant in Michigan, the Bolt is built on a dedicated platform called the BEV II. With its 238-mile range and sub-$40,000 price, quite good for 2017, the Bolt was a very competitive EV.
Chevrolet Bolts are also infamous for their LG batteries spontaneously combusting “even if they are turned off, parked, and disconnected from a charging unit.” GM ultimately recalled every Bolt made from 2017 to 2022 and replaced the battery packs. (A coworker of mine owned an early Bolt. When I heard about the fires, I sent him the following Teams message, “Hey Jordan. I hear the Bolt is REALLY HOT right now and sales are ON FIRE!”. He responded, “LOL! I got rid of that car a year ago and bought a Model 3.”)
For 2022, the Bolt received a mild reskinning and was joined by the EUV, which seemed to me like a cynical attempt to appeal to SUV buyers even though underneath was the exact same single-engine, front-wheel drive powertrain (the EPA actually classifies both cars as “Small Station Wagons”). However, ignoring stupid “EUV” moniker and taking it for what it really is – a tall hatchback – the EUV is significantly more practical. The wheelbase was stretched 2.9 inches to 105.3 inches, and 6.3 inches were added to the overall length for a still quite compact 169.5 inches, which is only 10 inches longer than the Sonic hatchback and about 2 inches longer than the first generation Chevy Trax, which was a less cynical attempt to turn a Sonic hatchback into an SUV as it was actually available with all-wheel drive. The increased practicality, better sales volume (38,881 EUVs vs 23,164 EVs for 2023) and relatively small difference in size is why only the EUV body style returned for 2027 after a four model-year absence.
What really impressed me, as a father of two tall children, was that all the extra wheelbase apparently went directly to rear legroom. While the 100.6-wheelbase Trax has nearly the same tight rear quarters as the hatchback and a more generous 18.7 cubic-foot cargo area, the EUV has a cavernous 39.1 inches of rear legroom, which feels like even more with its flat floor. This is comparable to the bigger real crossovers like the CR-V, RAV4 and Tucson. When my 5’7” self is sitting back there, there’s about six inches between my knee and the back of the driver’s seat set for my 5’11” son. The tradeoff is a smaller 16.3 cubic-foot cargo area, but I’ll take that and just fold down the rear seat if more cargo space is needed. Besides, things move around less in a smaller cargo area.
This Bolt is a base LT with the Bright Blue Metallic paint ($395) as the only option. However, it is nicely equipped with automatic high-beam LED Headlights, heated mirrors, keyless entry, climate control, one-touch power windows, a good-sized 10.2-inch infotainment system, an 8-inch digital instrument display, forward collision warning and lane departure mitigation. More importantly, it comes with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, something you cannot get on the 2027 model.
It would have been nice if it had come with the Driver Confidence Package (Parking Sensors and Blind-Spot Monitoring), and/or the Comfort Package (Power Heated Driver’s Seat and Heated Steering Wheel). The Convenience Package would have turned us off with its leather seats, but the rear center armrest with cupholder and auto-dimming rearview mirror would have been appreciated. The Premier trim level gives you most of those features plus a cool digital rearview mirror that lets you see out the back even with a blocked rear window, surround-view camera and adaptive cruise control. GM’s excellent Super Cruise hands-free driving system is also optional on the Premier. Needless to say, any of these packages may have put the car out of our price range.
When we returned to the dealer, I called my wife and asked her if we should go forward with the purchase, and she gave her approval. They asked for my offer, and I gave it to them. They laughed at me. The reality of the situation was that I came from an hour away to test drive a car that literally just became available, I was dealing with an experienced salesperson who’d been at this dealership for 12 years, trying to buy a class of car that’s seen a significant increase in popularity due to sky-high gas prices. True negotiating power comes from the willingness to walk away. Walking away meant waiting for another one to come available nearby, with the risk being the possibility of the turbo failing for good in the interim, seriously reducing the value of the car.
I got them to come down $300 dollars, then conferred with my son. We reviewed the asking prices for similar EUVs within 500 miles, and the asking price for this one was somewhere in the middle, and the trade-in offer was just about what KBB said it should be. He told me things seemed to be going a little too fast, but he did like the Bolt very much. I reminded him that there were no other suitable cars on the market right now. We then requested another $200 off to buy a NACS converter so we could use the Tesla Supercharger network, which they agreed to. Not a deal that I’m proud of, but I can’t say it was a particularly bad deal, either. We signed the papers so they could mark the sale in the current month, but we didn’t hand over any money except for a small deposit until I could take the car for a pre-purchase inspection.
Later at lunch, I thought he’d be happy with his new (to him) EV. It turned out that he wasn’t quite ready to let go of Eddie, leading to some last-minute second thoughts. I’ll explain what happened next in Part 2.
Ugh, you remind me why I am so put off by modern cars. The turbo problem that Eddie is experiencing is, to my way of thinking, not the kind of thing one ought to be experiencing on a 61k mile car. At least the $1700 repair estimate is not as bad as it could have been.
I have not been keeping up with electric offerings and had forgotten all about these. I agree that your son’s usage patterns are almost the perfect use case for an electric powertrain. And it is a great feeling when you find that one used car that fits your needs/wants in a sea of so many that do not. I look forward to Part 2!
Thanks JP. The Sonic was my first – and last – turbocharged car.
I can see why you bit. Nice format and great color. The Bolt was a smart move by GM, finding a genuine niche below the Teslas and above the Leaf. Now if only they could have made some money with it.
Hopefully they do better with the 2027 model, which leverages their Ultium batteries – meaning the cost is spread across their entire EV lineup – and using tooling that has long since been paid for. Here’s to hoping they keep it around past 2027 because they’ve already announced the car is a one-year phenomenon.
Great minds think alike…below is my youngest son’s (his first car), we bought it 2.5 years ago as a GM buyback due to the recall – 2020 Bolt LT with every available option (on an LT) including the Blind Spot and Lane Keep, 12000 miles, $14k before the $4000 used EV credit so $10k + taxes, a phenomonal price in December 2023. It had the original battery but GM installed the monitoring software which sure enough lit up the lights a few months later and the local dealership replaced the battery pack with a brand new one with NO hassle or argument whatsoever. GM doing something right which made us happy. No accidents, spotless inside and out, one owner from Utah that made GM buy it back during the recall times, and the battery recall issue specifically is flagged as the reason for the buyback when the VIN is searched in GM’s online records page.
We’d looked around locally for a while and weren’t happy with the selection vs pricing, so expanded our search further – there was a dealer in Kansas (Victory Chevrolet, an hour south of KC) that wasn’t getting the trucks they normally would sell, so somehow decided to literally buy EVERY buyback Bolt that GM was offering – They had over 200 examples on the lot, were selling a dozen a day, shipping all over the country and to Canada, and we drove out that night, spent an exhausting next day looking at every Bolt that fit our parameters (equipment, color, price, mileage, including a couple dozen that arrived on delivery trucks as we were there) and finally narrowed it down to three and this was the winner, for some reason it was $1000 less than the other two pretty much equivalant ones. We drove it back to Colorado overnight (no charging issues whatsoever, every charger worked well) and I flew back a few days later to pick up the car we had left behind (Salesman picked me up at the airport and drove me to the dealership an hour away).
My son loves it, he’d always wanted an EV and “gets it”, he may well be part of the first generation of kids to never own a gas car, doesn’t see the point of spending money on gas. The car itself is frankly amazing especially for the price we got it for. When they first came out I looked at one and gave the almost $40k price then the side-eye, and we got a Tesla a few years later. At that time, for the price difference it was no contest. Now, for what this cost used and post-battery-issue, it’s the car deal of the decade for us. It’s big enough to take four of us around town when needed, it’s fast, and it’s frankly a blast to drive. And equipped better than almost any other car of its size. And other than the propulsion method, otherwise acts and feels and is used like a regular car, nothing is really different than any other car.
We’ve named ours “Usain” due to how quick it is off the line.
Usain! I love it! I’m also happy that you got a MUCH better deal than we did :-).
Also, we haven’t heard about your Model Y in a while. How’s it been living with a Tesla?
A 61,000 mile car with a pooched engine is just what I expect from GM. The 1.4 turbo is a failure prone disaster. It is so bad there is no point putting in a used engine and replacements are not being produced.
The featured Bolt is a great car. I love the styling, especially the blue of the featured car. GM initially shot itself in the foot (again) with the Bolt and to its credit, they replaced all of the battery packs.
An EV would be perfect to me as I rarely drive on the highway. I can’t justify one because I have no place to charge it on level 2. Besides, my Golf has only 69,0000 km on it.
Definitely hold onto the Golf, especially if you’re doing mostly local driving. That’s what I do, but at least I’m driving far enough to warm up the car and charge the battery. However, when it comes time for a new car, an EV will be at the top of my list. Hopefully that’s not anytime soon. After 3 cars in 3 years, I’m done for awhile. I hate dealers.
Canuck – ours has only fast charged when we drove it home from Kansas and has only level 2’d twice in our garage with an adapter for the Tesla charger we have. It virtually exclusively charges using a single normal 120 outlet that was already in the garage (the same outlet that our sprinkler timer is on), which adds back about 3 to 4 miles of range per hour of charge, plenty for my son’s mainly around town usage. If left plugged in for a whole weekend it adds about160-180 miles IIRC. With a 259 mile range battery it works out perfect with the 120v outlet 99 percent of the time. Bolt efficiency is easy to get over 4 miles average per Kw when driving without really trying hard.
Great choice. I’ve owned several Bolts (2017, 2023 both the smaller EV). I really liked them a lot. A few months ago, I actually went in to maybe buy the new Bolt (2027), but ended up going with a 2026 new Equinox EV (base model) instead. With discounts and all, it was cheaper than going with a higher equipped LT Bolt. Plus, with it being a little bigger, it fits my growing children a little better at this time.
But to be honest, I still kind of like the Bolts just a little more. Something about how they drive that I just love.
I haven’t driven an Equinox EV, but I’m going to guess the additional two-and-a-half feet over a Bolt EV probably why you would have preferred the 2027 Bolt – you sound like a small-car guy. You’re right, though, that the Equinox is probably better for hauling smaller children and their accoutrements.
One of General Motor’s few engineering and design successes in the last 40 years. I ordered one in 2023 but the blue color was no longer available so I had to settle for a shade of red. The one issue I had with it was the 17″ wheels which make no sense. I switched to 15″ that I purchased from Tire Rack along with appropriate tires and the ride was considerably smoothed out. Because of the lengthy charging times, it is not well suited for long trips, but for trips of only a few hundred miles it has no peer. And with the rebate, it cost me only about $23,500 plus tax.